Dan Atwood has settled into his role as host of The Wine Company quite comfortably. The recent renovations are a nice improvement and things continue to improve under his guidance. Dan makes a point of spending time with his customers and making them feel at home. Yesterday he launched “The Counter Club”, a weekly gathering on Wednesdays where invited guests can join him in evaluating wines brought in by a different wine rep each time. It’s a win-win. Dan gets valuable feedback and his guests get to be in on the decision making process and buy wines at a great price.

About ten of us were on hand for yesterday’s inaugural gathering. Jeanette Treadway from Regal Wine Company had the honor of kicking things off and she did so with seven wines, starting with Kendall Jackson’s Grand Reserve Sauvignon Blanc. This wine is made from the top 1% of KJ’s grapes and is fermented in oak and stainless steel. The wine was clean and crisp, but to my palette, unremarkable. At $19, this is not a wine I could recommend. Things began to improve with the Los Alisos Chardonnay from Santa Barbara County. This was a great Summer wine, with a fresh citrus nose and a caramel apple finish. I would have no trouble paying $16 for this wine. The next wine we tasted was my favorite of the afternoon. The Novellum Chardonnay hails from France and it is delightful. Viognier lease is stirred in during fermentation. It’s crisp, fruit forward and complex and I look forward to drinking it again. I highly recommend it at $16.

The reds were up next starting with the Evodia, a big Garnacha from Spain. This one smacks you in the nose with big berry aromas. It had a true Grenache flavor and feel, but was a bit acidic for my taste. It did open up in the glass, and at $10 a bottle, I would recommend it in a heartbeat. I thought the notes on the back of the bottle were great: the who, what, when where and how – “remove cork, pour into glass (optional) and drink. I’m a sucker for a good sense of humor. We tasted another Spanish wine next, the Creta Roble Tempranillo. It presented an earthy nose with some blackberry and had a chalky finish. At $15, it was okay, but not one I would likely buy. We moved on to another Spanish entry, the Castell del Remei Cotim, a blend of 60% Tempranillo, 20% Cab and 20% Merlot. It had a raisiny nose and was definitely drinkable at $15 a bottle. The finale was the Prima Voce Super Tuscan from Tenuta di Arceno, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. There wasn’t much I liked about this wine. I found it to be extremely dry and acidic. It did improve after being poured through a Vinturi, but I was disappointed with it. That one was priced at $17.50.

All in all it was a fine afternoon and I look forward to an encore performance next Wednesday. Maybe I’ll see you there.

We decided to spend a Sunday afternoon wine tasting with our friends Roger and Kathy. The fact that Palumbo Family Winery was having their wine club pick-up party was a good enough reason for me.

Although the focus of this post is on boutique wineries, we started our journey at one of Temecula’s largest wineries, Wilson Creek. Neither Laura nor I had visited the winery in several years. Roger and Kathy are members, so they hosted us. Immediately you’re struck by the popularity of the place by the sheer number of cars in the parking lot. The front tasting room was packed, so we headed to the back where we found a bar we could squeeze into.

Lori set us up with four glasses and we began to taste. I started with the ‘07 Sauvignon Blanc and found it to have a nice, floral nose with a crispness on the palate and a smooth finish. Equally good was the ‘07 Viognier, dry and perfect for a hot summer day. I moved to the reds, starting with the ‘06 Estate Mourvedre. I thought this was the best wine I tasted at Wilson Creek, with a great plum nose and vanilla on the finish. It’s always a pleasant surprise to find a winery producing a 100% Mourvedre.  Next up was the ‘06 Estate Legacy, a Bordeaux blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc and Malbec. It tasted fine, but the nose eluded me. One of the things I enjoy most about a fine wine is its nose, and strangely enough, there wasn’t one to be found here. The final red was the ‘06 Estate Zinfandel. This was a very smooth Zin, fruit forward with a satisfying finish. To top things off we enjoyed an “Almond Joy”, with the “Decadencia” Chocolate  Port in a chocolate shot glass. You take a sip, they add Almond Champagne, you drink it and eat the cup. That’s very tasty!

Our next stop was at Doffo Winery. To be completely honest, I was apprehensive. Two previous visits had left us disappointed. We kept hearing raves, though, and decided to try our luck again. What a difference. We saw Marcello Doffo at the tasting bar and he turned us over to his gracious son Damian. We started with the ‘06 Viognier. It was delicious… lots of green apple and very refreshing with a great finish. Next was the ‘05 Syrah – jammy and fruit forward with smooth peppers. We moved on to a vertical tasting of the ‘04, ‘05 and ‘06 Cabernets. The ‘04 spent a full two years on American Oak. It’s a dark Cab that drinks beautifully and will definitely age for some time to come. The ‘05 Cab is more fruit forward and smoother and was the favorite of three of the four of us (Laura preferred the ‘04). The ‘06 hasn’t spent much time in the bottle and it shows. I have no doubt it will develop into an excellent wine and I look forward to tasting it again in a year or so. Damian wasn’t done with us yet. The ‘07 Mistura, a 60/40 Cab/Syrah blend with minute amounts of Petit Verdot and Cab Franc is another young wine that will undoubtedly develop into an outstanding wine. The ‘06 Malbec is a great example of the varietal – although only in the bottle for a couple of months it shows lots of fruit and plenty of character. The next wine floored us all. This ‘06 blend of Cabernet/Syrah and Cab Franc hasn’t been released yet and is only being made available to wine club members. I was sworn to secrecy on the name of the wine.  We tasted the ‘07 Private Reserve Cabernet. It’s incredibly good now and I think it’s going to be a monster.

Damian said he “wasn’t done with the dog & pony show” yet. We tasted three late harvest wines: the ‘08 Muscat, very sweet with apricot and peach notes and a big honey finish. The non vintage Zinfandel Port had a remarkable nose and a silky smooth finish. The final offering came with a story. During the ‘05 harvest, somehow an entire row of Syrah grapes was left on the vines. Marcello discovered the near raisins when he returned from a post harvest vacation. They crushed what there was and it sat in oak for three and a half years. The late harvest wine was going to be dedicated to Marcello’s granddaughter, but his daughter miscarried. Another daughter got pregnant, the first daughter became pregnant again, and the resulting late harvest Syrah is called “Los Nietos” (the grandchildren). On the back of the bottle are the words “on earth as it is in heaven”. There were enough grapes to produce one barrel, and it is ambrosia. I will return to Doffo this weekend to spend more time with Marcello and Damian and will do a story on them and the winery.

Roger and Kathy had never visited Briar Rose before, so we made that our next stop. I’ve already written extensively about Briar Rose, so I won’t rehash it. Suffice it to say their wines are excellent and the tasting room experience is relaxing and unhurried.

The final stop of the day was Palumbo Family Vineyards for their wine club pick up party. Nick was behind the grill cooking carne asada (delicious!) and Cindy was pouring at the tasting bar. We took home bottles of the ‘06 Cab/Shiraz and ‘06 Merlot. Nick continues to craft wonderful wines.

edit: by popular demand (okay, 1 request) here are Nick & Cindy’s dogs.

I’m glad we had the chance to visit Wilson Creek, and I want to return for  more in depth visit. For my money though, you can’t beat the boutiques. Doffo, Briar Rose and Palumbo are among the best the Temecula Valley has to offer.

Laura and I got married on the 4th of July. Our wedding was everything we could have hoped for and more. The weather was perfect, we were surrounded by family and dear friends and to cap it all off we took in a spectacular fireworks display.

My sister has spent time in Washington State’s San Juan Islands for decades. She and her husband own property on a remote island there whose residents cherish its privacy so much they ask me not to identify it by name. To get there we took a puddle jumper from Seattle to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island where we were met by a charter boat delivering fresh produce to the islands. My niece prepared an ice chest for us with a mason jar filled with a rum cocktail, warm almonds and dried chile mangoes.

We had the most relaxing, wonderful time there, cooking and eating on the beach, taking walks and soaking in the Pacific Northwest. On Saturday, we decided to visit one of two wineries in  the San Juans, Lopez Island Vineyards. Keeping in mind we’re on an island with no ferry service, we first made arrangements to hire a boat to take us to Lopez and then called the winery to find out how to get there from the village. Iris Graville told me there were no taxis on the island, but that should would give us a ride after she finished working at the farmers market.

Lopez is a wonderful place to spend time. We had a cup of coffee, visited the fudge factory, stopped in a weaver’s studio and then went to the farmers market. We found a place that was serving incredible crepes and ice tea with ginger and then Iris drove us to the winery.

Co-owner Maggie Nilan was there to greet us. The fact that the road to the winery was torn up with road work didn’t deter visitors from coming. The tasting room was filled when we arrived and a steady stream of visitors kept coming. Maggie had us taste through the menu, starting with the Wave Crest White, a light refreshing blend of Madeleine Angevine and Siegerrebe, both organically grown at the winery. The Chardonnay, sourced from grapes grown in the Yakima Valley, was crisp and lightly oaky. Here’s where things get a little different. They make an apple-pear wine made from King apples and Bosc pears. We both were expecting something very sweet, but were pleasantly surprised by how dry it was and perfect on a day close to 80 degrees. We tasted more wines from Yakima Valley grapes: a Merlot and a Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot/Malbec blend. We were pleasantly surprised by how good they were. To finish there was a raspberry wine. It had a sweetness to it, but it wasn’t cloying and the fruit really came through on the finish.

While we waited for Maggie’s partner Brent Charnley to return, we grabbed a bottle of Wave Crest White and savored it under a canopy of Pinot Noir grapes on the patio. Brent showed up and gave us a tour of the vineyards. He has six acres planted, mostly Madeleine Angevine and Siegerrebe, but he is trying a few others including the afore-mentioned Pinot Noir to see how they’ll do. It turns out Brent and I attended the same summer camp on Lopez Island about four years ago.

Brent took us to the barrel room and we tasted some of his Malbec and Cabernet from the barrels that will be bottled later this year. Both showed promise of being very drinkable wines. Our visit to Lopez Island Vineyards was one we won’t forget and a perfect end to our story tale honeymoon. We have learned there are nearly 600 wineries in eight regions in Washington State. I smell a road trip!

Laura and I ran into an acquaintance last night and the subject of WINEormous came up. He told me he had visited the site a few times and asked if I wanted his honest feedback. I told him I did and I am very grateful for what he told me. He said the blog was too positive and that I needed to balance it with with some critical comments.

You know what? He was completely right. I’ve been very cautious in building this site, afraid to step on toes or hurt feelings. From here forward, you’ll still have the same old me. I’ll share how places and people make me feel, but if I find something that’s not up to snuff, I’ll point it out. Fair enough?

Good food and good wine is a combination that in my book is hard to beat. I found both in abundance the other evening at Robert Renzoni Vineyards in Temecula. Robert has launched a series of cooking classes, bringing guest chefs from area restaurants to prepare a gourmet meal, show you how to cook it and pair it with fine wine. I must confess, as I attended this event six days before my wedding, I have misplaced my notes from the evening, so I’ll do as best I can from memory.

Tables and chairs were set up inside the tasting room, and chef Giuseppe di Gristina from Raviolis Italian Bistro in Lake Elsinore had his grill positioned in the parking lot facing the patrons. We started with Robert’s excellent 2007 Barile (Oak Barrel aged) Chardonnay and bruschetta, the first I have ever tasted made without tomatoes. The next wine was the Renzoni 2007 La Rosa (Rose of Sangiovese), with an exquisite floral nose and love notes of strawberry and citrus. Chef Giuseppe prepared prawns with shell on and for the fortunate few (I was one) there were seconds.

I accompanied Alessandro di Sabatino from Francesca’s Italian Kitchen to the event. He was there to lend a hand when needed and also shared his insights on Italian cooking with those in attendance. We had to depart before Giuseppe began preparing his medallions of beef, but I look forward to attending another cooking night at Renzoni’s and hope to see you there.

Chef Giuseppe

Chef Giuseppe

Alessio, Guiseppe & Robert

Robert & Alessio

This past Saturday evening, music and the smells of barbeque filled the air at South Coast Winery. 1200 folks gathered for Rhythm on the Vine, a fund-raiser for the Shriners Hospitals for Children. Rhythm on the Vine was started last year and at least five concerts are on the agenda for this year. Last year’s efforts raised more than $515,000 for Shriners Hospital in Los Angeles. 100% of the proceeds go toward helping the Shriners provide health care at no charge to children up to age 18.

A silent auction featured some amazing pieces of sports memorabilia: signed baseball bats by Willie Mays, Alex Rodriguez and others, a signed Muhammad Ali robe, signed Wayne Gretzky and Michael Jordan jerseys, a signed Jerry Rice helmet and more. I wound up with the winning bid on an autographed Ken Norton boxing glove.

Food and South Coast’s award winning wines were plentiful. Music was blissful, with Sax For Stax featuring Kirk Whalum and Gerald Albright opening for Jeffrey Osborne. Kirk and Gerald played tribute to Michael Jackson by performing Albright’s composition Never Can Say Goodbye.

While the stage was being set for Jeffrey Osborne, South Coast owner Jim Carter offered a couple of incredible packages from the Winery and Spa to raise more money during the live auction. There were some notables in the crowd including ventriloquist Ronn Lucas and Leave It To Beaver’s Jerry Mathers.

Aside from helping raise money for the Shriners, the crowd was there to hear Jeffrey Osborne. Let me tell you, he delivered. After a sweltering day, the evening breezes were refreshing and the music was incredible. Next up for Rhythm on the Vine at South Coast Winery is Kenny G, September 12. Tickets will undoubtedly go quickly.

Learn About Wine brought their well heeled Stars of Santa Barbara event to Orange County for an industry tasting at the Clubhouse Restaurant at South Coast Plaza. Around 35 wineries from Santa Barbara County showed off their wares, and I had a fascinating visit with Teri Love of Gioia Winery.

Teri founded the winery as a tribute to her son Tyler. Tyler was studying in Italy. He came home to visit and on November 12, 2005 was killed riding his motorcycle on Pacific Coast Highway. At first she thought her life was over. She moved from Malibu to Solvang and met winemaker Jim Porter. She remembered Tyler’s love of wine and decided to open a winery and call it Gioia, Italian for joy. Tyler inspires her and in his memory she has set up the Tyler Love Foundation which just awarded its first “Tyler Love Memorial Study Abroad” scholarship to a Malibu High School girl. The only requirement is that the scholarship money be used to study in Europe. Teri says that the loss of Tyler has made her decide to “live life like today is your last day.”

Gioia doesn’t have a tasting room or a distributor for that matter. Teri is a one woman show who loves to pack her car with wines and travel with them. I hope to bring her down to Temecula for a fall tasting.

Right now she has an ‘07 Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in addition to an ‘07 Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon. In September she’ll release her ‘07 Zinfandel. Her wines are vibrant. She has a lot to be proud of for a winery that started selling its wines just last September. Teri believes “every time you open a bottle of wine it should be a celebration.”

Laura and I are eagerly looking forward to our first visit to the wineries of Santa Barbara County!