VineSugar: Wine Burps Blog

Bouchon Bistro in Yountville is more delicious than one would expect from a simple bistro ...

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 04:55:20 +0100

I've only eaten here twice and I wouldn't consider myself a foodie but I thought I'd share some thoughts with my experiences with restaurants in wine country or applicable to the wine industry.

Bouchon Bistro is a Thomas Keller restaurant located in Yountville, California. Yountville is a very small town just before the big wine country tourist trap of Oakville, St. Helena and Calistoga. My impression is that most people drive right past Yountville without realizing it and honestly, they're really missing out. It's got a great, walkable downtown with great shops and some of the best "eats" in wine country. (Thomas Keller has two other restaurants here: French Laundry and Ad Hoc)

If you don't know who Thomas Keller is... well, he's only one of the most influential, successful chefs/restaurateurs in California. Basically, his restaurants produce some of the most amazing foods nationwide. Bouchon Bistro is no exception. French-inspired, small tables, bistro portions, this place is open for lunch and dinner and has a bakery next door that will make you weak in knees over it's doughnuts and pastries (prepare for a long line however).

My first experience here was just my wife and daughter on a random weekday after lunch hours but before dinner. It was quiet, we were seated right away and had an incredible meal. My wife had the gnocchi, I had the pork belly and Olivia enjoyed a little of everything. What I loved was just how hospitable the wait staff was even with our daughter who is just 16 months young.

My second experience here was with a larger group, 5 total plus a high chair again for my daughter. We called the weekend prior to make reservations and they accommodated us within 30 minutes of our preferred time.

Our party ordered an array from the menu including: country salad, potato soup, quiche, escargot, trout, lamb, steak, bouillabaisse and pasta. Needless to say the food was delicious! This was my first time eating escargot too... and it was AWESOME. Best thing I ate in months! I am a huge fan of the snail =)

The wine list is intimidating for those not familiar with French wines. The California wines they offer have a serious mark-up too so our group was very conflicted whether to splurge on a bottle we knew would be good but cost us $150-200 for a single bottle or just order wine by the glass. Surprisingly enough, they offer red and white "house" wines by the carafe for a fraction of the price. They have a local winemaker make single barrel-worth of each, specifically for the bistro, that you can only enjoy at the bistro. We had the red which was a blend of the Bordeaux varietals and honestly, it was a wine I would buy by the case. AMAZINGLY good wine that went great with the food.

I have to thank and give mention to the waiters and waitresses who were gracious and so helpful guiding us through our lunch. Both my experiences here were noted with incredible hospitality from everyone; the host, wait staff and servers. So friendly, so helpful, so patient.

Despite being called a "bistro", this is by no means a cheap meal. You will pay a premium to dine here but its worth every penny if you want a comfortable atmosphere, good food and excellent service.

Simply stunning. I highly recommend it if you're near Yountville and want a laid-back but still perfect meal served to you.

(drink their house wine by the glass or by the carafe and for desert, ask for Bouchon "brownie" with peanut butter ice cream and a cup of their coffee. mmm... so good!)

Posted by Ryan O'Donnell on Feb 21, 2010 8:55 pm

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New Stainless Steel, Variable Top Tanks

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 03:50:55 +0100

I just purchase two 100L stainless steel tanks from Midwest Supplies and couldn't be more excited. I like the taller profile of these vs. the current, wider 100L tank I have.

Since I'm using new oak barrels for the first time this year, I need to pull the wine out sooner than normal so they don't soak up too much oak flavor. The idea is to rack them out of the barrel an into these tanks to finish the ageing process.

The 2010 harvest will also see these tanks in new ways. My intention is perform primary fermentation in my plastic brutes, then perform malolactic conversion in these tanks THEN transfer the wine into barrels when MLF complete.

This way, I'm not worrying about stirring lees in the barrel, scratching the insides and can simply add SO2 until its ready to bottle. Which I can bring these tanks back to make any final blends before bottling too.

I will likely make my own stands with heavy duty caster wheels so I can move them around as I need regardless whether they're filled or not.

On a another note, I recently got a professional bench-top pH meter and gobs of new lab equipment. Pictures to come!

Posted by Ryan O'Donnell on Feb 21, 2010 7:50 pm

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Finally Released

Sat, 20 Feb 2010 02:57:15 +0100

It was a revamp in the making for a damn long time but finally, FINALLY! We pushed on latest effort out today. On a Friday no less!

VineSugar is growing and in lots of different ways. We're got a great new content team that is furiously publishing new wineries everyday. We're also building a kick-ass winemaking community for the home wine makers out there. We also launch a wine Q&A section for those of you who want to share their knowledge or have questions too.

And that's not even half of what's on the horizon!

Please dig around and let us know what you think, what you like, what you dislike. Feedback is always welcome.

Posted by Ryan O'Donnell on Feb 19, 2010 6:57 pm

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What a sad industry

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 04:53:28 +0100

Just looking at the homepage of WineBusiness.com would make the newbie-wine lover think "screw this, I'll have a beer!"

Seems like all anyone can talk about is how sales have declined, no can figure out how to market via social media outlets and everyone blogging is crying about flawed rating systems. If I was new to wine seeing all this, it doesn't exactly leave a positive impression.

I'm so tired of hearing about this sad-ass news.

Lets bring back excitment over new vintages, new winemakers, fresh techniques in winemaking, upcoming regions and who knows what else...

If things are really that shitty in the industry, then lets do something positive and find the joy again.

Posted by Ryan O'Donnell on Nov 16, 2009 8:53 pm

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California classics on the decline?

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 04:21:57 +0100

My brother, Tim (and Chief Propellerhead on VineSugar) just pulled the cork from a 1998 Monte Bello and said its already on the decline. A '98?!!? That's only 11 years in perfect cellar conditions and he thinks its already fading! Not too long ago, we also pulled the cork on a '99 Heitz Trailside Napa Valley Cab and thought the same thing. Tasting slowly as the day progresed and even a full day later, the verdict was still the same:

If you got 'em, DRINK 'EM! They ain't gettin' any better.

That's pretty crazy when you think about it. These are big-time wines meant to go the distance. Are even the classics being made in such a way that they can't even make it 10 years later? That's pretty sad when you think that ageability is a huge selling factor when one acquires wine like these.

We're thinking of doing a blind tasting of a bunch of oldie-but-goodies in the back of our cellars just to see how these vintages have been holding over the last decade. Could be the most expensive tasting we perform but should also be one of the most educational too.

Posted by Ryan O'Donnell on Nov 16, 2009 8:21 pm

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Road Trip to Paso Robles then Santa Barbara

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:53:41 +0100

Jen and I drove down Friday morning for an incredible weekend that didn't disappoint regardless where we were tasting. It only took me about 2.5 hours to get to Paso Robles which is my new favorite wine region. The entire area is all about created great wines at reasonable prices. It's like winery's mantras or something. Everything is marked from the $15-$30 price point and most everything is spectacular. At least the places we stopped...

I'm intended to make full length articles for each visit but to summarize, we hit Silverhorse, Barrel 27, Volk Vineyards and Rancho Sisquoc. I would have joined each of their clubs but the wife would have lost her mind if I did so I purchased a mixed case from each so I can create compelling blind tasting events for friends and family.

Along the way, we made new connections, got more recommendations and discovered some cool new products; all of which I'll post write-ups for.

I had a blast and can't wait to return. I think we'll be hitting the Sierra Foothills area next but shortly after will be doing a more in depth trip in Paso Robles. I'm not kidding, this place will blow your mind especially if you're tired of the Sonoma and Napa Valley hype.

Posted by Ryan O'Donnell on Nov 16, 2009 3:53 pm

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A quick jaunt through Sonoma

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 07:02:49 +0100

Jen, Olivia and I jumped in the car this morning and drove up to Healdsburg to pick up our club shipment at Seghesio Family Vineyards. I was introduced to Seghesio during my first trip to wine country with my parents about 8 years ago. At the time, I was just discovering wine and was buying everything I tasted without really understanding much. Seghesio was pouring Italian-style wines then and that trend is even more prevalent now. Even after all these years, they continue to be created some the most incredible, well crafted wines at a price point most can appreciate. The tasting room is always staffed with friendly, knowledgeable people who enjoy what they do and love to share the Seghesio wines with everyone coming in the doors.

After picking up a mixed case of wine I intend to review very soon, we headed to the Russian River Brewery in Santa Rosa. This is one the best beer makers, arguably, nationwide. Their pub is a great family spot and the food is out of sight. This college-town pub has the feel of a great local's spot with the attention to detail in all the right places. Awesome beers, awesome food, awesome prices. Can't go wrong.

We ended the journey at the Sonoma Wine Shop where I was a little early picking up my November club shipment. So, instead of turning back and waiting for them, they let me create my own on the spot. I let them pick things at random, things that based on a few brief conversations, helped them narrow down what they thought, I would enjoy. I also picked up a few favorites: Bucklin's Grenache, Baldassari Syrah and Robert and Roger Cabernet to name a few.

We had a very tired little girl who was a trooper the entire day so we stopped while we were ahead and brought our little angel home along with 2 cases of her favorite beverage... well, daddy's favorite beverage.

Great day it turned out to be!

Posted by Ryan O'Donnell on Nov 7, 2009 11:02 pm

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Racked the Zin Rose and started stabilization

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:25:12 +0100

After adding Bentonite to the Rose and letting it settle for 10 days, I racked off the lees and sludge this afternoon and retained 8 gallons of juice.

The lees and sludge was nicely compact at the bottom; much heavier than I've seen in the past so racking was effortless. The sludge didn't move much and even as I moved my finger across it to see how viscous it was, I was impressed how well it worked.

The color was a lot darker though for a typical rose. I only let the juice in contact with the skins for a day and a half but I still managed to pick up a LOT of color. It's an intense magenta color that's practically neon in the glass.

I'm looking at possibly filtering it one last time or trying a product called Sparkaloid to fine the sediment out and make the juice sparkle in the glass.

It's tasting nice in my opinion and my wife's. Bright strawberry notes with crisp, spicy finish. So far, I'm impressed especially being my attempt at making a rose wine.

Posted by Ryan O'Donnell on Oct 30, 2009 5:25 pm

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2009 Red Wine Production

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 04:53:47 +0100

This is a LOT more than I expected to make. Seriously. Granted I bought new barrels and corny kegs for topping up but the carboys were NOT part of the plan. I read a bunch of notes and articles about making great wines and many of them said Petite Verdot was a magic bullet to those. While I was there picking 100 pounds of Petite Verdot, I figure picking another 150 pounds of Malbce was another smart choice. Winemakers everywhere say you should keep Malbec on hand at all times if for blending if nothing else.

Oh, and the Zinfandel Rose was a complete blind-sided surprise. I didn't expect to make one but the red Zinfandel required plenty of bleed off and its not like I'm just going to dump the juice... and thus a Rose was in the making. Thank goodness I had a stainless steel tank to contain all the juice. Otherwise, that would have been consumed carboy than I own.

Let the aging BEGIN!

Posted by Ryan O'Donnell on Oct 19, 2009 9:53 pm

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Inert Gas Racking Tool

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 04:26:40 +0100

Admittedly, this was an impulse buy.

I was up at MoreFlavor looking for some last minute items to wrap up the 2009 red wines I've been working on. I was still looking at pumps and canes to rack the wine out of my barrels when their showroom guy told me their floor model, inert gas racking tool was the last one they had and that I could have 15% off the retail cost. SOLD!

This thing is sweeeeeeet. I already have the gas tank and upgrade to a butterfly valve. This is the tool of the professionals and when you hold you realize, this is one hard-core toy.

Basic premise is this: inert gas like nitrogen or argon is fed into the cane then the pressure pushes the wine on the barrel up and out of the cane through a second tube. It's perfect because its clean, sanitary and eliminates unnecessary air exposure during rackings.

I know its sorta overkill for 3, 15-gallon barrels but com'on, this is fuckin' cool. I want to get the sight glass piece to put in the middle so I can see when fine lees are being fed through thus ceasing the transfer.

...maybe this is the start to increasing production for next vintage since I can move more wine more easily. Shhh... don't tell the wife!

Posted by Ryan O'Donnell on Oct 19, 2009 9:26 pm

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