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Sure, bubbly is boss on New Years and even at celebrations like birthdays and anniversaries, but why not add its charming sparkle to silly-sweet St. Valentine’s Day? I can’t think of a lustier toast … except for maybe Bedrock’s ravishing Ode to Lulu rosé, or a sinful zinfandel, or ….

Here’s my go-to list:

NV Domaine Chandon étoile Sonoma-Napa Brut, $40 As crisp as the February fallen snow yet buttery and full like a fresh baked croissant, this American bubbly enlivens your senses with juicy strawberry, orange, and vibrant apple notes. chandon.com

2003 Roederer Estate L’Ermitage Brut Rosé, $70 Louis Roederer Brut champagne, France, is one of my favorite bottles so this second release of the limited pink version really puts the rosy in my cheeks. Opulent and deep: think fresh peach, strawberry, white mineral, hints of sweet bread dough and ripe red fruits. Embrace the splurge. champagne-roederer.com

Moet & Chandon Rosé Imperial, $120 She’ll love you for this girly-pink Valentine’s gift set that’s just as gimmicky as the greeting card driven holiday—and perfect for the lady who has everything. Fleshy body, with intense flavors of cherry, white pepper, and red fruit that dance on your tongue with youthful freshness. Yes, Scarlett Johansson in a bottle!  moet.com.

J Cuvee 20 Brut, J Vineyards, Russian River Valley, $20 What do you get when you mix almonds, apples, peach and stone fruits, toast and tiny bubbles with a lingering clean finish? Hello Valentine: a well-crafted classy sparkler with a civilized price that pairs well with spicy dishes and companions alike. jvineyards.com.

Jaillance Brut Crémant de Bordeaux Cuvée de l’Abbaye, $19 Elegant honey-hued with a rich bouquet of sweet almonds, white flowers, and marjoram; notes of pear, stone fruit, and brioche on the finish. Crémant is the fine dry sparkling wine produced in France outside of the champagne region. You’ll even have enough dough left over for that box of chocolates. jaillance.com.

Red, Red Wine

If seeking something bolder to go with your Valentine’s feast, consider:

Caminada Winery Malbec, Uco Valley Mendoza Argentina, $11 This off-the-beaten path selection with a jazzy label is sure to seduce over a lingering dinner for two. A ruby red hue, spicy sensory notes, and flavors of vanilla, cherry and plum put this juicy Malbec in the running for an affordable option that pairs well with grilled meats and tango partners alike. caminadawines.com

Zinful Sips

Our list of super California zinfandel wines is long but here are a few you can rely on: Lambert Bridge, Ravenswood, Ridge, Dutcher Crossing, Seghesio. Many of them are from Dry Creek Valley where some of the very oldest vines produce the hippest and happiest wines.

Cheers!

Robin

Favorite quotes:

* The right time to drink Champagne from Madame ‘Lily’ Bollinger: “I drink my Champagne when I’m happy and when I’m sad. Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I’m not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise I never touch it — unless I’m thirsty.”

*Age does not protect you from love. But love, to some extent, protects you from age.

Win Tickets to ZAP’s 2011 Grand Zinfandel Tasting at Fort Mason!

A few more details:
When is the event? Saturday, January 29, 2011, 2:00–5:00pm.
Where is the event? Fort Mason, in San Francisco
How much are the tickets? Tickets are currently $70 / person, but here is your chance to attend for free.

The Old World is France, and basically any other country within a trebuchet’s throw of France. Wines have been ratified by treaties, classified by region and not varietal, and are poured in chateaûs beckoning you with long dusty roads leading to a grand entrance.

The new world grabbed Alfred Nobel’s dynamite, and went into a whole new direction. This is what the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s exhibit: How Wine Became Modern | Design + Wine 1976 to Now, is all about. In other words, this ‘aint your Grandmother’s wine.

A large panel of bottles adorns a large wall in the middle of the exhibit to showcase all of the completely wacky, crazy, sexy, sleazy wine labels around. From wine labels literally inscribed, “cat pee” to Hard Row to Hoe’s Shameless Hussy (seen to the right), to a few Big Ass Cabs along with a few minimalist designs. Conventional label design was nowhere to be found.

Another room was dedicated to the construction and architecture of wineries. Imagine Frank Gehry getting commissions around the world to design wineries (How fun is that?). Scale models were scattered around the room allowing the visitor to examine the winery from a pure architectural perspective.

Apart from the portfolio of labels and buildings was the evolution in education in the wine world A complete collection of Riedel (pronounced REE-dell) is laid out with captions describing the appropriate wine to serve in the appropriate glass. I’m always amazed at how different styles of glasses can affect the taste so dramatically. (For all you Riedel card carrying fan club members, the glasses displayed were all of the sommelier series).

And what wine gallery wouldn’t be complete without—wine! No you can’t drink it, but 6 modified beakers held different wines in which you could stick your nose in a funnel-shaped piece and take in the aromas of the specific wine. To help you out, the aromatics are listed above the wine to describe what you are meant to smell. For instance I was reminded of that distinctive cat pee / gooseberry aromatic that New Zealand wine is famous for.

Soil samples from around the world, a clone mapped out showcasing how the varietals came to be, along with books, books and more books that have recently been written to further educate the public about the ever changing wine world (sadly, mind was not in there).

Needless to say, I was an oenophile in a wine shop. My favorite part of the show? Seeing the description that white Zinfandel is not made from white grapes. Classic (see the picture to the left). San Franciscans (or anyone else living near San Francisco or planning to visit San Francisco up until April), go and see this show! It’s a fun, educational look at the evolving world of wine.

Cheers,
Haydn

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Haydn Adams is the author of the book, Wineries Beyond Napa Valley: Dry Creek and Alexander Valley, an insider’s tasting guide to the hidden gems region. He also contributes to the Beyond Napa Valley Wine Blog, writes for vinvillage.com, and can be found roaming the hills of Sonoma County looking for the next hidden gems. Ironically, his editor is omnipresent but, sadly, we rarely spot her.

And now I give you, the top 10 wines of 2010:

Montemaggiore continues to defy conventional varietals when it comes to its location in Dry Creek. Their red wine portfolio is missing a Zinfandel, but instead showcases what Syrahs and Cabernet Sauvignons can do in the valley. So it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that when Montemaggiore decided to make a white, the Sauvignon Blanc (Dry Creek’s staple white) apparently was passed over, as well as the classic Chardonnay. However, here’s a white wine that begs for the spotlight.

Sourcing grapes from the Russian River Valley, winemaker Lise Ciolino, blends a combination of  Viogner, Marsanne & Roussane, resulting in what she calls the 3Divas. While all three ladies work well together, each one seems to come out and sing at least a solo before the finish.

The nose of this wine displays more of the Viogner, with a bit of honey, butterscotch and a hint of pear. The mid-palate brings in characteristics of the other two—Marsanne & Roussane, with the wine displaying characteristics of melon and orange, along with a bit of light spice.

There is a little bit of oak in the wine, but it’s faint thanks to the neutral French oak barrels and no malolactic fermentation. It’s clean, refreshing and a great introductory wine (shh, don’t tell the divas) to a meal. It will warm up your taste buds and get them ready for heavier wines. An exceptionally well-made wine.

Cheers,
Haydn

Follow Haydn on twitter at @haydnadams

—————————-
Haydn Adams is the author of the book, Wineries Beyond Napa Valley: Dry Creek and Alexander Valley, an insider’s tasting guide to the hidden gems region. He also contributes to the Beyond Napa Valley Wine Blog, writes for vinvillage.com, and can be found roaming the hills of Sonoma County looking for the next hidden gems. You can contact him at haydn@beyondnapavalley.com

I had the fortunate good luck to be able to attend Chelan Ridge’s soft grand opening in August in Lake Chelan. The winery had literally just put up their large “open” sign outside of the winery. The gardeners were still landscaping the fairly steep driveway as we crept around to the top. It’s still getting a bit of polish, but overall, this winery is ready for business.

The winery is located in the Lake Chelan AVA, a new wine region encompassing parts of Lake Chelan, which is located about 200 miles east of Seattle, Washington. The Lake Chelan AVA is a sub-AVA of the Columbia Valley AVA.

Chelan Ridge features four wines, complimentary, as part of their tasting schedule. The tasting room sits atop, well, a ridge overlooking Lake Chelan. To the left of the winery are rows running all along the hillside. On the other side of the tasting room is the barrel room, where you can see the various oak barrels interspersed with the stainless steel tanks.

Among the wines, the Chardonnay was the most impressive (96pts). The wine showcased ripe granny smith apples that danced around the mid-palate along with honeysuckle and a bit of vanilla. The honeysuckle was also present on the bouquet of the Chardonnay, to which I must have spent a good minute or two simply smelling it. In addition, you can also find a bit of apricot upfront. The secret to this magical Chardonnay is in the winemaking. Lynn and Henry Munneke, winemakers and owners, chose to use a combination of 50% new French Oak and 50% neutral French Oak. But wait, there’s more. They blended the two in a stainless steel tank, stabilized it and then put it in bottle. The stainless steel prevents the wine from continuing to soak up the oak from the barrel, and allows the two to harmonize in essentially a cold bath.

In Lynn’s words, “We were striving to produce a delicate, fruit-forward Chardonnay, with subtle toasted oak”. And she nailed it. The Chardonnay, among all the intricate descriptive adjectives, is simply gorgeous. You can taste the delicate craftsmanship in the wine. This might be the wine that is leading the charge to a new Chardonnay day. The amount of light oak combined with the stainless steel tank makes the Chardonnay blossom to what it should be—a Chardonnay. Not a butterball oakmonster.

Lake Chelan currently goes everything from Cab Franc to Pinot Noir to Grenache. It’s still a young wine region, and it remains to be seen what varietals will thrive here. Aside from Riesling which is a likely shoe-in, with the cooler winters mixed with the lake-effect that keeps the area from a total freeze-zone, I suspect that various more resilient grapes, such as the Chardonnay will do well in the area. And great winemaking will only add to the splendor that is Lake Chelan and Chelan Ridge Winery.

And on a personal note, kudos to Lynn and Henry Munneke on their excellent winemaking and congratulations on the opening of your winery. I can’t wait to see how the wine progresses over the years. I was honored to be at your soft grand opening and to taste your wines.

Cheers,
Haydn

Follow Haydn on twitter at @haydnadams

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Haydn Adams is the author of the book, Wineries Beyond Napa Valley: Dry Creek and Alexander Valley, an insider’s tasting guide to the hidden gems region. He also contributes to the Beyond Napa Valley Wine Blog, writes for vinvillage.com, and can be found roaming the hills of Sonoma County (and Lake Chelan) looking for the next hidden gems. You can contact him at haydn@beyondnapavalley.com

The Lake Chelan AVA is only a year and a half old, officially, and, like sampling wine out of the barrel, one can only give their best estimate to how it will preform once it’s been through bottle shock. That being said, a good winemaker & vineyard manager can give a pretty good guesstimation to what that wine will do. Here’s a recap of my three-day whirlwind tasting through Lake Chelan’s wine district.

It’s new & growing (in a good way)

I must have tried about 15 different varietals over a three-day tasting around the like. All of the Spanish reds were there: Tempranillo & Grenache. There were a few Bordeaux blends present (though the Petit Verdot was MIA), a few Italians made their presence around the sloping waterfront hillsides, and nearly everyone had an Alsacian, a.k.a, a Riesling. In addition, the Pinot grape also made a cameo, alongside a Sparkling. In my thirst (no pun intended) to figure out which varietal does the best per the climate, I came away still not knowing. I figure with a few more years, a few gems will begin to emerge.

Wines by the glass

What through me for a loop was that all the wineries I visited had their wines available by the glass. It was something I had rarely seen in a winery, let alone in all wineries. I took up the offer, and finished off my evening on the first night kicking back underneath the misters at Hard Row to Hoe (and with the mercury pushing 85+ at 6:00 at night, the misters were quite enjoyable). With most wineries offering beautiful vistas of the lake, it’s easily to indulge your taste buds while getting lost in a kodak moment.

Overall Impression

While it is a new AVA, certain wineries could have fooled me into thinking they have been around for a decade or longer (ok, for the record, Lake Chelan winery has been around for a decade). However with scenic vistas of grapes seeming to flow endlessly to the water’s edge, very hospitable staff members, and a myriad of varietals to choose from, Chelan ranks high on the desirability scale when choosing which AVA to vacation in. It is a drive to get to from the Seattle area (or anywhere else for that matter). But trust me. When you get here, you won’t want to leave. It’s just too gosh darn beautiful. Welcome to the big leagues Lake Chelan (AVA).

Cheers,
Haydn

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Haydn Adams is the author of the book, Wineries Beyond Napa Valley: Dry Creek and Alexander Valley, an insider’s tasting guide to the hidden gems region. He also contributes to the Beyond Napa Valley Wine Blog, writes for vinvillage.com, and can be found roaming the hills of Sonoma County looking for the next hidden gems. You can contact him at haydn@beyondnapavalley.com

At least for me, when it comes to summertime, the rose wine jumps right up to the top. Along with those crisp whites (hello New Zealand), the cool and refreshingness of  a rose is hard to beat. And when wine tasting in a region where the summer temps are hovering in the 90s, something cold is almost always something good.

Such was the case with the Hard Row to Hoe Shameless Hussy Rose, made from the Sangiovese grape. When describing this wine, I realized all of the bad Freudian slips that could easily be derived from such a tempting name. Without going all the way (sorry, no pun intended) into their history, the cliff notes go something like this: It’s based upon a brothel whereby the only mode of transportation to get there was by boat, or row boat, in the name’s case.

This rose is made for the summer. It’s crisp, refreshing, and loaded with bright berries, including strawberries and raspberries. The nose is beautiful with images of red berries dancing around your nose. It would go great with crab cakes (no, not those crabs) and cool brie cheese on a sunny afternoon.

As a Lake Chelan wine tasting virgin, this was a great wine to taste what Lake Chelan can produce, be it in a Rose. Overall Hard Row to Hoe’s wines were balanced with a comfortable amount of tannins and acid to them. And while the Syrah was the wine that won out to sip out on their covered balcony with misters running at full strength, the rose left one of the biggest, um, impressions in my mine. I now need to go was my… glass.

Cheers,
Haydn

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Haydn Adams is the author of the book, Wineries Beyond Napa Valley: Dry Creek and Alexander Valley, an insider’s tasting guide to the hidden gems region. He also contributes to the Beyond Napa Valley Wine Blog, writes for vinvillage.com, and can be found roaming the hills of Sonoma County looking for the next hidden gems. You can contact him at haydn@beyondnapavalley.com