The PERFECT Blend - Our Conn Creek Barrel Blending Experience

I was lucky enough to be among several bloggers and writers invited by Paul Askiman to visit and experience the Barrel Blending experience at Conn Creek Winery.  Just to let you know, this rocks! 

First of all, Conn Creek is located along the beautiful Silverado trail in Napa.  The winery is known primarily for its flagship Bordeaux style wine, Anthology, which the tasting started with. A gorgeous bordeaux blend with lovely color, complex spice and fruit and nice structure.  Okay, definitely setting the bar high for beginning blenders. 

Then, after a brief primer on the Napa region and the basics of blending, we were turned loose to take our learning kinesthetic.  Barrel samples from all fourteen of Napa's AVA's awaited. 

The folks at Conn Creek have done an amazing job of making a satisfying blending experience accessible to the newest newbie to wine as well as the most curmudgeonly wonk.  It's just plain fun.  In the elegantly and thoughtfully appointed classroom setting, you are provided with beakers and pipettes.  From there, you are allowed to taste samples of Cabernet Sauvignon from each of the 14 Napa AVA's.  These are further broken down into five major classifications by overarching characteristics of: Soft, Supple, Complex, Rich and Bold.  I took their advice and tasted through, ranking each sample and then blended my three favorites in varying percentages to get to the flavor I wanted.  Oooh!  I almost forgot.  They also include barrels of Merlot, Cab Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, so you can get that Bordeaux blend perfect if that's what you want.  I loved getting the snapshot of the variances in Napa Cabs.  Soil samples are also included so you can get a sense of how place impacts the flavor. 

From there, they assist you with getting your blend right (hint:  there is a bit of math and *gasp* the metric system) and corking your bottle.  There are also materials to get your label personalized just so. 

Here is a video that gives you an idea of the fun I had creating "Liza's Cuvee",  which ended up being a delicious blend of 30% Surber Vineyard from Calistoga, 30% Hohzoni from Rutherford, 20% Stagecoach from Atlas Peak and 10% each of Malbec and Petit Verdot.  Many thanks to @lorzandrabrxchk for her great camerawork and for capturing our obvious glee.

And everyone in the group had their own take on blending and decorating, so that at the end of the exercise, not only did we learn a ton about the magic/science of wine making and the different flavors of Napa, but also had a souvenir of the day.  An excellent value for a day of learning in an elegant venue.  For more information on how to book your visit, click here

WBW #65: A Snow Day - Hangar One Vodka: An icy joy

Vodka has a special place in the BrixChicks's hearts. So for this Wine Blogging Wednesday with the door open to write about other spirits, I immediately thought of my favorite Vodka: HangarOne. Let's face it with my deep loathing of all things snow, it would take a whole bottle to get me out in a Winter Wonderland. Plus I would need significant fortification (and specialized footwear) to venture out into snowy climes.

Little incentive beyond the tasting is needed to get me out to St. George Spirits, however. Their Alameda Point tasting room is a wonderful place to visit (Bring a designated Driver! You will need one). Facing away from the delicious booze, you will be treated to a sweeping, unobstructed cityscape of San Francisco across the bay. Turn around and enter the industrial hangar to try excellent spirits. The tasting room and and the adjacent Caddell & Williams store are open Wednesday through Saturday, noon to 7pm, Sunday noon-6pm and the address is 2601 Monarch St. at Alameda Point (the old Naval Air Station.). Tours are available on the weekend, but check the "Visit the distillery" link here as well as to find out more info

In 2001, not a great year to think back on what with the terrorists, dot bomb, etc., etc., but one great thing did happen and that was Jorg Rupf and Ansley Coale got together to bring the exquisite craftsmanship and innovative thinking of their respective efforts together to work on HangarOne Vodka. Pure, clean vodka taste infused with real fruit create lovely sipping vodkas that inspire mixologists everywhere. Look at the cool distilling equipment and concentration on the face of distiller, Lance Winters!

My favorite is Buddha's Hand. An exotic citrus that looks like a cross between a lemon and a monkey paw, Buddha's Hand vodka has a crisp, citrusy tang. I last had it in Citron Lemonade at Absinthe in San Francisco. Delicious! It also lifts up a simple Lemon drop cocktail into something special. My second favorite, Keffir Lime Is also a great mixer. By using the rarer lime variety as well as the leaves, the fresh essence of lime is captured in the spirit. A full list of the vodka's can be found here:

And back to the snow theme, a super fun thing to do with vodka, is easy and elegant. You can take citrus slices, peppers, herbs, flowers or leaves and insert them in a container that will hold your vodka bottle and a thin layer of water. Put it all back in the freezer and adjust your arrangement, so that when your guests arrive, you can place the vodka bottle on the table without losing the chill. Hint: Spray the container with some Pam before adding decorations or vodka bottle so that you can just grab the neck of the bottle to unmold.

Wow! This Wine Blogging Wednesday thing is making me thirsty!

Why I love Los Angeles, CA. (It's not the wine)

No, I don't love LA because of the balmy 70 degree late December weather. And I could care less about the film industry and celebrity culture. What I love about LA is the variety of culinary treasures available. I am not talking about the trendy, upscale eateries. I am talking about the food of the people! The pupusas, pancakes, fried chicken and bread pudding! All the stuff that is good for you, especially the pig candy. So here is the synopsis of my mini culinary tour:

So yes, Robert and I really pigged out starting with the pig candy, the specialty dish of the wine bar known as "Lou" in Hollywood. This porcine delicacy is a small serving of bacon house-cured in brown sugar and a combination of 10 secret spices, including smoky paprika. It is a chewy, sweet, rich concoction of pig meat with a smoky poke. Simply addictive...By the way Lou on Vine is a wine bar in Hollywood specializing in wines from Europe (and a few Californians) that also serves entree-sized plates (think Divers Scallops, Merguez sausage and Steak frites.)
www.louonvine.com


 

Next on the foodie agenda was Dinah's Famous Chicken. Admittedly this ain't Thomas Keller's fried chicken but I cannot resist crispy-on-the-outside, moist-on-the-inside fried chicken. Although they don't serve the kinda southern style sides I like (collard greens, sweet potatoes and red beans and rice,etc.) I still love Dinah's chicken with green beans and smashed potatoes. And even better, it is on the way to LAX.




A happy camper at Dinah's.


Next up: pancakes at the LA breakfast institution "The Griddle Cafe."


Snow-covered mountains or Oreo Pancakes?


Modern art or nutella-stuffed French Toast?









It doesn't matter what they look like because they taste phenomenally good. This is what I call breakfast decadence and The Griddle has the most creative pancake and french toast menu. Ever have corn flakes or cinnamon toast crunch in your pancakes? You can have it at The Griddle. You can have pumpkin pie pancakes, carrot cake pancakes, the infamous "bluesberry" pancakes and they even have Red Velvet pancakes for the holidays. The pancakes are the size of the plate and you get three per order. When the server brings the plate to the table your mouth drops they are so shockingly large. Normal people cannot finish the whole plate. Check out the size compared to the average person's hand:

Dang! That's a huge-ass pancake. Check out their menu at: www.thegriddlecafe.com








An honorable mention for Pupuseria del Valle in Burbank, CA. Tuesdays are $1 pupusa day. I don't have pictures of these delectable, cheesy corn cakes cuz they simply did not last long enough to be photographed.

Alas, I have saved the best for last: the most amazing bread pudding on Earth. Next time you are in the Echo Park neighborhood get yourself to "Masa." I had an oral orgasm eating this bread pudding. Oral orgasm? Is that possible? Well go experience your first one at Masa. Chef/Baker Steve explained how this orgasmic dessert is made. First the bread: buttery croissant bread, chocolate croissant bread and almond croissant bread all baked together with vanilla custard. It arrives to the table drizzled with caramel and dusted with cocoa powder. One serving is perfect to share in the charming restaurant. Visit them at www.masaofechopark.com






This concludes our culinary tour. We pigged out so much that we forgot to find the Korean BBQ taco truck. There's always next time.