No, California and the WIne Bloggers Conference didn't make ol' Dirty soft- Quite the contrary- It made me strong like bull! (I can now taste through hundreds of wines fueled on little more than a Cliff Bar and Red Bull).
example 1. Fueled
After the Wine Bloggers Conference, I headed down the road to Pinot On The River. Thanks to Tom at San Francisco WIne Society, I was able to get some 1/2 priced tickets for the event. Joining me were two other ATL wine and food freaks- Carolina and Brady from the Taste Network.
Glasses in hand, we hit the tables and tasted our way through countless Sonoma County Pinots as well as a handful from Marin, Napa, and OR.
Sure- a bunch of them resembled Molitov cocktails made from Robitussin-- Hot, sticky, pac-man styled, digital cherry flavor. But a surprising amount carried some cool funk and earthy balance. Each time I found one, my brain freaked out, and I had to go back and determine if maybe the sun or the wine had begun to soak in too much.
I didn't take notes on the wines, but snapped photos of ones I really dug.
Romililly- Stop in your tracks good. I knew nothing about this winery, this juice, or any of that. Just two brothers standing behind a table that wasn't currently mobbed. I took a whiff, and immediately looked up at them. Xmas f'n goose! Again- Funk, earth, and fruit- all in super harmony. And then- only $35 a bottle. $35 isn't cheap, but this drinks like the guys in the $50 and up club.
Suzanne is a woman with love for the Dirty South! While tasting her wines, we got on the topic of her love GA. Her wines are beautiful. The 07 Los Carneros and 07 Russian River still need some time, but her 2007 Sonoma County is just wonderful and close to being ready to pop. Again, balance, a lightness, great acidity and not a syrupy extract-o-saurus. $29 was a good deal on this.
I'm happy to say that Pinot On The River renewed my faith in CA Pinot Noir. Sure, a lot of it isn't my style and very pricey, but I found two spectacular bottles under $40 (which is hard to do w/ CA Pinot), and tasted plenty of others that I didn't find totally revolting.
So In true Dirty South style, Carolina, Brady, and I shut the party down.
