My top 10 wines, plus a few more

Last night, I popped the cork on a bottle of 2008 Titus Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet Franc. I love the Titus wines for a few reasons: by Napa standards, they are fairly priced, and they are designed to be enjoyed without prolonged aging after purchase. The winery is owned by Titus brothers Philip (the winemaker) and Eric (the grape grower). The vineyards are located just north of Deer Park Road at the northern end of St. Helena.

(Philip is also the winemaker for Chappellet Vineyards.)

I think the Titus Cab Franc is very drinkable. Aromas of dark berries and dried herbs fill the glass. The palate exhibits solid flavors of cherry cola and black currant give way to a smooth finish with notes of dark chocolate and black tea. Medium plus body, but drinkable on it’s own. Ripe, juicy, bold texture. Very smooth tannins.

“This wine is definitely in my top ten,” my boyfriend said after his second sip.

As much as I liked the wine, it made me think about my top ten list. After much internal debate, here it is:

1. Domaine Carneros Brut (because I could drink a glass of this sparkling everyday and never get tired of it)
2. Hope & Grace Russian River Valley Pinot Noir
3. Tamber Bey Deux Cheveux Cabernet Sauvignon
4. Chappellet Mountain Cuvee
5. Ladera Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
6. Hartwell Estate Vineyards Misté Hills Cabernet Sauvignon
7. Dutton-Goldfield Pinot Noir
8. Hyde de Villaine de La Guerra Chardonnay
9. Biale Black Chicken Zinfandel
10. T-Vine Grenache

Picking only ten wines for this list wasn’t easy. Here’s four more of my favorites:

11. Crocker & Starr Cab Franc
12. Terra Valentine Cabernet Sauvignon
13. Patz and Hall Pinot Noir
14. Swanson Merlot

I purposefully did not list a vintage for these wines because I have found them to be consistently good from year to year. Check 'em out!

Picco is my vote for "Best Restaurant in Marin"

As far as I'm concerned, Picco is the best restaurant in Marin! It has been my favorite restaurant for the past couple years now because the food is fabulous, the service is extraordinary, and the wine list is great.

I was introduced to this cozy neighborhood restaurant in Larkspur 2+ years ago when my sister started working there as a server. I've been to dinner there many times since, by myself to have a drink and a bite at the bar, to meet friends, and with groups. It's the perfect date place, but really, it's appropriate for most occasions and pretty much any night of the week.

(As a side note, the name is Picco - not "Piccos" as people have a tendency to say.)

Most of the dishes are smaller portions designed for sharing. One meal can feature many different dis

hes, flavors, and styles of cooking. Although the restaurant is coined "Cal-Italian" for its signature risotto which changes nightly, the menu is quite diverse; Chef Jared adds new seasonal dishes frequently. There are many seafood options (raw and cooked), lighter options (salads and simply prepared vegetables), some dishes with more of a home-style flair (like the cheesy cauliflower, which could double as mac n cheese), the homemade pastas, and the heartier main courses (like the porterhouse steak).

I went to Picco with my boyfriend and another couple a few weeks ago. We loved everything we ordered, including the avocado bruschetta (which luckily is on the menu almost year round), the hamachi crudo, the broccoli di ciccio with lemon and olive oil, the gnocchi with sausage and swiss chard (to die for), the quail with mushrooms, and the beef sliders topped with blue cheese and sauteed onions.
That particular night, we took in our own wines, which our server Matt was happy to open for us. The first bottle we enjoyed was the 2008 Patz & Hall Hyde Vineyard Pinot Noir. The Pinot had delicate fruity aromatics and a medium-plus body with ribbons of currant and raspberry. It was very easy to drink, and before we knew it, we had polished off the bottle

Our friends had gone wine tasting in Sonoma earlier that day and were happy to grab a bottle from one of their wine club pick-up selections, a Ledson Cabernet Sauvignon. It was the perfect pairing with the beef sliders and the quail.

That being said, I normally order a glass of wine or start with a cocktail when I go to Picco. Bartenders Dustin and Luke are very inventive with the mixed drinks. The wines by the glass selection changes often and features an International selection of delicious wines. I always have trouble deciding [on one glass] because there are too many terrific options [so I usually have two glasses}!

Picco is a cozy neighborhood restaurant, and although the servers are personable and friendly, the service is also professional. The entire staff are wonderful people (and I'm not just saying that because my sister Kelley works there, haha)!

The food, the service, the ambiance--it's consistent and consistently amazing! No wonder they are always packed.

www.restaurantpicco.com

The simple way to age wine

I've heard a lot of consumers complain about having difficulty aging wine. I've found it's really quite simple.

When you go wine tasting as often as I have in the past three years (and feel obligated to buy wine at each tasting), you'll find you have quite a collection of wine on your hands. When you have more wine than you can drink, it becomes easy to age wine.

The old adage "out of sight, out of mind" is another trick to aging wine.

In the small refrigerated room we referred to as the cellar in the house where I lived in St. Helena, the racks were nine feet tall. The more expensive the wine, the higher it was kept. When you're just under 5'4 like myself and need to drag an awkward heavy stool in from the kitchen (which is on the other side of the house), you think twice about it. Everyday priced wines went at eye level and below for easy accessibility.

Now that I no longer have access to the "interwinery discount", I'm buying fewer new bottles and dipping into my older bottles. I also no longer have the luxury of an organized cellar; I keep 50 bottles in a wine fridge in my bedroom and about 10 cases plus large-formats in my sister's storage unit nearby. (Being that my sister is not much of a wine-drinker, I can trust her to keep an eye on my wine and not drink all of it.)

Last night as I perused the wines jammed haphazardly into my little fridge--a random mix of many different varietals, some recent purchases and a few older vintages--the 2004 Frank Family Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon seemed like a good choice.

The current vintage of the Rutherford Cab is $85 at frankfamilyvineyards.com; the pragmatic voice in my head said that this particular bottle was a special occasion wine, not a Friday night complement to pizza kind of wine. But with no height limitations, I had nothing stopping me.

If my boyfriend had waited any longer to come over, he might have missed out on this gorgeous wine. It was dark purple in the glass, almost black. Rich and full-bodied with elegant, fine-grained tannins. Layers of ripe blackberry, dark chocolate, and creme de cassis were followed by a super-silky sweet finish.

The pizza I made with sauteed mushrooms, red peppers, and prosciutto was tasty, but the wine surpassed the meal by a long shot. I have to admit that this wine surprised me and certainly exceeded my expectations.

It's been since the summer of 2009 since I visited Frank Family's tasting room, and I don't remember the wine being as good as it was last night. Some wines are definitely worth putting out of sight for a while.