Tasting the Superstar Wines of Napa’s Oakville AVA: Napa Valley is famous, or infamous depending on your point o… http://bit.ly/jecl1K

@canerossosf I had an *amazing* strawberry scone this morning at Arizmendi. Your post reminded me of it!

@homemadewine I have one of these hanging racks and it is actually pretty awesome. Nowhere near as nice as a cellar, of course.

Less popular: Camins del Priorat, a Grenache-Cariñena blend. It wasn’t nearly as fruity and jammy as the California Grenaches that I’ve come to love.

One of the hottest reds, surprisingly, was a 2001 Beronia Grand Reserve from Spain. Appropriately delicate, very popular.

Pulled off my first really successful wine tasting ever last Saturday night, with four individual selections plus my own 2009 release. The latter was decanted for three hours before the party!

Lynne Bennett has posted a nice review of five California Bordeaux-style blends. The choices are a bit random (“eclectic” would be a nicer word!) but I’ve had 3/5 and they are nice wines. The wines she writes about are: 2007 Benziger Family Winery Signaterra Three Blocks Sonoma Valley, 2007 Blackbrid Vineyards Illustration Napa Valley, 2008 Highway 12 Vineyards & Winery Series Ranch Sonoma Valley, 2008 Peachy Canyon Para Siempre Paso Robles, and 2007 Rodney Strong Symmetry Alexander Valley Meritage.

RT @norcalwine: Deals of the Day: A Pinot Vertical http://bit.ly/caoe5q Sorry for the bad link earlier! It’s fixed. Feel free to get some Pinot now!

Had a well-connected friend tell me that he spent the day in Napa yesterday with an executive at Harlan estates, drinking…wait for it…French wine! Do you know that I’ve *never* had a sip of Harlan wine? Just can’t afford it.

RT @norcalwine: There’s good California Cabernet tasting this Saturday in Redwood City http://bit.ly/dzNLRf