Ridge Happens.

Stefan popped the cork on a miraculous 1969 Ridge Geyserville yesterday...inspiration ensued.

Stefan: I pulled this out of my cellar on a complete whim yesterday (it was tucked nicely next to a 72 and 73 Geyserville) after a dissapointing showing from a 1974 Ridge Fiddletown (Amador County). Well, I don't know what to say, I was just stunned. I KNOW Ridge Geyserville can age, I mean, I've had the 1972 and it is still kicking. In fact the '72 is more like a fully mature Bordeaux. But this...this....this '69 was ethereal...like a 50 year old Grand Cru Burg....just sublime and elegant and wonderfully complex, gliding across the palate like silk.

The aroma was the showstopper....citrus rind, tea, light soy sauce, orange pekoe, cinnamon, burnt sugar...just one of those wines that you can just smell all day. Very sort of brown/orange in color, but still generally very healthy. After about 45 minutes it had had enough and "gave up" but what a treat. Life is good on a Thursday afternoon at BPWine.

Brendan: “We’re not worthy! We’re not worthy!” I felt like proclaiming as soon as this wine came within inches of me and my nose. The color alone had me smiling from ear to ear (the pictures do it no justice). It was awe-inspiring; radiant orange/red in the core flowing into a magnificent yellow at the fringe. Like sunset in a wine glass. Upon smelling, my olfactory system was happily greeted by a gleeful group of beautiful aromas. Orange pekoe tea, earth, cigarette tobacco, ash, asian spice, flowers, gunpowder, brown sugar, beach grass and many more members of this vibrant troupe all sang and danced their way across my senses.

The taste was a sweet and succulent blend of juicy tangerine and raspberry followed by flavors of smoked meat, fruit leather, and spicy earth. It was like a great book that I hoped would never end, except that I couldn’t stop turning the damn pages to see what would happen next. I swear the taste stayed with me for minutes. And as I lay in bed last night, watching “What About Bob?”, the familiar mantra in that movie brought me back to the afternoon, that ’69 Ridge, and its soiree with my senses; “I feel good, I feel great, I feel wonderful.”

Pinot Days 2008.

Pros: Lots of killer wine

Cons: Hardly enough time

The Pinot extravaganza held this past weekend at Festival Pavilion, Ft. Mason, was more than educational, fun, and grueling; it was extremely entertaining. My approach was haphazard, but I felt I got a good sense for the contemporary style of Pinot being produced these days—my unofficial goal for the day—from those producers kind enough to give us a peek. Besides more time, I needed an extra pair of hands to help facilitate note taking, which I did not do, and munching on the various cheeses and sausages provided to help curtail the drunkenness that followed.

Overall, I felt I had a great day of tasting, mostly due to the fact that I didn’t taste one wine that was offensive or terrible. That being said, I did feel that some lines were either too long or not long enough when taking into account the quality of the wine, but I suppose that is quite normal. My family—of which there are no serious wine drinkers—and I enjoyed this relatively extreme Pinot tasting. I will go again, but not before I’ve had the surgery which will allow me to handle multiple glasses, cheese plates, and sausage meatballs.

A few of my personal highlight wineries/wines were Joseph Swan’s’ ’06 Trenton Vineyard, Bink Wines, and the unsulphered Belle Glos Gambit series Pinot Noir.

Quote of the day for me: “You are keeping us honest today.” – a gentleman speaking to the pourer at the Louis Latour table.

- Merritt (photos by Brian Worel)

BPWine Racquetball Season One is a GO!

That’s right people! We are in the midst of an inter-company racquetball season, with a championship tournament to follow! Brian Worel, Merritt Kain, Brendan Mannle, and Cory Wagner along with wily veterans Brent Pierce and Stefan Blicker are all competing for the crown.

Each match is made up of three games. First to score fifteen points wins the game. Best of out three games wins the match, with a mandatory three games played (for possible tournament positioning purposes). Who will be dubbed BPWine Season One R-Ball Champ??! Stay tuned!

Here are the season standings so far (will be updated as the season progresses):

Brent Pierce 3-0
Cory Wagner 1-1
Stefan Blicker 1-2
Brendan Mannle 0-1
Brian Worel 0-1
Merritt Kain 0-0

Match Results:

Week 1:
Brent Pierce 2 def. Stefan Blicker 1
Brent Pierce 3 def. Brendan Mannle 0

Week 2:
Brent Pierce 3 def. Cory Wagner 0
Stefan Blicker 3 def. Brian Worel 0

Week 3:
Cory Wagner 2 def. Stefan Blicker 1