Another not-to-be-missed winemaker’s dinner on June 6. This time, with Karl Wente, the young, fifth-generation winemaker over at Wente who made that Nth Degree stuff that’s doing so well. Karl will be leading the dinner — we’ve heard he’s quite well-versed in vineyard management, so we’re pretty excited. The menu helps too: Starts with a reception at 7 p.m. of ratatouille and spicy rock shrimp. Dinner begins at 7:30 p.m. with chilled melon soup, pan-seared halibut with risotto and a buttermilk vanila bean panna cotta for dessert. Respective wines to be featured include reserve chardonnay, reisling, reserve pinot noir and reserve zinfandel. Tickets are $85 and can be purchased by calling Rachel at 925-952-2639. See you there!

I’ll no doubt be thinking and talking about the Judgment of Paris rematch for a long time to come. It was a surreal day, and I was in the company of the world’s great master sommeliers. It was a pretty tense atmosphere, and it made me sad that wine has become such big business that people couldn’t just sit back and enjoy the world’s best spirits. Ironic. Cool moment: I was asked to be an honorary taster in a blind tasting of the young vintage whites and reds from Bordeaux, Burgundy and California. I took my seat and to my surprise, there was Margrit Mondavi on my right and Tony Terlato, owner Sanford Winery, on my left. We swirled and sipped and compared notes, especially on the nose (beautiful jalapeno) of what turned out to be Clos Du Val’s Reserve 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon. At one point, Mrs. Mondavi pulled out a small, old diary that had a sticker on it: 1976. She opened it up to May 25, 1976 and read about her reaction to the original Judgment announcement that fateful day. She, her husband, and their Napa contingency were on a tour of Bordeaux chateaux with Jim Barrett when he got the call. "We were jumping up and down and hugging each other," she told me, looking far away. "But I don’t think it really hit us until much later."

Her story gave me goosebumps and made me think of the cultural signifance of wine and food, and it’s role in shaping the way we view ourselves.

Last night’s Pinot & Friends event was exceptional. It was at Faz in Danville, on their outside patio, and not only did you only need one layer - the temp was probably 75 all night - but the pinots featured were all divine.

I’m always intrigued by female winemakers simply because it seems like there aren’t enough of them, and Jean Spear of Sonoma’s Sadler-Wells was not only personable, but makes an incredible pinot noir. Her 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon was amazing too, but then again, so are all 2001 cabs from California. Good year.

Gryphon Wines’ 2003 Pinot Reserve had the punch and flavor of a syrah but in the summery body of a pinot. My friend Jenny and I loved it and weren’t surprised that Wilfred Wong of BevMo! gave it 94 points. And Jenny, ever the Chardonnay hater, said she’d actually drink Gryphon’s 2004 Chardonnay. Probably because it contains no oak and no malolactic acid. 

What I found particularly cool was that Oregon winemakers, including those from Domaine Drouhin, flew in for this event. 

So I just got word that there are still some tickets available for the Contra Costa Times Wine Club’s Pinot Noir & Friends event tomorrow night from 7 to 9 p.m. at Faz in Danville. For $25, you get fabulous appetizers and 12 wines from six wineries, many poured by owners. In addition to pinots, they’ll also be pouring Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Pinot Gris. For reservations, call Rachel Armstrong at 925-952-2639

Here are the wineries:

Rex Hill Vineyards (Newberg, OR)
Sadler-Wells Vineyards (Sonoma, CA)
Joseph Drouhin (Beaune, France)
Domaine Drouhin (Newberg, OR)
Testarossa Vineyards (Los Gatos, CA)

My friend Michaela — well, her boyfriend Todd, actually — created a fabulous wine and food pairing for her birthday last Thursday, and I want to share it to get your pairing juices flowing, and to prove that man was not meant to drink wine with foie gras and steak alone. I should preface this by saying that Michaela, and the rest of us, are obsessed with Del Taco. Here goes:

- 1991 Gloria Ferrer Carneros Cuvee Brut served with
pre-dinner snacks including different cheeses, flatbread with
artichoke hearts and truffle oil dip.

- 2004 Flowers Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast paired with popcorn
seasoned with smoked paprika and other spices. Great one, Todd!

- 2003 Brightwater Vineyards Nelson Riesling, New Zealand
paired with wasabi peas. This was my favorite.

- 2002 Heart of Darkness, Madiran Appellation Controlee, France paired with Del Taco beef burritos, bean and cheese burritos and nacho cheese. Word.

- 2003 Cline Big Break Zinfandel, Contra Costa County (paired
with similar Del Taco offerings. It should be said that this is one of my favorite zins. It tastes like mint!

- Warre’s Otima 10-year-old Tawny Port served with a raspberry fruit tart, but much better paired with the chocolate Michaela’s friends Aaron and Vidya brought up from Santa Cruz. Happy Birthday Michaeala!

I spoke with Warren Winiarski the other day, the world-renown and incredibly wise winemaker at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars. I asked him what he’d like to say to young or emerging wine enthusiasts, to us Corkheads, and he said he think we are incredibly luck. Lucky to have such a wide variety of wines to choose from these days. It’s a much broader horizon against which wines are made than when Winiarski was apprenticing under André Tchelistcheff of Beaulieu Vineyards back in the 1960s.   

He also created a beautiful metaphor about old and young wines as children, so I thought I’d share that quote with you:

"One’s children as they grow up reveal things at different times. Each age sort of has it’s own benefits as well as challenges.
The things that young children are loved for are different than older children. Same is true of wine. As it gets older it gets different, not always better. But the maturity and unity and harmony of the various elements is what makes it stand out. Wines are always
losing and gaining."

Winiarski’s last name, by the way, means ‘winemaker’s son’ in Polish.

This whole Judgement of Paris rematch on May 24 has got me thinking — why just France and Napa? Why not the Judgement of Australia, and the Judgement of Germany? If the historic 1976 blind tasting did anything, it opened up competition and notoriety of world class winemaking to regions outside of France, so why, each decade, do we keep rehashing the competition?

For those of you who haven’t heard, 30 years ago this month a monumental thing happened in the industry. In a blind tasting, nine French judges voted a Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars cabernet and a Chateau Montelena Chardonnay (both Napa wines) superior to a blessed Bordeaux and a French white Burgundy. Back then, saying a California wine was better than a French one was simply heresy. Things have clearly changed.

Folks at Copia, along with people across the Atlantic, are staging simultaneous reenactments. The event is so huge that some wineries have declined invitations to pour, fearing bad press, or worst, the fate of the French in 1976. I’ll be covering the American side of things and it’ll be interesting to see how our wines have aged (they’ll be tasting the 1973 wines) and also how the younger ones stand up to their French counterparts. I just hope no one faints. Stay tuned.

Affordable wines might be easy to find, but winemakers’ dinners? Not so much. So when I spotted one for May 31 at Beauregard’s California Bistro in Albany (with Robert Hall Winery, one of my favorite Paso wineries, pouring), I felt obliged to share it with ya’ll.

Six courses at $65 is a steal, not to mention that proceeds benefit Fresh Start Walnut Creek, a respite and service center for those among the homeless and working poor. If that’s not enough, take a peak at the menu. Try not to drool on your keyboard:

   1.Light, seasonal, organic baby lettuces and sweet grapefruit sections in a
    Grapefruit-herb Vinaigrette

Accompanied by Robert Hall 2005 Hall Ranch Sauvignon Blanc

2.Pissaladiere (Provençal Pizzetta with caramelized onion confit, Niçoise Olives,
    Anchovy, Parmagiano Reggiano and herbes de Provençe)

Accompanied by Robert Hall 2003 Paso Robles Meritage

3.Large Day Boat Scallop with Scallion-Basil olive oil and Passion Fruit
    Reduction

Accompanied by Robert Hall 2005 Paso Robles Chardonnay

4.Handmade Wide Pasta noodles with housemade, cumin-scented Duck
    Sausage, blanched spinach, wood oven-roasted shallots, sundried tomatoes and
    thyme in a duck stock reduction

Accompanied by Robert Hall 2003 Central Coast Rhone de Robles

5.Grilled Venison Fillet with currants, juniper, and Cabernet Sauce; served with
    wild rice and fiddlehead ferns*

Accompanied by Robert Hall 2003 Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon

6.Port-poached Pear with toasted walnuts and Cave-aged Gorgonzola

Accompanied by Robert Hall 2003 Central Coast Vintage Port

Ok, I’m sure space is limited so make your reservations today by calling Beauregard’s at 510-526-7200. Tell ‘em Corkheads sent you!

Don’t know about you all, but Pinot’s about the only red I can drink in this gorgeous, amazing heat. Good thing the Times Wine Club has a Pinot Noir wine tasting event coming up on Wednesday, May 17 at Faz in Danville.

For $25, you get fabulous appetizers and a chance to taste some top Pinots, from Oregon’s Rex Hill Vineyards and Joseph Douhin (France) to Testarossa Vineyards in Los Gatos and Sadler-Wells of Sonoma. The event is the usual, from 7 to 9 p.m. and Faz is located at 600 Hartz Ave. For tickets, call Rachel Armstrong at 925-952-2639. See you there!