Category Archives: Wine

Wine

Taste of Spring Event in Oakland, CA

Friends of Oakland Parks and Recreation is holding its annual Taste of Spring event on May 6th at the Rotunda building in downtown. This event raises money to improve Oakland’s parks and provide scholarships for sports, aquatic and other recreational activities for Oakland’s youth. This year’s seventh annual event will feature great food and wine, live and silent auctions, and special entertainment including acrobatic aerialists. More details below:

a taste of spring

Thursday, May 6, 2010

5:30-8:00 PM

The Rotunda Building

300 Frank Ogawa Plaza, Oakland

 

Come celebrate with Friends of Oakland Parks & Recreation!

Enjoy great food & wine, exciting auctions & aerial entertainment!

Help us provide scholarships for camp, swim lessons,

sailing & science classes, and much more.

 

Tickets: $50 in advance or $65 at the door

For advance purchase, visit: 2010 Taste or Spring

OR visit LaFarine, Miller & Co. Salon, Montclair Sports,

Terrace Gifts &Coffee, or Uptown Body & Fender

For more information call 510.465.1850.

Look for us on Facebook

Wine

Wine Review: Cornerstone Cellars 2009 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc

This is a pale colored wine with vibrant grapefruit flavors and a rich mouthfeel. Lasting, acidity finish complements the lush flavors that arise from swirling it in the glass. Long legs for appearance and a lush mouthfeel help add to an experience that will leave wine drinkers pleased and craving for more. This easy to drink sauvignon blanc from Napa valley is easily enjoyable with a light bodied cigar, roasted duck legs and duck flavored rice with ginger sauce.

Cornerstone Cellars Website

Bourbon, Cigars, Wine

This week’s list of things I’ve tried

Nothing spectacular so far this week but I have had a few interesting morsels of goodness come my way in the form of wine, hard liquor and cigars!

Elmer T Lee bourbon – This offering from Ancient Ange Distilling Co. in Kentucky has a nice caramel with a smooth taste. It’s high rye blend with some mild vanilla sweetness in the mouth. Had a long finish that paired well with my cigar. Golden color with a reddish tint. Inexpensive bourbon (about $24 for 750ml from )

Kim Crawford 2008 Marlborough Pinot Noir – A very light bodied australian pinot noir with bright cherry and soft mouthfeel that delivers plenty of acidity and a light to medium finish. Bright red with purple color in the glass. Tasted at Occidental Cigar Bar in San Francisco. $12 a glass there, $16.00 a bottle at The Wine Outlet

Arturo Fuente Rosado R54 – 6 1/4 X 54 smoke that I enjoyed over two hours at Grants. I had to pick up two more to lay down as the box disappeared almost as soon as Thomas opened it. For a little more than $11 a stick in the B/M shop, this is a cigar with medium flavors of sweetness due to the 10 year old aged Ecuadorian wrapper and blended with a Domiinican filler that is allowed to age for another year. Creamy, pleasant, with an easy draw and perfect construction.

That’s been what I’ve had for the week that held my interest. Look out for a wine review of the 2004 Legends Merlot from Larry Bird and legendary napa valley producer Mitch Cosetino, the ’04 Cabernet Sauvignon from the same, and a review of an impressive spirit called Dimmi Liquor Di Milano!

Wine

Arroyo Robles Winery is donating to Prevent Cruelty to Animals this month!

April is Prevention of

Cruelty to Animals Month

To celebrate and raise awareness, we are offering EMMA & RILEY’s EMERGENCY RELIEF on SALE for the month of April!
For this month only, receive 10% off the regular price ($19.80 per bottle, regularly $22.00) AR Wine club members can add that 10% to their regular discount.

10% Case Discounts apply for everyone.

2006 “ER”
(Zin, Syrah, Merlot, Cab)
$19.80 PER BOTTLE during April/ $17.60 PER BOTTLE WHEN YOU BUY A CASE
AR WINE CLUB PRICE: $ 15.40 PER BOTTLE during April/ $13.20 PER BOTTLE WHEN YOU BUY A CASE

In addition to that great deal, $2 of every ER bottle sold at this sale will go to Woods Humane Society
to help find homes for local dogs and cats.

Speaking of Woods , join us next weekend , April 10-11 for
WINE 4 PAWS
At AR and participating wineries, we will donate 10% of the weekend’s proceeds to Woods!

URL for Wine4Paws

Austrailian Wines, Cigars, Wine

Update: Things I’ve tried

Been a week since the last update and I thought since I haven’t drank or smoked anything noteworthy, I’d just take a moment to share what I have been drinking and smoking.

First, yesterday at Grants I smoked the Triumfador by Tatuaje. I understand it’s roughly the same or similiar blend to the La Riqueza (which I need to review for this blog!) and the round of opinions from the guys who smoked it found it pleasant and and “excellent cigar.” I had to agree. Construction was solid, the wrapper held some oily notes along with that signature flavor profile by master blender Don “Pepin” Garcia. I’ll be smoking another one Saturday more than likely. Thanks Pete Johnson!

Oh, at Tobacco Road I finally picked up an Ashton VSG Sungrown. Heard this was a nice smoke and at $17 a stick, it’s blog worthy based on my standards. I’ll report that soon!

I picked up pipe smoking a few weeks back and am enjoying that but haad to deal with the learning curve. Thankfully one of the gents i smoke with has offered to introduce me to some of the finer points on pipe smoking. Btw I picked up a Perot pipe for about $35 from Grants.

This week I’ve had Murrietta’s Well Meritage which doesn’t qualify for the blog (I think it retails for about $15 a bottle) but was a delightful wine to drink. Full of structure, nice tannins and flavor, this 2005 release is one i’ll pick up a few more bottles of. Thank you Livermore Valley, California!

Also this week we had GMH Verdelho from Australia. Geoff M. Hardy’s 2006 release shows bright fruit, acidity and some tartness on this well made South Australian wine.

Of note, was a new thing I might add to the blog. Beer reviews. My girlfriend picked up Three Philsopher’s belgian style ale. Bright flavors with a typical belgian style profile and fruit held nicely on the palate with a medium finish.

Guess that’s it for now.

As always, cheers!

Cigars, Wine

Consumption question

How many cigars do you smoke in a week? How many drinks do you consume in a day?

I ask this question for curiousity’s sake as well as to see where I fit in the moderation spectrum. You see, I recently upped the number of cigars I’ve had in a week from 4 to about 6 and maintained my drink count at 4 drinks a day. Usually two glasses of wine, two scotches.

I asked a few of the smokers I hang out with about their smoking habits and found that most seem to hover around 3-4 cigars a day. If I smoked that much I’d never get anything done!

My cigars and pipe are a relaxing thing for me that keeps me out of the office. Cigars require me to leave the house and be outside at least long enough to head to BART to go to Grants or Tobacco Road. Or at the very least I can sit ont he lake and light up.

Regarding drinks, I just never thought about why I can’t have four drinks in a day. The wine and last scotch of the night is centered around a hearty meal and the early drink I have with lunch.

I drink plenty of water, tea and juice. I eat fairly well and beileve in a good diet all around –which should include fine scotch and cigars!

What say you?

Austrailian Wines, Chardonnay, Wine

Wine Review: 42 Degree South 2006 UnwoodedChardonnay by Frogmore Creek Wines

A gold colored wine in the glass possesses just about the chalkiest flavors on a medium finish I have ever tastsed. Made in Tasmania, Australia, the lack of usage in wood really allows for the grapes to show a different side. Stone fruit on the nose was faint but present.

Served with catfish, jasmine rice and edamame, the pairing wasn’t “too” far off.

For a $12 bottle, this wasn’t too bad. Yeah, I know it doesn’t really fit the blog’s suggested price range either but we ARE open to reviewing free wine…

Austrailian Wines, Cabernet Sauvignon

Wine Review: Aussie Vineyards Twelve Apostles South Eastern 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon

From South Eastern Austrailia, this wine boasts balanced tannins and chocolate on the palate with a creamy oak feel in the mouth. A medium bodied Cab from Aussie Vineyards. A ripe berry nose that opens up after time. Paired well with steak covered in african spice mixture and fried potato slices.

This wine is priced at just under $20 but I picked it up for less at Grocery Outlet.

Spanish Wines, Tempranillo, Wine

Wine Review: Bodegas Señorio del Júcar Vina Bel 2008 Tempranillo

I’m not overly familiar with wines from the Castilla-La Mancha region of Spain but this one delivered. I had to hunt a little for information.

This dark colored wine with firm tannins and fruit drinks well. It’s not too young or overpowering yet it holds just enough terroir and dirt for my palate to make it a pleasurable drinking wine. Notes of violet and dark fruit lead with a medium finish.

We had it with chinese food and the two don’t really pair well but I just grabbed it not thinking LOL!

For just under $20 this wine meets the blog’s rules AND my wallet remains just as pleased as my palate. Even better, we picked this up as an overstock at Grocery Outlet so we paid $4 for it instead of close to $20.

I’d like to see what laying down a bottle would do for a year or three.