by Christina Waters | Apr 3, 2008 | Home |
A charmed corner of Berkeley, this wedge of turf at Cedar & San Pablo. At one edge of the small parking lot is the mighty wine house of Kermit Lynch, where I stopped by to see what I could afford in the way of 2005 Burgundy. (Not much, but I did my best.)
At the other end sits the home of Acme Breads, an establishment that lives up to its name. And in between is the thin slice of cafe heaven, Cafe Fanny – founded by Alice Waters and named after her daughter. Here I paused over an expertly-made caffe macchiatto, and a long slice of delicate pear galette. The fruit had been sliced into stained glass transparency, embedded into a flaky croissant pastry and then almost invisibly glazed with jam. Accompanied by a small, barely sweetened dollop of whipped cream, it fueled my drive home along the Nimitz.
by Christina Waters | Apr 2, 2008 | Home, Wine |
Friday. 5:30pm. A splash of Gruner Veltliner from the Austrian house of Nigl in the glass and a beautiful appetizer plate of alternating coral and green bands of ahi and avocado. Add a dusting of black sesame seeds and a luscious vinaigrette spiked with tamari and sesame oil. The entire sensuous array has been dusted with a chiffonade of fresh basil. You are at Soif and you know you’re in exactly the right place at the right moment.
Especially since winemaker Richard Alfaro was sitting two seats away, just close enough to reveal a few key plans for his winemaking future. No, I will not tell you. Yet. In his honor I switched to a spicy Pinot Noir 2005 made by Richard himself. It went brilliantly with the remains of the vivacious appetizer plate.
Pinot and primavera are now firmly fused in my sensory memory banks. A splendid union.
by Christina Waters | Apr 2, 2008 | Home, Wine |
Somebody’s gotta do it. My intensive, rugged – nay, grueling – taste testing of Silver Mountain Vineyards Pinot Noirs is nowhere near complete.
Next week I’ll be providing in-depth notes, but meanwhile I am morally obligated to urge every single one of you to go out right now! and scour the countryside (or simply email the winery) and see if you can find any remaining bottles of this outstanding example of Central Coast terroir.
Silver Mountain Vineyards – 2004 Pinot Noir – Tondré’s Grapefield, Santa Lucia Highlands.
Simply amazing.
