Simple Hedonisms

Article 4 of 4: Barrel Tasting Sales Promotions  – Existing Inventory Sales (of wine, not barrels)

In the 3^rd article we discussed the basic concept of barrel tasting and how some wineries offer discounts on unreleased wines. Some wineries also take advantage of the event to offer sales incentives on existing inventory, special offers for new club members, and other limited offers.

Following are some of these offers:

Lynmar Estates (both weekends)

• Lynmar is offering Purchases including these four wines: 2004 Quail Hill Estate Chard, 2006 Russian River Pinot Noir, 2006 Russian River Chardonnay (almost gone) & 2006 Sonoma Coast Syrah are priced at the following discount: 3btls: 20% off, 6btls: 25% off, 12btls: 35% off.

Longboard Vineyards (both weekends)

• Longboard Is offering a a mix-and-match discount special for your-choice combination of our Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot and Point Break Red.  3 bottles for $60, 6 bottles for $120 and a case for $240.”In addition Longboard has just put out a Magnums only library release with prices starting @ $100. (Club discounts apply.) Their 2005 Syrah is also on sale by the case.

Mounts Family Winery (both weekends)

• Mounts is offering special discounts on its existing inventory, which includes Rose, Cabernet, Petite Syrah, Syrah and Zin.10% on half case (normally 5%), 20% on full case (normally 10%) You can mix and match for full case discount – no minimum per varietal required.

Trione (both weekends)

• Trione  Is offering  a special case discount on the  2007 Sauvignon Blanc of $138 to people who mention the hashtag #barreltasting,  check in on Foursquare, or  Twitter/Facebook/Blog promotion.
• Also, each day they will be drawing  a prize to every 100th customer who comes. The prizes will include but are not limited to hats, T-shirts and VIP tour and tasting for 6 people with a wine educator.

Kokomo (both weekends)

• Kokomo is putting our 2006 Dry Creek Zin on special. It normally retails for $27, but for the weekends only during the event, it will be $22.50.

Sausal (both weekends)

• Sausal Winery is offering a 15% discount on any purchase of our 2006 Private Reserve Zinfandel (100% Estate Zin from 90 year-old vines) and a 15% discount off any purchase on our Sogni ‘d Oro (Italian style blend of Sangiovese, Zinfandel, Carignane, and Petite Sirah.)

• They will also be doing a 15% off discount off any 6 bottles purchase (mix and match) or 20% off a case (mix and match).

Acorn (both weekends)

• Acorn Is offering 15% off 6-11 bottles, and 30% off a case, of their 2006 Sangiovese, Axiom Syrah, and Heritage Vines Zinfandel. Mixed Cases ok.

J Keverson (both weekends)

• J Keverson will be offering their 20066 Old Vine Zin Hales Vineyard on sale 50% off by the case. ($180.)

Dutcher Crossing (both weekends)

• Dutcher Crossing is offering a 4 pack special in the tasting room for 15% off.

Hart’s Desire (first weekend only)

• Hart’s Desire is offering their Double Gold 2004 Syrah on sale for $94 case.

Pellegrini (First weekend only)

• Buy one bottle of the 2006 Malbec or the 2007 Merlot, and receive a bottle of the Cuvee 107 for free.

• Also offering $1 shipping per case, mix and match ok.

Other Interesting Offers

White Oak Vineyards and Winery (first weekend only)

• White Oak has a 20 year old tradition during Barrel Tasting – BYOZ (Bottle Your Own Zin.) of their Estate Old Vines (85 year) Zin that is available only in the tasting room, around 300 cases a year. BYOZ offers the opportunity to bottle and label your own bottle in the ‘Zin Zone’. The cost for BYOZ is $25. Entrance to the Zin Zone also offers a full tasting of all wines as well as have appetizers, meet our owner and also our cellar crew and of course experience hand bottling. It’s a fun tradition they share with fans old and new only once a year.

D’Argenzio Winery (both weekends)

• D’Argenzio is holding a raffle to win 2 complementary tickets to winemaker dinner at Inn at the Tides, May 21 Friday night $79.00 each, Each purchase of a case of wine earns an entry into drawing and winners at the end of each weekend.

WoodenHead Vinters: (first weekend only)

• Will be offering a 15% discount for anyone that joins the Wine Club!  Space is limited.

I will repost this next week with any updates, changes I get for the second weekend.

Have a Great Barrel Tasting weekend! Be safe, stock up on wine, and let us know on our Facebook Fan site, where ya want!

Cheers!

2010 Wine Road Barrel Tasting: Article 3 of 4

It’s almost here! The first weekend of Wine Road Barrel Tasting. Yes its TWO weekends: if you live in the Bay area and love wine, plan for both weekends, at only $30 a weekend, it’s the best bargain in town! (Personally I think the price is too low, but that’s me.)

What exactly is barrel tasting?

Won’t licking barrels give me splinters?

In all seriousness, consumers can benefit in understanding the underlying premise that shapes this 32 year old Wine Road event.

What Barrel Tasting Is:

The premise of barrel tasting was to let consumers have a sneak preview to an early wine still in production, and in some cases (not all) also buy ‘Futures’ or advance sales of the future release, at a discount, or in cases of allocation, ahead of release. This is a win-win; the consumer can save substantial money on varietals or brands they buy regularly. The winery gets cash earlier in the process. Cash flow has always been key to winery operations, and certainly is as important as ever in today’s financial climate.

What Barrel Tasting Isn’t:

What it isn’t meant to be: a drunk-fest. This event obtained a bit of a reputation for being a party festival (in part to the low ticket cost); which is a shame, given its deep tradition and intent. I implore consumers to have fun, behave respectably. All in all the number of incidents are few, but it only takes one to sour everyone’s experience. This isn’t charity folks – many of the Wine Road wineries are small business, family owned, working long hours as artisans to make  a living. They are here to pour for you and to ultimately sell some wine.  Stick to Happy Hour for drinking specials and parties.  Wineries shouldn’t hesitate to promptly deal with inappropriate behavior. FYI it’s a criminal offense, that can cause them to be shut down, to serve someone who is visibly impaired. There are a few extra California Highway Patrol on duty that day for the added safety of all, for those rare outbreaks of rash behavior.

Ok, What exactly am I Tasting?

Barrel samples are unfinished wine tastes, that’s why its coming from the barrel. I have heard complaints of  ‘Its not good wine’ or ‘I don’t care for the taste.’ Look at what I just wrote – it’s unfinished. It may be nearly ready for bottling and taste familiar, it could be another year+ in barrel still.  I do encourage everyone who is learning about wine (you never stop learning by the way) to try a few,  experience it, and gain an appreciation for wine as it evolves and changes. Some wineries even do interesting things, like Kendall Jackson is, to sample the same pre-release of wine, in different barrel toasts, for comparison.  Ask the winemaker questions; don’t worry about if it may seem basic – most wine makers love to share knowledge on wine making.

I think a few samples suffices for many; don’t hesitate to skip varietals (wine types) you don’t like, dump, or spit. You aren’t offending the wine maker, if anything he knows you are more serious taster then.  So then why would I be going to wineries if I don’t try the barrel samples?

It’s ok to skip a barrel sample at some stops; all wineries are still pouring something else, and many offer food pairings and other fun activities.

‘Other’ Tips

Of course there is my usual diatribe on using a Spit Cup; both encouraging wineries to hand out, and people to use. After two winery stops, your palette is now influenced by alcohol and you are drinking, not tasting. At least dump wines you don’t like; wineries aren’t offended.

You can also consider driver services like WeDriveU, where bonded drivers drive you in your car. Similar local services can be seen posted on Craigslist (check references). For that matter, press your unemployed 18-24 year old into driving you around for a reasonable hourly rate, and buy them a $10 Wine Road DD bracelet.

Buying Futures

Not all wineries participating in Barrel Tasting sell futures. There is additional work, tracking involved that some opt not to due. The reputed Wine Road King of Futures is David Coffaro Winery. If you are interested in futures, you should plan a stop here and check out the “Crazy Coffaro Futures Program.”

If you are new or hesitant on buying futures, start with wine producers whose wines you have drunk regularly, and know it appeals to your palette.  (In which case you should consider the wine club anyway.) You may also be offered to compare the current release with the barrel sample – this is a another great way to buy samples, if a winery or winemaker is new to you.

Feel free to ask the wine maker questions: has the wine changed much in where the fruit came from? Russian River zin is very different than Dry Creek. Did the vineyard source change, even in the same appellation? Have you made any substantial changes to the wine production methods; barrel program, yeast, cold soak etc etc.

Ok, decided you like the wine, want to save some money, and stock up. (Usually a minimum purchase is required.) Now what? The winery will collect the money for the purchase, and record your name, contact information, and give you a receipt. Wineries keep good records, but as a precaution, SAVE it. If you use a online or smart phone calendar for reminders, put a reminder appointment now to prompt you for the expected pick up month, so you have peace of mind you won’t forget. The winery is of course going to contact you, but this way you are double covered.

When its ready for release, pick it up, crack open a bottle to celebrate the money you saved, and the support you gave to your favorite winery – win win!

Come back tomorrow for a special article on selected Wineries offering special incentives on sales of existing inventory (aka bottled wine.) Take advantage of special pricing and stock up now too!

Cheers!

I generally try to keep my articles focused on Consumers, and not tie in the occasional Social Media, Marketing consulting that I do. However given that the blog does have many Winery readers, I thought I’d share a small excerpt from a recent presentation.

I have a more detailed presentation on the relevance of Social Media, branding, and consumer interaction. I’ll Cliff Note it here to say: if you aren’t actively communicating with consumers via Social Media ask yourself why. Facebook has 400 million users, who spend an average of an hour a day, 4+ times a week, with an average 130 friends each.  Numerous case studies show the positive financial benefit, and increased customer loyalty via a well run Fan page.

The last Wine Road event; Winter Wineland had many success stories, attributed to heightened consumer awareness, via Social Media. It was my personal experience from polling wineries: those active in Social Media achieved positive sales and growth attendance over the previous year.  Catch the wave!

Wine Road Barrel Tasting is widely attended both by the local Bay area, as well as people who fly in from all over the US, many on a ’stock up’ buying trip. Here are some suggestions to help increase ‘buzz’, traffic, and perception.

Pre-Event:

• Facebook: Promote your event on Facebook with an ‘Event’ and via Status Updates. Too many businesses overlook the value of the Facebook event feature: Consumers can RVSP to an event; Share it on their Wall, or even Export it right to their Smartphone calendar. (This is how many events get on my Blog Calendar.)

• Twitter: If you are only using Twitter on a web browser, you are missing 90% of its intrinsic value. Use the Tweetdeck application to scan for attendees via hashtags and key words #barreltasting, #sonoma, #drycreekvalley etc. This is fast and easy, and websites like Mashable offer tips on how.

• Put event details, info on your website, email your wine club members, and your consumer Newsletter lists, since they Opted in to receive email.

• Offer sales promotions on excess inventory for larger purchases, and additional incentives for new Wine Club members.

• Offer a 4Square Promo for checking in: Visit Discounts, Event drawings, etc

General Tips (not Social Media related)

• Have knowledgeable staff on hand, and train them how to pick out the serious wine enthusiast from the party-mongers.

• Have a Pep talk with staff, set expectations. The tasting room experience defines the impression of each visitor, what they buy, if they join the wine club, or will ever return. Yes, barrel tasting gets crazy, but customer service must remain a top focus. At least if you hope to sell some wine.

• Get some volunteers to help with parking guidance, greeting, tracking visitors.

During Event

• Social Networking is viral; its success is based on others spreading ‘your’ words, posts. Make it easy for them.

• Many areas in Dry Creek, others have poor cell coverage. Most smartphones can use WiFi when cell coverage is poor. Consider spending $50-$100 at Best Buy and install second basic WiFi router that’s open for attendee.  You can share the same broadband Internet connection, but do  keep it separate and secure from your work network. Get your local IT person, or Geek Squad to help, it’s not hard.

• Get a PC or Laptop and set up a customer Social Media Station; encourage them use Facebook and Twitter and share their experience. You can also create a sign-up page for mailing lists.

• Have an employee (or you) occasionally post on Facebook and Twitter; pics, fun comments. The occasional promotional post is ok, but your primary goal is interactivity and audience participation.

• Track attendees, sales, wine poured, new Wine Club Members: create an ROI. Also track post event, correlated DTC transactions. How can you measure the benefits of marketing initiatives if you don’t keep track?

• Offer sales incentives on inventory, Wine Club: upsell.

• Promote but don’t hard sell the Wine Club. People should hear about it, but don’t be overly aggressive, it’s a turn-off.

• Get visitors to sign up for email updates

Use as many consumer touch points as you can!

It will be busy, but have fun, and more importantly make sure you visitors will have fun. Remember, for the visiting consumer, it’s often as much about the personal experience as the wine, so do the best you can to ensure visitors have a positive experience, so they will buy wine, tell friends, and come back!

Hope that was helpful; questions, comments always welcome.

Cheers!

It’s almost here! The 32nd Annual Wine Road Barrel Tasting.  Two weekends of barrel samples, new wine releases, wine discounts, food pairings, and entertainment, for a pittance of $20 a weekend (in advance, $30 at door.)

This event is a little more complicated and unique than your typical ‘bracelet’ event, so more than ever, I encourage a little time for thought and planning.

Here’s Why You Need A Plan:

• The event spans two weekends, but some wineries are only participating the first weekend.
• Some wineries pour early, starting Friday afternoon, others don’t.
• Most, but not all, Wine Road wineries participate.

The Wine Road has a comprehensive short list (scroll down first page)  and a long list of the details on above.

I always recommend printing out the detailed program, grabbing  glass of wine, and perusing the whole thing. Make a theme: New wineries one day, familiar favorites the second? Focusing on one appellation like Dry Creek, Russian River, or exploring Alexander Valley and Geyserville? Chasing down new zins or pinots? Use concepts like this to drive a plan, make it more fun, and feel like you accomplished more in your exploration of wine, and North Sonoma wineries.

This is a very busy event, at certain times of the day. If you are like me, standing in a crush of people, waiting for a pour, isn’t always an enjoyable experience, and with some planning, can be minimized.

Some basic tips:

• Saturday is generally busier than Sunday.
• The event gets gets busier as the day progresses.
• Dense areas like Healdsburg get snarled with traffic, pedestrians, as an area with high concentration of tasting rooms, in a small area.

Factor that in when you are laying out your route, and don’t want to wait in line for an hour at A. Rafanelli to sample.

Other suggestions To Enhance Tasting:

Work into your agenda some of the non- participating Wine Road wineries, especially mid afternoon during the peak. There are many great wineries just open for normal business; why not stop at a few.  I am taking my out of town guests for the Wine & Food pairing at Seghesio, Saturday afternoon, as one example.

Glass and Bracelet Pickup Details:

I thought I’d help clarify a few of the check-in and pick up details, as well as a few tips on this.

• If you pre-purchased tickets, you have to  pick a ‘check in’ winery. After 150 check-ins, a winery is taken off the list as eligible for check-in. This is to help you the consumer, and disperse crowds. What if your friends are checking in at ABC Winery and its full? Check into the one next door, both of you get your glasses, try the wines, and then connect.

• “I picked a winery for check-in that isn’t pouring Friday, and we want to taste then.” That’s perfectly ok – all wineries will have their glasses (make sure they are open to public) and wristbands. Just go there and check-in, and then head out. Or better yet, since you are there, experience whatever their normal wine tasting experience is, sans barrel samples.

Save $10, Last chance to Win

Tonight at 9 p.m. is the last chance to get tickets in advance and save $10.

Tonight is also the final drawing for free tickets, or a Wine Road Cookbook. To enter to win, simply register for secure, no spam, email updates of new blog posts, in the top right corner. One will be chosen at random at 11 pm Pacific, tonight.

Look for more helpful articles this week, including a special edition of Winery promotions on current inventory.

cheers!

Greetings Simple Hedonisms Lovers

I am enjoying a rare week with no business travel, and brimming with anticipation for this Saturday’s 2010 Pinot Noir Summit, with 8 hours of seminars, blind tastings, and food pairings on my beloved varietal, Pinot.  (Only 250 tickets total, and a handful left for the full or partial day event, check this post for special discount Barbara was nice enough to extend blog readers.)

Tonight’s treat is the James Family Cellars 2007 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir, Stony Point Vineyard. I have had this Pinot a few times at Cellars of Sonoma, and was a fan from the first mouth swirl.

This is a small family of growers, now also turned Vitners; after a decade of growing and selling their fruit, they turned to making small lots. For a first release, I think they did exceptionally well.

I am becoming rapidly growing fan of Sonoma Coast and Anderson Valley Pinot Noir, and need to get out of my backyard here in Russian River more (hard to leave my favorites ) and explore more in person.

Color: Clear, violet, to ruby.

Nose: Pleasant, classic Pinot aromas of cherry, red fruit, a hint of floral.

In the Mouth: Mouth pleasing but not overpowering cherry, strawberry, a hint of cranberry, vanilla. Great balance, mouthfeel, weight.The finish is as a Pinot should be – a velvety lingering kiss that slowly dissipates in your mouth, with no sign of heat or tannins, just hedonistic pleasure that makes you want another mouthful.

Whether its my palette become more attuned to Pinot Noir delicacies, or just fatigued to over extracted Pinot Noirs trying to be a Rhone like varietal, I really liked this release. It captures the essence of Pinot, but doesn’t required you be the Burghound to enjoy it.

Highly recommended; $35 at Cellars of Sonoma, sold direct, and possibly other venues.

Hope to see you other Pinot Lovers Saturday!

Wine Geek Notes:

Cases Produced: 211 cases

Varietal Composition: 100% Pinot Noir

Appellation: Sonoma Coast

Barrel Aging: 10 months in French Oak (33% new)

Titratable Acidity: 0.53g/100ml

Clones: 113, 115, 828

Vineyard: Stony Point Vineyard

Harvest Dates: 9/29 and 10/5/07 Alcohol: 14.3% pH: 3.68

Last week the Wine Road and Simple Hedonisms held our second round  0f”Question of the Week” for free tickets to Barrel Tasting. (or a Wine Road cookbook.) on the Wine Road Facebook Fan page.

The winning question, from Robert Henry Hartley Jr, was:

Question: Some of my wine club wine say enjoy next spring, others say keep for decades. Why the big difference?

WineMaker Recommendations

When you purchase your wine, as you noted, often the Winemaker or Wine Club notes will often say “drink this year” or “Can drink now but will hold well for xxx years.”

He or She is making these recommendations based both on their personal knowledge of the varietal, as well as the influences of methods they may have employed, so following their advice is recommended.

It is a myth that all wine gets universally better with age; the  majority of wine is consumed soon after purchase, and some wines were crafted specifically to be drunk young, and enjoy the full fruit characteristics. While there are no universal rules, rose and white wines are often in the category. Less expensive wines often also are as they may not have gone through barrel aging and other (more expensive) methods that may add structure for aging.

Many red wines are often higher in tannins, which  come from contact with the seeds and skins during fermentation, as well as contact from oak during barrel aging.  (White wines do not have skin or seed contact after crush.) Tannins act as a natural preservative, and help a wine age. A young red wine high in tannins, will benefit from aging; in fact it may be bitter and unpleasant drunk too early, as the tannins can be unpleasant in  the mouth at too high a level. Over time the tannins soften and breakdown, making the wine more complex.

Other Factors That Impact Aging

Wine is very sensitive to outside factors, especially light, temperature, and vibration.

• Newly bottled wine, or wine subjected to adverse travel conditions, often goes through ‘bottle shock’ and should be stored for a few weeks to allow it to regain it natural harmony of its components.
• High temperatures are wine’s mortal enemy. Just a few hours of 80+ temps can take years away from the wine’s aging capacity, if it doesn’t also negatively impact the wines present quality. People visit wine country in July, and leave their purchases in the car, and wonder why when they get home, they don’t taste the same. Same goes for wine club shipments. You guys in Texas in August, ever feel how hot your wine box is….if  it’s been riding around in the brown UPS truck all day, don’t plan on cellaring it for 5 years. Ask your winery if they will hold shipments during inclement months, or pay more for better, non ground shipping. When visiting wineries, always bring a cooler.
• Equally bad is temperature fluctuation. Your house that doesn’t have AC and spikes to 90s during that heat wave…guess what it’s done to your wine. I highly recommend a small wine cellar for anyone who holds wine,at least for those special bottles. Lacking that, try and find a place closest to the ground that keeps a stable temperature. I have 3 wine cellars now, and put overflow cases in a closet with wood floors, thats low to the ground, and always cool.
• Light and vibration. Wine doesn’t like excessive exposure to direct light, especially florescent. It also doesn’t like vibration. So that wine rack on top of your fridge with sunlight streaming in all day….move it!
• Moisture: in order to keep a seal, the cork must stay wet. That’s the reason bottles of wine are laid down, not stored upright. The cork stays wet, and keeps a seal. Ideal cellaring conditions have a bit of humidity as well to help with cork moistness. For your average collector, laying the wine down and at a proper temp are the highest priority, unless you live in an especially arid climate.

I hope that was useful. Stay tuned over the next few weeks for more articles on Barrel Tasting, and a special article on winery promotions. We will have one more drawing for free tickets for Blog email subscribers, end of this month, so sign up today!

cheers!

William

Up until now I have been using my personal Facebook site for Simple Hedonisms. I will still of course maintain that and do some wine updates there, but I recognized there may be people who want to follow and interact with the blog and not me per se. Also technically now that the blog is gaining momentum and do advertising and writing for events like Wine Road Barrel Tasting, The Pinot Noir Summit, The Hospice du Rhone, and more, technically its (becoming) a small business, and should have a Fan site. (I am going to keep just one Twitter account however.)

This blog is intended for, and will remain mostly written to consumers; however as I do more and more work and consulting on Social Media and Marketing, I will publish an occasional piece on that as well, given Simple Hedonisms readers are winery’s in addition to consumers.

Lots of great new articles, events, contests, and promotions to come, as Simple Hedonisms continues its goal to connect consumers to passionate Artisans.

Cheers!

William

www.facebook.com/simplehedonisms

Last month I had the honor to participate as a judge in the first of the series of a Napa vs Sonoma tastings, also known as ‘Sibling Rivalry.‘ The event is sponsored by wine entrepreneur Becky Tyner of Small Lots, Big Wines.  Becky showcases small boutique producers in Napa. I have a soft spot for the little guy scrapping it out, so I am a big fan.

Becky and I have been connected via Social Media for awhile, but met for the first time (geek term IRL – In Real Life). (I have been resolving with my well attended Facebook Wine Meetups.)

The Sibling Rivalry Series donates a portion of its proceeds to The Rutherford Grange, a historic building, and great venue.

I have to admit, despite a lot of classes in wine evaluation, sensory analysis,  at UC Davis and SRJC and lots of tastings and reviews, was a little nervous judging against Sommeliers, Master Sommeliers, and Wine Makers, especially when Becky announced in addition to the blind tasting, there would be a separate contest  for fun; where judges attempted to barrel program, County, AVA, price point, blend. On top of this, while I do like Zin, and have a decent amount in my cellar, it’s not a red varietal I drink a lot of.

Blind Tastings and Sensory Thresholds

Stories abound on blind tastings, and just how hard it is to determine many of these factors, or even just guess the varietal. Judges have ranked sub $10 wines higher than $100 ones, only to be embarrassed later.  Studies in sensory analysis at UC Davis and other institutions, have learned a lot about the sensory thresholds of the palette, and what people can and can’t taste.

You can actually measure at what level a person can detect tannins, or a certain aroma characteristic, esther, or other wine components, and it varies widely by person. Recognizing that one wine judge versus another can have a big impact on scoring. If one can detect tannins very easily, and the next requires a much higher tannin level to detect, the two judges may have very different experiences of the same wine. Numerous articles exist to support this, including this one. (Warning – wine geek document.) A less geeky article is also here.

Some wine  contests (few so far it seems) are starting to divide judges in categories of non tasters, taster, super tasters, based on these thresholds and taste bud density.

I decided to just focus on what I know about wine, my fairly broad experience, and evaluate each wine for its own individual attributes, as objectively as I could. The fact that Zin isn’t my most favored red varietal may have in fact helped, as I think I was able to somewhat divorce personal preferences, and focus on the quality of the wine. Whether it was skill, luck, or some combination, it seemed to work, as I actually had the best overall score.

The Results:

Judges Choice

• The overall Valley winner in the Judge’s competition was…..Napa, by a narrow margin of one point, which was the 07 Fontanella/Napa Valley/ Mt. Veeder and Oakville.
• The highest scoring Sonoma Zin was 07 Tin Barn Russian River/Sonoma County/Russian River-Glisson Vineyard.

Public Choice

There was also a public competition, with 13 tables of a Napa vs Sonoma. The public leaned towards Sonoma.  The top three favorites were all Sonoma wines with Mayo and Viansa both coming in at number one.   Chase Cellars was the favorite Napa Wine. In 13 head to head competitions, Sonoma wines won 8 times.  Even when broken down between male and females..Sonoma still wins.   Some tables were very close, separated by only a point or two.  Others were landslides. (Detailed results in Becky’s blog post.)

Next Up – Napa vs Sonoma Cabernet

This Sunday, Feb. 20th, is Round Two: Cabernet. This time Becky did 3 rounds of pre-tastings to narrow down some of the wines, I participated at one of these, kindly hosted by Cellars of Sonoma. Tickets for the public are only $10, and dinner (Please RSVP and pre-order) is only $8. The event runs from 4-8 p.m. but the judging stops at 6, so that there is time to announce the results.

I enjoy Cabernet and Bordeaux varietals, in fact that’s almost all I drank the first ten years of my wine drinking. Since then I have become much more of a fan of Burgundian varietals (Pinot Noir, Chardonnay) and Rhone (Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, Viognier, etc.) Cabernet is generally more complex and winemakers sometimes take a more active role in its style, so this event will be interesting. I am guessing my fellow judges, which include some big Cab enthusiasts, will edge me out this time, and I will do better next month when we do Syrah – but it’s a blind judging, so we’ll see!

Come out and support your favorite valley. Let’s Get Ready to Rumble!!!!

Pinot Noir – oh how I love thee, let me count the ways. I keep waiting for palette fatigue to diminish my love affair with Pinot Noir as it has other varietals, but it never seems to abate…silky, seductive, finicky, and when its right, a sensory experience that makes you fall in love, for the 500th time…..

I have quested for an every day Pinot ~$20 that wouldn’t disappoint me for quite some time…on occasion I find it, but its generally been when K&L Wines, the Bay area’s premier wine merchant, does one of their great deals, as they often do. K&L is hard to beat, they literally travel the planet for wine, and allow you to purchase wine on their excellent website, and they will hold it Will Call it for 90 days, in the San Francisco SOMA or Redwood City location. Somehow every time I pick up I have 2-3 cases….dunno how that happens! I generally use them for imports, especially as I dabble more and more in French wines….however this gem I am reviewing caught my eye in an email.

I have to confess when I get an email from them about a Pinot saying:

” was $45 elswhere, 92 points from Wine Enthusiast! And, according to Wine Spectator: “Spicy cherry, wild berry and raspberry are ripe and full-bodied, fresh and lively, with firm tannins. Ends with a pretty burst of dark berry frutiness. Drink now through 2013. 650 cases made.” (Web only, 2009) Virtually any 2007 Anderson Valley Pinot at $19.99 is a steal. This is a complete and balanced wine with great acidity, beautiful cherry fruit with just a hint of cola, spice and earthy flavors. Don’t be afraid to buy a case, this wine will drink beautifully for the next year or two.This is probably my favorite of the two ‘07 Jim Ball wines I tasted this year.

You had me at Pinot, Anderson Valley, 650 cases, Jim Ball Vineyards. I’ll gamble, 9 bottles ordered, 6 for me, 3 for Deb, my once blog editor, whom I hope will return soon after the CA Bar exam. (Thats law, not bar tending.)

This Pinot Noir doesn’t disappoint, the $20 sale price is just a plus. (The website still shows the originally price at $50.)

Color: Bright, brickish, lively color

Nose: Abundant mushroom and earth on nose at initial opening.  later to expose more of the cherry and red fruit.

In the Mouth: Well balanced acidity and tannins; the earthiness carries onto the palette, combined with cherry, berry a hint of spice.  The finish is pleasant, seductive and lingering.

If you are looking for a big, extracted, dark purply Pinot, this isn’t it. It’s not delicate or Burgundian, but it’s no wimp, and exhibits the many layers of complexity that make me love a good Pinot.

Glad I bought a few bottles at this price – the blind gamble paid off!

Pinot Lover? Don’t forget the Pinot Summit is almost here, and a few tickets left. Simple Hedonisms readers get a special discount, thanks to the generosity of Event creator, Barbara. Hope to see you there!

Its that time again: today through Wednesday go to the Wine Road’s Facebook Fan site, to submit your wine related “Question of the Week.” We will choose a question, answer it Thursday in a blog article, and the selected person will win two tickets to Barrel Tasting, or a Wine Road cookbook.

To post your question, please go to the Wine Road Facebook Fan page, and under today’s post, write your question.  Wednesday afternoon we will pick. (And last week, Beth gave out 3 more pairs of tickets for runners up!)

Also don’t forget two more chances to win: at the end of today, and end of this month, we will have a drawing for email subscribers of Simple Hedonisms, for more Barrel Tasting tickets.

For those of you that followed our contest two weeks ago, we asked for your thoughts and prayers for winner Melissa Martin Mayorgas, whose son was about to have  a muscle biopsy at Children’s San Diego Hospital to determine what type of muscular dystrophy he has.  Melissa was concerned as little boys with MD are susceptible to malignant hyperthermia during general anesthesia. I am happy to share that her son Parker came through great!

In the next few weeks, I will be writing more articles for Barrel Tasting to help for consumer planning and enjoyment. Ultimately this blog is for you, the wine consumer. If there are any topics or areas of assistance you’d like to see, let me know in comments.

cheers!