Posts Tagged ‘Wine Bloggers Tasting’

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For Those About To Type, Part II

December 29, 2011

For those of you who may have read about (or attended!) our recent Wine Bloggers Tasting, you’ll know that part of the experience involved our guest Wine Bloggers having a go at crafting tasting notes on one or more of four different vintage manual typewriters.

(You can read about the tasting, and see pictures of the typewriters and those who used them, here)

While their efforts were certainly valiant in this regard, it might also possibly be slightly safe to say that (borrowing a phrase from JeffIsRad at the Stay Rad Wine Blog) there was perhaps in evidence the occasional lack of “pinky strength” …

You be the judge!

(click on any image below, and you’ll be taken to an attachments page, where you can then scroll left or right to see all the images)

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Posted in Events & Photographs, History, Monte Bello, Press Reviews, Ridge Memorabilia, Social Media, Tasting Notes, Wine Blogs | 1 Comment »

Wine Bloggers Tasting, Final Edition, 2011!

November 27, 2011

Ladies & Gentleman, the final 2011 Wine Bloggers Tasting is coming, and if you write a wine blog, or a tangentially related blog (food, culture, etc.), and can potentially be in Northern California on December 11th, then  you are potentially invited. I say “potentially,” because this edition’s theme (there is ALWAYS a theme) will, of necessity, restrict our head count somewhat. Need a clue? See below …

Anyhow, just in case you’re not familiar, we are into our second year now of hosting our Wine Bloggers Tasting series, and it’s been a lovely, lovely success to date. We host it quarterly, and each time, we invite an inside circle of elite wine bloggers (each session features a few returning vets, and the guarantee of a few new faces as well) to enjoy a special selection of wines selected around a particular theme. Past Wine Bloggers Tasting themes have included:

–Tasting The Exact Same Wines That Robert Parker Just Reviewed

–The Acrostic Anagram Sessions

–Limited-Production, Winery-Only

–Lytton Springs Vertical

–Monte Bello Library List Offerings

and more …

To see a rundown on previous posts related to this singular tasting series, please click here.

And now, on to the official announcement:

Wine Bloggers Tasting #4, 2011
Sunday, December 11, 1pm
Ridge Vineyard/Monte Bello
Attendance By Invitation Only

As to the theme? See below …

Still no idea? No worries, it’s a particularly good one!

So, want to attend? Let me know! You can comment on this post, or respond via either Facebook or Twitter. And one thing to note, if you’ve not yet attended one of these tastings, please make sure to include a link to your blog.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon!

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Posted in Events & Photographs, Monte Bello, Social Media, Special Offerings, Tasting Flights, Tasting Rooms, Wine Blogs | 7 Comments »

The First Wine Bloggers Tasting of 2011: The Wrap-Up!

March 31, 2011

2010 was a great debut year for our quarterly Wine Bloggers Tasting series, and I am now happy to say I think we’re off to an equally fine start in 2011; the first edition took place on 3.25.11. It was a great mix of participants–some returning veterans, some newbies–and I think it was an exceptional crop of wines on offer as well. Plus, it started hailing mid-tasting! Can’t ask for much more mountain mojo than that …

Prepping the line-up ...

In terms of what we tasted, I as always had a bit of a theme in mind, but in advance of its deployment, we first tasting a pair of rather historically significant offerings; the 2009 Ridge Vineyards Estate Chardonnay, and the 2008 Ridge Vineyards Estate Cabernet Sauvignon! Why significant? These are the first bottlings to forego both “California” and “Santa Cruz Mountains” on the label, making them the debut of our “Estate” designation!

Handle with care ...

As to the theme itself, it was a VerticalModelMembershipManifesto! Meaning, I poured verticals of offerings from each of our three membership programs: ATP, ZList, and Monte Bello Collector.

In this corner,weighing in at 2004 and 2006 respectively, sporting deep purple and garnet colors, and representing their hometown of ATP, please put your hands together and give a hearty Syrah Hurrah for two vintages of the Lytton Estate!

And in this corner, weighing in at 2009 and 1999 respectively, all the way from a town called ZList, in ruby red colors, and representing two generations of competitive complexity, please ring your Tin Can Bell for the Zin Fan Del! Geyserville, that is!

And in this corner, three heavyweight champions of the world, weighing in at 1985, 1995, and 2005 respectively, sporting brilliant berry, cherry, crimson, and cranberry, all the way from Collector Town, would you please give a Jaunty Hello to the Monte Bello!

1985 Monte Bello Corks ...

In addition to tasting all the above, the very wonderful Allan Bree (who has just launched a new blog! it can be found at batonnage.net), he of the mind-bendingly impressive Ridge Vineyards library, gifted our affair with two delightfully rare rarities, a pair of Sangioveses!

Special additions ...

So, the planning was done, the inviting was done, and with just a wee bit more decanting …

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvLIGMYtvJM

… we were off to the viticultural races!

And with that said, may I introduce The Bloggers!

The Bloggers ...

In attendance for the first Wine Bloggers Tasting of 2011 (please click on a name to view their blogs):

Amy Cleary

Allan Bree

Jason Mancebo

Chiara Shannon

David Tong

Enoch Choi (Enoch left the blogosphere after having one of the most read wine blogs back in the early 2000s, you can now follow him on Twitter)

Erin Grant (Erin wines the prize for this edition, for being the first to send me a link for a new post. Well done Erin!)

Fred Swan

Liren Baker

Melanie Friedman

Thea Dwelle

Wes Barton

These are all great writers, folks; impassioned, knowledgeable, prolific, obsessed, devoted, informed, semi-insane, and phenomenal. I encourage you to visit them all!

The Bloggers, Again!

Deep appreciations to all our guest bloggers!

And for all, please stay tuned for announcements about the next edition, and if you’re a wine blogger, and wish to participate, let me know!

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Posted in Varietals & Blends, Wine Tales, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Zinfandel, Syrah, Bordeaux varietals, Rhone varietals, Tasting Rooms, Monte Bello, Press Reviews, Events & Photographs, Tasting Flights, Wine Blogs, Social Media, Video | 1 Comment »

Calling All Wine Bloggers! The 2011 “Wine Bloggers Tasting” Season Begins!

February 4, 2011

Greetings all!

I am very happy to announce that our 2011 Wine Bloggers Tastings are set to begin! As with last year, we plan to host the event quarterly, with three taking place here at Monte Bello, and one up at Lytton Springs. We’ll be announcing dates as we go, but the first is now officially scheduled for Friday, March 25th, here at Monte Bello!

If you’re a wine blogger who either lives in Northern California, or will be in the area on said date, then please contact me and let me know if you’d be interested in attending.

If you’re not familiar with our Wine Bloggers Tastings, then here are a few links you might wish to check out:

http://blog.ridgewine.com/2010/03/09/calling-all-california-wine-bloggers/

http://blog.ridgewine.com/2010/03/22/wine-bloggers-tasting-the-monte-bello-vertical/

http://blog.ridgewine.com/2010/07/12/wine-bloggers-tasting-edition-ii-the-notes/

http://blog.ridgewine.com/2010/10/08/wine-bloggers-tasting-edition-iii-the-first-posts/

http://blog.ridgewine.com/2010/12/29/wine-bloggers-tasting-the-acrostic-anagram-sessions/

 I look forward to hearing from you!



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Posted in Events & Photographs, Lytton Springs, Monte Bello, Social Media, Wine Clubs | 1 Comment »

I’ve Been Auctioned!

January 31, 2011

Wow, just when you think you’ve seen it all from ZAP, along comes another one you just didn’t see coming! To borrow a line from the very great Ralph Kramden …

POW! Right in the kisser ...

Or, to borrow a great colloquialism I picked up whilst living in rural Ireland, I was GOBSMACKED to find out that I’d been auctioned off at ZAP! And for no small amount either!

Actually, it’s not me per se, it was our Wine Blogger’s Tastings, which I host.

Anyhow, being the arch supporters of ZAP that we are, we wanted to offer something special to the auction; here’s how the lot read:

 Live/Super-Silent Auction Lot(s): Ridge Wine Blogger For A Day
Invitation for one person plus one guest to attend one of Ridge’s exclusive wine blogger tastings to be held in 2011. These private tastings are held in an intimate setting at either Ridge’s Lytton Springs or Monte Bello facilities and regularly include leading internet wine bloggers. The tasting is conducted by Christopher Watkins, Ridge Tasting Room Manager and host of “4488: A Ridge Blog.” You will receive a unique “behind the scenes” experience that you can chronicle in your own blog, or as a guest writer for the Ridge blog. You will also receive two Paul Draper signed magnums of 2008 Lytton Springs Zinfandel, two signed magnums of 2008 Geyserville Zinfandel, plus a case of assorted Ridge Zinfandels. 

And as noted above, I’m happy to report that not only did the lot sell, but it went for well above the listed “fair market value!”

But really, none of that matters compared to the best lil’ piece of gossip I picked up (I say gossip because I wasn’t actually there, but got the story from an “insider” …); as you may know, the now very famous and very successful Nadia G (host of Bitchin’ Kitchin’) was the headliner/host of this year’s ZAP festival, and as part of her hosting duties, she was asked to introduce one of the lots at the auction. She apparently requested a list of all the items to be auctioned, as she wanted to make the selection herself. And what item do you think she chose??? Can you guess? Huh? Huh?



Correct.

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Posted in Events & Photographs, Viticultural Salmagundi, Wine Blogs, Zinfandel | Leave a Comment »

Wine Bloggers Tasting: The Acrostic Anagram Sessions!

December 29, 2010

Greetings all!

So, we’ve just very recently hosted the final Wine Bloggers Tasting of 2010 here at Monte Bello, and as always, it proved to be a delicious, and deliciously entertaining session. Many, many thanks to the bloggers who attended!

Wine Bloggers Tasting #4

With every one of these happenings, one of my tasks is to assemble the roster of wines that we’ll be tasting, and I always try and do this to a theme.

-For Session #1, we tasted exactly the same wines that Robert Parker had just reviewed, to see how the collective Blogger Palate matched up (I included a barrel sample of the ’08 Monte Bello, a five-vintage vertical of post-2000 Monte Bellos, plus the 1996 Monte Bello!) …

-For Session #2, we tasted all limited-production/winery-only Rhone varietal offerings …

-For Session #3 (held at Lytton Springs), we tasted a 10-vintage vertical of Lytton Springs …

So what to do for Session #4? Why, an Acrostic Anagram, of course!

Meaning, I poured an 11-wine flight with no discernible theme. I then explained to the bloggers that each wine’s label contributed one letter (just from the BIG letters, not every bit of fine print text!) to the puzzle. If they could guess the letters, and then get the letters in the right order, they’d find the secret phrase that gave us our theme! Because I poured the wines in the “proper” order for tasting, and not in the order of the letters, it was not only an acrostic, but an acrostic anagram!

Perhaps needless to say, when I explained my plan to a fellow Ridge staffer, I was called “a dork.”

Anyhow, care to play along? Here are the wines I selected, in the order poured:

Buchignani Ranch Carignane

East Bench

Lytton Estate Zinfandel/Primitivo

Geyserville

Nervo

Grenache

Independence School

Old School

Lytton West Syrah

Ridge Monte Bello

Geyserville Essence

Solved it yet? Ok, here’s a hint; as you’ll see below, I’ve bolded the relevant letter from each wine:

Buchignani Ranch Carignane

East Bench

Lytton Estate Zinfandel/Primitivo

Geyserville

Nervo

Grenache

Independence School

Old School

Lytton West Syrah

Ridge Monte Bello

Geyserville Essence

Got it now? No, not BELGNG IOWRE! You have to rearrange the letters! Got it now?

WINE BLOGGER

I am happy to report that Fred Swan, of the very great NorCalWine.com, was the first to successfully blurt out the correct answer. Congratulations Fred!

And lastly, a special thank you to Allan Bree, of the very great GangOfPour.com, for bringing the extraordinary trio of mystery wines we were all so fortunate to taste: 1993, 1994, and 1997 Ridge Vineyards Pagani Ranch Alicante Bouschet! How were they tasting? I think all involved agreed that “pretty” was by far and away the most appropriate descriptor, though I might add delicious, elegant, beautiful, extraordinary, enticing, and vibrant as well! Cheers Allan, that was such a treat!

Alicante Bouschet!

To close, a heartfelt thank you to Ridge Vineyards, all our participating wine bloggers, and everyone out there devotedly writing quality wine blogs; I feel very honored to be a part of both Ridge, and the wine blogger community, and 2010 was an extraordinary year for me in that regard, and for that, I thank you all! I am also very happy to report that we’ll be continuing this event is 2011, so cheers to the coming New Year!

Oh, one more thing, two other posts about this event have already gone up, you can find them here:

RJonWine

WineBookGirl

Enjoy!

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Posted in Bordeaux varietals, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignane, Events & Photographs, Geyserville, Grenache, Lytton Springs, Monte Bello, Press Reviews, Rhone varietals, Social Media, Syrah, Tasting Flights, Tasting Notes, Varietals & Blends, Viticultural Salmagundi, Wine Blogs, Wine Tales, Zinfandel | 1 Comment »

Wine Bloggers Tasting, Calling All Cooks, & The Magical Oenophile Tour!

December 9, 2010

Wine Bloggers Tasting!

 

Yes! It’s time for another edition of our Wine Bloggers Tasting, and I for one am extremely excited (some might say excitable!) about this; this is the first year we’ve put this event on, and I’m positively thrilled with the results, and given that this will be the last of the four quarterly installments, I am particularly in the mood to celebrate (if for no other reason than the fact we’ll be continuing it again in 2011!) …

For anyone who has either participated in, or followed along with, one of our Wine Bloggers Tastings, you’ll know that I present wines at each event around a particular theme. This time around, I’ll be presenting two groups of wines, with two themes! (more on this below) …

When we did the third edition up at Lytton Springs  in September, we opened up the social media portion of the equation, adopted a hashtag, and encouraged some active Tweeting, to rather deliciously educational, sometimes humorous, always delightful results, so we’re going to go for the same again; meaning, if you want to play along at home, just hop on your favorite Twitter platform, and make sure to both use and track #RidgeVineyards. As to WHAT to taste (for those of you in the safety of your own homes) well, see below!

Calling All Cooks!

We launched quite a fun lil’ foody-winey campaign not too long back, which we dubbed Calling All Cooks!. The premise was fairly straightforward: send us your favorite holiday recipe that you pair with a Ridge wine; we’ll taste it, we’ll play judge and jury, and at the end, a winner will emerge. And the spoils? Not only will the winner’s recipe be featured on our website and showcased through our social media platforms, but we’ll actually bring in professional chefs to each of our tasting rooms to recreate the dish on-site, and serve it (with the Ridge wine suggested by the recipe’s author) as part of the last day of our Winter Wine Series event (Saturday, December 18th, 11am-4pm)! Fairly gourmandishly exciting, I’d say … Anyhow, as the process has unfolded, we’re now to the point where we’re down to three finalists. And as a bit of a warm-up to the main event, we’re going to have our bloggers taste the three wines that were selected as pairing companions to the finalist dishes …

The “Three I”

And that’s what we’re going to ask of YOU, our home-playing-along contestants; between 1pm and 3pm PST tomorrow, if you’ve the “Three I”  (Inventory, Imagination, Intake) at your disposal, we’re asking you to drink some Ridge, and post some thoughts about holiday pairings! Just use #RidgeVineyards and #CallingAllCooks, and our expert on-site panel will chime in with their perspectives on whatever it is that you come up with!

Remember, all you need is The Three I!

The Magical Oenophile Tour!

Okay, this is, for me, a VERY RARE concession to the Beatles obsessionists out there; in honor of the very recent anniversary of John Lennon’s very regrettable passing, I’ve copped a Beatles reference for the heading of this, the final portion of this post. Which has absolutely nothing to do with anything else, and is not likely to be repeated …

Anyhow, the point is, that the second set of wines we’ll serve at the Wine Bloggers Tasting will indeed have a theme, but no one will no what it is! And the challenge? Figure it out! That’s why it’s magical AND mysterious! Our bloggers will of course be mad with passion to discern the fiendishly subversive sub-structure that underlies my genius-madman structure, but never fear, you too, you armchair oenophiles, will have a chance to contribute your analyses; as we go through the second-set wines, we’ll be tweeting each one, and if you, by flight’s end, can guess the theme, well, I’ll find a way to get you some sort of really, really, really, really dynomite (spelling intentional, Jimmy Walker style) treat!

Again, just watch for #RidgeVineyards tweets, and play along! (Drink along?) Or, light your finger on fire? No, don’t do that …

Rather, just remember, The Three I!

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Posted in Viticultural Salmagundi, Wine Tales, Food & Wine Pairing, Tasting Rooms, Monte Bello, Press Reviews, Events & Photographs, Tasting Flights, Wine Blogs, Lytton Springs, Social Media | Leave a Comment »

Wine Bloggers Tasting: The Final 2010 Edition!

November 11, 2010

Calling all wine bloggers! Calling all wine bloggers!

For those of you who who’ve been following along (and of course those of you who’ve attended in the past), you know that we’ve started a new series this year, quarterly Wine Bloggers Tastings. We’ve done three so far, and I think it’s safe to say they’ve been wonderful events; each different in their own way, but all equally special, and delicious!

(If you’re not familiar with our series, you can click here and see a whole host of posts about it …)

The most recent event was held up at our Lytton Springs facility, and it was quite an affair; on a 100-hundred degree day, nearly 20 of us huddled down in the comparative coolness of the crush pad and tasted a 10-vintage vertical of Lytton Springs stretching all the way back to the 1987 vintage (which was stunning), plus a trio of back-vintage Monte Bello out of 375ml bottles (you can read about it here). What a day!

For the fourth and final Wine Bloggers Tasting of the year, we’ll be returning the event to my home turf of Monte Bello, and if you’re a wine blogger who will be in the area, please write me and let me know!

Provisionally, pending final confirmation, the tasting will be held on Friday, December 10th, here at Monte Bello, so again, if you can be in the area, let me know! In addition, we’re going to continue/expand the virtual component of the event; we’ll be inviting a select roster of wine bloggers from outside our area to participate via twitter using our #RidgeVineyards hashtag, so even if you can’t come to Monte Bello, you can still play ball! Meaning, write me if you want to attend!

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Posted in Events & Photographs, Wine Blogs | 1 Comment »

Wine Bloggers Tasting: Edition III, The First Posts!

October 8, 2010

Our recent Wine Bloggers Tasting is fresh in my mind today as I (finally!) commence working on my wrap-up of the event, and as I sit at the typer trying to work a bit of magic, I am both elated AND chagrined to note that a number of our guests have already put up their posts!

It truly was a fascinating experience; the selection of wines (10 vintages of Lytton Springs and 3 back-vintage Monte Bellos!), the singularity of the setting (the Lytton Springs crush pad!), and of course the company, all combined to make for a more-than memorable afternoon, and should you wish to indulge in some delightfully spun renditions of the day’s happenings, I encourage you to check out these posts:

From Marcy Gordon –travel writer, arch wine enthusiast, lunar conspiracist– comes the following on her Come For The Wine blog: http://comeforthewine.blogspot.com/2010/10/ridge-lytton-springs-wine-blogger.html

From Richard Jennings –oenophilic prolificism incarnate– comes the following on his RJ on Wine blog:
http://www.rjonwine.com/2010/10/ridge-lytton-springs-bloggers-tasting-10-vintages-of-lytton-springs-plus-small-format-monte-bello/

From Dave Tong –resident local expert on all things Santa Clara Valley and Santa Cruz Mountains– comes the following on his fine blog:
http://scmwine.blogspot.com/2010/09/ridge-bloggers-tasting-3.html

And from our new friend Joe Herrig over at Subarban Wino, one of the more singular run-downs of the event; a post in which I’m happy to note that a picture of my hand is in the fine visual company of Anna Nicole Smith, Jack Palance, and Haley Joel Osment! You can find it here:
http://www.suburbanwino.com/2010/10/well-aged.html

 

 Cheers!



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Posted in Viticultural Salmagundi, Tasting Rooms, Monte Bello, Press Reviews, Events & Photographs, Wine Blogs, Lytton Springs, Social Media | 2 Comments »

Wine Bloggers Tasting, Edition III: The Lytton Chronicles

September 24, 2010

For those of you who’ve been following our blog, you may know that we have launched a new event this year, our quarterly Wine Bloggers Tasting.

(For more about this, and run-downs on the previous two editions, please click here)

The previous two editions have been held here at Monte Bello, and I have been delighted by how enjoyable they’ve been. Great wine, great company, furious insight, much laughter and storytelling, a bit of fun, and honestly, quite a bit of work as well. In short, wine tasting!

And now, for this, our third edition, we’re taking the show on the road! Accordingly, I will be at Lytton Springs on Sunday, September 26th, to host a wonderful roster of wine bloggers for another tasting, and I am happy to say that not only we will be joined by some of our illustrious previous attendees who hail from our rather more southern digs, we will also be welcoming some of the finest wine bloggers the northern climes have to offer as well!

I am still tweaking the final roster of wines that I’ll be pouring, but suffice it to say it’ll be heavily Lytton-themed! (And would I go on the road without some Monte Bello in tow? Oh, hecks no!)

One thing in particular I’d like to note; in addition to welcoming our guest Wine Bloggers, we also welcome anyone and everyone out there in the oeno-ether to join in (and/or follow) the action; we’ll be tweeting from the event using #ridgewines, so pull some Lytton Springs out of your cellar, and be ready to taste at 1pm Pacific Standard Time this Sunday! This group of bloggers is quite renowned for their collectively prolific on-line activity, and not only should this event be a good time for all, I think it’ll be a great chance to share some great wine insights from some great wine personalities with a great audience.

So, all that said, at this time, I would like to introduce our guests:

Amy Cleary  http://winebookgirl.blogspot.com/
Dave Tong  http://scmwine.blogspot.com/
Deborah Kravitz  http://www.simplehedonisms.com/
Ed Thralls  http://www.winetonite.com/
Gary Chevsky http://www.chevsky.com/
Liren Baker  http://kitchen-confidante.com/
Liza http://www.brixchicks.com/
Marcy Gordon http://comeforthewine.blogspot.com/
Richard Jennings  http://www.rjonwine.com/
Ron Washam http://www.hosemasterofwine.blogspot.com/
Samantha Dugan  http://sansdosage.blogspot.com/
Steven Washuta http://terroirists.net/
Thea Dwelle http://lusciouslushes.com/
Wes Barton  http://bartonorchard.blogspot.com/
William Allen  http://www.simplehedonisms.com/
Xandria http://www.brixchicks.com/

Ridge Vineyards Wine Bloggers Tasting
Lytton Springs
Sunday, September 26, 2010
1pm, PST
#ridgewines
@ridgels
@ridgemb

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Posted in Events & Photographs, Lytton Springs, Monte Bello, Social Media, Tasting Rooms, Viticultural Salmagundi, Wine Blogs | 2 Comments »

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