Picking up the pace with La Fenetre A Cote Pinot Noir

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! 

Trione Sampler Kit from TastingRoom.com

I almost called this post, "The Sampler Kit for the Single (Wine) Girl"...

I was set up on a blind date last week. My date was not unattractive, but with a nose ring, clad in skinny jeans, and covered in tattoos, he was hardly my type. (The guy can wear the pants in the relationship, but I’d like to reserve the right to wear skinny jeans.) 

But that wasn’t the worst of it. He didn’t drink wine. Ever.

I totally respect a person’s decision not to drink alcohol. But as I rode the ferry back to Marin that night, I debated whether I could imagine dating someone who didn’t share my passion for wine. I tried to consider this scenario with the “glass half-full” perspective—if it were to work out with Mr. Skinny Jeans, it would mean more wine for me and always having a designated driver, right? 

(But it’s not going to work, for the reasons mentioned in the first paragraph.)

In most contexts, wine is meant to be shared. And analyzing wine is a lot more fun when you’re not the only person in the room drinking it (otherwise, it’s called a monologue or talking to yourself).

There is one scenario, however, when sharing isn’t really possible. Like with a wine sampler kit from TastingRoom.com for instance.

I was thrilled to receive a six-pack of 50-milliliter bottles of the current releases from Trione Vineyards and Winery. I’ve heard a lot about these mini-bottles and sampler kits, so I was eager to check them out for myself (and by myself).

As I posted to my Facebook page, the bottles are adorable! Each has it’s own legitimate miniature label and stamped with its unique bottling date. The Trione samples included the 2010 Sauvignon Blanc, the 2008 Chardonnay, the 2008 Pinot Noir, the 2008 Syrah, and the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon and 2007 Red Wine.

Sometimes as a single person, I refrain from opening a 750-milliliter bottle for fear of not finishing it. With this Trione sampler kit, this wasn’t a concern at all.

Off came the screw-caps of the little bottles in quick succession.

The 2008 Russian River Chardonnay ($30/bottle) was my favorite of the two white selections. It was refreshing and pure with bright notes of green apple, Meyer lemon, and almond skin.

The 2007 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon was a delicious and full-bodied wine. It had aromas of cherry compote and a dark concentrated color in the glass. Black cherry and blackberry flavors were complemented by earthy undertones, black licorice notes, and drying tannins. It will continue to cellar nicely; however, it is—sadly (for the consumer)—sold out.

The 2007 Alexander Valley Red Wine, a Bordeaux-style blend, is also sold out. It was very rich and ostentatious with a sweet cherry liqueur perfume. This weighty, heavily extracted wine delivered ripe black cherry and sweet black plum flavors with velvety tannins. The finish showed generous oak spice and sweet vanilla notes. I really wanted another glass of this one!

That brings me to my next point. The TastingRoom.com wine sampler packaging was quite cool, but I was surprised by how little 50 milliliters is. It’s less than 2 ounces and no more than two sips, so I had to make each one count knowing that I wanted to review the wines. (The website also offers 100-milliliter “single serving” bottles—perfect for the single girl or someone dating a non-drinker haha.)  From an evaluator’s perspective, I would have preferred 100-milliliter samples to observe how the wine changes and evolves in the glass.

Full-size bottles of Trione can be ordered from their website and their tasting room in Geyserville is open Thursday thru Sunday. 

I definitely plan to visit the Trione Winery some day, perhaps when I'm dating someone who will enjoy tasting the wines with me!