Wine Party Saturday

So, here's the latest installement on Keri's semi-regular wine-themed parties. This party is poorly timed with the run to the Borgata, but hey -- I'm just the financier of the event not the planner.

So, if you're around and want to come by, I think we start at 8:00pm this Saturday at my place. Bring a bottle of wine...

Emil
--
It's time for our September Wine Party! Sadly, this may be Judy's last wine party before her move to California - so let's make it a great one!

Our theme this month will be California Wines.

Wine has been grown in California since 1769 when missionaries from Mexico moved to the San Diego area. Father Serra planted the first vines for sacramental purposes later that decade and the California wine industry was established. The Gold Rush of 1848 really kick started the California wine trade. When the gold reserves ran out the miners, especially the Europeans who had come over to find their fortune, tried their luck growing grapes. The number of wineries grew steadily until the Prohibition in 1919 when many wine growers had to close down. It took from the end of the Prohibition in 1933 until the 1950s for wine growing to pick up again, and it really took off in the 1970s when California was hailed as one of the world's great wine regions.
California is the world's fourth largest wine-producing region, topped only by Italy, France and Spain. Each year, it produces many millions of liters of good quality table wines and an increasingly large volume of high quality vintage wines. The best-known wine growing regions in the state are the Sonoma Valley and Napa Valley along with the neighboring regions of Mendocino and Lake Counties. As you visit California wineries you will discover many varietals of wine each with their own distinctive flavors and characteristics. However, you will soon notice that six varietals predominate California wines. These are: The white wines Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay, and the red wines Pinot Noir, Zinfandel (California's native grape), Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Below are some suggested bottles within our price range of under $20 per bottle. These happen to be some of my favorite California wines:

2000 Cline; Ancient Vines Zinfandel. About $19
Ripe, lively and overflowing with juicy dense blackberry flavors and marvelous spicy sweet aromas. To say it "oozes" would be an understatement. A little tar and dust provide the balance to the fruit and a mouthful can truly last a looooong time. You will enjoy! This is what quintessential California Zinfandel is all about.

2000 Careaga Canyon Vineyard Chardonnay. About $18
Deliciously ripe fruit flavors enhanced by the rich caramel and brown spices from new barrels.

2000 Stolpman Vineyard Merlot. About $17
Full bodied classic Merlot from the heart of the Santa Ynez Valley.

2001 Claiborne & Churchill Dry Riesling. About $15
Some aroma and flavor descriptors that come to mind include lemongrass, juniper berries, fresh ginger root, citrus peel, jasmine, and faint corriander.

2002 MacMurray Ranch Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. About $16
The wine displays rich, ripe Pinot Noir flavors of red and black cherries, roses and strawberries, complemented by herb, spice, and subtle vanilla characteristics.

2003 Gary Farrell Sauvignon Blanc. About $20
Bright and forward aromas of fresh green apple, kiwi and citrus fruit lead to broad flavors, which mirror those aromas. This wine shows surprising richness on the mid-palate, while never straying from its focus on crisp, refreshing acidity. Certainly, this wine would be an ideal companion to cheese plates, cold vegetables or shellfish, but would also stand up well to richer, more spicy fish offerings as well.

As always, please bring friends and enough wine for your group (under $20 each bottle). We also happen to have quite a bit of international beers at the moment, as well as tons of sake - so if you are your friends aren't wine drinkers - come anyway!

Saturday, September 11, 2004.
81 Murray Street, Apt. 5. NYC. Between West Broadway and Greenwich Streets. Near the 1,2,3,9,A,C,E,R,W,4,5,6 subway lines.
8pm. Drinks at Grace to follow - usually around midnight or 1am.

Hope to see you there!

~keri~

P.S. In the last email, I alluded to a "mystery guest from beyond the grave". Well, one day I was doing a little research online about my building and it's history and I only found one reference. A man by the name of Nathaniel Paulding used to live here in the late 1840's when the building was a boarding house. He died while living here (it doesn't say he actually died in the building, but during the time he was a resident here.) Anyway...Mr. Paulding was local business man in the area for almost 50 years - and what was his business exactly? He was a wine importer. Cool, huh? I'm sure his presence has helped to make our wine parties a success, but now that we are aware of him...who knows what will transpire! (Now most of you know that I love a good ghost sighting story - but I am not so keen on it happening in my home, so while I will have various seance-y props about to go along with our mystery guest theme - there will be no ouija board and we will not be conjuring anyone. I have to sleep here, you know.)

That reminds me... I'd also like to remind everyone that it's not to early to start thinking about their Halloween costumes! Halloween is on a Sunday this year, so we will be having our annual bash on Saturday Oct. 30th.

 

Thanks, Todd! I'll let you know as the next planned event gets closer... I'd like to not have this at my house for once!

 

We did Chilean reds last April. Given that Keri's friends are such tightwads, this was a big hit. I'm lobbying for the November party to be Southern Hemisphere wines so we can invite the Aussies.

Hurry home -- lots of fun driving going on!

 

Good point!