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.

Tensley 2008 Syrah

Wednesday night I decided to cook up a Bon Appetit Sunday Dinner recipe from the May 2010 issue. The dish was a feast of Salmon, Quinoa with Spring Vegetables and Black Beans.

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/menus/2010/05/grilled_salmon_for_4

I decided to indulge in the Tensley 2008 Syrah we all loved during the our wine tasting. First the cork broke when I went to open the bottle. I know that could have been my own error, but I had not had a drink yet! When I did indulge, the wine was heavy rather than fruity and well balanced. Though this dish would have been best paired with a chardonnay, I was craving to taste this Tensley again. My guests agreed that the wine did not have the combined floral and fruit notes we remembered from our tasting. In fact, the more I sipped, the more I thought of the cranky sommelier!

Photo is not the label we purchased but only photo I could find.

Costco Wines

While I usually visit Wine House to look for a specific wine for a specific occasion, I often browse the Costco wine section when I am at Costco shopping for other things. I've found that the Marina del Rey location actually has a decent and interesting selection at a range of values. Their selection rotates quite often, particularly with international producers, and there is always something new and interesting to try. Currently, there are three wines in particular that I've purchased multiple times (you can find them stacked in the boxes section to the right of the wines that are in the wooden crates).

1. 06 Bodega Norton Reserva Malbec from Argentina: this has been our winter staple, particularly for dinner parties where we go through multiple bottles. It is full-bodied, yet well-balanced and drinkable. It drinks well on its own or paired with a variety of hearty food, from steaks, to chili, to pizza, to pasta. At just over $12, it is a decent value for an everyday red.
2. 09 Crios Torrontes from Argentina. Torrontes is an Argentinian grape that I haven't really seen elsewhere. It has a nice perfume-y floral nose, like a viognier, and a very nice, interesting and rather intriguing taste. It has a relatively dry finish, despite the initial perfume. It pairs well with rich or heavily seasoned food, like Chinese food. I had it last week with macaroni and cheese and this week with whole roasted fish simply seasoned with garlic salt, zucchini and young garlic soup, and Japanese celery sauteed with chicken. A bottle is $11.89 at Costco. I've tried some Crios reds, including the malbec and syrah, and they never disappoint; they are all decent values around $12 as well. If you like viogniers and dry rieslings, you'll like the Torrontes.
   
3. 08 Sterling Sauvignon Blanc made with Organic Grapes from Mendocino: we tried this at the Spa Theme wine club at Jen's house. It tastes like a straightforward nice sauvignon blanc, crisp, refreshing, with just the right amount of fruit; very easy to pair with foods. We had it last night with homemade spinach and garlic pizza and rainbow chard, proscuitto and egg pizza (pictured below!) At $9.99 with organic grapes, it is another great value for an everyday wine.

Lazy Ox

Friday night I tried Lazy Ox, a new restaurant in Little Tokyo. I enjoyed Pig Ears, Sheep neck, Mussels, and more. The restaurant is unique in that it's philosophy is food and wine should not be intimidating. Though I mentioned more unusual dishes, this tapas style restaurant offers traditional fare too. The small plate motif allows you to try many dishes! I enjoyed two wines during this feast. Prior to dinner and with our appetizers, I was sipping pinot noir saintsbury gamet from 2008. This wine is fuller bodied and very fruit forward. We paid $13 for a glass and I believe the restaurant charges $40 for the bottle. As we enjoyed more food, we decided to go for a lighter wine. We then drank sangiovese rubicone from 2008. This wine was $27 and was a perfect complement to the meat ragu pasta we were indulging in. www.lazyoxcanteen.com.

Beckmen's Cuvee Le Bec

While we didn't actually taste Beckmen's wine during the last trip, I thought I would still review the 07 Cuvee Le Bec that I had with dinner over the last two evenings. The Cuvee Le Bec is a blend of mostly Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre ("GSM"), similar to France's (much more expensive) Chateauneuf du Papes and Australia's nice GSMs. The wine was paired with whole fresh citrus garlic fish, quinoa salad with roasted beets, avocados, almonds, raisins, roasted curried kabocha squash and broccoli, young garlic shoots sauteed with Chinese sausage, butternut squash soup, and a kale and ricotta salata salad. I thought it was only ok; the wine did not have the fun liveliness that I usually associate with GSMs; it was a little dark, heavy and not very fruitforward. While it didn't combat the flavors of the food (which was quite heavily seasoned), it also did not enhance the food. I remember liking the wine a lot more when I tasted it at the vineyard about a year ago (but it was also at the end of a long tasting day).

Hoo Doo Red

We had a couple bottles of Longoria Wine's Hoo Doo Red with dinner at the wine country cottage Saturday night. It is a very easy to drink blend of syrah, tempranillo, merlot and malbec. It is very drinkable now, and paired well with pizza, salad, lemon bars, ants on a log and "i never." At $16 dollars a bottle, it is a relatively good value for Santa Barbara wines which were generally over $20, particularly red wines. Unfortunately, we were unable to visit Longoria's lovely tasting room and garden in Los Olivos as it closes relatively early at 4:30pm (for future reference).