When I attended the
2012 Wine Bloggers Conference in Portland ,
I recall being surprised by the number of bloggers who had full-time jobs
outside of the wine industry. I was impressed that, after working all day as a
computer programmer or IT specialist or customer service rep, that they could
go home, pop the cork on a bottle of wine, and then have the energy to blog
about it.
Now that I have a full-time job and commute in and out of San Francisco five days a
week, I have even more respect for those folks. When I get home at night, I
pour myself a glass of wine and turn on the TV. It’s all downhill from there. I’m
lucky if I manage to fire off a tweet about what’s in my glass.
But I've tasted some amazing wines so far this year, even if I haven't had the chance to write about them. I thought it was funny when one of my Twitter followers sent
me a message saying he was glad to see me tweeting about wine again (as if I
was abstaining from drinking wine, which I assure you, is not the case!).
I’m adding “blog once a week” to my list of New Year’s
Resolutions. Effective immediately.
One of the wines I've enjoyed recently is the 2010 La Fenetre A Côté
North Coast Pinot Noir. I picked this bottle up from the Ferry Plaza Wine
Merchant, where it is only $22 retail. I was immediately impressed with its sophistication
and depth of flavors. This wine is a great value!
The “A Côté” wines are designed for everyday enjoyment, and
this Pinot is perfect for doing just that! It’s lush and fruit-forward with
mouth-watering black cherry and dark plum flavors. Dark and concentrated in the
glass, notes of cola, vanilla, and baking spice round out the mid-palate. The
finish is redolent with dark berries and spice—and lasts until you take your
next sip.
After posting this pic of the label to the Sip Swirl Savor
Facebook Page, it was brought to my attention that this wine is produced by
Josh Klapper, a USC alum like myself. (Go Trojans!)
Under the La Fenetre label, Josh also makes single-vineyard
Chardonnay, Syrah and Pinot Noir with fruit sourced from prestigious Santa
Barbara vineyards (like Bien Nacido, yum yum). He also makes a Spätlese Halbtrocken-style Riesling (low
alcohol, off-dry) that is featured in this month’s Ferry Plaza WineMerchant Wine Club. If you like slightly sweet wines, you should definitely
check it out. And I promise to keep you posted if I get the opportunity to
taste any of Josh’s vineyard-designate wines, which I’m sure are amazing!
Please feel free to leave comments here or post them to my
Facebook page. I’d love to hear your feedback and to know what’s in your glass
these days!
