Jazmin and Matt's tasting.

Met this really nice couple at Vanessa's tasting. Can't wait for their tasting on this Saturday!

Lucky French Cows!

Red or white with beef? Either! 

Happy French cows fed two bottles of wine a day to produce succulent gourmet ‘vinbovin’ meat

French cows are getting a taste of the lush life by being fed wine — the equivalent of two or three bottles a day for some cattle in the southern region of Herault.

The cattle’s owner claims it keeps them “happy,” and for the consumer, makes the meat a better-tasting product.  Chefs are also swearing by imbibing bovines.

The meat, known as “vinbovin,” has a “very special texture, beautiful, marbled and tender, which caramelizes while cooking,” Laurent Pourcel, a three Michelin-star chef, said this month, according to The Telegraph.

Winemaker Jean-Charles Tastavy added that he came up with the idea when he first provided the cows a mix of grapes, barley and hay.

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Farewell Zinfandel

The Mariana Zinfandel has just moved to low inventory.  This old vine favorite of mine and yours will be missed.  Let me know if you are interested in making a purchase while you still have a chance.

Our Mariana 2009 Zinfandel was produced in the Central Coast wine growing region of California. Zinfandel or Zin, found its origin in Europe in Albania or Greece. This varietal is a genetic twin of the Italian varietal Primitivo. Planted in the United States in the early 19th century it became, half a century later, the number one planted grape vine in California. Zin was and is still very popular even having its own yearly festival in San Francisco: the ZAP. Its popularity comes certainly from the fact that this wine can be appreciated under many forms, as Pink or Rosé, sweet or dry. This wine is made from Old Vines in the Contra Costa appellation, or AVA.

This is a classic wine with a dark robe and a complex nose: dry herbs, black pepper, toasted and light oak characters. The ripeness of these Old Vines provide a round and creamy mouthfeel. Beautiful flavors of cherries, cassis and oak tannins from barrel ageing complete the structure. This wine will stand easily with more ageing in the bottle, up to three years. Enjoy it with grilled meat, stews, wild game or many cheeses. Try the featured recipe of Savory-Backyard-Chicken on the back, which will pick up perfectly with many flavors found in this wine.

Mariana 2009 California Zinfandel

Wine Collecting: 10 Tips for Beginners

Have you ever considered starting a wine collection but were unsure how to begin? Here are some useful tips for any readers considering having more than a few dozen bottles around at the one time.

If you decide to collect wine, the most important first step is to be clear about your objectives. Are you collecting for your own everyday and future drinking pleasure? Or are you investing in an asset, which you plan to sell at a future date for a profit? Depending on your answer, how you set about starting and building your collection will differ greatly.

For the purpose of this post, let's assume you are collecting for your personal pleasure.

Collecting Wine: 10 Essential Tips

• 1. Not all wines age well. Collect wines that have at least 2 to 3 years aging potential. The real fun in collecting is seeing how these wines develop over time. Get to know the categories of wines that age. For example Bordeaux ages but simple Beaujolais does not

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40 Wine Descriptions and What They Really Mean

How to buy wine when you don’t know what it tastes like? A lot of folks (including me) rely on reading wine writer’s descriptions to understand what the wine tastes like. Here’s a list of common wine descriptions and what they actually mean. Wine writing is a business and its job is to SELL the wine, not to be honest or accurate. This is why we rarely write about wine… unless it’s freaking kickass! 

ACIDITY

Wines with high acidity are tart and zesty. Red wines generally have a lighter color and more tart characteristics (versus “round”). white wines are often described with characteristics to lemon or lime juice.

ANGULAR

An angular wine is like putting a triangle in your mouth, it hits you in specific places with high impact and not elsewhere, It’s like getting punch in the arm in the same place over and over again. An angular wine also has high acidity.

AUSTERE

This is a very unfriendly wine. It hits your mouth and then turns it inside out. It usually means the wine has very high acidity and very little fruit flavors. An austere wine is not fruit-forward nor opulent.

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Mythmaking and wine palates

The latest research seems to confirm the newest trend in wine -- that some of us are better at tasting wine than others. The study, conducted by researchers at Penn State and Brock University in Canada, found that the so-called experts can taste subtleties in wine that the rest of us can't.

 

This is just another in a long line of studies about wine palates that separate the world into people with various degrees of wine tasting ability. A Yale scientist, Linda Bartoshuk, divides the world into three groups: Super tasters, about 25 percent of the population; tasters, about 50 percent; and non-tasters, about 25 percent. The first group is above average, the second is average, and the third is below average.. Women are a little more than twice as likely to be super tasters as men, according to her work.

This is just another in a long line of studies about wine palates that separate the world into people with various degrees of wine tasting ability. A Yale scientist, Linda Bartoshuk, divides the world into three groups: Super tasters, about 25 percent of the population; tasters, about 50 p ercent; and non-tasters, about 25 percent. The first group is above average, the second is average, and the third is below average.. Women are a little more than twice as likely to be super tasters as men, according to her work.

 

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5 Truths to Make You Smarter About Wine

 

Wine is an intricate and ever changing subject. However, there are a few fundamentals to keep in mind that are sure to make you appear more knowledgeable and sound more eloquent when it comes to wine.

1. Sweet wine is not the same as fruity wine. Many people confuse sweetness with fruitiness. If you ask for something ‘sweet,’ wine folks will assume you’re looking for a wine with residual sugar. In wine terms, sweet wine, which is the opposite of dry wine, contains leftover sugar that was not converted in to alcohol during the fermentation process. If what you’re actually looking for is a juicy wine dominated by fruity aromas and flavors, ask for a ‘fruity’ or ‘fruit forward’ wine.

2. There are no blueberries in the wine. You’ve no doubt seen wine notes overflowing with descriptors such as ‘chocolate’ and ‘blueberry’ or ‘cherry’ and ‘floral.’ Maybe you’ve even thought to yourself, “how do they get the blueberries in there?” There is only one basic ingredient in fine wine and that is grapes. These descriptions are simply perceptions of aromas and flavors and they provide a convenient way to have a conversation about wine. Wine notes can get carried away ─ camphor and turmeric?! ─ but they can also help you choose a wine that suits your palate.

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