Rhythm and Vine is Music, Food and Wine

by Frank Mangio

Indulge all your senses Saturday April 9 from 6 to 9pm at Westfield Center North County San Diego, as Rhythm and Vine comes again for an unforgettable night of hot tunes, hot food and cool, award-winning wine, to benefit the Boys and Girls Club of Greater San Diego.

The music lineup includes the Clay Colton Band with Rock, Country and Folk (shown in photo), Simeon Flick with Acoustic Soul, and Anthony Garcia (Flemenco Guitar). Over 60 wineries will be pouring, paired with 35 gourmet restaurants.

Under the professional guidance of Fast Forward Event Productions, with an unbeatable history of success in large wine and other lifestyle events, the Boys and Girls Club has found a singular food, music and wine event to raise funds for the 25,000 plus children of San Diego County who ultilize its services.

A highlight for guests is the optional VIP tent granting VIP ticket holders access to exclusive food and beverage partners, as well as a VIP after-party that will last until 10pm. The cost is $125. in advance and $150. at the door. General admission tickets cost $75. in advance and $100. at the door. A special discount is available for students and the military-two tickets for $99, pre sale only. Purchase tickets at www.rhythmandvine.org. You can call 760-858-0591, x203 for questions.

Most wine countries in California are represented with generous pours of Cabernet, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Mourvedre, Sauvignon Blanc and a host of wine blends.

One of the wines showcased in Rhythm and Vine is Callaway Winery of Temecula, fresh from big wins at the 2011 Winemaker Challenge in San Diego.

Callaway Winery in Temecula has recently won Gold for its Chardonnay and will be at the Rhythm and Vine event in Escondido.

Callaway was Temecula’s first winery and lately has come a long way with recently changed ownership, winemaker and marketing support. They have secured gold with the 2008 Winemaker’s reserve Chardonnay and 2009 Winemaker’s Reserve Late Harvest Chardonnay.

Other wineries worth noting are: Artesa of Napa Valley, Cass from Paso Robles and Michael-David from Lodi.

Wine-Speak from Robert Renzoni

I really enjoy trading comments on wine with the new “millennial.” Say what, you say? That’s’ OK, I had no clue what this new wine force was until I found out it’s a crucial part of the marketing of Paso Robles wine country, and their college and night club events. It’s all the young adult generation who turned 21 in 2000, to the present time.

I was at a wine dinner recently at the Temecula Creek Inn and they were featuring nearby wines by Robert Renzoni, who himself is a young, good looking Italian guy who does wine-speak in an easy-going harmonious manner. He’s all about family. Robert is full of stories about father Fred’s involvement in Italian wines from back east and how they have built up a family tradition of wine since 1886.

Robert Renzoni, left, brought his wines to Temecula Creek Inn to pair up with the tasty Meditteranean small bites of Chef Sal Giuliano

A Pinot Grigio, Julia’s Vineyard, is named after his mother, and La Rosa 2008 Rose’ is named after his grandmother. As he likes to say “alla famiglia!” With this spirit in place, many young “millennials” who came that night listened intently to the wine stories and spoke up about their wine choices. A young, well-dressed lady beside me (who brought her young baby to the event) flashed a winning smile and loved the Robert Renzoni 2008 Sangiovese as a beautifully structured, balanced body of wine with a soft finish. The Temecula Creek Inn event planners scored big-time on this one. Check out future events at www.temeculacreekinn.com.

Wine Bytes

PAON Restaurant & Wine Bar is planning a Taste of Bordeaux Sat. April 2 from 2 to 5pm in the Wine Bar, served with chef’s selection of fine cheese and fruit. Five wines will range from an ’09 Blanc to an ’07 St. Emilion. A wine host will be at PAON to educate. $20. pp. Call 760-729-7377.

Falkner Winery in Temecula will have Free Live Jazz on Sundays, starting April 3 from Noon to 3pm. It will be held on the outside lawn area next to the Tasting Room. Saxman Jason Weber will blow.

Lovers of Italian wines will want to get on a plane and go to Verona for this years’ Vinitaly, one of the largest showcases for Italy, Thurs. April 7 to Mon. April 11. Banfi of Tuscany plays a leading role in the event.

Proper, a Gastro Pub next to PETCO Park downtown San Diego will have Anglim Winery of Paso Robles in a wine dinner on Mon. Apr. 4 for $49. ea. RSVP at 619-255-7520. Amglim is a small-lot Rhone style winery.

South Coast Winery Resort and Spa in Temecula brings in the blessing of the Vines Celebration & BBQ Sun. Apr. 10 from 4 to 7pm. Guests take the processional tour through the vineyards for the blessing and chefs cook a BBQ’d meal of Bratwurst, chicken and burgers, with live entertainment and dancing. Call 951-587-9463 for pricing.

RELM Wine Bistro, downtown Carlsbad is hosting Pre-Dating Speed Dating with the next event Sun. Apr. 17 at 5pm and 7pm. Different age groups are matched up so call for details on pricing and demographs. 760-805-5398. Happpy hour is now extended from 3 to 7pm at RELM.

The latest issue of Dining Out San Diego, a free glossy magazine on restaurants and menus, is now on display at hotels, restaurants, wineries and galleries.

Mourvedre Wines Will Move You

by Frank Mangio

Mourvedre is one of those wines that wind up in the back of a country’s list of popular wines with maybe a couple of paragraphs. Like Aglianico in the Campania District of Italy, Mourvedre tends to get lost and labeled as a blending grape with its more-well-known companion in the south of France, Grenache.

Although Grenache would be my first choice for a world wide break-out, lip-smacking, sultry Mourvedre (pronounced more-vehd-ruh) with its rich, visceral taste, could very well be the next big thing in the southern Rhone Valley .

Talk to Ted Plemons, a partner at Cass Vineyard and Winery in the Paso Robles district in the Central Coast of California, and he will underline that prediction. “We bottled the 2008 Mourvedre in January of last year and it surprised us how fast it sold out at $38. a bottle,” he said. At the recent Family Winemakers of California event in Del Mar, he unveiled a large box container with a faucet that was filled with a blend called Flying Nymph.

This sultry combination is the essence of southern Rhone, with Syrah, Mourvedre and Grenache. The vintage is 2009 so it’s still flying around with ripe cherry, strawberry and currants.

Ted Plemons of Cass Winery in Paso Robles uses the Mourvedre Grape as a blend in his oversized box wine called Flying Nymph.

A 750 ML bottle is $12.50 and the box, which is 18 liters of wine, goes for $100. That means with a 4 ounce pour, you could get 124 pours. The fruit is all estate and made by the Cass winemaker.

Just to set the record straight, Mourvedre is really native to Spain where it is called Monastrell and 2nd to Granache ( Garnacha in Spain) in importance. It was brought to the south of France in the 19th century and shortly after, found its way to California where there is now about 400 acres grown. Mourvedre seems to balance out at 15% alcohol. It is a late-ripening varietal that loves heat and produces high sugar. Tablas Creek is another Paso Robles vineyard that focuses on Mourvedre and the Chateauneuf-du-Pape southern French style of winemaking.

Their version has very thick skins and dark-as-night coloration, typically picked in November. Their club member price is $28. Find out more about Cass at www.casswines.com. The Tablas Creek website is www.tablascreek.com.

Firefly Revisited

Jim Barrasso, the cordial restaurateur of Firefly, that anchors the string of comfortable wine bar-restaurants along the El Camino Real Corridor in Encinitas, recently introduced his new chef with a Ferrari-Carano paired wine dinner. Paul Rinaudo, now creating entrees for Firefly, came from the Gaslamp San Diego, J-Six Restaurant. On this night, his main course was a Roast Pork Prime Rib that matched up with one of my Top Ten Wines from last year, the

A recent Firefly Encinitas gathering included: left to right, Taste of Wine columnist Frank Mangio, Ferrari-Carano rep Michael Hurst, Chef Paul Rinaudo and owner Jim Barrasso.

Ferrari-Carano Tresor 2007 Bordeaux style blend from the Alexander Valley in Sonoma ( $58.) Firefly’s next event is the Tolosa Winery dinner on Wednesday April 20. Check out others as well at www.fireflygrillandwinebar.com, or call 760-635-1066.

Wine Bytes

Bacchus Wine Market in the Gaslamp Downtown San Diego has all new releases Fri. March 25 from 4-8:30pm. Try 7 for $15. Details at 619-236-0005.

Meritage Wine Market has a lineup of “tooth-stainin’ reds for you to try Fri. March 25 from 4 to 7pm for $20. RSVP at 760-479-2500.

Vigilucci’s Seafood and Steakhouse in Carlsbad at the beach has an Antinori Italian Foie Gras Wine Dinner Fri. March 25 at 6:30pm. Wines include the prestigious Bolgheri Super Tuscan 2007 and the Tuscan Brunello Di Montalcino 2005. Don’t miss this. $120. pp. Reserve now at 760-434-2580.

San Diego Wine Company has a Saturday tasting on March 26 from 11 to 4:30pm. It’s all Italian wines. $10. ea. Contact them at 858-586-9463.

San Diego’s newest winery is Lenora Winery in Ramona. Every Sat. and Sun. 5 wines are poured from 10 to 6pm, including a souvenir wine glass. The phone is 760-788-1388.

Pop Open These Wines!

by Frank Mangio

Traveling the length and breadth of California for the past 3 months of 2011 has brought me to over 60 venues, tasting over 1,500 wines. I evaluate all tastes on a 1 to 5 rating, from bad to excellent. Flavor, place and price are chief factors in the selections. Prices shown are suggested retail. These are my recommended Excellent 10:

Artesa Cabernet, 2005, Napa Valley 63%/Sonoma 37%. $15. A Cab blend of two world-class growing grounds… aged 2 years in French Oak.

Concannon Conservancy Petite Sirah, 2007, Livermore Valley, CA. $8. Incredible buy. America’s first Petite Sirah winery. Full bodied cherry flavor, rich to the finish.

Le Machiole Bolgheri Rosso, 2008, Italy. $32.99. A blend of 50% Merlot, 30% Cabernet, 15% Syrah and 5% Sangiovese. Dark, rich fruit with that Italian minerality that showcases this mama earth vino.

Markham Merlot, 2006, Napa Valley CA. $16. Merlot is very much alive and Markham deserves credit for this exceptional quality red.

Niner Twisted Spur Syrah/Merlot/Cab Franc/Petite Sirah, 2007, Paso Robles CA. $25.

The artistry of leading California winemaker Amanda Cramer is perfectly balanced fruit. Lovely complexity.

Ravenswood, a big crowd-pleaser at the recent Zinfandel Festival in San Francisco, is considered a pioneer in this varietal.

Ravenswood Zinfandel, 2008, Lodi CA. $16. Winemaker/owner Joel Peterson produces wines from many vineyards and makes over 800,000 cases of red wine. His major skill is presenting each wine as handcrafted with flavorful artistry.

Robert Mondavi Fume Blanc, Napa Valley CA. $ 11. Our only white wine entry, Fume Blanc was coined by the master himself. It has a slightly citrus quality to tweek the palate; same as Sauvignon Blanc. Racy and refreshing.

Seghesio Cortina Zinfandel, 2008, Sonoma CA. $35. The north end of Sonoma holds lots of gravely loam soil that the Seghesio Family added to their estate wines in 1957. Dry Creek is a timeless appellation where most of the Old Vine Zin vineyards live.

Sokol Blosser Pinot Noir, 2008, Dundee Hills, Oregon. $38. A marvelous example of an old world style of Pinot, in the best Burgundian tradition. This mystical growing ground is the stuff that the queen of red wines thrives in. Place it into a 16 month hibernation in old oak and you have pure Pinot, Sokol Blosser style.

Thornton Winery Syrah, 2007, Temecula Valley, CA. $24. The aroma and taste of the Rhone Valley, Thornton has captured what the Temecula Valley does best. Velvety tannins enhance big-bodied fruit with layers of berry and a touch of mocha.

Enjoy these latest release wines. My picks for the first quarter of 2011.

Getting Caught Up in the Wine World

Wine sales are recorded for last year and once again Chardonnay is the leading varietal with 2 billion in sales and 22% of total sales.

Cabernet Sauvignon comes in 2nd at 1.35 billion and 15% of sales, according to the International Wine Guild. Pinot Gris/Pinot Grigio is next, with Merlot holding on in 4th place and Pinot Noir 5th.

Chardonnay and Cabernet still hold on to

1st and 2nd place in wine sales in the U.S.

The fastest growing sales increases are coming from Riesling and Pinot Noir, with Italy’s Sangiovese coming in 3rd. Italy is the top importer, selling 30% of all imported wines.

Veteran San Diego Chef Jeff Rossman and his long-time restaurant in Hillcrest, Terra, have re-located to a sleek bistro style dining establishment on El Cajon Boulevard in La Mesa called Terra American Bistro which should be ready next month. Jeff will emphasize even more, his farm-to-table format. The décor will feature a “living wall” garden. He recently published “From Terra’s Table: New American Food Fresh From Southern California’s Organic Farms.”

China is the next hot market for wine. The monied crowd consider wine drinking to be Western, modern and cool. The sales in Hong Kong are double that of New York and London combined.

Check out www.wineanddinedeals.com, chock full of wine and dine news. It’s run by Ron James who used to do it for Sign On San Diego. You’ll find what you need for that next happy hour and more.

Wine Bytes

§ A Tuscan Night with Banfi Wines and dinner at Vigilucci’s in Encinitas is planned for Wed. March 23 starting at 6:30pm. Banfi will have a presentation by Educational Director Sharron McCarthy. Wines range from Pinot Grigio to Brunello di Montalcino. $65. cost. RSVP at 760-942-7332.

§ A Stags Leap Wine Dinner is planned for Thurs. March 24 from 6pm to 9pm at the Marriott Laguna Cliffs in Dana Point. Chef Erasmo has a 7 course feast accompanied by 6 different varietals of Stags Leap. Cost is $100. ea. Call 949-661-5000.

§ Mistral at Loews Coronado is presenting a 3,000 bottle wine cellar seminar event with an hors d’oeuvres reception followed by a 4 course dinner with paired wines, Thurs. March 24 from 6 to 9pm. $75. pp. Reserve at 619-424-4000.

Totally ZIN at ZAP-Fest

by Frank Mangio

The ZAP-Fest, an annual gathering of Zinfandel fanatics in San Francisco by the Zinfandel Advocates & Producers (ZAP) was everything I had heard that it was, and more.

Not your usual namby-pamby gathering, it was an exciting delight from the start of its 3 days of creativity to the Grand Tasting that filled two large buildings with over 200 wineries at Fort Mason, with the Golden Gate Bridge as a backdrop.

8,000 guests poured over the wines offered. It was the 20th ZAP gathering so a Roaring 20’s theme was cut loose and burst through expectations with new ways to learn about this grape with a strong European influence.

Chiarello Family Vineyards was a new entry in the ZAP Festival, the creation of Napa Valley’s master chef Michael Chiarello.

This “used-to-be” jug wine with boyish fruit and high alcohol has its roots in such far away places as Campania, Italy where it is known as Primitivo, with traces of this varietal verified across the Adriatic, in Croatia. Cuttings were brought to California in the 1820s from Austrian sources who gave it the Germanic name. It grew vigorously and later in the 1900s became popular as a blush wine, White Zinfandel. Old vines were preserved for their lengthy production.

Joel Peterson, founder and winemaker for Ravenswood since its beginnings in 1976, is also one of the founders of ZAP. He is also a member of the 2011 Vintners Hall of Fame as the Zinfandel Pioneer who held the varietal together and changed its perception to that of a premier, premium wine.

Joel Peterson, is founder of the popular Ravenswood Zinfandel, now producing 800,000 cases of red wine.

Joel works with over 100 plus growers that provide grapes for Ravenswood, which offers a huge variety and range of Zins, from the Vintners Blend Zin, seen in most supermarkets, to select vineyard premiums from Napa Valley, Sonoma and Lodi ( $35.) www.ravenswood.com.

Other Zin favorites at the festival included: BR Cohn Sonoma Valley($28.), Bogle Old Vine Zin from Lodi($11.), V Sattui Winery Napa Valley make 12 different styles of Zin($36.), Seghesio Family Wineries has won world-wide awards for its 6 collections of estate Zins ($36.), Pedroncelli in Sonoma has scored well with its Mother Clone Old Vine and Dry Rose’ of Zin($15.), and a newcomer, Wine Guerrilla of Sonoma is worth a try($30.).

The next Zinfandel Festival is in Paso Robles March 18 to 20. From great Paso Zins, food from master chefs and auctions, there are many ways to enjoy this major event. See all the options at www.pasowine.com.

Wine Bytes

Il Farro Italian Restaurant in Newport Beach has a Sardinian Wine Dinner Thurs. March 10 at 6:30pm. Wine owners Pina and Francesco Soletta will present the wines. $59. pp. Call 949-723-5711.

Orfila Winery in Escondido has a 8-wine blind tasting Thurs. March 10 from 6:30 to 8:30pm. $25. ea. includes a How to Taste guide. Top score wins a bottle of Orfila Wine. Call 800-868-9463.

Cakebread Wines are the select feature at the Wine Bank in the Gaslamp, downtown San Diego Fri. March 11 from 6 to 8pm. Cost is $20. for Napa Valley’s elite wines. Details at 619-234-7487.

Canapes in the San Marcos Restaurant Row has the Robert Hall wines for a tasting Sun. March 13 from 3 to 6pm. $10. pp includes paired appetizers. RSVP at 760-510-2088.

Firefly Grill and Wine Bar in Encinitas has a Treana Winemaker Dinner Mon. March 14 at 6:30pm. These wines are some of Paso Robles’s best. Cost is $59. Reserve your place at 760-635-1066.

Il Fornaio at the Del Mar Plaza has its next Festa Regionale with a salute to the wine and food of the Trentino-Alto Adige districts of Italy, March 6 to 20. Local wines and food featured. See www.ilfornaio.com.