Wine Events: Week of Oct. 18

So many fun events in SF and Sonoma this upcoming weekend.  Sadly, I’ll be out of town, but if you have a chance to attend any of the following, drop a comment.

Owen Roe Tasting @ William Cross Wine Merchants (Russian Hill, SF)
2253 Polk Street
San Francisco, CA 94109

Wed., Oct. 21, 6pm-9pm – $15

Owen Roe is at the forefront of the Pacific Northwest’s wine revolution, making some serious Syrahs, Pinots, and Cabs.  And even better – they offer some great value wines, too.  I was giddy when I picked up a couple of bottles at K&L a few weeks back, and now they’ll be showing their wares at a great lil’  wine shop in Russian Hill.  This is a unique opportunity to learn more about the types of wine coming out of Washington and Oregon.

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Pinot Tasting @ Piazza Market Wine Bar (North Beach, SF)
627 Vallejo St
San Francisco, CA 94133

Wed., Oct. 21 – 6pm-8pm – $15

In anticipation of Sunday’s big event, taste some Pinots from one of the Obama’s favorite producers – Hirsch Vineyards (story here).  I was lucky to have some to accompany a whole hog barbecue and…well…wow.  What can I say?  It was good.  Oh so good.  They’ll also be pouring Pisoni, B. Kosuge, and Tyler.  As an added bonus — 25% off any bottle they pour that night.

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Free Wine Tasting @ Vintage Berkeley
2113 Vine Street
Berkeley, CA

Sat., Oct. 24 – 1pm-3pm – FREE

Two words that sound great together:  free + wine.  Even better free + Domaine Select Wine. One of the premier importers comes to one of the most enjoyable wine stores in the Bay Area (focuses on wines under $25/bottle)  for an afternoon of free tasting.  I’m not privy to what they’ll be pouring, but DS has a broad portfolio, so I’m sure it will be fun.

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Pinot on the River Festival Grand Tasting (Russian River Valley)
Rodney Strong Vineyards
11455 Old Redwood Highway, Healdsburg, CA 95448

Sunday, Oct. 25 – Noon-4pm – $69 (plus service fee)

So many pinots, so little time.  Enjoy the scenic Russian River Valley w/ some of the best pinot producers in the country.  Highlights include:  Roessler Cellars, Kosta Browne, Littorai, Failla, Kanzler, Peay, Merry Edwards….OK, now I’m thirsty.  Trust me — this is an impressive array of wines, and well worth the price of admission.  Get there early!

Wine @ Whole Foods: More than Meets the Eye

When I lived in Washington, DC, I often picked up a bottle of wine at Whole Foods.  Why?  Because it was easy — you’re picking up stuff to make dinner, so why not pick up a bottle of wine that will match?  Only one drawback:  I don’t remember picking up any wines that particularly stood out.

This past weekend, I had DC flashbacks during my visit to the Whole Foods on Franklin & California.  As I perused the wine section, none of the $25-or-less wines on display particularly perked my interest.  I was ready to walk out empty handed, but then, I looked down.  And low-and-behold, I found some hidden gems.

Turns out that Whole Foods doesn’t display all the wines they actually carry.  In fact, if you look at the bottom of the wine racks, you’re likely to find some wines.  Here are a few wines that I was happily surprised to find at my local grocer:

• NV Sean Thackrey Pleiades XVII Red Table Wine (California) – $24.99.  Mad-scientist red wine blend from Bolinas, CA (BOLINAS!) based wine maker, Sean Thackrey.  Garnered 91 pts from RP.  [good video review from Vinifico!].
• 2007 Raptor Ridge Pinot Noir (Willamette Valley, OR) – $24.99.  Top-notch Pinot from one of Wine & Spirits Magazine’s    top wineries of 2009.

The prices were in line with what I expected, though I was disappointed to see that a bottle of 2007 Owen Roe Ex Umbris Syrah was priced at $24.99 — $5 more than I had paid at K&L a week ago.

Whole Foods carried a decent selection at the$20-or-less price point, but no particular surprises.  But, again, looking at the lower shelves, I found two usual crowd pleasers:

• 2007 d’Arenberg The Stump Jump (Australia) – $11.99
• 2008 Alamos Cabernet Sauvignon [sorry, didn’t dig up the price on this one, but probably aroudn same price as d’Arenberg]

Neither of these two are particularly hard to find wines, but you can’t go wrong with them.

Bottom Line: Whole Foods has a good selection for a grocery store, and if you look high and low, you may be able to dig up something interesting.  Plus, if they carry something you like, they’ll knock off 10% off any purchase of 6 or more bottles.  But overall, if you have the time, it’s probably worth visiting your local wine store for the variety and harder-to-find wines.

K&L: $20 or Less Challenge

K&L Wine Merchants

Quick:  you’ve got to pick up a couple of bottles for a dinner party, and want to spend about $20 per bottle (or less).  Short of stocking up on bottles at your corner bodega, where would you go?  While BevMo! might seem like a good stand by, let me throw you a curve ball:  K&L Wine Merchants (SOMA:  4th & Brannan) has some of the best bargains in the entire Bay Area.

K&L might best be known as the go-to place for higher-end,  hard-to-find wines, but it also happens to be a great place to find quality, value wines. I put them to the test on Sunday, and they passed with flying colors.

I was planning on serving a hearty entree for a “Mad Men” dinner/viewing party, so wanted a tasty red to round out the meal.  Lucky for me, K&L had a really exciting selection of syrahs, all for under $20, including two harder to find selections from David O’Reilley, of Owen Roe fame:

• 2007 Owen Roe Ex Umbris Syrah (Columbia Valley, WA) – $19.99
• 2006 Corvidae “Lenore” Syrah (Columbia Valley, WA) – $12.99

I decided to go with these two in order to do a Pacific Northwest tasting — the “Lenore” being particularly fitting for a “Mad Men” night given the literary allusion to Edgar Allen Poe’s classic, “The Raven.”

But K&L had even more to offer.  Either of the following also would have been great selections, and tremendous values:

• 2006 Copain L’hiver Syrah (Mendocino) – $12.99 [From all-star winemaker Wells Guthrie]
• 2007 Boom Boom Syrah (Washington State) – $14.99 [From rock-star winemaker Charles Smith, recently voted Food & Wine magazine’s winemaker of the year]

Moral of the story:  K&L might well be my new favorite wine store–not only for special occasions, but for everyday wines, too.

PS – K&L also has a great mobile site:  m.klwines.com.  Check it out.