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Gordon and I live near each other, and there’s a cafe at the intersection of the busy streets where he goes home in one direction and I go home in the other. And they have lovely food and a nice wine list at very reasonable prices. So, guess where we have our semi-weekly meetings? It’s called Literati2 (a spin-off of the very successful Literati Cafe next door).

Literat2′s history is lackluster. When they first opened a few years ago the food tasted like the cafe food next door but at 3 times the price. This is a restaurant with very bad parking, so they need to be providing great food and great value if they want to sustain themselves. I think they figured this out about a year ago and did a huge remodel and reworked their entire menu, too. The only thing they seem to have forgotten is to promote this massive transition in the neighborhood (where people can walk to the restaurant and skip the parking hassle) since we all thought it was that stuffy old over-priced joint it used to be. At any rate, the food is yummy and VERY reasonably priced… as are the wines! They pick great wines for the list (which they offer by the glass and carafe) and it gets refreshed every so often.

Since we’re meeting to talk about our wine blog, we incorporate a wine tasting into each meeting, and I’ve been remisce in uploading the results of the tastings… so here goes! (What’s very interesting to me is how different my palate is from Gordon’s. We always try the same wines and rarely have the same flavor profiles jump out at us.)

1. 2007 Sonoma-Cutrer Chardonnay
   Jess: Tingly, oaky on the nose. Very oaky in the mouth with a hint of fruit/citrus (specifically apple and grapefruit). This is a “safe wine” for me. I know I can order it, any vintage, and get a decent but oaky chardonnay.
   Gordon: Acidic nose. Dry start, sweet finish. Nice finish, long.
2. 2006 Bex Riesling
   Jess: Light nose, appley and sweet but not too sweet. I would consider buying this, and I’m not a fan of sweet wines.
   Gordon: Tangy, honey, fruit on the nose. Viscous, sweet silky mouthfeel. Apricot. Gordon said he would buy this.
3. 2006 Trefethen Chardonnay
   Jess: Woody and the smell of shrimp on the nose (I sometimes smell “ocean” in my wines). Balanced, fresh, medium-length finish.
   Gordon: Acidic, bright on the nose. Dry at first, has a sweet finish with licorice and lemon.
4. 2007 Cakebread Cellars Sauvignon Blanc
   Jess: Green fruit on the nose and tangy grapefruit in the mouth. A mild Sauvignon Blanc which makes me like it more than an average Sauvignon Blanc.
   Gordon: Light nose. Lingering bitter and citrus finish.
5. 2007 Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio
   Jess: I have a love-hate relationship with this wine. It was one of my favorites in my early wine-drinking days but seems to have gone downhill in quality/taste as its product volumes have risen. Good for their business in general, but not great for me. I ordered a glass for tasting anyway… Pineapple and apple on the nose. Light and bright taste, open at the front of the palate, sweet in the mid-palate, and a rounded but acidic finish (which is where my love affair ends).
   Gordon: I seem to have lost Gordon’s notes from here out… hazard of drinking too much wine! Oh darn!
6. D’Arenberg Grenache (a red!)
   Jess: Smells like a cabernet. Red fruit (is there such a thing?) and earthy. A little mushroomy at the back of the mouth and a bit gritty. I thought it was okay, but better with food.
7. 2007 Brander Sauvignon Blanc
   Jess: I REALLY liked this wine. I’m going to hunt it down at the grocery store on my next wine-buying trip. Very bright, apple on the nose with a little bit of lemon. Smooth mouthfeel and I tasted watermelon in the well-balanced finish. There was a hint of zest or rind at the back of my mouth, but that went away when the Tiger Shrimp, Pesto, and Sun-dried tomato pizza arrived. And then I ordered a second glass!
8. 2006 Bridlewood Viogner
   Jess: I’m a fan of Bridlewood wines, despite the fact that they’re owned by Gallo. It’s good wine at a good price. I’ve been drinking their Syrahs for a few years, I like their Syrah Port (which isn’t truly a Port), and now, I like their Viognier. I smelled lavendar and oak on the nose. The wine was vanilla and spice with a touch of oak. It had a gentle love-bite and a smooth finish. Yum. I’ll be looking for this at the grocery store, too.

I’ll keep updating this post as time goes by. Maybe next time we’ll get to some more reds!

We love Alexander Valley Cabs at a great price!

So, I recently wrote about my last trip to Costco, which accidentally ended up including buying more wine. No, no one is shocked by this. My impulse purchases are no longer clothing, shoes, and jewelry–they’re now wine, gourmet food stuffs, and more wine. I restocked on the Kirkland Signature Cabernet Sauvignon (because the label says it’s from Alexander Valley) and I didn’t recall NOT liking it. Couldn’t really remember specifically liking it or anything, but cheap wine I don’t dislike is grounds for a closer inspection.

And inspect I did! I read the back of the label this time, seeing as when I opened the bottle and smelled the cork it was lovely. Just what I like in my Cabernet’s… a hint of red fruit, some blueberries, and something I can only describe as purple. Maybe someday I’ll have the flavor word for purple, but for now, purple will have to do. It’s good I inspected the label because it SAYS Cabernet Sauvignon on the front, but when I turn her around, I find it out she’s all slutty (in a good way of course). From the back of the label,

“Alexander Valley’s gravel and  loam soils create dense, dark blackberry fruit with a sweet hint of wild cherries. 20 months in American oak barrels add toasted spice layers, vanilla, and cinnamon. The blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Malbec, Petit Verdot, Tannat, Petite Sirah and Merlot create a complex mid-palate of black cherry and currant. The long finish shows depth and concentration with lifting acidity. Drink now through 2012.”

Sometimes Costco does buy good wine!

Yeah, what they said. Exactly. But can you believe how many different grapes are in there? It’s like that six-hour spaghetti & meat-sauce I made last weekend that had really complicated flavor profiles in the sauce because of the six million ingredients (six-hours is not an exaggeration… six million may be a little).

Moral of the story: PromisQuous Red could have been MUCH better if it were more about winemaking and less about marketing… and I have to go buy more of the 2006 Kirkland Signature Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon from Costco!

Beringer Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Label

One of the best ways to get value in wine is to buy it on sale. Even more value happens when a big retailer buys so much of it they got it at a great price, which they pass onto you, and then they add coupons to it! For this reason, I pay special attention to Costco Wine Coupon Sale time… which, coincidentally happened last week.

This time, I restocked on the Bodega Norton Reserva Malbec, the Kirkland brand Cabernet Sauvignon from Alexander Valley, and the J Lohr Seven Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon. I also tried an experiment from the sale wines because the price seemed right for experimenting… $10.49 with coupon. It was the Beringer Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.

I ate it with a spaghetti & meat sauce recipe that I spent all day cooking (six hours, to be precise) figuring it would pair nicely with a hearty meaty dish. It left me flat. It wasn’t bad, but it was tannic and very very dry… too dry… and I usually prefer very dry wines. Then again, so was the food. Well, not tannic, but dry. I’ll blame the chef for that.

Last night my friend Adra and I tried the new wine bar in Santa Monica called Pourtal (104 Santa Monica Boulevard, 310.393.7693, pourtal.com). Pourtal is one of those hip new wine bars that looks like a set piece from Star Trek. It’s all chrome-and-glass push-button decanters, laminated wood and flat-screen TVs displaying cutesy variations of varietal names. I was skeptical…but never too skeptical to turn down wine tasting.

After what I’m pretty sure was a good solid minute of staring blankly while turning around in circles, trying to decide how to adapt to the environment, Adra and I were gently shown a menu, given two glasses and asked if we would like to purchase a wine card. This credit-card type device is stocked with the dollar amount of one’s choosing, and is inserted into the chrome-and-glass machines to cover the cost of whatever one wishes to taste. Tastings seemed to be priced between $1.50 to around $7. All pours are exactly the same size.

We loaded the card with $40 between us, ordered a proscuitto, arugula and mascarpone flatbread to share, and began the adventure.

I started with a taste of Eugene “La Pierre de Sons” Pinot Noir from Languedoc, France. I was intrigued by the fact that it’s a bio-dynamic wine, which means – according to thedailygreen.com:

“The wine is 100% organic, plus the grower has gone beyond to try to bring the farming process more closely in tune with nature. For instance, wine growers may make their own compost and/or watch the stars and planets to time what they do. The concept of biodynamic farming originated from the early 20th-century Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner.”

Nifty, right?

Not really.

In fact, we both found it nearly undrinkable due to the overpowering sourness. I know there has to be a better way to describe it in fancy wine parlance. How do you translate “like drinking turpentine” into oenophile?

Adra’s choice was a 2005 Tissot Poulsard “Sans Souffre.” Also a bio-dynamic Pinot, the description read: “Medium body, lively, mineral, smoky and thoroughly charming.” Adra loved it and described it as being “very drinkable.” I thought it was just okay, but certainly not worth the retail price of $30 – although I do like that it’s made without sulfur.

For my next pour, I chose a Pinot Noir from Russian River, California: A 2003 Davis Bynum from Allen Vineyards. With a hefty retail price of $67.50, this wine requires commitment, and frankly - if I had the pocket change – I would be more than willing to take the plunge. Described as:

“Dried black cherry, cola, and sassafras rooty flavors together with a supple balanced, alcohol-rich, warm finish is now displaying at 5 years of age the secondary aromas of tea leaf, licorice and all-spice.”

I would also describe this wine as:

“Delicious. Tasty. Awesome. Scrumptious. Very well-balanced with lots of body.”

It was rich and flavorful. Big win.

Adra’s next pour was a 2007 Chesebro/F&G Vineyards Pinot Noir from Arroyo Secco, California. Honest to God, our first impression was that this wine tasted like vanilla yogurt. Which is terrific – if you like that sort of thing…

It was very, very rich – almost overpowering. Described as having “earth flavors with a long finish,” I think it was a little closer to a rich-yet-sour taste than “earth flavor.” But it was fascinating to drink, especially as different flavors emerged in that aforementioned long finish.

It was about this time that our flatbread arrived, which was terrific timing. Loaded with fresh argula and striped with strips of proscuitto, our “pizzette” had a thin layer of marscapone and was drizzled with a lemony-olive oil dressing, giving it a summery and crisp – yet also savory – taste, and also served as an excellent palate cleanser. It was also perfect as a light snack for two people.

The tastes we chose next were a 2006 Donkey & Goat “3/13,” if for no other reason than the name; and a 2006 Four Vines Syrah/Carignan/Zinfandel mix they call “The Maverick.” Adra described her Donkey & Goat Syrah/Mourvedre/Grenache combo as “interesting,” with a “sweet aftertaste,” and “not what [she] was expecting.” I found it to be rich, full-bodied and incredibly sweet.

The Four Vines pour was excellent, if very young. Despite letting it sit for several minutes, the initial taste was overpowered by alcohol. However, by the bottom of the glass (snide comments about my tolerance aside), it was incredible. Four Vines wines come from old world vines (they claim to be over 100 years old). I’d heard a thing or two about this particular vineyard before trying, and the word on the street is that – old as these vines may be – a collector’s best bet is to buy a few bottles now and hang onto them for 5 to 10 years. When this wine has matured a little longer, it will apparently be one of the best in the region. All I can say is that letting my tasting “mature” for about 15 minutes transformed it into my favorite wine of the evening.

As for Pourtal – it was…fun. Although I’m not entirely certain I will go back for seconds.