Category Archives: Wine

A Taste of Beringer

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The warm glow of a Christmas tree lights the way inside the ancient Beringer Vineyards wine caves.

I’ve been on many a wine-tasting tour in the Napa Valley.

But recently, I had the pleasure of enjoying a very special one.

Just what made it so memorable? It was the fact that my 22-year-old niece tagged along with me for what was not only her first trip to Napa, but her first time touring a winery.

Noodle Niece, as she so requested to be called because of her fondness for udon, ramen and all things pasta, developed a growing curiosity about wine after spending a college semester studying in France. Since her parents are not vino drinkers, my husband (aka Meat Boy) and I decided it was our duty to introduce her to the delights of the Napa Valley.

What a fun time it was, too. There’s something wondrous about getting to experience the familiar anew again. And there’s something downright delightful about catching a glimpse as someone’s face changes from nonchalance to “Wow!” when they discover tastes they’ve never had before.

The glam Rhine House at Beringer.

With Meat Boy the designated driver, Noodle Niece and I piled into the car on a sunny but chilly afternoon for the drive to Napa to visit Beringer Vineyards. Meat Boy’s good friend, who works for Beringer, had arranged for us to enjoy a private tour and tasting (normally $35 per person).

We thought Noodle Niece would find Beringer especially interesting, because it is the oldest continuously operating winery in the Napa Valley and is designated a Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places. Indeed, Beringer even continued to operate legally during Prohibition, according to our cordial guide, Michael. Apparently, a lot of doctors and priests were using Beringer wine back then for medicinal and religious purposes. Uh-huh.

Private dining room inside the cave.

Barrels being aged.

One-of-a-kind, hand-carved barrels.

Another Christmas tree decorates the caves.

Established in 1876, Beringer also boasts an extraordinary 1,200 linear feet of aging caves that naturally help keep the wines at 58 to 60 degrees year-round with a humidity level of 75 to 80 percent. The caves were hand-chiseled by Chinese laborers who also built the Trans-Continental Railroad. Look closely, and you’ll see the actual pick marks.

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A Sweet Time at Parcel 104

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The best flan you'll ever eat.

If you needed to borrow some sugar, Santa Clara’s Parcel 104 was the place to be last Friday night, where the sweet stuff was on display in full force.

The restaurant’s pastry chef, Carlos Sanchez, hosted a select group of guests — including yours truly — for a decadently sweet holiday dessert party. Sanchez, who is also trained in the savory side, is now doing double-duty as Parcel 104’s chef de cuisine, too. So, he threw in a couple of savory courses just to keep things especially interesting.

The party got started with a demitasse of golden beet soup. Eggnog-like in color and very rich, the soup is deceptive. The creaminess hits you immediately, and then the sweetness of the natural sugars of the yellow beets powers through.

A surprising soup with the flavor of beets.

Next, a signature salad from Sanchez — a crispy nugget of flattened, breaded moist chicken atop seasonal greens with thin slices of pear, orange and persimmon. A Ranch-style creamy dressing with the heat of habanero woke things up, and added a perfect counterpoint to the sweet, refreshing fruit.

A crispy nugget of chicken with creamy habanero dressing.

Slightly warm citrus risotto followed. It was like a creamsicle in your mouth. Unlike rice pudding, where the grains are cooked until they almost break down, this dessert risotto was done al dente, giving it a more interesting texture.

Tangerine risotto.

That was followed by one of Sanchez’s most popular desserts — coffee flan. Even the so-called flan haters at my table went nuts for this version. This was no wiggly-jiggly flan. It is extremely firm and dense, yet out-worldly smooth. Take a spoonful in your mouth, and it’s almost like foie gras terrine in texture with an unbelievably unctuous quality.

A glittery, gooey chocolate cake.

Lastly, caramel-filled chocolate cake that was all aglitter with gold dust and served with an ajillo pepper ice cream. The velvety ganache gave way to gooey, thick caramel and a crunchy chocolate-cookie crust. The pepper in the ice cream was subtle, giving it a floral quality and a mere tickle on the back of the throat.

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Three Interesting Wine Gifts

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Can you guess what's on top of this wine bottle?

Hunting for an unusual gift for the vino lover in your life?

Look no further than the photo above.

You’re probably wondering just what that contraption is affixed to the top of that wine bottle.

It’s a Ravi Instant Wine Chiller, which I got a sample to test out.

Now mind you, I was dubious about this gizmo, which can reportedly cool wine 40 times faster than other products and do a much quicker job than simply sticking the bottle in the fridge.

After all, at a retail price of $39.95, heck, I’d just as soon just stick the darn bottle in the fridge for free, if you know what I mean.

But I have to admit that when used on a bottle of red wine, there is a marked difference in taste. Wine experts will often complain that many restaurants serve their red wines much too warm. Ideally, reds should be enjoyed at a temperature of about 65 degrees.

To use the Ravi, you first have to chill the cartridge in the freezer. Once it’s very cold, it’s ready to use after you attach the funnel-like base. Insert the funnel-end into the opened bottle of wine, tip the bottle and the wine will pour out into your glass through the top of the cartridge.

We experimented on a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon. First, we tasted the wine just straight out of the bottle. It was big, bold and fruity, just like a good California Cab should be. Second, we tasted the wine again after it was poured through the Ravi. There was a subtle but noticeable difference. The wine, now chilled a bit from the Ravi, was decidedly rounder, with smoother tannins, and deeper fruit flavors.

You have to clean the Ravi after each use, by rinsing it under water, then using a small plastic pump to blow air through it to make sure all the excess water is removed. And of course, you have to remember to stick it back in the freezer so it’s handy the next time you open a bottle of wine.

As intriguing as it was, I’m not sure I’d fork over $39.95 for it for myself. But I might do so for a gift for a wine aficionado whom I thought might appreciate it.

You don’t even have to be a wine enthusiast to appreciate this jaw-dropping book, “Into the Earth” (Panache Partners) by photographer Daniel D’Agostini with Molly Chappellet, co-owner of Chappellet Winery & Vineyard in St. Helena.

This large, coffee table-size tome takes you inside — way down inside — some of the oldest and glamorous wine caves in California.

The first caves were dug by hand with pick axes by Chinese laborers. Nowadays, it takes monster machinery to do the work.

Caves are valued for their consistent cool, dark environments — optimal ones for storing and aging wine.

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Holiday Cocktail, Wine Deals, High Tea, Restaurant Openings & More

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The Gentleman Jack Frost cocktail at Fleming's. (Photo courtesy of the restaurant)

You don’t have to be a gentleman to enjoy a Gentleman Jack Frost at Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar in Palo Alto and Walnut Creek.

The new $10.95 holiday cocktail is a warming blend of bourbon, hard cider and cinnamon. It’s available through the end of the year.

Sent Sovi restaurant in Saratoga will team with its neighbor, Uncorked! wine shop, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 6 for the second annual “Wine and Dine” event.

The soiree, held at the wine shop, will offer a chance to sip some fine wines and sample gourmet eats such as Dungeness crab and compressed apple eclairs with 2007 Ceja Sauvignon Blanc, Sonoma Coast. The shop also will be offering some good deals on wine for holiday gift giving.

Tickets to the event are $65 and must be reserved ahead of time by calling (408) 867-3110.

More wine deals can be had at Brix in Yountville. Throughout December, the restaurant will slash prices half-off every bottle of wine at brunch, lunch and dinner. Who wouldn’t want to drink to that?

Dec. 14 at Coi restaurant in San Francisco, meet one of the most colorful and pioneering figures in wine, Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon Vineyard.

Grahm will read from his new book, “Been Doon So Long” (University of California Press), as guests enjoy passed hors d’oeuvres. A four-course dinner prepared by Chef Daniel Patterson will follow, which will be paired with Bonny Doon wines.

Price is $175 per person, which includes a signed copy of Grahm’s book.

Tea-totalers are in for a treat Dec. 4 when the Old Mint Building in San Francisco hosts a holiday high tea.

Seatings are available between 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at this national historic landmark that was once home to one-third of the nation’s gold reserves.

Enjoy tea, coffee, finger sandwiches and precious sweets in this awe-inspiring setting.

Tickets are $75 per person for members of the San Francisco Museum & Historical Society; $85 for non-members; and $45 for children. For reservations, call 415-537-1105 x100.

If you’re one of the many foodies who fell in love with the flick, “Julie & Julia,” you can now own it on DVD ($28.96) or Blu-ray ($39.95).

Special features on both include commentary by writer-director Nora Ephron, as well as interviews with the cast and crew.

The Blu-ray version also comes with a tour of Julia Child’s kitchen now at the Smithsonian, and cooking lessons with Child, Jacques Pepin, Mark Peel, Suzanne Goin and others.

Baker & Banker has opened in the old Quince restaurant site in San Francisco by the couple, Chef Jeff Banker and Pastry Chef Lori Baker (hence the name).

Settle into a comfy espresso leather banquette to enjoy grilled hangar steak with red wine-marrow butter, cast iron potato gratin and sauteed spinach; dayboat scallops with caramelized sun choke puree; and pumpkin cobbler with cinnamon brittle ice cream.

Bottega in Yountville celebrates its one-year anniversary in posh style with a week of white truffle dinners, Dec. 7-13.

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New Bakery, Gourmet Turkey Sandwich, Pastry Chefs Event & More

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Whup it up for Whoopie Pies from Susiecakes. (Photo courtesy of Susiecakes)

If you’re already drooling over those Whoopie Pies, you’ll have to wait until January 2010 to try them.

That’s when Susiecakes will open its first Northern California location in Marin at the Bon Air Shopping Center in Greenbrae.

Owner Susan Sarich opened the first Susiecakes in Brentwood in Southern California three years ago. Three others followed suit in other SoCal cities.

The home-style desserts include everything from a best-selling apple pie to Susie’s Famous Southern Red Velvet cake to homemade banana pudding to assorted cupcakes.

Cherry pie. (Photo courtesy of Susiecakes)

If you’re starting your holiday shopping bright and early tomorrow, San Jose’s Santana Row will be offering a bevy of discounts and deals. Puripan Tea Garden will offer 20 percent off all teaware and accessories. Rosie McCann’s Irish Pub and Restaurant will start Happy Hour at 11:30 a.m. with half-off appetizers, and $2 off pints, well drinks and select wines. Roux Louisiana Kitchen joins in with house wine, champagne, mimosas and draft beer for $3 from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Yankee Pier will extend its Happy Hour from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. and feature $1 Skokum oysters.

Thea Mediterranean will discount your tab 15 percent if you show a receipt from any Santana Row shop or restaurant that day. Vintage Wine Merchants will serve up $3 mimosas. And the Santana Row location of Starbucks will open at a crazy 3 a.m. for caffeine-desperate early shoppers.

"Plymouth Superbird'' sandwich. (Photo courtesy of the Naked Lunch)

If you’re missing out on turkey this Thanksgiving, no worries. The Naked Lunch, the fun, fast-casual eatery in San Francisco’s North Beach has a sammie that is sure to satisfy.

Available Nov. 27-28, the “Plymouth Superbird Sandwich” ($9) features Fra’ Mani’s new turkey galantine, made of both white and dark oven-roasted meat. The sandwich comes complete with cranberry mostarda, sweet potato aioli, Hen of the Woods mushrooms and shaved celery — all on an Acme green onion slab.

Chef Doug Keane and his staff at Cyrus in Healdsburg typically have the day off on Thanksgiving.

But this holiday, they’ll be working in a different capacity. Keane, his wife, and his crew will prepare and serve a traditional Thanksgiving feast today for 120 residents of Catholic Charities Homeless Service Center, a local organization that helps homeless families.

Chef Doug Keane (center) and his staff. (Photo courtesy of Cyrus resaurant)

Guests of the shelter will enjoy a sit-down meal at Healdsburg Bar & Grill with all the trimmings, including cornbread, and apple and pumpkin pies.

“Thanksgiving is about giving thanks and giving back,” Keane says. “Rather than simply volunteering our time or donating our food to the shelter, we want to welcome these families as guests of what is, essentially, our home. We hope to provide a memorable and special dinner out- one where we can all give thanks together. ”

Meet some of the Bay Area’s top pastry chefs at “The State of Pastry in SF,” a 6 p.m. Dec. 1 program hosted by the San Francisco Commonwealth Club. They’ll be giving baking tips and talking about the latest dessert trends.

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