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With little planning other than reserving a car two days before, we decided to make a run up to Sonoma Valley yesterday. Neither of us had been and it was a good chance to go, since we'll be taking off to Europe for quite some time. Getting a Californian counterpoint before tasting wines all over the Mediterranean is always a good idea.       So, still sleepy and not really feeling like tearing up the wine scene in Sonoma, yet committed nonetheless, we climbed in to the car and headed north. Our first stop was actually in Santa Rosa to pick up sandwiches at Traverso's for later. Tasty sandwiches from friendly people. There were a lot of other tasty items there, but wineries were calling and we just didn't have time to wade through it all. Today we were wine snobs, not foodies!       First stop was Ledson. It's a fancy place and the staff were decent enough, but I found all the wines far too dry and expensive for my tastes. There were people buying up cases of them, so to each their own I suppose. Onward down the road, we went to St. Francis. It was a much homier setting that I felt more relaxed in, but still, the wines were just too dry and on top of that were lacking in any real body until you got to their most expensive vintages. Next up was Chateau St. Jean which was bizarrely pronounced 'gene', not the French, 'jean'. I don't get that, but they had good wines and it was the first spot where I felt compelled to actually buy something to take home. Of all things to get, we got two bottles of their Merlot. I usually pull the Sideways bit of "No, if anyone orders Merlot, I'm leaving. I am NOT drinking any fucking Merlot!" but this was a good make and will be nice to have around when I want to pull out something other than a Zinfandel, Pinot Noir, or Cab Sauv.       It was at this point, that we decided to break for lunch and have our sandwiches as well. The grounds at St. Jean are really nice and while I'm sure that they'd rather you eat the swag they're selling inside, we had a nice sit out in the trellised patio. The sun also decided to break through a gloomy set of clouds that had dogged us all morning. But, there was little time to wait and we took off to Kenwood next. Most people would wonder why, since they're not known as one of the greatest wineries, but I was curious. Admittedly, their more expensive Reserve series were considerably better than the low end cheapies that are usually found in basic grocery stores. I think I might have even liked one or two of them better than Ledson. The only downside to the experience was the terribly annoying guy pouring the wine. He hung around long after we had finished the flight, like he thought we were going to steal the glasses or something. We left rather quickly after that, briefly touched Kunde, only to find it overrun with two tour buses. In the quick exodus to find emptier pastures to drink in, we went to Benziger.       By and away, these were the finest wines we had all day. I hate to use the comparison, since I know that the Sonoma-ites will cringe, but these wines were the only ones that came on a par with those over the hill in Napa Valley. They had depth of flavor, striking, wonderful aromas, and smooth finishes. Our favorite was the Oonapais, which is an odd name, but a lovely wine. Also great was their Port. Maybe it was the Organic or Biodynamic farming, but these were flawless. Naturally, we bought the two that I mentioned for later drinking.       From there it was home and some realizations about Sonoma. While it's impossible to base conclusions on such a small selection of wineries, we found that these wines overall, were not quite up to the level that we like in Napa. It also seems that Sonoma Valley is much smaller than Napa Valley in growing area. Maybe it's just because so much of it is not next to the road, or maybe it is indeed smaller, but you seem to pass through all the best areas very quickly. Then there was the funny thing with the glasses. While Napa will try and shove them down your throat as such a benefit to the tasting, no winery we stopped at offered them for purchase. I don't get that. Maybe it's one of those small things to set them apart or whatever and it did, since I noticed.       To sum it up, is it worth another trip? Definitely. There are many more wineries to discover and a couple (such as Benziger) to return to.

I was a fortunate fellow by getting in to a Spanish winery exposition at the Fairmont Hotel a week ago. I think there were around fifty wine importers there, along with a couple of food importers. It was all part of the Spanish Wine Cellar event that was put on in order to connect makers with importers in the US. Obviously I am not a wine importer, but I managed to get in because of various web projects in the wine industry. Perhaps a cheeky thing to do since I was there under somewhat false pretenses. I did feel bad about that for a little bit until I saw people there who obviously didn't belong, running around in shants and giggling.       Beyond the freeloading, the real question is, how was the wine? After my first tasting, I realized that we are simply not getting the good stuff from España here or I just haven't been exposed to it. These wines were deep and flavorful. While not my plush Californian tastes, they were different and lovely. Tempranillo definitely has a new place on my palate. Gone are the memories of dry, tannic wines that were generally light in body. These reds meant business! There were a number of stand outs in the crowd. One of the first was Torre San Millán. They have a number of reds which are all based in Tempranillo. Good bodies, good noses, and naturally, the higher-priced one, the Gorrebusto Especial 2003, damn smooth, fine finish. Another vintner that was good, was the Anta. While the names are a bit pedestrian being just a letter and number like a4, the flavors were not. Much like the previous one, good bodies and a round finish. It was much like this through all of the others that we tasted and any one of them I'd take home.       There was the one maker that really knocked me out, which were from Bai Gorri. I think the retail price on these would start about $20 and go up to about maybe $80 or $90 a bottle. It would be money well-spent if you like amazingly fine wines. Their winery looks quite poshy-posh and aimed at the high-end market, but at least their wines can certainly back this up. Deep, deep flavors that are full and just balloon out on your palate. They just bathe you in goodness from start to finish. I highly recommend them if you happen to encounter them.       To close out our adventures at this event, we got a taste from the only sherry maker that I could find there, which was Tradición. The first two dry 30 year-old sherries were good and we enjoyed them a great deal. But it was the 20 year-old Tradición Pedro that knocked our socks off. It was so thick and like molasses. Dark, rolling chocolaty flavors that swirled and rolled around. Even those who were spitting out the tastes not to get drunk, didn't spit this one. Simply amazing, but with what must be a suggested retail of $120 in the US, you could understand why.       A great smattering of wines overall and it really got my mouth ready for what I'll be tasting in just three weeks in Spain!

Just to close out my week of Napa trip recap, I have to share a funny thing about Chardonnay. I'm of the belief that 99.99% of wine drinkers hate it. My reasoning for this goes beyond Sideways comments and arises from the fact that at every winery we went to a week ago, a chardonnay would be part of the flight tastings. While that kind of consistency was to be expected, what was really funny was the nearly verbatim description of the chardonnay as they poured it. It was something along the lines of, "A very bright, crisp chardonnay. No oak at all. Not your typical chardonnay. Very enjoyable." This translates in to yeah, kinda drinkable. Maybe better mixed in a spritzer. Certainly not going to buy it.       Those winery pouring lines are the same words that I hear from the 0.01% of wine drinkers who like chardonnay and are always trying to pimp it to the rest of us. What is it with this wine? I mean really, in general it sucks. Yeah, I'm a red wine drinker, but I do like a good deal of whites. Chardonnay just always tastes like the bastard child of the winery that they've begrudgingly made because they feel that they have to. Well, lemme tell ya, you don't. You can stop. You can stop tomorrow. You can rip out all those vines and put in viognier or anything. Just stop making chardonnay. I know that you'd lose those drunken, super plasticized "Corvette couples" with the fake tans and all, but seriously, who buys more wine? Red freaks like my woman and I, that's who. I've got four cases at home right now just because I like to look at it and be prepared for spontaneous party attacks. But is there any chardonnay in there? No. None. At. All.

As I said yesterday, Frog's Leap Winery is great. Like many wineries, they do charge for an actual tasting ($10 I believe) and you have to make reservations, which sucks quite a lot seeing as how I'm not the reservations kind of guy when it comes to my vino boozin'. But, making up for that is the fact that they seem to have a bottle of something always open and are willing to pour it if you stop in unannounced. Ah, but what good is one small glass of wine? Well, if you step out back of their house, you can sit outside on the rocking chairs and benches overlooking the vines. This is one of the most soothing things we did in our afternoon of travels. While it was quite warm that day, this covered area made for a lovely spot to just sit for a good long while.       But as you notice, I said "house" as in something like a living domicile. This wasn't a mistake in words because their main place is built just like a house. It's really strange, but this is what it is. They've got a kitchen, a living room, a dining room, and the lovely, wonderful back porch. I mean really, it feels like I've walked in to my grandparents' home and then someone pops out and greets you. No concierge. No snootiness. Just a bit of over-zealous friendliness, but I'll gladly take that over any kind of attitude.       Once we were done with a glass of free Sauvignon Blanc and came back in there, wasn't any push to buy wines. Not even a subtle one. They just seemed happy to have us and it was great. Naturally, this technique got me to spend $45 on a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon which, if it's half as good as the staff there, will be great!

A lot of folks around here know Napa Valley for its great wines. I've loved it for a great many years now. The only problem is that over the last eight or nine years, I've found the main part of the valley to get continually snobby and over the top. They still make great wines there and I'll gladly keep going for visits, but the attitude can get to be a tad much.       Enter The Silverado Trail. While it's not really a hidden gem, since a lot of people know about it, it's still a great alternative to the wineries that plaster Highway 29 through the main part of the valley. I found that the wineries there are more mellow and easy going. That seems to be something of a hallmark difference for them, since naturally they need some sort of "gimmick" to get people off the main drag. All told, we went through Frog's Leap which was great, but at the same time kinda strange since it's like you're walking in to someone's house when you visit. Still, the back porch area is incredibly relaxing and mellow. After that, we went to William Harrison which was also very mellow. Sitting out on the chairs in front of the winery was incredibly scenic despite the potentially annoying traffic going down Silverado in front of you. Lastly was Rombauer which was a little tough to judge since it was the end of the day, people were pretty drunk and there was a "Corvette couple" drinking the wines and being rather obnoxious. It's a nice setting though and I think I'd definitely go back, albeit earlier in the day.       We bought wines from these three wineries, not the ones on 29 that we visited. Those others were great, but so incredibly high priced. These wines weren't cheap (about $40 a bottle average) but still you felt like you were buying part of something smaller. Also, it seems that the Silverado wineries cut more deals and will either give you a free tasting if you buy the wine (Rombauer and Harrison) or kick down a free glass of whatever was open (Frog's Leap.) I like this. I really like this. It brings back the spirit of Napa that I think used to exist, but has gotten lost over the years...

So, despite all this crazy warm weather we've been having, the choice was made to stay indoors at night and enjoy the offerings of The Hidden Vine. As I've summed up before, they pick a different region of wine to showcase each month. This month happens to be the wines of Washington state.       Naturally, like any Californian aspiring to wine snobbery, when I heard 'Washington' and 'wine' in the same sentence, I just had to laugh. In fact, I almost didn't even get them because I thought it was just pointless. But this little nagging voice in my head reminded me that Angela and David (the owners) do a great job in finding the best wines of any region they decide to feature. They also know that they need to keep up the high caliber of wines they offer or folks just won't come back anymore (let me emphasize there has never been a problem in this area). So, I sucked up my native Californian pride and got the flight of reds to try.       I can't create much of a buildup here, because they were great. However they've figured out to do it, these Washingtonians are putting out some tasty vino. I can't really speak to the specific varietals that there were since we also shared a Pinot-Syrah blend from Ceja Vineyard which was heavenly and blurred the mind a great deal. But, one wine that really stuck out in the group from WA was the Cabernet Sauvignon. It was really well balanced and tasty. I am of course a complete neophyte when it comes to really knowing what a great wine is, but I enjoyed this a lot. The other two had a lot of character as well and overall, it was a great sample from The Evergreen State up north.

My mom has a bad habit of keeping wine around for far too long. There is definitely something to be said for aging wine, but then again, there's a lot to be said for drinking it.       On my last trip to visit, I finally talked her in to opening on of the bottles, since due to how she has it cellared (in a corner of her kitchen) there was a good chance it may have just been vinegar. While she wouldn't let me touch any of the BV that were sitting there, I finally talked her in to opening a Oakmont Cellars Gamay Beaujolais, 1979. Apparently this was a label that Beringer dumped their excess wines under at the time. This was [is?] something of a common practice so that they can keep the stock of their name brand wines down while not losing any money by selling it at a discount. Of course, when word of a wine bottled this way gets out, it sells out in an instant. This bottle happened to be about $2.50 at the time. That'd be somewhere around $10 now and otherwise known as a quite good level of wine at Trader Joe's.       So, we opened it. At first we thought it had turned. It was not terribly good, but given time and breathing some air from the 21st century, it opened up a lot. It got the nose of a typical California Napa heavy red with dark earthy tones to it and the flavor was much the same. It never quite got the density of a Cab Sauv you could buy today, but at the same time, it was good. Notice that I said good. It wasn't amazing. I would maybe pay upwards of $30 a bottle for it in comparable terms today.       It goes to show that while aging can be good, why bother? There are wines that are great today and ready to drink now and that's what it's really all about when you get down to it. So while everyone else is paying $300, $1000, $5000 or whatever for some 50 years old French wine, I'll be happily downing some $10 or $15 thing I picked up yesterday and loving every drop of it just as much.

It was a cold and rainy April of 2006 when I was in Ljubljana, Slovenia but I was having a good time. I made a lot of friends when I was there, but Alja, was one friend in particular who enjoyed red wine and that for me is an instant connection. For, even the worst of conversations over a good glass of wine can just be about the flavors and that is something you can talk for hours about.       At any rate, we wandered down to Stara Ulica in the old city of Ljubljana and went to a wine bar there that I had noticed days before but hadn't ventured in to. It turned out to be a lovely, inviting place to sit out the rain and was rather uncrowded. It also happened that this wine bar was [still is] THE Movia wine bar. I didn't think anything of it, since the name didn't sound Slavic and so that must have meant it was some cheesy foreign affair. Oh how wrong I was. As I learned while sitting there with a cab sauv, these Movia wines were some of the finest in Slovenia. While this cabernet wasn't what I was used to in California, it was still damned good and complex.       Intrigued, I moved on to a Pinot Noir, or as it is sometimes called, Pinot Nero, but never Crni Pinot for some reason. I believe it must have been the 2000 that I had because of the length of time that they age their wines. It knocked me backwards. It was in one word: amazing. I raved and raved about it only to return back to the US, hungry to find someone who imports this wine, to find that A) there are very few and B) it is rather cost prohibitive to my standard wine budget.       So, after giving up hope of ever tasting this wine in the land of my birth, I was told by a wine importer whom I work for that A Cote in Oakland would be having a slew of Movia wines paired with a five course meal and hosted (or narrated as I found out) by Aleš Kristančič who is part of the family that has been making these wines since 1820. I could ramble on and on about how great the food was, how good the company was (Elia I realize it was a treat to go, but it is an even greater treat to share a meal with someone meaningful) but it was the second course where they poured the 2001 Pinot Noir.       I looked at my glass. Could it be my long-lost wine? I inhaled and did all the stupid snobby things you do when trying to be pretentious, and then I drank. It was as I remembered. The deep flavors swirled around. It had for lack of a better word a great plushness you could love. There was a slight tannic aftertaste to it, but it finished great. Yes, they do a fine job with this wine. But, was it as good as I remember when in Ljubljana? Well, naturally the answer to that is no. When you go from drinking a wine an hour drive from where it is made to drinking it an 11 hour flight from where it is made, things change. And of course, there is the romance of drinking a great wine in Europe in the Old City of a town. Would I drink it again if given the chance? Of course. I find that Movia seems to managed to get a twist to their wines that has a real California element to them. I'm not sure if that is an insult or a compliment, but I mean it lovingly as I love the wines in my home state to no end.

This is a Croatian white that always seems to sell out fast here in the US and as I finally found out after getting my hands on a bottle it, there is a very good reason. It is delicious!       I'm trying to think of what to compare in to in varietals that people have had here, but I really can't think of any. Well, maybe a little Sauvignon Blanc with some Pinot Grigio and a bit of Riesling. But that's all really just a guess since it is very much its own grape. The immediate flavors are light, slightly sweet, and slightly dry. The nose is wonderful, so make sure you drink it in a glass that will capture this. There are hints of honey and it's very floral without being overpowering at all.       The best part about this is that I didn't taste any oak in it and I hate oak in a white which is the reason I tend to despise most Chardonnays. It's also incredibly smooth. While it doesn't have the buttery texture like the Bibich Debit, it has this great round quality to it that I can really only say is like a very good Pinot Noir, although it tastes nothing like that red. But, once you complete a taste of it, you're greeted by a quick aftertaste of mint that I found to be nothing short of pretty fantastic.       But, enough already, if you want to try it, read more.

This is the bigger (and much more expensive) brother of Zlatan Plavac barrique. Then of course, there is the straight Zlatan Plavac which is just a basic table wine. Still tasty, but definitely not the barrique and not the Grand Cru. So, what makes the difference between the Grand Cru and barrique worth $17? I'll get to that.       For a little back story, 'plavac' is a grape varietal grown in Croatia that this is grape very, very closely related to California Zinfandel and they share the same root grape. This being the case, you definitely taste a lot of Zin in any Plavac Mali that you drink. Of course, you taste a lot of other things as well. In this case, the wine is quite dry. I would say that the Grand Cru is even a bit more dry than the barrique. There are the slight berry hints in the nose and an overall smoothness to the wine when drinking. As with any Old World wine, you've really, really gotta let this puppy decant before drinking. A half hour is mandatory. An hour is even better. Straight out of the bottle, the tannins are really strong, but given time to adjust to its short life in the air outside its homeland, the wine develops all kinds of subtleties. So many that I really don't have a sophisticated enough nose or palate to understand all of them. Also, because there is a relatively high alcohol content in this wine compared to many European wines, your mouth is lose many of the swirling hints of various flavors as you you make your way down the bottle.       One flavor is particularly striking in the wine and I would say is the biggest difference between it and the barrique. It's this flavor that I can only sum up as 'dandelion'. That's completely the wrong word, but to me, it's a slightly acrid, dry flavor that you taste the longer the wine has been let to breath. I can't say it was a flavor that I warmed towards, but it was definitely interesting and gave a great deal of texture to the taste. Of course, this is in addition to the other flavors that I'm most likely missing.       So, is this wine worth the price? If you have the tongue and nose for it, then yes, you'll definitely find it a worthy wine. For me, I am a simple man and I find the barrique to be absolutely wonderful for my tastes. Both are deep, rich, and wonderful wines that when I serve them to friends, get the reaction, "This is from Croatia? I had no idea they made good wine." Obviously, I want to keep the secret mine as I'm sure these will go up in price in time, but then again, I love to share wine that I love.