2002-10-23 - 8:47 p.m. CalItalia 2002 Tasting Regular readers of these pages know I am in love with red wine. So much so, in fact, that I created a diaryring in celebration of it, and have a tendency to engage in wine tasting 4 times in 14 days whenever given half a chance. The CalItalia tasting was wine tasting event #3 for me in a 14 day period that started with my latest NYC trip and ended with this past Saturday's Napa jaunt. Highlights of the 2002 Cal Italia Tasting (a.k.a. why I am in love with Sangiovese these days)... My fave: Shypoke '99 Sangiovese, $20. Vanilla/spice flavors. 50 cases produced by the Heitz family. Order direct from the winery. I want some more of this!! Second fave: Il Podere dell Olivos "Vita Nova" '00 Santa Ynez Valley Sangiovese, $20. 282 Cases. This is Au Bon Climat's Jim Clendenen's Italian varietals label. A light honey taste with very good fruit. I kept being pleasantly surprised by the SB County/SY Valley wineries that are moving beyond Pinot and Chard and coming up with great reds (Over the past 7 years, I'd consistently had many unpleasant reds (esp. merlot) that tasted of chalky dirt whilst tasting in this area) Other faves: Chameleon '99 Napa Valley Sangiovese, $19. 900 cases. I liked this vintage more this year than I did when I tasted it last year. Has a sweet yeasty nose. Cherry and pomegranite body (which explains why I liked it!). '00 syrah was lush, rich, full bodied, and would be excellent with dinner of ravioli and bolognese sauce. '99 Fiddletown Barbera, $23. 1000 cases. Nice vanilla and spice. Cosentino CE2V '00 Napa Valley Sangiovese, $32. 900 cases. A friend had gifted me a bottle of this for my birthday so it was cool to taste it. Fabulous honey nose, ubiquitous pomegranite/cherry body, but with an unusual blackberry tea finish. '99 Il Chiaretto, $18. 850 cases. This California Super Tuscan blend is good, but pales in comparison to the CE2V. Deerfield Ranch '00 Lake County Sangiovese, $22. 480 cases. Lovely vanilla nose. '99 Lake County Sangiovese, $22. 535 cases. Lovely fruity nose, but I preferred the '00. Dusinberre '00 Mendocino Sangiovese, $25. 120 cases. A new member of CalItalia. Winemaker spent a few years at fabulous sparkling wine producer Schramsberg. Wonderful honey aroma and fruity taste. Flora Springs '00 Napa Valley Sangiovese, $16. 3600 cases. Honey and pomegranate aroma, with honey following through the finish. '00 Poggio del Papa Napa Valley Super Tuscan blend, $35. 900 cases. This hillside/Pope Valley blend didn't grab me. Trentadue "La Storia" super tuscan style blend, '99 Sonoma County, $32. 400 cases. Blended with cab and merlot. The best of the Super Tuscans I tasted here, and worth its price. Pretty copperized bottle too. The rest of my list...to come later this week...too tired to transcribe all those notes right now. Overall, guess I tasted just over 50 wines, mostly sangiovese, with some barbera and charbono mixed in... Thanks to only taking tiny sips and eating a good amount of the gourmet treats scattered about, including a cute little brioche from Baker's of Paris (I miss their Haight Street shop), I was able to pour (and drink) sangiovese for 2.5 hours after my tasting whirlwind. A guy pouring for one of his friend's winery amused me greatly by hitting on me in the most dense, clueless fashion. As he got more inebriated over the course of the afternoon, he became ever more bold and excessive in his behavior. His married friend who additionally hit on me (while mentioning his wife) added to the overall charm of the situation for me and the lucky spectators. But hey, they were drunk -- it was likely a reflex on the married guy's part. (That's what I always tell myself.) When I didn't warm to his charms, or answer his "so what do you do with yourself when you're not pouring wine?" question, he grabbed my left hand and said "well, you're not married..." to which my quick retort was "not currently". I forget that such a sassy comeback is frequently seen as a sign of interest. Clearly, I lack dating (avoidance) savvy. The funny thing is, after I finally successfully shot him down, and he finally removed himself from my side of the table (though not without grabbing hold of my shoulders and giving me a squeeze, but, thankfully, no attempted lip action), a gentleman I'd been chatting with while pouring my table's selection and who watched the entire exchange said "You have to give him credit for knowing what he wants and going after it." I have to agree. Though I wasn't impressed with his drunken boasting regarding his disposable income, I did appreciate his tenacity. I could've done without the physical contact. For the record, had the quiet, charming, unassuming wine consultant who I'd spent the afternoon chatting with asked me out, I would've said yes. But he lacked the gumption he admired in my drunken admirer, and thus lost out. Why didn't I ask him out? I can never pick up marriage/relationship signals from men, or even remember to check for a wedding ring... any comments? (1 so far) previous - next recently on almostgoldsf... in defense of an email box I came to do battle with SPAM - 2008-05-17 hello 2006 - 2005-12-31 Happy Thanksgiving - 2005-11-14 bon voyage - 2005-11-05 October already? - 2005-10-09