Wine Outlook

The best friend arrived yesterday, and after a bit of trouble collecting her at the airport (my sense of direction has never been great, ok?), we picked up a few things at Safeway and went back to my apartment. I already had some lamb marinating in the fridge, and the plan was for salad and stew.

Now, when you’re the wine girl, and friends come to town, you know there’s gonna be lots of wine involved. It’s a given. (more…)

Now, I’m sure Martha Stewart would tell you to have plenty of handmade presents wrapped and ready for that unexpected gifter, and Rachael Ray or my hero Paula Deen would advise to have a pantry full of holiday treats. But I’m here to remind you about what’s truly necessary this season. Wine. Lots of it.

With the multitudes of stresses lurking around the corner, don’t get caught off-guard. Here are just 12 reasons out of many that you may find yourself in need: (more…)

I don’t know whether it was the slow day at work yesterday or the fact that I’m having car troubles–again–but I couldn’t think of anything to write related to wine to save my life. Financial woes, yes. How I’m going to fit a Christmas tree into my studio apartment, yes. Hot topics in wine, no.

I’ve been visiting more wine blogs lately, and the first thing is that there are so many. And the second thing is that so many are good.

It makes me wonder if I’ve been going about this all wrong. What am I adding to the dialogue that isn’t already there? Anything? Then I decided it’s the way I’m doing it. Sometimes talking about life in a winery, sometimes giving reviews, often discussing food and wine and how the two shall meet, a little quote or definition every now and again. All from a poet’s point of view.

And that’s just how wine is. There’s a bottle out there for everyone; people have varied tastes and are drawn to different styles. Winemakers shouldn’t not jump into the mix just because a million choices already exist. Besides, most aficionados I know don’t find the one wine they adore and never try anything else. It’s all about the experience. Discovering new treasures.

I hope that it’s the same with wine writing. You find your favorites and stick with them, but you continue giving others a chance, knowing that one day your socks could be knocked off again.

As soon as I can, I plan to link to some really super blogs. Keep extra pairs of socks around.

…Farley Walker

A friend sent me this article in the New York Times, and it got me to thinking. Not about being a sommelier–because I have had my fair share of the restaurant business, and it’s not in my plans to go back. More so the part about passion for and knowledge of wine and where those two meet.

Back home and among my friends scattered here and there, I am the wine girl. I’ve been known to plan dinner parties around a wine theme, wax poetic about Petite Syrah, and after a long night lovingly stroke bottles that I particularly adore (and sometimes those I only like). (more…)

wine gift Free wine gift delivery in the UK. Fine wine merchant UK.

For a long time, it was shoes. I was the shoe girl, the one people could count on to be wearing new ones, fun ones, uncomfortable ones. You might catch me stretching my leg out to admire my lovely shoes and good taste in buying them. (I bet Tracey can feel me on that.) Large portions of my credit card bill and my first non-fiction essay were dedicated to them. After a point, it becomes a sickness.

Now it is wine.

I love to bring bottles home, pull them out of the box or bag, then sit in front of the small wine cooler next to my refrigerator. The draw? It’s the challenge of deciding what goes in and what must go somewhere else, also known as what’s age-worthy and what’s not. Or trying to rearrange more artfully to get in one extra bottle and still be able to close the door. (more…)

It being Halloween and all, I was trying to think of an appropriate topic. The best I could muster, seeing as how there are no ghostly wines, is a scary wine experience. Though there are haunted wineries…a good friend had to leave Guenoc, where she and her husband were staying for their honeymoon, in the middle of the night due to the ghost of Lily Langtry.

Several years back, early in my wine trek, I was over at a friend’s for a hair-cutting party. His mom owned a liquor store at the time, so that, coupled with his love for the beverage, earned him a nice little collection.

I was the only person who brought wine that evening, and after we finished that bottle, Babette (the hair cutter) wanted more. She decided to open one of Chris’s bottles and I only half-heartedly tried to stop her.
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Sometimes, owners or winemakers name vineyards after loved ones. Wives, daughters, dearly cherished but departed grandparents, pets…

I met a lady from Fess Parker Winery the other day who said one vineyard was named after Fess’s daughter and one after his wife. The first, Ashley’s Vineyard, is still doing well, making one of their highly regarded Chardonnays. The wife’s vineyard, however, has fallen by the wayside. I asked in alarm if they were divorced, but she said they were still very much in love. Just a matter of location.

Speaking of location, it can also determine how to name certain vineyards. Porter Creek Winery in the Russian River Valley is itself named accroding to setting–after the nearby tributary. Then some of the wines are also designated by place, as with the Hillside Vineyard Pinot Noir.

Sometimes when location seems the obvious choice, it can cause problems with trademarks. Here’s a case in point in Missoula, MT. A couple there was making wine under the Rattlesnake Creek name, until another winery in Washinton that had been making a wine under a similar name– but for much longer–demanded they stop. Now it’s called Ten Spoons. Here’s a more of the story. If memory serves, my friend Kyle brought over some of their Sauvignon Blanc when I was last in Montana, and it was suprisingly good.

But my favorites are the names with really good stories behind them. For instance, one of our estate Chardonnay vineyards started out with Dr. Fogarty asking friends and family to join him in the planting of the vines. When everyone showed up, they found out he had gone to catch fish instead. So the Albutom Vineyard had to be planted by “all but Tom.”
I made him a shirt recently with the picture below, including the caption underneath.

So not only does vineyard designation usually indicate higher quality, in the special attention to detail and decision to bottle it separately, but often you get some insight into the personality of those making the wine.

….Farley Walker

vineyard names, Fess Parker Winery, Porter Creek Winery, Albutom Vineyard

It was my dream to be in the wine business and now I am dreaming wine. This week I started doing inventory as part of my job. That means I am responsible for counting the wine and checking what’s there vs. what should be there. I have to do this in two places–the events area and the tasting room. And it’s always a mess cause people forget to sign out what they take or write down the wrong thing, etc.

The other night I had dreams about counting wine–figuring out where cases went and how and why.

This really brings new meaning to ‘living the dream.’

And somehow, I am still drinking a glass of wine right now. In spite of or because, it’s hard to tell….

wine inventory

Luckily, in California, it’s very easy to recycle. That means, however, it is easy for other people to get a glimpse of how you live your life.

Since I work in a tasting room, I often bring home opened bottles of wine that would otherwise go down the drain. Sometimes I take them over to friends’ houses, thereby getting rid of the evidence. Other times, though, I drink a glass here or there and pour the rest out or use towards making vinegar. (Ok, there was the one time I was homesick and drank every drop while calling friends all over the country, but it’s best forgotten.)

In the beginning, I shared with two of my neighbors, but they have since moved out. Now when I take the empties downstairs, I can’t help but worry my neighbors think I’m a wino or that people walking by on the sidewalk judge me. All those bottles. I sometimes want to put up a note: I don’t drink them all, and they weren’t full in the first place.

Possibly, it’s more an issue of quality vs. quantity. Maybe there are many bottles in my recycling bin. But when I go on my morning walks and glance at the contents of others’ containers, I can’t help but judge a little myself. Certain houses nearby always have very inexpensive brands displayed on the labels. I think to myself that I wouldn’t want to drink with them. And if others walk by and think I’m a wino, at least they might think I’m a wino with good taste.