WBW#60- I too have Zinned!

It was Wednesday and the Brix Chicks had some serious tasting to do. Blessed with six bottles of Zinfandel from the Lodi appellation the deal was sealed that we were in store for a whole lot of fun... a Brix chicks kind of evening! Thanks to Megan's great idea to pair Zin with Barbecue we had a chance to taste the wine with and sans food. My favorite of the evening was the 2006 Gluttony Old Vine Zinfandel. It rocked, both on its own and as a great "date" for the spicy brisket. The topnote of this American Oak aged wine was butterscotchy with a smooth feel. It was not jammy or fruity but instead had qualities of a sophisticated Tawny Port. I closed my eyes and fantasized about my favorite Scottish gent, Sean Connery. The connection between the iconic special agent and this deliciously well balanced wine was divine!

As well as being a great choice for an immensely enjoyable glass of wine by itself, the Gluttony Zinfandel paired beautifully with smoked meats. Subtle fruits emerged beginning with a kumquat taste mid palate and a black berry finish that was delicious with the tangy barbecue sauce. Shhhh! I Zinned and saved a generous taste to pair with my rich chocolate bownie from our favorite bakery, Bakesale Betty. It is probably no surprise that this Zinn was also a perfect partner with a chewy chocolate brownie. Add a little ice cream and some of BrixChick Liza's delightful Malbec syrup? Exquisite!

My thanks to Michael David Family Winery for a wonderful wine fit for a special date night or to celebrate the fun in life. The Gluttony Zinfandel is truly a special agent... "You Only Live Twice" (1967).

The Magic of WBC 09 - Part One

After many months of waiting, finally the 2009 Wine Blogger's Conference dawned last July 24th - 26th. A GREAT time was had by all. Last year I had just returned from three weeks in Europe terminally jet lagged, and wandered through the conference wan and half awake. This year, I was determined to participate fully, which included a fabulous pre-Conference event hosted by the ever ebullient, Jeff Stai of Twisted Oaks. With Xandria out (due to bad planning) and Janesta sidelined (by her new job) I headed out to Murphys with my trusty Vinopanion, Dr. Xeno. Once at Murphys, we headed straight to the Rubber Chicken National Forest and got a tour of the process, the caves and the delicious Twisted Oaks wines. Along the way, we collected vinopanions like funnel clouds gone crazy. As we walked the streets of Murphys, first hitting Hatcher, Newsome-Harlowe (where I bought a delicious Zin for WBW #60!) and Tanner before massing at the Downtown Twisted Oaks facility for dinner and a super fun activity! By this time, Luscious Lush Thea, The Beer Wench, the Catavinos, Wannabe Wino, Ken Payton, The Wine Hiker, Wine Wonkette&Houston Wino, regrouped, stuffed ourselves on delicious grilled meat, salad and Renner Viognier (courtesy of winemaker, Brett), We set out to play a game of speed marketing. A blending game! Fun! With an awesome team, Oscar Quevedo, Amy Corron-Power, Ken Payton, Gabriella Opaz and Russ Beebe, we retreated into our cubby and blended like maniacs. Taste! Measure! Blend! Design! Draw! Consult the rule book! In the end, our organization and focus as well as our tasty homage to the Spaniard, garnered us a super prize! A visit to Calaveras County will always be full of good wine and fun, but with new and old wine friends? Forget about it! A great time was had by all and all this before the actual conference.

The next day, we made the dash to Sonoma where I was happy to be staying at the Flamingo Resort. Having grown up in the Bay Area I have been visiting this place for decades. I love the hallways where whispers of the Rat Pack still remain in the field stone terrarium-like passages. But the real lure was the Live WineBlogging, which I missed last year due to work responsibilities. Well, the Internet Gollums were not going to see me happily blogging, however with my trusty iPhone, I twittered like a drunken chipmunk, despite my resolve to spit, spit spit. Standouts for me?

o5 Cigar Volant, Bonny Doon - Nice puckery structure and nose redolent of red fruit. Fun to hear Randall Graham, " The lees check in, but they never check out..."

#WBC09 Twisted Oaks: '07 River of skulls Mourvedre w/syrah Succulent red fruit Inviting nose despite scary AlexandeMcQueen-like label!

#WBC09Line39 Petite sirah Lake county$10! yum! American oak = yummy brown sugar hints in nose gentle tasty fruit flavors only 13.5%alc
#wbc09 snowslake 20 miles n of Napa rich ruby color 28% cab franc Fabulous complex nose smooth feel Super tannins!

#wbc09 '07 Spann Chardonnay-Viognier, Lake County: Lovely stone fruit. Interssting mix. Took Gold Medal!

Bonus! I got to hang out with Diane Letulle and meet Bean. Finally, Janesta slipped her work shackles free, and we got to conferencing in earnest. ....

East Bay Vintner's Alliance - The Urban Wine Experience

I am here to help get the word out: there are a lot of wineries in the East Bay Area of Northern California in the cities of Berkeley, Oakland, Emeryville, and Alameda . A lot of wine lovers do not know about these wineries and the East Bay Vintners are about to show off their stuff at the 4th annual "Urban Wine Experience."

The East Bay Vinter's Alliance is a non-profit mutual benefit corporation that was created to help the members with their business practices and also with increasing public awareness of these wineries that are a part of the San Francisco Bay viticultural area.

As the Brixchicks are residents of the East Bay we believe in supporting our local wineries. We have written about some of them including Periscope Cellars, A Donkey & Goat, Two Mile Wines, Urbano Cellars, Dashe Cellars, Eno Cellars, and the now defunct Lost Canyon (we miss those Pinots.)

This year's experience is taking place at Jack London Square in Oakland on August 8th. The wines will be paired with foods from local eateries including one of our favorites Miss Pearl's Jam House. Tickets are $45 in advance and $60 day of event. And one of the highlights for me is that they are offering free limousine service from the BART so no one has to drive drunk. I love that, thanks East Bay Vintners!

So come try these wines that are on the "cutting edge of the urban wine experience."
For more info and a list of participating wineries and restaurants go here: www.eastbayvintners.com