“My father was a classic gentleman.” This is what Bernard Portet said about his dad, who was the technical director at Château Lafite in Bordeaux back int he day, while we tasted his wines. Well, the grape doesn’t fall far from the vine. Bernard is French, charming (obviously), and a Napa legend who has made amazing … Continue reading
Tag Archives: cabernet
so, uh, maybe justin didn’t have bad wine at his wedding
I may have previously thought that Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel drank shitty wine at their wedding (see: “Justin Timberlake probably drank shitty wine at his wedding“). But the evidence at that point seemed to be clear. Anyway, it has come to my attention that Justin and Jessica made their own custom blend for their … Continue reading
these amused my bouche
If I’m getting serious about my wine tasting, I usually don’t like to eat while drinking. But once I’m done with taking notes, I love a good food and wine pairing that brings out different things in the wine. In Napa and Sonoma, we had a few brilliant couplings. Take note for your next party… … Continue reading
things I double heart about cliff lede
Visited lots of wineries last week. One that stood out was Cliff Lede (pronounced “lay-dee”). Had already tasted and loved the wine, but the place is cool too for a bunch of reasons. the double hearts When you walk through the entry room, you enter this great garden with these double hearts by Jim Dine. … Continue reading
napa: family hour
Just had fantastic tour and tasting with Jessica Palmaz. Cool to see the family operations with our family. Amazing gravity-driven facilities in the mountain, cross between Austin Powers and Willy Wonka. Annnnd the wine did not suck…. At all. Also love that they made a non-alcoholic Muscat for the four-year-old nephew! Totally what we would … Continue reading
Napa: best wine of day 2
Poetry. Normally you’d hear a wine name like this and either groan or think it’s cheesy. Not once you drink this one. Cliff Lede’s Poetry is made from the best grapes they have, and we were lucky enough to taste some today. As everyone tasted it around the table, you could see each set of … Continue reading
happy paraduxx cornhole happy hour
What’s the best way to end your day of winery visits? More wine – and cornhole. We got some good wines to taste at Paraduxx – my faves were the rosé and the Z Blend – pretty great with the charcuterie and Mimolette cheese. The we topped it off with a killer game of cornhole. … Continue reading
drink me: b cellars blend 24
grape: 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Sangiovese, 22% Syrah. producer: B Cellars. I also had their Sauvignon Blanc (yum) and their Sangiovese (good, but I’m not the world’s biggest Sangio fan) country: USA region: Napa year: 2009 yum factors: Cab/Sangiovese is the classic pairing in Super Tuscans. Cab gives bold black cherry, and the SG adds grit and … Continue reading
giants d: huge grapefriends!
So last night I’m hanging at this WSJ Magazine event at Burberry for the launch of The Britain watch. I was happy enough just sipping on my Veuve when I heard there were Giants on premises: cornerbacks Prince Amukamara and Justin Tryon. Well of course I had to meet them, and they were really lovely … Continue reading
rg3: suck my grapes
The pain just keeps on coming. It’s bad enough Giants fans have to contend with RG3 in our division, now I find out the Redskins have their own wine this year!?! Some 80th anniversary commemorative thing, it’s a Cab from California’s Alexander Valley which is a pretty good place for Cabs. They’re selling it for … Continue reading