Mr. Blue starts the event by tasting a bunch of wines with some judges on Friday
afternoon. It seems he can't wait to get started! The rest of us
don't begin until 9 o'clock on Saturday morning.
But Friday evening features a rather nice soirée with a big dinner party.
As I always travel with my "magic bag," some of the people at my table
were a bit astonished when I pulled a bottle of Pojer & Sandri's 2000 "Besler
Blanck" out of the portable "cellar."
The "Winery of the Year" from the previous year's event, in this case,
Beringer, had provided some nice wines, too.
The starter was a crab and avocado dish with kumquats which was excellent with
the Besler Blanck!
"Andy" then welcomed everyone to the proceedings and introduced
everyone in the room. Despite their attempts at publicity, no law
enforcement officials are there to make any citations, so Andy has to do that
himself.
Two famous guys are Joel Butler (applauding himself, as usual) and Steve
Pitcher (not applauding).
Drake McCarthy holds up a glass of his favorite cuvée of the evening, 2003 Cuvée
Hetch Hetchy. This, as Drake found out, stains one's shirt far less than
the Beringer 1993 Private Reserve Cabernet.
Gerald
Weisl and Claudia Temby.
These kids know a good wine when they taste it! Though they're not wine
judges, it seems they have fussy palates, nonetheless.
Everyone had a great time!
Drake and Carol Siebert
Rebecca Chapa and cool cat Joel Butler.
Mrs. & Mr. California Grapevine, the Ponomareff's.
Andy with a "jug" of "Buenos Dias Blue." Despite his
tasting wines such as Dom Perignon Rosé and Joseph Phelps' 2000 vintage
"Insignia," he'll probably remember receiving this special bottling
(in a jug with a finger hole so you can easily take a swig from the bottle
without sullying your Riedel crystal stemware) the most.
George
Skorka.
Ron
Washam says he's delighted to be in San Francisco, where they have real cable
cars!
Angela
Hoxsey.
More
Party Animals.
Famous Wine-Taster, Aaron Luna reacts with a laugh when someone suggested
he find gainful employment.
"But I'm a consultant." he reminded everyone.
ON
TO THE JUDGING!
TO INQUIRE ABOUT A WINE: