I had a great pinot noir last night at downtown, the tapas and jazz spot on Shattuck in Berkeley, that I hadn’t tasted since my days living on the Central Coast. Actually, it was my date’s wine but I kept snagging swigs. If this Au Bon Climat (Santa Barbara County) had been in our blind tasting on Saturday, I think it would’ve beat out Clos Du Val for the top spot. I’d forgotten how heavenly it is. Velvety like a Cab, and rather medium-bodied too, so those who like thin pinots probably would rather stick to ordering a Cab. But unlike the big bomb Cabs I usually like to drink this was so smooth, like liquid potpurri, and the finish just went on and on. Tasted like a marriage between a Burgundy and a Bordeaux. I’ve seen this bottle for anywhere between $25 and $35. downtown charged about $9 a glass. Order it next time you’re there and look for it and any other Santa Barbara pinot next time you’re face to face with a list. You won’t be sorry.

Michaela, Jenny and I have long talked about starting a wine group, and we finally had our first get together this Saturday night. We invited our friend Christina, who works in the industry, and about six others. Eight to 10 people is the ideal number for a tasting club because one bottle serves them perfectly. Here’s how ours worked:

Jenny hosted the first one and thus got to pick the theme (2004 Pinot Noir) and provide most of the snacks. She sent an email out weeks in advance so we all knew what wine to buy. Couples brought one bottle, so we had five bottles total. There was no price point requirement, which I think is a good idea, because that way you can really explore the range of a varietal’s quality, not just it’s varying expressions.

We covered the bottles with bags and assigned each bag a letter, A through F. Then we got to tasting. Tasting and scribbling on our tasting sheets that Jenny had printed out in advance. It was good that we had some foods ideal for Pinot, like stuffed mushrooms. We discussed some of our impressions then eventually revealed the favorites. Here they are:

FIRST PLACE: Not surprisingly, was Clos Du Val ($24). Michaela said we must have a French palate but I beg to differ — I think this wine is smooth without being boring. It has a nice finish for how young it is and actually tastes more like an 02. It has and probably will continue to be one of me and Jenny’s favorite wines. We’re hoping to serve it at her bridal shower in April. Eeee!

SECOND PLACE: Sterling. Only 14 bucks and so delicious. Especially with salmon, I’d imagine. A great buy.

THIRD PLACE: My wine. Gundlach Bundschu’s Rhinefarm Vineyard from Sonoma Valley ($32). I liked the overall Burgundian flavors, it was silky and had lovely dried rose aromas. I ranked this one third on my list.

FOURTH PLACE: Bouchaine from Carneros. Around $24. Too much cherry for me.

FIFTH PLACE: Concannon. It was only $9, but we could’ve lived without it. Almost had a cooked fruit flavor to it. More like a zinfandel, too sweet, than a Pinot Noir.

An Alameda couple in the group is set to host next month. I’ll share our findings with you and maybe even post photos if we get their permission. Future themes include unoaked or naked chardonnay, reislings and sparklings.

I did the Schramsberg tour over the weekend in Calistoga (after Frog’s Leap) and it’s totally
worth the $25, if you haven’t done it. Since I’m not a huge fan of the aromas in Champagne,
Schramsberg is my favorite sparkling, along with Veuve Clicquot and Gloria Ferrer.

On to the tour and tasting. Besides the five premium wines you get to taste (including the
much-hyped J. Davies 2003 Diamond Mountain District Cabarnet ($70) and the 1999 J. Schram
sparkling ($90)) you learn a tremendous deal about the history of the winery (the second oldest
in the Valley) and the pioneering spirit (J. Schram came to Napa as a barber in 1858) to create
sparklings — using method champenoise — that was as good as those made by the French (better,
in my opinion). Best of all, you tour the 1/2 mile long caves dug out by Chinese immigrants with
shovels and learn about how virtually everything is done by hand. Schramsberg hand-riddles
their bottles instead of leaving it to a machine to manipulate the movement of the yeast. They
have one riddler (he has two apprentices) and his hands move like a concert pianist’s turning
something like 40,000 bottles a day. The frog sculpture you see in the pond near the tasting room
holding his flute to the moonlight is an homage to the riddler. There are 2.2 million bottles in the
caves and walls that are 92-bottles deep. Yes, avalanches have occurred, so be careful. They’ve
lost millions of dollars in the past. The creepy stuff hanging from the ceiling and walls of the
cave is actually lichen, a combination of algae and fungus that is natural and provides necessary
humidity to the caves. Year after year, Schramsberg beats out Dom and Cristal in blind tastings.
In 2003, the 1996 J. Schram won Best Overall Wine at the Syndney International Wine
Competition. It was the first time an American wine won this honor. Their sparklings have been
served at dozens of White House dinners. Their legacy is something to really be proud of.

My colleague Blanca Torres did a story on Trader Joe’s on Sunday, and some readers are posting to her blog about Charles Shaw wine. Two readers said that they pour the stuff into more expensive bottles of wine and serve it at parties, unbeknowst to their guests. One of the readers called the more expensive labels ‘rip-off’ wines. My comments, if you will:

- Don’t mislead your guests. There are vessels to pour wine in to prior to serving it. They even have a chemical function. Decanters and carafes not only help the wines open up and improve the taste, but they are a classy, incognito way of serving your wine.

- Decanting a wine can actually make a $2 wine taste like an $8-$10 bottle. It’s a great secret among sommeliers. Try it.

- Calling a more expensive wine a rip off is just silly. Wines that cost more, by and large, are made by smaller operations and in smaller production quantities. The grapes cost more and the wines are typically of more premium quality.

- If you increased your wine budget by even a $1 or $2, you’d be surprised what better bargains abound down the aisle from Two Buck Chuck. Trader Joe’s sells excellent sparklings from Germany (great with brunch) for $3.99. Their private label wines, most run under $6, are impressive too. That’s practically all my parents drink.

- Lastly, Charles Shaw is not an illegitimate product. They have a fully functioning winery in the Napa Valley but keep their costs down by not operating a tasting room or public space.

Ugh. I’m feeling pretty glum about today’s news on global warming and wine. I’m trying to look on the
bright (no pun intended) side about the rising heat and buttery chardonnay’s down fall. I know that’s not very funny though.

And while heat also good news for those of us who prefer vegetal, peppery zins, this news really scares me. If greenhouse emissions continue at the current rate, 60 percent of our best terrain will be lost by the end of the century!

Just shows how cover crops are more important than ever to keep the grapes from experiencing all the heat that hits them. You can also thin out clusters of grapes to
keep them cooler, which I thought was limited to red grapes, but not according to Betsy’s story. That’s somewhat decent news. I really want to go home and crawl into bed.

All I can say is I plan to make this a top priority come voting time.

I went to Napa this weekend and my experiences there now go something like this: Because I’ve been to so many wineries in the Valley (there are 400 total, mind you), these days I hand pick the ones I haven’t visited and make appointments. There’s no more driving down the Silverado Trail and holding up traffic by stopping every quarter of a mile. Another benefit of doing it this way is that you get a lot of quality time with a tasting room attendant and learn loads more about the fascinating history of the wineries and the Valley back in the day. Each story is a movie to me and fills me with such pride for the Valley. It harkens back to a time when pioneers were college graduates with $100 in their pockets, bussing it cross country to the Valley and bunking in abandoned barns with little more than two mugs and a jug of wine to their name. This is the case with my first appointment, which was at Frog’s Leap Winery. Stunning winery and equally beautiful wines crafted from organically grown grapes. While his wines are up to par with the best in the Valley, winemaker John Williams (the aforementioned barn squatter) is one of the only not charging exhorbitant prices for tastings. In fact, he charges nothing, Lodi and Paso Robles style. According to his staff it’s something he’s never going to change, and I truly admire and respect him for that. Ninety percent of their revenue comes from retail sales — as I’m sure it does for most top-echelon producers — so the bottom line is that they can simply afford to give some of the juice away. He’s a class act and it makes everyone else look silly. If you’re wondering about the name, it’s another way that John honors the history of the Valley: The Red Barn dates back to the late 1800s, when it was a Frog Farm that raised the little buggers and sold their legs for $.33 a dozen to San Francisco gourmets. The leap honors Stag’s Leap Winery, which is where John had his first job as an assistant winemaker. When you hit the Frog, ask for Lindsay. The young lady relayed the story of Frog’s Leap with such passion and grace, you’d think she was there. On to the wines. Two whites and a red continue to swirl in my dreams…….

– Yes, I take back the post from “What Women Drink” about hating chards. At least I don’t hate the Frog’s. I love it. Their 2005 expression is all apple and pear, not butter and vanilla. It’s crisp and fresh, like a Sauvingnon Blanc. Who knew chard could taste this way. I’m sold. $24.

– Speaking of food friendly wines, buy the Leapfrogmilch the next time you’re in the winery. It’s their signature Reisling (with a touch of Chard for body) and this is the last year they’re going to make it. It’s only $14 and heavenly.

– All of the Frog’s reds are silky and sophisticated, but I’m going to focus on the 2003 Rutherford Cabernet. It’s velvety yet bold (usually cabs are one or the other), and there’s a reason for that. “Rutherford Dust” is a term the legendary Andre Tchelistcheff coined to describe the terroir of that region of the Valley. The soils produce rich, balancing aromas of dark fruit and green olives. While I’m usually not thrilled about the exhorbitant amount of California cabs over $50, this one is $75 and truly worth it. Lay it down for 5 years and it will feel like silk going down your throat.

This weather is perfect for hearty cabs and syrahs. And boy have I find one. I’m constantly impressed with the quality, value and sustainability of bottles from the Mendocino Wine Company, and the Big Yellow Cab is no different. The cherries are dry, not bright and jammy, there’s smoky cigar, earth and herbs and the finish is long. This wine would stand up to some of the spices in my mom’s Persian stews. Chipotle in Mexican food and red pepper-based pasta sauces can also take the heat. I absolutely love the North Coast terroir of this wine and how it’s good to go right out of the bottle. At only $10.99, I’ll be likely to hail this cab again and again.

Unlike citrus and avocados, turns out the icy morning temperatures are actually really good for grapes this time of year. Helps send them into their dormant state. But it doesn’t mean the unbelievably cold weather isn’t hurting production in other ways. In Paso Robles, the cold frost burst water pipes at Peachy Canyon Winery. I called the winemaker, Josh Beckett, and he told me the tasting room hasn’t had water in five days. The main water line to the warehouse, where the barrel and cases are, is down too.Out in the vineyards, the irrigation systems are down. Worst of all, they needed to do some winter watering because we haven’t had any rain. That’s the main concern, which could prove problematic for growers everywhere in California. Lack of rain could hurt us if we never get that rain and happen upon an early bloom. I’m checking with the Napa Vintners Association to gauge their concern.

Finally made it to Hotel Biron. Tried going there on New Year’s Eve when I was doing a 4-course pairing at Cav, but alas, Hotel Biron was closed. First off, I love having two wine bars around the corner from each other, especially when they’re so different. Cav is on Market at Gough, next door to Zuni Cafe and reminds me of a Manhattan bar. Hotel Biron is on Rose, that little alley around the corner and reminds me of a half bottle of a bar you’d find somewhere in Aix-en-Provence. Tiny. Brick walls, dim lighting and a faint aroma of oak barrels are a sharp contrast to Cav’s modern minimalist feeling. The bar is totally DIY. You go up to the counter, order your glass or bottle off the double sided menu and pick up your glasses. Sometimes they uncork the bottle for you right there and you take it back to your table, other times they bring it to you. While I was there, I also ordered a Portugese goat’s milk cheese and baguette (cheese are $5, sides like dates or fruit are $3) and that was delivered to our table. Lots of reds from the States on the menu, including a Zin from Turley (yum) and a pinot from Heintz (yummier). The menu when we were there on Saturday differed from the one currently online because we definitely would’ve tried that Hungary/Austria/Germany sparkling Apfel-Cuvee Obstau Reisetbauer. In its absence, we went for a NV Prosecco, whose sweetness nicely complemented the mildly pungent cheese. I’d definitely go back to Hotel Biron, especially on a first Thursday of the month, when the space hosts a reception for local artists.

The February wine events are starting to roll in, and this just in from John Christopher Cellars. If you like zinfandel, you probably won’t want to miss it.

Each weekend in February the winery at Blacksmith Square will
feature one of its four zinfandels and pair it with a food. They will
also be releasing their newest Zin, the 2004 Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel (probably quite the jammy spread) on Feb. 2. The 2002 is supposed to be quite food friendly, and the 2004 late harvest would be the way to go with that box or chocolates you’re planning to eat - er, buy - for your sweetheart. The nominal tasting fee is waived when you purchase wine. But there’s no charge for the food samples. Unreal!

Dates: Each weekend in February
Time: Sat’s 12-5:30 PM  Sundays 12:30-5:30 PM
Place: John Christopher Cellars
Address: 25 South Livemore Ave, Suite 103, Livermore CA 94550
Phone:  (925) 456- WINE (9463)
Cost: No cost for food and wine pairings. Regular Flight tasting fees in place.