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.
by Christina Waters | Mar 31, 2008 | Home, Wine |
At a table set for two dozen people, the pinot noir flowed freely. Well of course it did – after all every other person at the table was a winemaker specializing in Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noirs.
Jeff and Andrea Emery (SCMtn Vineyard), Nick Guerrero (Vine Hill), Jim and Judy Schultze (Windy Oaks), Jerold O’Brien (Silver Mountain), Ryan Beauregard (Beauregard) David and Anne Moulton (Burrell School), and a few other leading names in local wine had gathered for dinner at the Hallcrest estate of John and Lorraine Schumacher – the night before the big Pinot Paradise weekend tasting event in Campbell.
In addition to meeting media and growers, I discovered a few special attractions among the many samples – predominantly vintage 2005 – being poured before dinner. I was already converted to the wines of Windy Oaks, and of course the wide range of varietals made by Schumacher in his historic cellar. So I helped myself to a few lesser-knowns. Burrell School, for example. And the new Cumbre label from Wines of Vine Hill, which also makes the Gatos Locos label. The Cumbre, Raffaelli Vineyard, 
was just edgy and tannic enough to make it perfect for big foods, even at its tender age.
After grazing my way through a lovely smoked salmon, artichoke and tomato primavera salad appetizer, and some sliced pork loin with salsa, I fell hard for the stupendous Branciforte Creek estate Pinot Noir 2005 made by Emery at Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard. The sleek new label replaces the one made famous by founding winemaker Ken Burnap – the one with the bobcat. Emery’s latest is a masterpiece (more…)
by Christina Waters | Mar 31, 2008 | Home, Wine |
The pick of the week at Vinocruz just happens to be the mighty 2005 Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyards Pinot Noir, Branciforte Creek, which won Double Gold Medals in the recent San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. Kudos to winemaker Jeff Emery.
Come test drive this amazing wine – loaded with blackberries, earth and spice. Voluptuous yet buttressed with enough acid to take you all the way home.
The Branciforte Creek Vineyard, incidentally, occupies the original site of the first European vineyards in this area, planted by Henry Jarvis in 1863. 2005 was a mighty year for Pinot Noir, in the Santa Cruz Mountains as well as in Burgundy. Get some now before it disappears.
And by all means get on over to Vinocruz for those Saturday tastings – 3-5pm. The deck is now open! Vinocruz, 725 Front Street, just behind Abbott Square and next to the Octagon Lulu’s. Open M-Th 11-7, Fri & Sat 11-8, Sun noon-6pm.
by Christina Waters | Mar 25, 2008 | Food, Holidays, Home |
What would Jesus eat? we asked as we thought about a special Easter dinner this year. Well, obviously lamb, yogurt, onions, rice pilaff, pine nuts, something with lemons and olive oil. Garlic, absolutely garlic. Lamb grilled over wood found in the desert, like mesquite.
With Middle-Eastern spices and ingredients in mind, we pulled together a truly delicious dinner of elements, that with a few exceptions — tomatoes, asparagus and red bell peppers on our skewers, and a Meyer lemon pie with crème fraiche – might have easily been found in the markets of Nazareth.
Okay, so the apostles didn’t have Peeps. But had they, they surely would have enjoyed them. Our pink peeps this year were genuine añejo – aged for over one year in a top cupboard of my kitchen. Just dessicated enough to give a unique depth to each bite. (more…)
