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The Vine : Wine Country Tastings Blog

Tasting and tripping to wines fresh off the vine.

Tercero 2006 Cuvee Christie - TreeHouse Tasting No.45

» posted by Rich
on 8 Sep 2010

Tercero Wines

I picked up this nice bottle of red last year at a Meet The Winemaker Night at The Winery Collective in the tourist-centric Cannery area of San Francisco. Tourist area aside, it's really a nice tasting room that features about 100 wines from about two dozen smaller wineries in California.

On the night I was there it was a special evening with winemaker Larry Schaffer of Tercero Winery. His small operation in Santa Barbara County is made up of only two people. I really enjoyed many of the wines and bought this Tercero 2006 Cuvee Christie, a rhone-style red made up of mostly Grenache, with about 30% Syrah, and 10% Mouvedre that I'm drinking right now.

Named after his partner and wife, Christie MacDonald, this baby is a cherry bomb... the wine, that is. At first I was a bit worried about the alcohol level (15.1%), but it turned out to be a really balanced wine. Nice body, with nice soft tannins and a bit of acid. It seemed to get better as it sat opened. Later I picked up nice spices, and the whole thing got smoother. I had a bunch of stuff written about making love on a lazy Sunday morning, eating cherries... feeling more and more relaxed... with no particular place to go and nothing else to do... but I think that's taking it a bit too far.

It's a good wine, and for under $30 it's not a bad deal. You have to realize it's a small operation, so the price will be a bit higher due to the small production.

Get yourself over to the Winery Collective and talk to the head man, Bryan Kane, who will be happy to introduced you to some great wines, including his own label, Vie wines, which are outstanding.

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Sign Up! SF Wine Center's Wine School announces Fall Schedule

» posted by Rich on 2010-09-07 14:31:57

I've done two "semesters" of wine classes at the SF Wine Center and couldn't be happier with the instructors, the hosts, the wines tasted, and the things I've learned. They've just announced the new Fall and Winter Schedule which includes new classes, as well as a re-run of the great Six-Week Intro To Wine Course on Tuesday nights.

I highly recommend these classes for anyone at any level. Great for all you knuckleheads like me, or very productive for wine industry folks who'd like to network with real wine lovers and other industry types.

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Vin De Pays D'Oc - From The Cellar

» posted by Rich on 2010-09-07 06:58:01

Last summer we discovered this great white at one of the coolest wine shops in Berkeley. Well, it's hot again in SF and we had to pop another 7fifty of this Domaine De Montrabech 2008 Vin De Pays D'Oc. We thought we re-visit the tasting we posted at the time:

TreeHouse Tasting Tuesday No.12: Vintage Berkeley Edition - Domaine De Montrabech

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Organic Hippie-Speak

» posted by Rich on 2010-09-04 10:33:16

I'm kind of annoyed. I keep noticing that there is a debate about whether organic fruits and veggies are "healthier" or "more nutritious" than non-organic foods. I read articles in national magazines, online blogs, and even on NPR's Talk Of Nation. So do organic foods have more nutritional value? Who the heck cares?

Each debate discusses the scientific studies being done on the fruits and veggies to determine their nutritional value. These have more vitamin C, or those don't have as much iron. It goes on and on. The nutrition aspect is besides the fuckin' point. We're talking about fruits and vegetables, for pete's sake. Just eating them is better for you. But when it comes to the question of whether organic is healthier, I simply would ask you this: would you rather eat a strawberry that was grown using at least five or more toxic chemicals and pesticides and herbicides, many of which are still present when you eat it? Or would you rather have a naturally grown strawberry without any toxic chemicals? Really. Is that even a question?

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Lady's Night upheld in NY Court - What about Douche Bag Fee?

» posted by Rich on 2010-09-02 14:34:52

Where would we be without Ladies Night at the clubs? Some dude named Roy Den Hollander, a so-called "anti-feminist lawyer", tried to argue in court that it was unfair for clubs to charge guys and not girls. Now if only we could use that same system to instill a "douche bag" fee at all tasting rooms and wine bars! How would it work? All A-holes get charged twice as much as anybody else. Done.

Check the article:
'Ladies Nights' OK'd by appeals court

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From The Cellar: TreeHouse Tasting No.10 - Balletto 2006 Pinot Gris

» posted by Rich on 2010-09-01 10:18:10

Once in a while we like to dig out a classic TreeHouse Tasting. Consider it a "Best Of" episode, highlighting one of the tasty wines we reviewed in past. On this occasion we were still in our old WT Headquarters in a secret location in the NOPA neighborhood of SF. Memories...

Anyway, click the link below to read the full review of Balletto 2006 Pinot Gris... one of our favorites that we picked up at the Balletto tasting room in Sonoma's Russian River Valley.

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