Life 2.1

Rarely do I blog about work because, truly, I like to keep my personal life and my professional one separate but since work today included being able to cross something off My Bucket List, I figured it was acceptable to share.

I drank this today. Please refer to #5 on my (albeit small) Life-long Bucket List.

A wine so special they count bottles produced, not cases. I drank from bottle #09513.

That’s right. I got to drink my DRC (2001 vintage). And not just a sip but a whole TASTE! It was such a treat.

It was delicate, more orange-red than purple-red, showing some signs of how nicely it had aged. The flavors swirled together in my glass, none of which were overpowering the other. There were slight notes of clean minerality, paired with hints of rhubarb, red berry…sigh. It sure put my coffee to shame at 9:30 this morning!

I learned about DRC when I first began work at the distributor in New Orleans. It was my first couple days and my boss told me to go through the portfolio and select some wines that I was not familiar with from some of our largest suppliers and sample them out so I would know what I was selling. I put DRC down on my sample request and was promptly laughed out of the building for even trying to requisition out a bottle of wine that went for more than my whole paycheck. Domaine de la Romanée-Conti has a handful of grand cru vineyards, with grand cru being the premiere level of vineyard in Burgundy, France. Of their grand crus, there is one in Puligny Chassagne, six in Vosne-Romanée (one of which is the Grands Echézeaux) and three in the Aloxe-Corton region.

So, back to what I was saying.

Later that year at the distributor, when the DRC allotment came in, one of my customers had pre-ordered a bottle (which was awesome, since I was on full commission.) In order to receive said bottle, I had to hand deliver it to the customer. No big deal. But when I went to pick it up, handling it came with strict instructions.

I was to head to the warehouse, leave my car running with the air conditioner blasting, then ask the warehouse staff to take me in the golf cart to the back “cold room” where this heralded wine was kept. Then I had to take the wooden box in which the wine was to be delivered and buckle it with a seat belt. Once I arrived at my account, the customer signed for it and I was safe.

The particular wine we tasted today is so highly coveted they are numbered.

Cheers Bottle #9513, you made my day.

No Comments | In: Living the Vine Life, Pulled Corks, Social Adventures | tags: Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Grands Echézeaux 2001, wine. | #

I ♥ social media because you can create things like this:

Also, if you’re listening Pixar, I’m available for voiceover work and I probably work way cheaper than Hilary Duff or Mylie Cyrus. Just throw me a couple videos from the Disney vault and I’m good to go.

2 Comments | In: social media | tags: social media, Sutter Home, voiceover, wine, You Tube. | #

Marc Kreydenweiss Les Charmes Kritt Pinot Blanc (2006); Alsace: Let’s start with the fun facts. The “Kritt” part of the name is from the word Kritter, which is how the vineyard site was labeled on old maps of the area. “Les Charmes” is fancy French-speak for “the charms” and the label art represents the delicacy and harmony of the wines. I like when I can put it all together and wrap it in a bow like that. As for the tasting profile, immediately I smelled pear with maybe a touch of minerality. When I tasted, I got more citrus and mineral but that pear was still there on the finish.

Pierre Morey Bourgogne-Aligoté (2006); Meursault, Cote d’Or: This is an interesting one. I don’t think I have ever tasted anything quite like it. On the nose there is almost a fresh mushroom-y aroma but with some sort of peppery note. Not in a bad way, just distinct, but on the palate it’s got some green apple characteristics that combine with a sort of earthiness.

Josemeyer Le Fromenteau Pinot Gris (2006); Alsace: Today was a clearly a French white wine kinda day. Alsatian pinot gris are very different from “new world” pinot gris and since I wasn’t terribly familiar with those differences, I decided to give it a whirl. This pinot gris smelled bright with hints of honeysuckle. There was some fruit but I couldn’t place it but it seemed to integrate nicely with the honeysuckle. When I sipped, there was a creaminess to the wine that was balanced by a little acid that gave it good structure.

1 Comment | In: Pulled Corks | tags: wine, wine notes, wine tasting. | #

…I’ve been here for years.” — LL Cool J.

Wise, yet oddly appropriate words. It’s no secret that upon finishing up school, I moved back to Napa from San Diego and started working in the wine business. And now, after a year hiatus, I’m back in it. This time on the sales side and working from The Boot. I’ve only been back in the business for 3 days but hopefully I can pick up where I left off.

I’m still getting back into my groove but I’m feeling pretty positive. I don’t think I can honestly devote a whole post to the new job because I still learning the ropes but there will be more to come.

Also, I have been without internet access for almost a week so my bad for not posting a Get Meaningful Fridays installment.

In other news, I will be returning to California later in the week and I can’t wait for that. I fly in Thursday and will be making a beeline for Taqueria Rosita, which reminds me…my dad told me I could submit a menu of meals that I would like to have upon my return home for consideration. I should get on that.

It will probably include the following:

Taqueria, Lawler’s (because I love me some ravioli and malfatti), Red Rock burgers…and my mom and dad are having the family over one of the nights and it goes without saying that we will have butter and garlic marinated tri-tip, which is kinda making me drool a little, not gonna lie.

This tri-tip is so good that one time during Christmas break, I returned from college and worked at an insurance office where I had worked over the previous summer and at the end of the holiday, my boss gave me gift certificates to Browns Valley Market (a small, specialty mom-and-pop market) where the aforementioned trip-tip is sold. The day before I packed my car to return to San Diego for school, I went an purchased 5 butter and garlic tri-tips and froze them. Prior to my departure, I packed them on ice in my cooler and hauled them back to San Diego, kept them frozen and had one a couple weeks later for my 21st birthday. It was awesome.

If I remember correctly, I also froze one once, packed it on ice in my carry-on and took it on the hour flight back to SD before. I imagine that the person scanning my carry-on at the security line was slightly alarmed but never did anything. The tri-tips are that good.

But along with that tri-tip also comes getting to see my whole family. We’re talking aunts, uncles and cousins here, people. I’m very excited at this prospect because I haven’t seen all of us together since Christmas Eve and even then I don’t think we were all there. I plan on taking lots of pictures. Including one giant cousins picture, so when I say I have a lot of cousins I have pictorial evidence to back me up.

Expect pictures soon.

4 Comments | In: Delicious-flavored foods, Life in the boot-shaped state, Social Adventures | tags: family, menu planning, Napa, Napa restaurants, tri-tip, wine. | #

I think I had the best meal since I moved to Louisiana the other night. It was phenomenal. Like, bring-on-the-elastic-waisted-pants phenomenal.

A friend of mine from home was out here on business this week and we had a chance to grab dinner. Because neither of us knew where to go and we were both in the mood to explore, The Wendy asked the concierge at her hotel where he would go if he could only eat at one restaurant in the whole city and his answer was very definitive: Upperline.

So we plugged the address into Lola that’d be my GPS system that I purchased upon arrival– best.investment.ever. Shout out to my favorite Texan and JHart for that recommendation and off we went.

The restaurant was the most warm and inviting place and I live in Naw’lins where hospitality is serious stuff! There were three dining areas and each room was intimate and perfect for chatting. The staff was most welcoming and sent over some delicious specialties of the house, which I can’t remember what exactly it was called but it had shrimp and bacon and I think we all know how I feel about bacon, but I digress.

Upon being seated, we immediately ordered appetizers, which knocked my sock off! Well, heels off, to be more precise. We enjoyed Fried Green Tomato with Shrimp Remoulade, which I could have eaten all night long. The Remoulade was outstanding. It had a Creole kick that complimented the tomatoes. We also enjoyed Crispy Louisiana Oysters with Celery Root Remoulade apparently I was in the mood to only dine on items served with remoulade which were also tasty. Yes, I like oysters. In fact, I love them. I love them charbroiled and now fried and with garlic.

And did I mention that we enjoyed wine with our meal? I’m pretty sure this was also one of the best Pinots I have ever tasted. Domaine Serene Evenstad Reserve Pinot Noir. I know it’s probably not the best wine description but…it was ridiculously good. Since I’m feeling technical: smooth and lots of good cherry flavors, which I like. It kinda reminded me of a cherry fruit leather snack, which I enjoy. I have determined that I appreciate a good bottle of Pinot (this conclusion was made prior to consuming the Domain Serene) but this bottle just made me realize how enjoyable a well-crafted Pinot Noir can be. I happen to know that it’s a very difficult grape to grow so seeing what can be made from such a finicky fruit is actually really amazing.

So right, the meal. Let me preface this by saying I don’t usually do lamb. I haven’t really ever enjoyed it the few times that I’ve had it and my cousin has cursed me because every time I see it on the menu somewhere, I hear her voice describing it as tasting like socks (she really hasn’t had good lamb experiences!)

But I opted for it, seeing as how the other foods I had tried hadn’t let me down. And tah-dah! This lamb did not taste like socks!

It was a Braised Lamb Shank in Burgundy with Saffron Risotto, which I bet you didn’t know, is New Orleanian for freakin’ delicious! The lamb fell off the bone and the risotto was perfect, and this is coming from someone who was a little nervous about the use of saffron! But it didn’t dominate, which I appreciated.

Of course, because I am apparently unhappy with my current wardrobe and want to buy more clothes in a bigger size, I opted for dessert as well. Now, really, if you think about it, I blame the chef at my previous place of employment for my ordering dessert. Because if he didn’t make such a bomb (that means good, for those of you playing at home) bread pudding, I wouldn’t have such a craving for it. And since I cannot enjoy his recipe, I am forced to try it everywhere I go to see if I can find a place in New Orleans that will satisfy my craving. You see how clearly it’s his fault.

And now my search has ended.

I ate the whole darn thing. I would have licked my plate but that may have drawn strange looks from the people around me and I did just move here and don’t want to be the crazy Californian.

So in conclusion, I ate a great meal, had a great visit with a friend from home and now need bigger pants.

Here we are post-meal, mid-food coma:

We are full

But I wouldn’t mind entertaining more visitors, so consider that an open invite to the Big Easy. My new BFFs at Upperline are expecting me back soon and I really don’t want to eat alone so come visit. Now is good. Does now work for you? Super.

1 Comment | In: Delicious-flavored foods, Life in the boot-shaped state | tags: Domain Serene, New Orleans, Pinot Noir, Upperline Restaurant, wine. | #