Schiava Is Good
This heartwarming wine from Bolzano in the South Tyrol is made by Heinrich and Elda Mayr from their small parcel of old Schiava vines. It's a bit Burgundian, but perhaps more reminiscent of a full-bodied Morgon, with a sweeter fragrance, as well as&nbs...
April Recap… plus the usual drivel
I thought I'd take time to shamelessly promote what our modest little wine shop has forced upon you during this past month of April. Hard to believe that a full third of the year is already history.Here are but a handful of items worthy of note:A quick...
Elegant Burgundies of Maison Lou Dumont
Maison Lou Dumont. Curious name for a Burgundy negoce based in Gevrey. Headed by Koji Nakada, a former Tokyo somm, and his Korean wife, Jae Hwa Park. Both studied at CFPPA in Beaune. They established Lou Dumont—Lou is their goddaughter, charming an...
Profundity From A Bottle
Over a hundred years ago in 1911 the RMS Titanic was completed and launched. Pancho Villa led the successful uprising during the Mexican Revolution. Sun Yat-sen was elected president of the newly founded Republic of China. The Encyclopaedia Britannica ...
Loud and Fast Wins… Oh Yeah?!
Last night watching the reality faux singing competiton "The Voice" I can't help noticing the parallels with wine scoring. Loud, fast rocker Juliet Simms singing a shrieking "Roxanne" got a huge thumbs up from the judges. While relaxed, mellower acts p...
Rudy K’s Quick Web Saga
When news broke late Thursday on the FBI bust of renowned billionaire wino, Rudy Kurniawan, it triggered an unprecedented flash reporting on the web. The establishment press, the wine media, and the elite wine bloggers and tweeters all piled on the sto...
BNO Year-End: Burgundies, Champagne, and Much More!
Santa came early to a gathering of wine friends, who humbly name themselves the BNO, aka "Boys' Night Out". Extravagance is not lacking in these gatherings, and sometimes extravaganza, too. Yet, last night's soirée set a new bar. Bottles of Champagne ...
Chicken Rôti and Chinon
I was at Olivier's Butchery in Potrero a few weeks ago and couldn't resist picking up the prepared chicken rôti in the cooler. Olivier's gets the chicken from Field to Family in Petaluma. The chicken is a Poulet Bleu (Blue Foot) breed, raised free ran...
Pop-Up Café Kick-Off with Feuillet Burgundies and Duck Parts
I couldn't think of a more thrilling way to debut Vineyard Gate's Pop-Up Café than pairing François Feuillet's elegant red Burgundies with plates of duck parts!Roving Bay Area food maven, Hector Figueroa, and his partner, Angie, prepared the perfect ...
A Peak At Anne Gros’ 2011 Harvest
Anne Gros started her 2011 harvest on 30th August, a Tuesday, same day as Domaine Leroy picked all their Richebourg. This was one of the earliest harvests on record in the Cote d'Or. Months earlier the harvest was expected to be even more advanced, unt...
At Mission Chinese Food
Yesterday, the day of the Harvest Moon, I decided to check out again Mission Chinese Food. I was feeling Chinese for lunch, but having just returned from a trip to France I preferred something more interesting, rather than the same-old, same-old Chines...
Wine Ratings
A recent piece by San Francisco Chronicle Wine Editor, Jon Bonné, on wine ratings prompted me to re-think the subject of wine criticism. My thoughts are pretty simple and short.
I find top wine critics' reviews a form of voyeurism. More often than ...
