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The Vine : Wine Country Tastings Blog

Tasting and tripping to wines fresh off the vine.

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

» posted by Rich
on 10 Sep 2010

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.

For the full schedule and details, please visit the link below:
The San Francisco Wine Center's Wine School

Read my full length piece about my initial experience with the SF Wine School:
A Wino Goes To School

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Cup Cake Wars and Wine! Umm... Okay. I'm in!

» posted by Rich on 2010-09-09 19:59:56

Cupcakes. Wine. What else do you need to know? Goldstar has discount tix right now for the event at Fort Mason in San Francisco. Get on it:

Cake Moda Cupcake Wars at Crush Barrel Wine Market

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Tercero 2006 Cuvee Christie - TreeHouse Tasting No.45

» posted by Rich on 2010-09-08 09:12:36

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.

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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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