Yes, hello! 👋 I’m back. For how long? Who can say. But suffice to say a lot can happen in just a few short years.

Let me bring you up to speed…

• My last post is from summer 2019. Shortly after that I attended my very first Dragon Con. Cosplay became, and remains, a huge part of my life
• Covid
• New job
• My family grew! My brother got married — at Gary Farrell Winery, appropriately 🙂
• We began going on annual wine tasting trips all over California and Oregon
• I turn 40 in exactly 1 month

That last point is probably the reason I’ve started this blog up again, but shhh… 🤫 Midlife crisis? Psh. I think not! 👀

(The lady doth protest too much)

Anyway, here we are! Back to enjoying the tasting journey, sharing thoughts and musings as we discover the unique personality of every bottle.

Including most recently, in LA, while trying and failing to focus on anything other than my brother and brother-in-laws new puppy, we tasted a delightful Grenache vertical from A Tribute to Grace.

The contestants were 2021, 2022, and 2023 vintages.

2022 was my winner. She had brightness while remaining grounded, tasting of lovely bright spring fruits and baking spices.

“Simple but sophisticated” as my brother in law put it, reminding him of Natalie Portman.

~Keep Sipping, Keep Swirling

Well.

Hello again.

Yes, I realize it’s been a while. But the important thing is: we’re back!

Last night (Actually a few months ago because – yay procrastination and life!) I had a lovely dinner out, and over lively conversation ranging from Endgame (The Dad: “So…what was it about?” The Mom: “How do you watch these movies?” Never fear. I promptly sent her my favorite BuzzFeed article that goes into great detail about watching the MCU movies in chronological order), to politics.

Actually those two things aren’t that different.

But I digress.

The Wine: Tre Contrade Riserva Brunello di Montalci, 2010 – Sangiovese Blend

The Pairing: Petrale Sole (myself and The Mom) & Rigatonni (The Dad)

The Event: Dinner out at Sociale – Sacramento St, San Francisco

The Company: The Mom & The Dad

The Personality: George Bailey

We enjoyed a bottle of the Tre Contrade, 2010 – a delightfully complex Sangiovese blend hailing from Tuscany.

The bouquet invited comments from gamey to cranberry, licorice to cinnamon. It started out a bit tight, but boy as it began to breath amazing aromas and tastes were lifted out.

Hmm…tightly wound then opens up. A bit rough around the edges than softening but still with bite and conviction. Who would this wine be? The conversation was a lively one.

“Paul Newman?”

“Jeff Daniels?” (By which I meant Jeff Bridges). I don’t think Jeff Daniels is a wine at all. Maybe a fun lighthearted cocktail? And no, Jeff Bridges is definitely NOT going to be pigeonholed as only a White Russian on this blog 😉

“Marlin Brando?”

“Nah, he’s an all nighter, much deeper red wine.”

“Or Whisky.”

“Is it definitely a man?”

“No, but I think it certainly has to be someone older. You know, who’s had time to be rough before mellowing out.”

“Well not necessarily. What about Lady Gaga?”

“Mm, I think she’s a bit brighter.”

“Oooh, what about Jane Fonda?!”

“That’s definitely closer. You know, that makes me think about that era and I just remembered it’s Ferlinghetti’s 100th birthday today. This wine reminds me of a beat poet.”

“Dad, this wine is nothing like a beat poet. You just want to talk about the beat poets.”

“Oh ok, fine.”

The conversation wound on and eventually we began talking about “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Most likely because a quotable moment occurred. The wine had opened up, deepened, but still had a lightness.

“This wine is like if Potter was redeemed.”

“You know, there is a case for George Bailey. He begins idealistic yet still jaded. He goes through a lot of changes and develops a sophisticated optimism. And I think this wine reflects this.”

And that’s that!

Atta boy Clarence. 😇

~Keep Sipping, Keep Swirling

 

 

 

Welcome to A Case of Personalities inaugural Wine of the Week post!

The Wine: Gary Farrell 2014 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir, Calera clone

The Pairing: Pork roast, potatoes, artichoke, SF Sourdough bread.

The Personality: Mark Twain.

The Company: The Mom and The Dad

          

…….

In retrospect, perhaps we should have waited to bestow the honor of being compared to Mark Twain until we had a few more Wine’s of the Week under our belt.

But the Gary Farrell 2014 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir, Calera clone, deserves the name so we’re sticking to it.

The first sips of this wine immediately highlight it’s complexity. Bursts of mature fruit tones, followed by an incredibly balanced mouth feel and beautiful tannic structure.

Names began to float to the surface as we discussed what, or rather who, this wine personified.

“It needs to be a strong, friendly, witty person. There’s a sense of non cynical openness at the start, with all the nice fruit, but then fantastic tannins moving back on the tongue – so not someone overly sweet.”

“Dustin Hoffman?” “No, he’s more of a cabernet…”

“Maybe a comedian…but not like an Ellen Degeneres, she’s a much lighter wine.”

“Julie Andrews would work if more people knew she has a wicked, sharp, sense of humor.”

“What about Carol Burnett?”

We mulled over this for quite a while. The discussion turned from wine to chatting about old television, and how much better we felt it was than today. I mention that I had watched a couple episodes of the Dick Van Dyke show on Netflix and was surprised at how much the humor held up. We chat about how no one has matched Johnny Carson. Carol’s famous Gone With the Wind spoof came up as well as her many collaborations with Julie Andrews.

But as we continued to sip, we all agreed something about Carol wasn’t quite synching with the wine.

Maybe she’s just a little bit too silly, we decided.

And suddenly it came to me. “Mark Twain!”

He’s witty, intelligent, but not too serious. Definitely the kind of personality we were looking for. This wine tastes like it has southern tales to tell on the porch, but also isn’t stuck there. It’s a friendly wanderer – and Mark Twain himself spend some time along the California coast – solidifying our choice.

“There are no standards of taste in wine… Each man’s own taste is the standard, and a majority vote cannot decide for him or in any slightest degree affect the supremacy of his own standard.” – Mark Twain

Do you agree? Did we totally miss the mark? Let me know your opinion of this wine in a comment!

~Keep Sipping, Keep Swirling