When in Palo Alto - Cafe Rosso and Bianco

Once again I traveled to downtown Palo Alto for dinner and was happy to discover Cafe Rosso And Bianco, a great restaurant featuring Italian food and the wines from the Coppola winery. For dinner I selected the Rigatoni al Forno. Figuring out the accompanying wine was difficult so I was happy to see that they not only sold wine by the bottle and glass, but have a hand-crafted Enomatic wine system allowing you to select wines for a taste, a half-glass, or a full glass, so I created my own little tasting.

First up was the 2004 Francesco Rinaldi Barbaresco, a delicious clear ruby-red wine with nice legs. Complex bouquet of blackberry and a touch of plum, smooth silky tannins and nice fruit with a long finish made the drinking experience a delight.

Next I had the 2001 Bussia Soprana Barolo. Mmmmmm. A beautiful ruby-red hue with garnet undertones, a rich complex perfume of licorice and cherry jam, this wine delivered a rich, full-bodied mouthfeel and delivered plums and red fruits on the tongue with prominent but not overpowering tannins and nice acidity.

It is interesting to taste these two wines considering that they are both made from the same grape, the Nebbiolo. For Italians, Barbaresco is known as the "Queen of wines" while Barolo is the "King of wines". Generally the Barbaresco is a little leaner, less alcohol and lower tannins than does the Barolo.

Finally I tried the best of the bunch for me, a 2004 Rubicon Estate Rutherford "Rubicon". By the end of my first taste I was doing my best impression of Homer Simpson as a drooling, slobbering hedonist. Rubicon is a Cabernet/Cab Franc/Petit Verdo/Merlot blend. The color is deep, almost black, bleeding out to a deep ruby. The nose is complex (I picked up blackberry, a little bit of black olive and some dark chocolate). The wine delivered deep fruit, dry but not too dry, nice round tannins with agood full mouthfeel and a deep, long finish. If you can afford it, I suggest you try it.

The excellent Rigatoni and the three delicious wines coupled with the alfresco dining made this squat little man happy (though missing Mr. Beau).

Dinning in Palo Alto

I'm in Palo Alto for leadership training. Since tonight is my only free evening I decided to find a wine-friendly place to eat and a wine bar for an after dinner drink. I succeeded at both.

It was my fortune to find I Tapas & Wine Bar in downtown Palo Alto. An eclectic place, I Tapas offers... tapas, small plates with an international flavor. An interesting little place, I sat across from a large black and white print of Paris, listening to Spanish music over the com system with a large Thai version of Buddha in the center of the restaurant. For dinner I selected two meat-intensive plates: BBQ pulled pork with lettuce wrap and their version of "Steak and Fries" sauteed in garlic and onion. Now what to drink. The restaurant offered a nice selection of wines by the glass and half-bottle as well as by the bottle (aggregated by titles like "Whites - Fruity, Whites - Flowery, Whites - Smooth and Oaky, and "Pink Pride". I settled on a glass of the 2005 Cicchitti from Argentina, a Malbec/Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot blend. On its own it wasn't a bad selection, a deep purple-ish color, thick legs, decent fruit, hints of spice but with a short finish. The question was how it would hold up to some pretty intense foods. The pulled pork came first and of the two I thought the BBQ would overpower it. Surprisingly a synergy happened, the wine took on a more spicy/hot realm similarly to that of a high alcohol Syrah. I enjoyed it a little more with the pork than on its own. Not as much luck iwth the steak and fries. The plate was more like a Korean beef, thin strips of beef and potato which, while very good, it seemed to overpower the wine.

After dinner and short stroll I wound up at The Wine Room, a cozy little place in downtown Palo Alto. Offering a nice list of wines by the glass (2 sparkling, 28 red and white as well as a flight of Sangioveses), I finally selected a glass of the 2006 Saison de Beauchène, Côtes-Du-Rhône. The wine appeared clear, light ruby in color, floral nose with hints of spice and strawberries, spice, cherries and Old-World earthiness in the mouth with a nice balance of acid and tannins with a good medium finish. An excellent wine that is easy on the wallet. Since I am here all week I will definitely be back.

My Recent Winetasting Trip

A couple of weeks ago Mr. Beau and I took a little trip up to the Santa Barbara area for some wine tasting. This was in part to just get out of town for a couple of days and in part to provide a wide selection of wines for Mr. Beau to taste and help me gauge where his wine preferences lay. Over a three-day weekend we traveled to and tasted wines at the following wonderful wineries (in the order in which we tasted):

Brander Winery (excellent all around offerings)

Gainey Winery (very good wines, nice chardonnays this year)

Kalyra Winery (a fun winery with some excellent lighter and dessert wines)

Beckman winery (top-notch Syrahs and and tasty Grenache... and the hottest pourers according to Mr. Beau)

Bridlewood Winery (they seem to have come up a notch in their offerings since the Gallo buy-out)

Firestone winery (Good wines, nice Riesling)

Curtis Winery (wonderful Rhone-style wines)

Fess Parker Winery (Davy Crockett knows his wines, but watch the alcohol content on the new Syrahs)

Zaca Mesa Winery (a new one for me, great offering, don't pass up the Z Cuvée or the Z Three from them)

Nice, solid producers one and all. Each have their specialties as most wineries do and each gave us an appreciation for the types of wines they are known for. One of the more interesting trends I observed was with Fess Parker who is slowly pushing up the alcohol content on some of their Syrahs yet keeping things pretty well balanced (my only complaint is that with higher alcohol content I can't consume as much... but this was a tasting trip, not a drinking trip). In future posts I will examine each of the wineries and what I like about them. You will come to find that at this point in time I am a big fan of the California central coast producers and of the southern end (Santa Barbara County) most of all.