Mr. Ross

This weekend we opened a bottle of 2004 Fort Ross Pinot Reserve and were pleasantly surprised. Usually we open a Patassy of a Domaine Serene, but we decided to treat ourselves to the wondrous delight of opening a bottle labeled as "reserve." That little word however is very subjective, for what is reserve quality for one may be quite less or quite more for another. However, this bottle was a reserve in the word's very essence. Straight from the bottle it held its flavor and color - very little time was needed for aeration or for opening. Cherry and Vanilla. All the way through this beauty held intense notes of cherry and vanilla. A wonderful balance between acidity and tannins. Beautiful and elegant. And quite inhibiting when one is attempting to write a paper for a history professor. Quite so.

As a side note, I have been spending more time with my uncle and aunt since they live close to Davis, and two of the more memorable bottles that we have recently opened were the 2007 Broken Stones Saxum, and the 2000 One Acre Littorai Anderson Valley Pinot. Both were absolutely stunning, leading me to abandon (or more like pour out) the Hess cabernet I was currently working on. Saxum never fails in seducing me.

We worked in the vineyard this past weekend, feeding the smaller shoots through the second vineyard. The front vines are healthy and tall, but the grenache in the back vineyard is insane, like always. We have already added a subsequent top wire. And the berries are much more advanced in the back as well. Can't wait for harvest, although this odd spring whether and the cool temperatures and rain mean that verasion and harvest will be much later than usual. We'll probably be picking close to November.

Tea Party

Remember that tea party? Where I was trying to decide what to bake? Well it was a while ago, but I made brown-sugar cupcakes with caramel frosting rolled in heath bar crunch. So good.

Picco's, wine, etc

I am home for the weekend in the bay. The great thing about being home is being able to enjoy wine with my dad. Especially when he has a new shipment of August West in the cellar and a shipment of Patassy that is ready for pick up.

We opened up the 2007 Russian River Graham Valley August West pinot last night. The last time I had this was in November at a wine tasting, but it is one of those wines that is memorable on the tongue. Cherry and vanilla envelops the nose, strong in the first sip. It goes down smooth, and then the backend hits with spice and fullness unmatched. About an hour or two after letting it open, the oak came out in full force. The cherry and vanilla intermixed with the full oak filled the mouth, its boldness and smoothness balanced perfectly with its acidity.

Tonight, we went to Picco's Pizzeria for my mom's birthday dinner in larkspur. We swung by K&L wines to pick up out new shipment of 2006 Russian River Patassy pinot. I put my name in on the waiting list after we drank our last bottle - they got 60 bottles in and we ended up buying three cases. Such a great deal for $17 a bottle. There's one case left (after a friend of ours bought one case) so hurry up and claim it for yourselves!!

Picco's Pizzeria was spectacular, as usual. The last time we were there it was mid-summer. This time it was a bit different in terms of ambience, but the food was spectacular. We had the margherita, the cannondale, and the specialized. The Margherita was so amazing - thin crust, fresh mozzarella, light on the sauce and a little basil. The cannondale and specialized were equally good - the housemade sausage on both was spicy and delicious. For dessert we had homemade frozen yogurt - vanilla bean and chocolate swirl - with dark caramel sauce. The yogurt is unlike anything else I have ever tasted, so smooth and rich. And the caramel sauce was rich and deep - like eating a fleur do sel caramel during christmas.

Oh, and the wine for dinner, it was a 2007 Russian River Martinelli pinot. It never lost its character. Full and smooth and bold from the first sip to the last.

Have I ever mentioned that I have an unsurpassed passion for wine and good food?