January Wine Club Party
Here are a few images from our January 22, 2010 Wine Club pick up party at the Winery
PinotDays 2010 – Santa Monica
Going forth and writing about ones thoughts is mind boggling to say the least. However, people generally find it interesting to read about the life, the process and the culture of turning grapes into a delicious, enthralling liquid called wine. So here we go.
During the past week, I have shown the wine that I produce, Stephen Ross, to scores of people in Santa Monica, Orange County and Santa Barbara, while at the same time enjoying great food at various restaurants, and at the home (my Southern California home away from home) of my broker/saleswomen Sandy Garber in Topanga Canyon.
PinotDays, a Pinot Noir wine tasting event for consumers, retailers and restaurateurs, took place on January 17 in a huge hangar at the Santa Monica airport. The first PinotDays tasting was held in San Francisco four or five years ago, and the organizers have expanded to similar events in New York, Chicago and now, Santa Monica.
Bruce Hotra of Heritage Wine Company, Pasadena
This is a great venue to taste Pinot Noirs produced by established producers from Oregon and California as well as producers showing their inaugural releases. It was a great way for me to connect with the folks who have been selling Stephen Ross in their wine stores and restaurants for the past 10 – 15 years.
Although I meet some interesting people when I travel, my favorite memories are about food and wine served together- the incredible chicken Sandy cooked for dinner on Sunday night…one of those fresh chickens purchased at the Santa Monica farmers’ market and air-dried for a day or two in the refrigerator served with Champagne, which she imports. On Monday night Sandy’s husband Ralph heated pork ribs on a Tuscan style grill in their living room fireplace, which he had slow cooked in a smoker the prior day for several hours. This paired nicely with our 2007 Stephen Ross Pinot Noir, Edna Valley. Traveling to various parts of the country to sell wine can be at times tiresome and a little lonely, but traveling to Southern California allows me to meet lots of new people and still have the comfort of staying with friends in a cool spot in Topanga Canyon.
Tonight I had a delicious glass of 2007 Stephen Ross Pinot Noir, Aubaine Vineyard, a spicy, fruity wine, with a deep ruby color, and fine tannins.
Tomorrow, I get to go to the winery.