Archive for the ‘Wine & Beer’ Category

March 15th, 2012

Tapping the source

For all the wineries that I’ve written to you about, I’m kind of shocked that the Beaulieu Vineyards are the first I’ve found of their kind. Normally, each month I learn about another American family that moved to the Napa Valley and began, in some way or another, to try and duplicate French winemaking techniques. Some pay homage to their European predecessors, while others assert the superiority of modern techniques, but they’re all students of another culture. Never before, though, have I come across a real Frenchman. That is, until now, with the story of Georges de Latour.

De Latour came from France in 1900, needing not to study or learn, but only to continue his practice on this land that he found beautiful. And, later, when he wanted a winemaker, he could only have “someone who understood European standards”, so he brought a research enologist from Paris over to join him. At the Beaulieu Vineyards they assert that this move benefitted the “entire nascent California wine industry”. Which maybe it did, but don’t you just love this French attitude? This winery is dripping with a languid superiority that wants everyone who’s reading this story in English to understand how lucky we are that someone showed up who knew how to make a bottle of wine.

Of course, in France, where everyone knows how to make wine from birth, everyone does, so you can get a pretty nice bottle for 2 euros. I wish these boys would try to hold up that part of French culture here in California. But, who cares. All the wine you want is free at our bar every night from 5-7!

February 15th, 2012

Wine lessons

I’ve found an opportunity, for those of us who think we may need it, to learn a little bit about wine, and I’d like to share it with you. Because, here’s the thing, there are different ways to ferment wine. Some of you probably know this already; even I maybe already knew it, though it’s always been a very abstract idea to me. There’s the traditional way: oak barrels, the way the Californians learned from the French and the French learned from God. And now there is the modern way, stainless steel and cement tanks, surely more efficient, more scientifically quantifiable. But as far as the actual glass of wine in your hand, what is gained and what is lost with these modern innovations?

Well, Mer Soleil can help us to figure that out for ourselves. You see, Mer Soleil makes two wines and two wines only, both Chardonnay, both from the same grapes. The only difference is that one is aged in traditional oak barrels, the other in the modern steel and concrete contraptions. I just learned this and I, for one, am kind of excited to try the two side by side and see what each tastes like. And our bar is the perfect place to conduct this little experiment, seeing as how all the wine is complimentary for our guests between 5 and 7 every night. There aren’t maybe so many places in your life where you can as easily sit with a glass of wine in each hand, just trying them out. At least, there aren’t many in mine.

January 5th, 2012

Wide eyed white

The last time I was down in our little bar at cocktail hour, our general manager was raving about a sauvignon blanc from a winery called Flora Springs. She was so excited she gave me a bottle before I had even sipped from the glass in front of me, which, when I pointed that out to her, made no impression on the enthusiastic certainty of her gift. Thankfully I did like it because, clearly, there was no way it was not going to be the wine I wrote about this month.

The first thing to know is that the Flora in Flora Springs is a brand new centarian and the matriarch of this family vineyard. The second thing that stands out to me is that the next generation has just taken over. Two of Flora’s grandsons have recently inherited the family business and seem to be taking all the prescribed steps to bring themselves into the modern age. They’ve made, for example, a series of biographical “webisodes” on their grandmother that feature such things as her talking about her daily domino games. They’ve posted their Twitter feed on a page called “socialize”, and so you can see that someone tweeted that “the ’98 @FloraSprings merlot is bad ass”. Which, to their credit, is for sure the first wine I’ve ever recommended to you that came with that review.

It’s all so endearing. This is a now third generation winery that’s holding its own and making some really very nice wines. How to sell those wines is always the question. I love the earnestness of the Flora Springs’ use of all these tools that all of us are being told to use these days. The simple transparency of it reminds me of, well, the honest enthusiasm our general manager felt about their sauvignon blanc, actually.

November 23rd, 2011

What’s in and what’s not

As you may have noticed, a part of what I do every month is visit winery websites. I’ve seen quite a few by now and they are almost entirely lovely. They tell stories of family and architecture, of tradition and sustainable agriculture. The owners and winemakers are pictured, alongside tales of the wonderfully successful careers of the former that allowed them to afford their own personal wineries, and a list of the degrees and world travels of the latter that qualify them for these idyllic jobs. This is all great, in my opinion. I love wine and, what’s more, I love this culture of boutique wineries that I am so privileged to live in the neighborhood of, so I’m happy for the success of the people who make it happen.

Today, though, I found something on a winery website that I’ve never seen before and, because I’ve now seen it, suddenly I’m aware of its absence on any other winery’s self-profile. The St. Clement winery has, among photos of all its crops and facilities and staff, two photos of the farmworkers who pick their grapes. The transparency and candor of that inclusion, simple though it is, are kind of moving to me. Silly me, maybe, but I feel like if those men are being highlighted as the important part of the winemaking process that they are, perhaps they’re being respected in other ways too. Of course, I know nothing about the farmworkers at any other winery and very little about the ones at St. Clement. Still, I feel like I know a bit now, and a bit more than I know about any other winery, and that bit seems good.

August 18th, 2011

Hyper-local

All of the wineries that I write to you about are local. The exalted Napa Valley is, relatively speaking, in our neighborhood and nothing would be easier on a day off than renting a car and driving up for a day of wine tasting. Well, almost nothing. It turns out we’ve got a winery not just nearby relative to, say, Chicago, but actually in our real neighborhood. It’s called the Ridge Winery and it’s right here in Cupertino. You could stop in after work for a taste of the wine that won the Judgment of Paris, the event that was meant to put California wine in its place, and failed.

It’s an interesting place, too, the Ridge Winery. A physician built it in the 1880s. Its next owner was a theologian. Now a man who holds a degree in philosophy is in charge of day-to-day operations. And, to top it off, a Japanese pharmaceutical company owns it now. What can this all mean? What kind of experiment is this winery running? Spiritual? Pharmacological? How, really, did they convince a panel of French judges to rank it at the top? What manner of intoxication does a bottle of Ridge wine provide? Well, if you’d prefer to know the answer to these questions before venturing to its source, we’re pouring Ridge wines every night in our bar.

July 20th, 2011

A personal wine?

I’m coming to think, as time passes, that maybe the highest compliment I have to give is to find a person or a thing non-generic. In this cynical era where corporations are selling unique identities to whoever’s got the money and perfect beauty can’t be trusted not to be made of silicon, it’s so nice to find things that seem only to be representing themselves.

Reading about the Ladera Vineyards, I felt the personalities of a group of people. A farming couple from Montana who miss their cows, but are happy, at least, to still be in agriculture. A winemaker who was so excited, when she got into a professional winery for the first time, to learn that there are machines to de-stem the grapes. The couple’s daughter who studied sound engineering and art history and sells her lavender at the winery, but swears she knows about wine too. It’s not that it’s touching, it’s that it feels real.

We, here at this hotel, are so proud to be pouring wines made by people who take this much particular care of the details of their business. Their wine is every bit as good as their storytelling, every bit as real, and we are so grateful to have a means of supporting them. So, the next time you’re here with us, ask for a glass of Ladera. We’ll be very happy to pour it for you.

June 20th, 2011

The right way to grow up

If you want an example of ingenious long term life planning, take a look at the life that Tom Leonardini built. Born in San Francisco, he spent the first part of his life running a series of businesses in his hometown. He learned how things run and he made himself some money. He also raised five children; a team, one might call it. It’s unclear at what age he started teaching the kids about wine, but Katie, the middle daughter, recalls blind taste-testings with the family. As this story is in the section reserved for wine recommendations, maybe you can see where this is going. In 1993, the ground set, Leonardini bought the Whitehall Lane Winery in Napa. By the next year he had a son alongside and soon after a daughter followed. This, it seems to me, is not the average family business story. This is the story of a man who crafted his life so that its second half could be spent surrounded by natural beauty and his children, drinking wine and earning a profit through it all. Nicely played, sir.

We’ve got the product of all that planning here in our bar, and a pretty tasty product it is. Come check it out the next time you’re here with us. If you want an example of ingenious long term life planning, take a look at the life that Tom Leonardini built. Born in San Francisco, he spent the first part of his life running a series of businesses in his hometown. He learned how things run and he made himself some money. He also raised five children; a team, one might call it. It’s unclear at what age he started teaching the kids about wine, but Katie, the middle daughter, recalls blind taste-testings with the family. As this story is in the section reserved for wine recommendations, maybe you can see where this is going. In 1993, the ground set, Leonardini bought the Whitehall Lane Winery in Napa. By the next year he had a son alongside and soon after a daughter followed. This, it seems to me, is not the average family business story. This is the story of a man who crafted his life so that its second half could be spent surrounded by natural beauty and his children, drinking wine and earning a profit through it all. Nicely played, sir.

We’ve got the product of all that planning here in our bar, and a pretty tasty product it is. Come check it out the next time you’re here with us.

May 20th, 2011

Our boss’ wine

Writing about Vidovich wines, as I’m about to do now, makes me nervous. I’ve avoided it for all of these years, but it seems that the time has finally come and, so, here I go. Why, you ask, should I be so anxious? Well, you see, the maker of Vidovich wines also made this here humble little hotel that has, thus far, allowed me to write more or less whatever I want about whatever seems like the most fun to me. I’m in a pretty sweet spot, to be honest, and I’d sure like to continue. But if ever there was a time to tread lightly this is it, and I just hope I know how!

Lucky for me the owner of this fine establishment, my boss’ boss that is to say, makes a pretty fine red wine. And what’s great for you about it being here is that our hotel is one of the only places you can find it. The thing is, it’s not available for retail sale, so your choice, now that I’ve got you at least just a little bit curious, is to try to seek it out in one of the handful of Silicon Valley restaurants that serve it, or to come to our bar, where our supply is nearly endless, and even complimentary between 5 and 7 each night, and try a glass. The only problem is that once you see just how nice it is, still can’t buy a bottle in any store anywhere and realize that you’re only reliable access is here with us, you’ll find that your need to come stay in our little hotel is deeper than ever before. Which isn’t really such a problem!

April 25th, 2011

A story of bootstraps

Neyers Vineyards is a pretty young winery. They got going in 1992, purchased and renovated their winery in 1999. Though they produce excellent, and quite well regarded, wines, there is the sense that they are still finding themselves. The best example is in the way they talk about their French influence. They are very proud to have a winemaker who worked in France, as well as an owner who has worked closely with French importers over the last years. They claim a great admiration for the more natural French techniques, which include organic farming and winemaking without fining or filtration, and they say that they’ve learned so much from what they’ve observed in their wine’s ancestral home. So, then, one reads on in anticipation of learning about the Neyers Vineyard’s own organic farms, or some such evidence of a more natural process. And one learns that they are trying. There are years where they bottle their wines without fining or filtration. There are years where they do not. Their Chardonnay is fermented naturally, their Merlot is not. Their vineyards are not organic, but they do import their barrels from France. They are finding their way and, truly, one glass of their wine will convince you that they’re on a pretty good path. But, though I would imagine that it’s hard to find one’s identity in an industry steeped in centuries of tradition, I wonder if wholeheartedly proclaiming themselves to kinda sorta be French naturalists is the way to go. Clearly they need our help! Next time you’re here staying with us, have a glass of Neyers wine, and then tell all your friends about it when you go home.

March 27th, 2011

On the Path to Greatness

Neyers Vineyards is a pretty young winery. They got going in 1992, purchased and renovated their winery in 1999. Though they produce excellent, and quite well regarded, wines, there is the sense that they are still finding themselves. The best example is in the way they talk about their French influence. They are very proud to have a winemaker who worked in France, as well as an owner who has worked closely with French importers over the last years. They claim a great admiration for the more natural French techniques, which include organic farming and winemaking without fining or filtration, and they say that they’ve learned so much from what they’ve observed in their wine’s ancestral home. So, then, one reads on in anticipation of learning about the Neyers Vineyard’s own organic farms, or some such evidence of a more natural process. And one learns that they are trying. There are years where they bottle their wines without fining or filtration. There are years where they do not. Their Chardonnay is fermented naturally, their Merlot is not. Their vineyards are not organic, but they do import their barrels from France. They are finding their way and, truly, one glass of their wine will convince you that they’re on a pretty good path. But, though I would imagine that it’s hard to find one’s identity in an industry steeped in centuries of tradition, I wonder if wholeheartedly proclaiming themselves to kinda sorta be French naturalists is the way to go. Clearly they need our help! Next time you’re here staying with us, have a glass of Neyers wine, and then tell all your friends about it when you go home.