Wine in a box, wine in a glass, wine in a keg, wine in a can.  Why not?

It is readily available.  Trader Joe’s, BevMo, the local grocery store,  7 Eleven, and the local drug store all have some selection of wine in a can right next to the wine in a box.  Some,  have it refrigerated and ready to go at the end of the craft beer section.   The prices vary, some are expensive, but you can not beat the convenience.

And, it is not the sweet, inexpensive wine that you expect from a boxed wine (sorry Maggie Griffin).  Many of the wines we tasted were good, and all agreed very refreshing.  Many compared the experience of drinking wine in a can to drinking a beer at an outdoor party or sporting event.

I believe that the reason for packaging wine in a bottle is to ensure it ages properly. Most of the winos in our group have rarely kept a bottle for more than a year.  I think we are probably in the majority of casual drinkers.

Personally, I like drinking from a bottle (water, beer, juice) so the Bon Affair packaging appealed to me and the wine was quite good.  I also like that the can stays cooler and is “cooler” than the small box wines or even the single-serve wines in a plastic glass.  I still can not figure out why Sofia comes with a straw? Before the weather gets too cold (it is still in the 90s in CA right now),  I’m sure we’ll gather to do some more “research”- maybe wine in a keg is next.

We last attended on August 2013, when the event was still called SF Chefs and it was under a big white tent in Union Square. We wrote about it: Party in Your Mouth! SF Chefs 2013 Grand Tasting Tent.

This year we gathered for the Saturday Evening Grand Tasting at Eat Drink SF, which is now held at Fort Mason (we love this waterfront location with gorgeous views). We splurged on the VIP tickets; it was expensive but well worth it.  Access to the event 45 minutes early made a huge difference, and the VIP lounge was OK (they needed lots more seating and in my opinion, a more  relaxing/spa-like vibe so you could regroup and venture out again, instead of more food and wine booths). Still, well worth it!

It is an impressive event where you can enjoy tastings of  wine, beer, liquor and more than 35 of the Bay Area’s top restaurants. Yes you can go back for seconds! Since it is all under one roof now, there are chefs & bartenders that do demonstrations on the main stage and an area for the San Francisco Wine School Beverage Classroom.

Since we were able to enter the event 45 minutes early, it does get very crowded later in the evening, it gave us a great opportunity to get a quick overview, speak with some of the Chefs as they were doing their last minute prep.   We identified libations and restaurants that we knew and wanted to taste and others that we had never heard of and caught our eye.

Who knew that Ca’Momi had restaurants or that Fogo de Chao just opened in SF? Both served delicious bites.  It can be overwhelming – there is ice cream and pastries (some like to start with that) foie gras, delicate bites, braised pork, delicious broths, Serrano ham, Mezzeta olives, olive oil, burgers and lots of different wines, beers, port, liquor and even Pure Leaf Tea and Pellegrio Sparkling water.  We also noticed lots of “photo booths” this year from Beaujolais Wines, Taiwan Tourism Brewery dumplings and Celebrity Cruises.

We divided to conquer, and although there was no possible way we could taste everything, there were some clear standouts that the group agreed on.

Our Go-to Beer = Stella Artois, they were also pouring Cidre.  I think they have been at this event every year and they are very generous with their beautiful Stella Chalice glasses (I think you can take them with you, we did) and a full pour.  Also at the event was Trumer Pils and the San Francisco Brewers Guild Craft Beer bar with 5 different brewers.

Best Bite = Parallel37, Michael Rotondo, none of us had actually been to this restaurant at The Ritz-Carlton in SF, it is now at the top of our list to visit.  I am sure the Chef would describe it better, but it was a delicious broth poured, as we approached, over the noodles and garnish. It was delicate and robust at the same time.  Just delicious!

Touching Moment = J.Lohr Carol’s Vineyard, in all the craziness of the event, we tasted a delicious Cabernet Sauvignon, and enjoyed meeting Carol Lohr’s daughter who told us about her mother and how they donate $2 for every bottle purchased of the Carol’s Vineyard Cab and Sauv Blanc to the National Beast Cancer Foundation.  We bike to their tasting room in San Jose, so will have to keep that in mind next time we visit!

Amazing Pastries = Cafe Madeleine, out of this world!  The biggest compliment I can think of is that around 9:30 pm there were LOTS of Chefs in white jackets who had left their stations and were tasting these beautiful and delicious pastries.  We chose chocolate and caramel and that was our last bite of the evening.

Not sure when, but we will definitely be back to this event.  Now we need to “prepare” for the Lake Tahoe Autumn Food & Wine Festival 

The winos met in Tahoe for a long relaxing weekend at the lake.  But no trip to North Shore Tahoe is complete without a stop in Truckee.  We stop there every time, usually when we first arrive, for a nice relaxing lunch and libations before heading down to this lake.  This time we ventured one block north of  Donner Pass Rd, the main street, and stumbled upon some delightful new finds.

A jail on Jibboom Street – how cool is that! It is a museum  now and, as they say, one of only a few surviving 19th century jailhouses of its kind in the West and one of the few remaining original buildings in Truckee.   Did you catch that it is on Jibboom Street?  The Truckee-Donner Historical Society  states that:  Life in early Truckee was never dull. Money was plentiful, saloons and gambling houses attracted desperados of all kinds. Gunfights in the streets occurred almost nightly, many of which were consequential to disputes that occurred along Jibboom Street’s red light district. Numerous accounts of violence were published in the Truckee Republican, many chronicling tales of Jibboom Street’s infamous ladies of the night whose names included “Carrie (Spring Chicken) Smith;” “La Belle Butler” and “Lotta Morton.”

After a quick stop at the Coffeebar Truckee we spotted The Pour House Wine Shop & Tasting , yes still on Jibboom Street!  What a cool little place.  The selection of wines from around the world is impressive, but the cheese and charcuterie options are also something to take a close look at.  This is the perfect place to stop, taste some wines and then pick up a full basket of goodies for a picnic by the Truckee River or down by the lake. Yes you can pick up some box wine if you prefer.

What a great event to make new acquaintances with wine and beer lovers as well as local businesses! 

We convinced the group to join us for a local event Stroll the Alameda to explore the neighborhood, specifically The Alameda in San Jose, CA.  At first there was limited enthusiasm, but by the end of the afternoon, as we enjoyed some much-needed nourishment at Rosie’s New York Pizza, everyone agreed it was a lot of fun.

The event was well-organized with 20 wine/beer tasting locations to visit. We checked in to receive our wristbands and tickets which included 12 tastings, and then we were off. Most of us were not familiar with this area, and we struck gold at our very first stop Schurra’s, where we found delicious chocolates paired with Lightheart Cellars wines.  Other standouts for various reasons included Travieso Winery, Savory Kitchen, Seeker Vineyard, Green Design and Wine Affairs.  A constant in this area is J. Lohr Vineyards with their tasting room right off The Alameda.

The libations providers and local merchants included:

Sarah’s Vineyard • 5 Color Cowboy; Travieso Winery • Metamorphic Tattoo; Various Wines • Tee Nee Thai; Lagunitas Brewing • Crossfit Silicon Valley; Fenestra Winery • Green Design; Santa Clara Valley Brewing • La Dolce Velo; Drake’s Brewing Co. • All-American; Stefania Winery • Mission Pipe; J. Lohr • Art Boutiki; Strike Brewery • Art Boutiki; Aimee June • The Arsenal; Guglielmo Winery • Alameda Artworks; Fortino Winery • Alameda Artworks; Lion Ranch • San Jose Made; Seeker Vineyard • Black Bird; Das Brew • Black & Brown; Lightheart Cellars • Schurra’s; Coterie Cellars • Savory Kitchens;Mission Creek Brewing • Whole Foods

This is an event that we will add to our regular list.  Already looking forward to the 2016 Stroll, and in the meantime we will be back to enjoy the new acquaintances we made.

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

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

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

It 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.