There's an old adage that says, "When wine enlivens the heart, may friendship surround the table," and that's exactly what happened as the San Diego county contingent of Crushpad winemakers met last week at a local restaurant for some wining and dining and to showcase our Crushpad wines.
Having tasted our way thru a myriad of Syrahs and Cabernets at the Barrel Sample Tasting, my cousins needed a cab to go to their downtown hotel. I know the staff at Crushpad is accustomed to helping out-of-towners with transportation so I asked Stuart if he would “get me a cab?” Stu looked rather quizzical but quickly responded, “Sure. Which one?” "Oh it doesn’t matter," I said. "My cousins just need to go to their hotel on California St.” I saw a quick flash of relief on Stuart’s face as he went to make a phone call......
The Sat. (Jan 13th) Barrel Sample Tasting was great. Thanks to everyone at Cruspad for all their hard work to organize it. We started with the Sauvignon Blanc since it was a first vintage for Crushpad and then moved on to sample the other whites at the table – Chardonnay, Marsanne, Roussanne, Viognier. The rhones are my favorite white varietals.
My husband, Craig & I try to spend a few days before the holidays in Sonoma County where it’s more cozy and Christmasy than our home in Southern California. An added bonus is that the normally bustling towns of Healdsburg and Sonoma are quiet and relaxed and we have the tasting rooms and even some of the restaurants nearly all to ourselves. We ate and drank well this week!
We stopped in at Crushpad to wish everyone Happy Holidays, but some of the crew had already headed to far flung destinations with Mike Z packing up his family to make the trek from Australia to California and Michael Brill meeting up with family in Switzerland. Others were already making merry in Florida and Costa Rica – with a few scurrying to make flights today to visit family and friends around the country. Even so, Tom, Alex, Kathy, Ty and others were monitoring things in the winery and trying to get one step ahead during this quiet time. Christmas Elf Hayden was busy with some last minute Elfin duties that should offer a nice surprise……
I flew up to San Francisco to sort & crush my Ink Grade Cab on Tuesday. Everyone is running at full speed at Crushpad and double lattes seem to be a necessity this week. The Ink Grade fruit looked great and sorting was quick since there were few “raisins”, green berries, leaves or bugs. No gophers either! Thanks to Stu, Jeff and Kian for all the help!
We made a quick trip to Oregon last weekend for a friend’s milestone birthday celebration. A dozen of us spent 2 afternoons in a caravan of classic convertibles, cruising the Willamette Valley. Pinot noir is the wine of choice in the Dundee Hills & Eola Hills AVAs and we found many excellent examples at Archery Summit, Domaine Drouhin, Domaine Serene, Stangeland and Van Duzer. Primarily tasting pinot noirs, it didn’t take long for palate fatigue to set in, so it was no surprise that my favorite wine was Domaine Serene’s Rockblock Syrah which was grown in the Rogue Valley AVA in Southern Oregon! With summer fading and veraison complete, harvest is just a heartbeat away in the Willamette Valley. The countdown to CRUSH is on (18 days, 18 hours, 27 minutes by one winery's account)!
I jumped at the chance to make wine in the fall of '04, choosing a Cabernet from Stagecoach Vineyard/Pritchard Hill as the wine to fuel my passions. I tasted barrel samples at regular intervals, but this spring, I decided I wanted to make a blend (Chemistry degree rearing its head once again). Winemaker Kian Tavakoli helped me narrow down the choices and we decided to blend in a bit of Teldeschi Vnyd. Petite Sirah. The blend was made immediately to allow the wines to integrate and Flying Wine Cellars '04 Napa Valley Cabernet was bottled about 2 months later.
| Showing 1 - 7 of 7 |
|
