SATC 2

The Wine Club caught a lunchtime showing of Sex and the City 2 today at the Century City mall.  The movie was a lot of fun; it was good to see the old characters again, the clothes were fabulous, the settings a little over the top.  I thought it was good follow-up to the relate-ability of the TV series (and much better than the first movie), with some realistic depictions of married life.  After the movie, we grabbed some margueritas and sangrias and food outside in the patio of the Pink Taco.  It was a gorgeous 70 degree day outside, and lovely to spend it with great girlfriends.  Special thanks to Michelle for organizing! We have a Memorial Day bbq coming up in a few days, so stay tuned for more pictures, more drinking, more food and more fun.

Gjelina

 Photo from Gjelina website

I know most of the wine clubbers, especially the Venice girls, have been to Gjelina, but I just wanted to share thoughts on my latest meal in case you haven't been recently.  Saturday night, a friend and I headed to Gjelina over on Abbot Kinney for dinner.  We did not have a reservation, but got seated at the communal table after only a 15 minute wait at 7:15pm, which passed by quickly after opening a bottle of wine.  I've found that trendy places like Gjelina (and a few places in NYC like Lupa) that have a decent portion of the restaurant, like a large bar area, set aside for walk-ins, generally overestimate the wait significantly; I think they do that to not only scare away tourists and newcomers who are more easily discouraged but also maintain an aura of popularity and exclusivity.  That's just my theory, but it usually works.  Even though we were originally told that it would be an hour wait, I could see that there was no one else waiting, so we just decided to wait it out.  As long as you can get a drink, I usually don't mind waiting.  We had the oysters in the halfshell (kumamoto, kushi and malpeques), roasted sunchokes with salsa verde, grilled chicory with bacon vinaigrette and a fried egg,  hen of the woods mushroom with truffle oil on grilled toast, grilled squid with white beans, and an olive, chili, anchovies pizza with burrata.  We paired everything with a bottle of a 2009 Carneros albarino which was perfect with all the food, crisp with a little fruit and just enough acid to stand up to the food. Those Spanish whites are such a perfect match for food, and I was excited to see a California producer using the Spanish albarino grape. I really enjoyed the food; my favorites were the malpeques (I like malpeques from my NYC days; they were the most prevalent given the proximity to Prince Edward Island), the sunchokes (nice charred grilled flavor on the edges) and the mushroom toast (so decadent with the truffle).  While they are a tad heavy handed with the olive oil, the food is delicious nonetheless and the wine was helpful in balancing out the richness.  Service was good too, they checked in on us often and there was good pacing with the food; never once did we feel rushed even though there was a long line of people waiting by the time we left.  At $73 per person for just the right amount of food, a bottle of wine, and gratuity, the meal was relatively reasonable.

Gjelina
1429 Abbot Kinney Boulevard
Venice, CA 90291-3740
(310) 450-1429

Napa Trip

Keever Vineyards

On Saturday, I went up to Napa with a couple of friends to do some wine tastings at some smaller, boutique producers with a focus on high-end Cabernet Sauvignon, which Napa is particularly well-known for.  We had some amazing wines in some beautiful settings.  We visited:

• Keever Vineyards: a small family owned vineyard with only 6 acres of vines, where we tasted a Sauvignon Blanc ($28), Syrah ($45) and Cabernet Sauvignon ($90).  I think Keever is worth a visit for the views alone.  They also did a great job of taking us through their whole wine-making process; we went on a private tour of their wine making facilities and caves.  Appointments are necessary, tastings are $20 and include the tour.
• Whitehall Lane: we made an impromptu stop here, no appointments are necessary.  We tried a lot of wine, but they weren't as notable.  Their wines are more widely available at local retail stores.
• Pride Mountain: Pride was very cool, up in the hills north of St. Helena, towards Sonoma / Calistoga. My favorites were the complex and elegant Viognier ($42), and really nice Merlot ($56) and the Cabernet Sauvignon ($66).  Prices are mid-range for Napa, but definitely worth it.  Pride is definitely worth a visit; most of the tastings are poured inside the caves during the tour; we even got to do a couple of barrel tastings.  They have some picnic tables for lunch.  I would definitely visit them again.  Appointments are necessary well in advance (even for Will Farrell who took the tour after us), tastings are $10, including the tour, but waived if wine is purchased. 
• Merus Wines:  We tasted some really wonderful 06 and 07 Cabernet Sauvignons at Merus, but they were quite expensive at ~$130 a bottle.  Merus is a very small, exclusive producer that only makes Cabernet Sauvignon.  I believe that you need to be on the mailing list in order to get a private appointment, although the tasting and tour is free.
• 750 Wines:  This was an awesome little wine shop in St. Helena that our host at Merus sent us to after our tasting.  They carry a well-edited selection of boutique, mostly mailing list only producers.  We tried a variety of interesting wines, including roses, chardonnay, merlot, cabernet sauvignon.  It was a great experience; the proprietors were very cool.  I would definitely make a return visit; it is a really nice way to taste a variety of wines from a variety of producers with some very knowledgeable hosts who are passionate about what they do.  Appointments are necessary, tasting is free. 
• We finished with dinner at Redd Restaurant in Yountville.  Dinner was very good, but since there are so many great restaurants in the area, I'm not sure that I would make a special trip back.

 More pictures and details can be found here.