Weekend Winos

Enthusiasts in search of quality libations to enhance weekends.

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Heavenly Angel – Picchetti Winery’s Mission Angelica 2012 Vintage

For the long Labor Day Weekend, the winos decided that packing a picnic and tasting wine was the right amount of laboring. After much discussion Picchetti Winery was the destination that everyone agreed on – they had a live band.

Picchetti Winery Tasting Room

Picchetti Winery Tasting Room

We first drove all the way up Monte Bello Road to Ridge Vineyards – just for fun!  An infinite amount of turns, with many weekend bicyclists to watch out for, but the perfect ride for a convertible with the top down.  (Note to self – buy convertible soon).  But I digress,  the group agreed that Ridge was a place to keep in mind for a future adventure and we moved on.

Picnic at Picchetti Winery

Picnic at Picchetti Winery

Driving down the road, we wondered if our trek up the hill to Ridge would make it too late to find a comfortable spot to picnic,  but decided not to worry that we would make the best of it.

And we did,  we claimed our spot and proceeded to the tasting room.   There were a few club members in the group so tastings were free and the discount was put to good use as we all bought bottles to drink with our picnic.  Let the tasting begin, which 5 would the group gravitate towards?  What a nice surprise to see that we had 14 to choose from, the port was sold out.

My memory of Picchetti was mostly of red wines and of course Angelica.  Not today:

  • Brut Rose sparkling wine from the Santa Cruz Mountains that they hand crafted using the traditional Champenoise methods (yes really!)
  • 4 whites
  • 8 reds
  • Port and Mission Angelica

AngelicaIt was a hot day so we all started the tasting with the Sparkling Wine (we were told they would be releasing more in the future) smooth and refreshing with slight strawberry aromas.  From there to the Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay and Rose to finish with the Mission Angelia.

Yes, everyone LOVED the Mission Angelica, Blunden Vineyard 2012 Vintage! Picchetti describe it as:  A recognized “heritage crop”, the Mission grape was first introduced to California by the Franciscan padres in the eighteenth century, and recent DNA analysis has linked it to the very rare Spanish varietal, Listan Prieto.  The fortification (addition of brandy) process traditionally served as a preservative in the production of sacramental wines, creates a wine high in residual sugar as well as alcohol.  They poured it as an aperitif, served chilled over ice with a twist of lemon.  Why is the bottle so small (375ml)?

Once reacquainted with what Picchetti had to offer we bought 6 bottles to start, 4 white and 2 red and went back for 2 more.  Before we knew it, it was time to go with a big thank you to all the very nice folks at Picchetti who worked on their Labor Day Holiday to entertain us.

Let’s see what next weekend brings.


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Wine Aerator on Steroids – Really? Winos to the Test

This weekend the group wanted to lay low and just relax.  Thanks to our host we gathered in a beautiful home on the hills and decided to experiment.  Yes we put wine in the blender = Hyperdecanting.

Hyperdecanting in ActionWe are novices, and many of us tech geeks, so after recently reading about this from a twitter follower the first thing we did was a google search for hyperdecanting.  The result was 25 pages displaying 243 of the most relevant results going back to 2011 with write ups in the NY Times, Businessweek, Der Spiegel to name a few  ( I have to believe there are many more, but it still was impressive).  We all bought our Venturi aerators when they first came out,  I use it for red wine.  Our host had several: red wine, white wine and even a spirits aerator – do you need all that?  (Note to self –  subject for a future adventure).

Apparently there is science behind this,  and former Microsoft CTO and master chef Nathan Myhrvold writes about it in his book Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking.

So we set off to do a blind taste!

Hyperdecanting Sample

Hyperdecanting Sample

We selected a few bottles from those we intended to drink first, all red, and with great doubt and trepidation we started blending.   One by one we uncorked the bottle, tasted, took notes ( we knew we would need them at the end of the evening) and then blended, tasted, took notes.  Some cringed as the blender swirled and the wine foamed.  The habitual wine swirling snobs (a term of endearment) felt a little odd when someone pointed out that the wine had just been blended and that it probably didn’t need any more air.  It was quite the experience,  I’m not sure I’ll ever look at my blender the same way, and for sure I will leave it impeccably clean after “normal” use for the next time I open a bottle of red.

The results?  Oh yes, in all cases the aroma and taste changed and most agreed that it was better, mainly smoother.  As the scribe, I brought everyones notes home only to find many red wine spots and the sad fact that most of the handwriting was illegible, next time we’ll do a recording.

See you all next weekend!


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Bubbles and a Ray of Sunshine on the Bay

Santa Cruz, CA

Santa Cruz, CA

This weekend the group was determined to relax, enjoy the fresh sea breeze and make the most of this sailing adventure.  The captain was set and the boat was ready to sail.  All the nautical libations had been researched – we quickly found out there were no rum fans at all, so Captain Morgan would stay on shore.

Did I mention that we were in Santa Cruz, California?  Locals know that the fog stays low till after noon and the wind picks up at around 1 pm.   No problem, we planned accordingly and decided that we were committed to relaxing no matter what the weather had in mind for us.

Starting point was lunch at the Crow’s Nest, casual, tasty food with a good variety of drink options. The group quickly gravitated to the nautical drinks:

Kamikaze Sailor

Kamikaze Sailor

  • Kamikaze Sailor: Stoli vodka, lime juice & a splash of Cointreau.
  • El Capitan Margarita: Herradura tequila and Patron Citronge on the rocks with a blend of sweet & sour juices.
  • Crow’s Nest Sailor Jerry Mai Tai:  A polynesian blend of five rums & fresh fruit juices.
  • Champagne: before, during and after boating.

Sailing not exactly,  we did go boating in a very nice sailboat, the wind did not cooperate but that wasn’t going to stop us from having a great time.  The clouds covered the sky as we left the marina in Capitola;  the captain made sure we were safe and had as smooth a “sail” as possible.  As we “sailed” towards Santa Cruz a ray of sun broke through the clouds and magically followed our boat as we travelled north and then back to the marina.  The prosecco kept flowing and everyone agreed we would be back to try our hand at sailing the next time.

See you next weekend!


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Limoncello Waist Wars: Stevia vs. Sugar

This weekend the group got together for the ultimate test – could limoncello made with stevia taste anything like good old home-made simple syrup?  I’ve been making limoncello for years so I have to admit I was curious about the results.  After dinner relaxing at the table with good conversation and dessert, or on a hot summer day a shot of limoncello poured over a tall vodka tonic, there are so many ways to enjoy this lemony delight.

Limoncello StarterThe Preparation:

1) I had the starter ready it had been siting on the counter in a cool place, bottle swoshed around once a day for about 6 or 7 weeks (lemon peel with no rind at all, so there is no bitterness, soaking in everclear).  Everyone volunteered to do some part of it, and we were ready to start.

2) We drained the liquid so now we had 1/2 the total volume = 6 cups to which we would add simple syrup or stevia syrup

3) Three cups of home-made simple syrup with good old sugar got underway = 3 cups sugar and 3 cups water

4) Three cups with stevia syrup – good thing that somebody read that the proper measurement would be 1 1/2 cups stevia to 3 cups water

5) Now we were ready to mix the final product resulting in 6 cups of regular limoncello and 6 cups of stevia limoncello.  We let it rest in the freezer while we ate, caught up and planned future adventures, then it was time to taste.

Seeing that we had lots of lemons the group agreed they would peel away so we could get a new starter going (it takes 6-8 weeks).  Under my close eye, to make sure none of that white rind was left on the peel, we were set, lemon peels and everclear ready to sit for another 6-8 weeks.

The Results: Limoncello Comparison

At first glance you could notice some difference in color and viscosity.  The real simple syrup (blue)  is darker yellow and the stevia version (red) slightly thicker.

The final vote for (some had to taste more than once, but only counted as one) was 70% sugar and 30% stevia.  The regular, tried and true simple syrup juts tasted better.

My guess is that the stevia version will be a perfect topper to other drinks, but for an after dinner digestivo I’ll stick with the simple syrup limoncello.

Drink responsibly and we’ll see you next weekend!


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Party in Your Mouth! SF Chefs 2013 Grand Tasting Tent

A Great Time under the Tent on Union Square in SF!

SF Chefs 2013 Tent

SF Chefs 2013 Tent

 

This weekend we started off with a little misunderstanding about the time we would be allowed in for the 5th Anniversary Friday Night Opening Celebration because the tickets were printed in such a way that caused much confusion (we were not alone).  Being the overachievers we are, we arrived early so we were first in line for the 7:15 pm (not 6:30 pm) entrance.  We put the time to good use, chatted with a charming, very polite and very apologetic greater who clarified the situation to hundreds who approached her, and also met people around us who had been before and gave us some very good tips.

We were prepared with what we learned: (1) the drinks are mostly in the center and the food around the perimeter; (2) to take our time because everyone is there all night and they just keep cooking and pouring; and (3) to enjoy the experience even when it is crowded.

At 7:15 pm sharp they let us in, they had been looking at us for 1 hour and 15 minutes so I had no doubt they would be prompt.  It was immediately obvious that what we had learned from our early-to-queue compadres was spot on!  Everyone got a lanyard (really, not another lanyard), this one actually held your wine glass which proved to be of great assistance as you savored all the tasty bites.

It is a big tent and it was crowded, so the group dissipated and inevitably met as everyone was doing the rounds.  I am pretty sure I remember the highlights we discussed to be as follows:

* Tyler Florence is even more handsome in person.

Tyler Florence

Tyler Florence

* Mixed drinks were one of the stars of the party, form Elixir To Go, Campari, Chambord, Rum, Gin, Bourbon,  even Stella was there.

* Wines were good all around. From Chile to Portugal , a good representation from California and Washington State,  and super rich and smooth Rhone Valley Wines, all fantastic.

* The food that stood out was the risotto from Kuleto’s and all the delicious poke and prawns from the restaurants around it , the ham and warm apple something or other from Wayfare Tavern and El Paseo, the caviar blintz roll from The Plumed Horse, something fantastic from The Beach Chalet and great lamb meatballs from a sponsor who also has I love lam chap stick ( I hope it was mint).

* Cakes and sweets, yes they were there and we were asked to vote for our favorite cake in the competition, which we could not do in all good faith.  With all respect to the pastry chefs, they were a bit lost in the sea of libations and mouthwatering bites.  Does no one in the group have a sweet tooth?

* Russell Jackson (Food Network Star Finalist) was also there without his Guilty Pleasures briefcase.  I wonder how many will be voting for him?

So how do you end a night like this?  Well….. with handfuls of  Fig Newtons and Port that also doubled as a breakfast of champions, the Fig Newtons of course with Starbucks.

See you all next weekend!


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Wine, Beer, Frozen Mimosas and Lots of Garlic at the 2013 Gilroy Garlic Festival

You Have To Go At Least Once!

This weekend we knew it was going to be hot so we tried to get there early to avoid the long lines. No such luck, but what a great surprise when we finally got there and parking was FREE with a bus waiting to take the group to the entrance.  No lines to buy tickets and you could definitely smell the garlic coming from Gourmet Food Alley.

Gilroy Garlic Festival Beer Tin

Gilroy Garlic Festival Beer Tin

We started to walk around and quickly decided we needed a strategy

1) food, drinks, walk around, music, shop and repeat, or

2) drinks, food, walk around, drinks, music, food, shop

we all agreed the shopping was last because it was too hot to carry anything.

So, we’re off… no wine tent in sight yet, so….first stop is the beer garden followed by garlic fried calamari and garlic fries.  We bought the beer tins as a practical souvenir and took a break to listen in at the Cook-off Theater.   Yes, the free garlic ice cream booth was right in front of us, but the line was about 60 people long.  We walked around and were tempted by many goodies but there was still the other half of the event to conquer.

We avoided the Children’s Area, yes we did, and came back to Gourmet Food Alley just in time for the Flame-ups by the Pyro Chefs, that was impressive.. huge flames of fire.  And we move on.

Garlic Goodies

Garlic Goodies

It is high noon and it is very hot.  The wine tent is now in sight but we haven’t tried the pesto pasta yet and we’re tempted by the henna tattoo booth (unfortunately the line was too long).  So with bellies full we walk around and find our way to the wine tent.  Five or six wineries to taste and what a surprise frozen mimosas (the perfect combination of tasty and refreshing).   We knew this would be our final stop before shopping at the everything garlic tent.

Last stop… everything garlic to buy under one tent.  Yes every one bought something, how could we resist.  The garlic infused oils, soaps, rubs, dips.  Yummmm!  Clothing, wine glasses, cook books.  A one stop shop and by the look on everyone’s face it was time to say goodbye and head back home.

See you all next weekend!