Perlis Picks: Family Winemakers of California [Part Two]

April 21, 2018 by Michael Perlis Leave a Comment

This year’s Family Winemakers event, held at the Pasadena Convention Center, had about 70 wineries presenting their finest bottlings to an appreciative crowd of trade, media and consumer attendees. Yes, I said 70. Obviously, I couldn’t taste everything, but I think I made a pretty good dent. Here are some of my favorites…

Ascension Cellars – specializing in Rhone and Bordeaux varietals, this was one of several wineries at the event representing Paso Robles. Enjoyed the Rose, the Soul Shaker Cab/Syrah blend as well as the dessert Primitivo.

Bokisch Vineyards – a Lodi winery focused on Spanish varietals, I was excited to see they also produced a Zinfandel from the Kirschenmann Vineyard. This vineyard is owned by Tegan Passalacqua of Turley Wine Cellars. Turley, of course, makes a zin from this vineyard as do a few other wineries. This version was about as pure an expression of the vineyard as I’ve had.

Brecon Estate – I’ve been wanting to try this Paso Robles winery since they were named winery of the year in Doug Wilder’s Purely Domestic Wine Report. Both the Forty-Two red Rhone blend and the Petite Sirah were excellent.

Cass Winery – what can be said about this Paso Robles winery that hasn’t been said? Great white and red Rhones with Ted Plemons providing the entertainment.

DRNK – the name of this Russian River Valley winery is made up of the initials of family members. The “K” is for winemaker Ryan Kunde – yes, that Kunde family so you know the winemaking pedigree is there. Great Pinot Noir and Malbec.

Frog’s Tooth – this winery serves as a great reminder that well-priced high quality wines can be found when you expand your wine search into the Sierra Foothills. Especially liked the Sauvignon Blanc and the Petite Sirah.

Pech Merle – based in Geyserville, this tiny winery is producing some really good juice. I really liked their Zinfandel.

Petrified Forest Vineyards – Ken and Susan Piters are making excellent Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon from their vineyard in Sonoma County’s Knight’s Valley.

Pride Mountain Vineyards – speaking of Cabernet, just a big “wow” for the one from this winery that overlaps the north end of Napa and Sonoma counties.

Sobon Estate / Shenandoah Vineyards – consistently one of my favorite Amador County wineries, the reserve Zin was my pick at this table.

Sol Rouge Vineyard & Winery – pouring a wide range of mostly Rhone inspired wines, there was a lot to enjoy at this table. Favorites for me were the Cinsaut and the Cabernet Franc.

Treasure Island Wines / Kohler & Frohling Wines – I had planned on visiting this table anyway and I was especially intrigued when I got an email reminding me of an article that hit The Daily Beast early in 2017. Kohler & Frohling was originally founded in the 1850s in Los Angeles and has now been recreated by the great-great grandson of the founder Charles Kohler. The wines are made by the same winemaker as San Francisco’s Treasure Island Wines, Jim Mirowski. I really enjoyed the Rose wines at this table, my favorite being the K&F Rose of Pinot Noir, which struck me as a pretty serious version of a Rose.

Eve’s article already listed all the wineries that poured at this event, so I won’t bother listing them again. But, I highly recommend you watch our site for more events in the future, both from Family Winemakers and other great organizations.

Michael Perlis has been pursuing his passion for wine for more than 25 years. He has had the good fortune of having numerous mentors to show him the way, as well as a wonderful wife who encourages him and shares his interest. After a couple of decades of learning about wine, attending events, visiting wineries and vineyards, and tasting as much wine as he possibly could, he had the amazing luck to meet Eve Bushman. Now, as Contributing Editor for Eve’s Wine 101, he does his best to bring as much information as possible about wine to Eve’s Wine 101 faithful readers. Michael is also Vice President of Eve Bushman Consulting (fka Eve’s Wine 101 Consulting) http://evebushmanconsulting.com/ and President of MCP Financial. Michael can be contacted at michaelthezinfan@aol.com or michael@evebushmanconsulting.com.

Perlis Picks: Family Winemakers of California [Part One]

April 14, 2018 by Michael Perlis Leave a Comment

Since I have not written about Family Winemakers of California in a while, I feel some backstory may be in order.

From the FWC website:

Family Winemakers of California is an “organization that reflects the small producer’s point of view.” With nearly 5,400 licensed wineries in California, someone needs to consistently speak for small, family wineries in the fight for more access to markets, protecting individual freedom from government over-regulation, and fostering aspirations to make the best wine. Our beginnings are humble. Family Winemakers was founded in 1990 after the wine market order extension was voted down in a true grassroots campaign. Industry growth and public policy on a myriad of issues begged for input from small producers. One man, one vote is the bedrock principle behind Family Winemakers that guides our views on legislation, regulation, litigation and business practices. We’ve spent 25 years and counting working to loosen up the post-Prohibition restrictions in California law and broaden access to domestic markets.

The organization has always held a special place in my heart. Many years ago, long before I began writing for Eve’s Wine 101, I received in the mail [yes, the real mail] an invitation from a Northern California winery to attend a trade tasting of FWC wineries at the LAX Hilton, along with two guests. Not being sure how I had achieved this honor, I contacted the FWC offices and was assured that if I had been given the invitation that it was legitimate. Of course, my first guest was my wife Karen. Secondly, as I had been working with a client business right down the street from the venue, I invited one of their executives.

As the date of the event drew near, I received the dreaded notification from that Northern California winery telling me that I had received the invitation in error. Oops. Well, I contacted the FWC offices, pleaded my case and was granted the exception to attend based on their previous commitment. And was I glad I did. Dozens of wineries were pouring their latest releases and the ability to hang out with the people in the wine biz just made it that much more special. This one event really helped to feed my developing passion for wine.

Since writing for Eve’s Wine 101, I’ve tried to make a point of attending FWC tastings as frequently as possible. They hold an annual event in San Francisco [which I’ve never made it to] and typically one in Southern California, most often in Del Mar but in recent years sometimes in Pasadena [although not for a while]. We have made the trek to Del Mar and once to Pomona for this event, but I was very happy when FWC announced that this year the So Cal event would be back in Pasadena at the Convention Center, with the trade event starting at noon and the public tasting beginning at 2 PM. Consumers did have the opportunity to purchase VIP passes to enter with the trade – I highly recommend doing this when the opportunity presents itself.

Next week, I’ll tell you which wineries stood out for me at this year’s event.

Perlis Picks – The New Wine Rules by Jon Bonné

January 20, 2018 by Michael Perlis Leave a Comment

A few years ago, Jon Bonné’s book The New California Wine became one of my favorite books on wine. I think some people looked at that book as the author telling people that these are the only wines you should be drinking out of the vast selection available to us. Instead, I took Mr. Bonné’s intent to be to advise his readers of which wineries he felt were most involved in pushing the boundaries of quality winemaking in California.

Admittedly, I especially appreciated Bonné’s theme as I tend to gravitate towards wine outliers myself; often those who don’t follow the standard rules.

So, I was somewhat surprised by the author’s latest book, which is all about rules. I expected to dislike this book, but I liked it – a lot. Truthfully, the “rules” read more like suggestions to make your wine-life easier, whether you be a possibly intimidated wine novice or a seasoned wine lover. And as the book reads like suggestions, the reader can feel free to choose which ones works best for him or her.

Some of the “rules” that resonated with me were…

Rule 1 – Drink the rainbow.

It’s easy to get in a rut of one color [red, white or pink] or even one varietal [sayeth the Zin Fan]. That’s a good way to do it, if you want to miss a lot.

Rule 6 – There’s a difference between “fruity” and “sweet.”

While the author tries to not get hung up on technicalities, this is a good one to remember. They definitely mean different things.

Rule 14 – Organic and biodynamic mean something specific. Natural means a different thing.

I like this one because, ironically, these terms mean very little to me as to whether I select a wine for my own drinking. Although it does make for interesting conversation while sharing a glass or two of it with fellow wine drinkers.

Rule 17 – Stop worrying about sulfites.

I love this one for all of you who complain that the sulfites gave you a headache when it is really probably because you drank too much.

Rule 23 – No two bottles of wine – even of the same wine – are exactly alike.

So many factors can contribute to bottle variation, from conditions at the winery to conditions with the consumer and anywhere in between. It is just a fact of life and what contributes to wine being so interesting.

Ditto for…

Rule 25 – The occasional faulty bottle of wine is a fact of life. Don’t let one ruin your day.

Something I need to remind myself of sometimes.

The author also provides a very nice explanation of what the various faults [corked, cooked, oxidized, brett, etc.] are. Personally, I’ve found that people can be sensitive to some faults more than others; for example, “oxidation” is my pet peeve. I also am reminded of a conversation I was having with a WSET-2 graduate [no, not Eve] who was describing a flawed wine she had tasted and said “It was corked; it was totally oxidized.” When I inquired which it was [corked or oxidized] I was met with a blank stare.

Rule 26 – A wine’s price rarely reflects its quality.

As long as we’re not talking about bargain supermarket plonk, I tend to agree. Although I still think you are more likely [but not guaranteed, of course] to get a better bottle by spending the extra bucks.

Rule 42 – Never judge a bottle by its closure.

If it were up to me, all wines would have twist-off caps.

I’ll stop with that one. There are a lot more rules in the book, 89 in total. This book is definitely worthy of your time, not just for the rules but also for the large amount of useful information that the author manages to include in a fairly small space.

Perlis Picks: Historic Vineyard Society Newsletter – Winter 2017

December 23, 2017 by Michael Perlis Leave a Comment

I’ve made little secret about how much Karen and I appreciate the work done by the Historic Vineyard Society to preserve California’s treasured old vineyards. Having just received their latest newsletter, I wanted to share it with Eve’s Wine 101 readers. So, with the permission of HVS’s Mike Dildine, here it is…

It’s difficult to describe the last several weeks throughout Sonoma and Napa. Horrific fires raged a path of destruction across our beautiful land, and while the fires are behind us, they left deep scars that will take a great deal of time to heal. But amidst the heartbreaking news were countless examples of heroism and generosity, along with astounding stories about historic vineyards being saved. A few specific examples:

Old Hill Ranch in Sonoma – Will Bucklin and members of his family stayed at the vineyard as long as possible, putting out fires as the Nuns fire threatened the vines. A few vines are scorched and several structures on the property burned, but the vineyard, and Will and Lizanne’s home, are still standing.
Pagani Ranch – a firefighting team made up primarily of prison inmates created a fire break just behind Norma Amantite’s home. While the fire came right up to the vineyard, these amazing vines – and Norma’s house – survived.
Puccini Vineyard – this tiny one-acre vineyard, was threatened by the fire but was unharmed. The stone ‘clos’ that surrounds the vineyard, built by Puccini’s planter in 1906, helped save the vineyard 111 years later.
Monte Rosso Vineyard – the fires burned up the Mayacamas Mountains, burning from Sonoma Valley to Napa, but Monte Rosso still stands.

We clearly have much to be grateful for, and can’t emphasize enough how much we appreciate all your messages this month. As we approach the end of another year, we’d like to remind you about a few ways to be more involved with HVS and continue to support our efforts to keep these important pieces of California history in the ground.

Ways to Support HVS:

Donate! Perhaps the most obvious answer, but we can’t overstate how much we value all your contributions. As a reminder, your tax-deductible donation directly supports historic vineyards through education, research and vineyard-related events. Help keep these precious vines in the ground!
Attend HVS Events! Save the date for 2018 HVS Events:
- February 7th, 2018, when HVS will be pouring at Cadet Beer & Wine Bar in Napa
- Date TBD: we’re looking forward to scheduling an HVS Tasting in San Francisco! Please stay tuned for more details to follow.
Shop using AmazonSmile, where .5% of every eligible order will be donated to HVS. To get started, visit smile.amazon.com, then search for and select Historic Vineyard Society. Every penny counts!

Once again, we can’t thank you enough for all your support of HVS. We look forward to another great year to come.

Perlis Picks: Along The California Wine Trail

December 2, 2017 by Michael Perlis Leave a Comment

I am not one to ever pass up an opportunity to bemoan the fact that my wife Karen fractured her leg on our last wine trip and we had to cut our trip short. … so nope, this is not an article about our travels.

Rather, Along The California Wine Trail is a book, although it is definitely more than that. Written by Jerry Stroud, the book showcases California’s major American Viticultural Areas [AVAs]. Presented along with the “retro realistic” artwork of Kerne Erickson, Jerry does not present a technical tome [there are plenty of those] but rather shares his own personal stories of visits to California’s varied wine regions.

Karen and I had the opportunity to attend the artist’s reception and book launch of Along The California Wine Trail: Exploring California’s American Viticultural Areas on November 4th at George Stern Fine Arts in West Hollywood, CA.

Both Stroud and Erickson were present to discuss their work and to sign books for a roomful of eager attendees. In addition, Erickson’s original artwork of all the paintings included in the book adorned the walls of the gallery. Karen enjoyed viewing the actual paintings and reminiscing about our own travels. She also pointed out a couple of AVAs that we haven’t visited as of yet and that we need to.

Free flowing wine and tasty appetizers contributed to the atmosphere of actually being in wine country. More than one person commented to me that Erickson’s artwork was inspiring them to want to plan a visit to wine country, especially to one of the AVAs that they might have had less familiarity with.

One of the wines available for sampling was the delicious 2016 Chardonnay from Bacigalupi Vineyards in the Russian River Valley. The family purchased the vineyard property in 1956 but only started making Chardonnay under the Bacigalupi name in 2011. Author Jerry Stroud points out in the book that fruit from this Sonoma County vineyard made up a significant portion [40% per the winery’s website] of the 1973 Napa Valley Chardonnay from Chateau Montelena. Perhaps you’ve heard of this wine – it won the Judgement of Paris in 1976.

It is stories like this in the book, where Stroud shares his personal experiences and champions the causes of the families who built the wine regions, that make the book extremely compelling. Divided into five chapters representing the main AVAs in California [Sierra Foothills, North Coast, Central Valley, Central Coast and South Coast], Stroud tells personal tales of his experiences in the various sub-AVAs that we know and love, all interspersed with Erickson’s masterful artwork. I certainly felt that I had found a kindred spirit in Jerry Stroud.

The book and prints are for sale on the Along The California Wine trail website. I’m also told the book should be available in certain winery tasting rooms. There are plans for a second extended printing that I am really looking forward to, but in the meantime this will do just fine.

Michael Perlis Vintage 1/2010: Pour Into Haiti

November 25, 2017 by Michael Perlis Leave a Comment

I’ve had this serious wine hobby for a more than a couple of decades now and have enjoyed it in a lot of ways – wine tasting, wine trips, reading about wine, and now, thanks to Eve, writing about it. But one thing I have never done is volunteer at a tasting event.

So, when the opportunity came up to volunteer to pour wine at All Corked Up’s Pour Into Haiti fundraiser, I jumped at the chance. Fortunately, my wife Karen agreed to join me, since I’m such a slacker.

I know that Eve is going to have a whole lot more to say about this event, so I thought I would just focus on my experience as a volunteer.

When we got there, I was informed that I was going to be sharing a table with Jim Griffin of the Henry Wine Group, Wendy Roberts of Wine Warehouse, and Steve Lemley and Nate Hasper, owners of Pulchella Winery. I was pretty excited to hear that, as these were all people that I already knew and liked.

Wendy Roberts from Wine Warehouse [who it turns out is a longtime friend of my younger brother – small world!] was pouring:
2007 Trefethen Chardonnay
2005 Trefethen Merlot
2005 Trefethen Cabernet Sauvignon

Jim Griffin of the Henry Wine Group was pouring:
2007 Rutherford Ranch Sauvignon Blanc
2008 Zaca Mesa Winery Viognier
2008 Zaca Mesa Winery Roussane
2006 Saintsbury Chardonnay “Brown Ranch”
2008 Seresin “MOMO” Pinot Noir
2007 Lander Jenkins Cabernet Sauvignon
2007 Altivo Classic Malbec
2006 Zaca Mesa Winery Z Cuvee
2005 Zaca Mesa Winery Syrah

And my good friends at Pulchella were pouring their 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon and 2006 Syrah. In addition, they poured their just-released Chardonnay and Zinfandel, along with a couple of other blends that they had produced in too small quantities to even sell. I’ve written before that I am a big fan of Pulchella’s wines, and tasting them that evening reinforced my opinion.

We kept busy pouring the wines that ACU had provided for us to pour:
2006 Proulx Petite Sirah – this Paso Robles winery is owned by Genoa and Kevin Riley. Kevin is also the winemaker at Sextant.
2007 Matua Valley Pinot Noir – from the Central Otago region of New Zealand.

In addition, I pulled a few wines from our locker:
2006 Mollydooker “The Boxer” Shiraz
2006 Mollydooker “The Maitre D’” Cabernet Sauvignon
2008 [or 2009, I forgot to check!] “The Violinist” Verdelho

Mollydooker is one of my favorite Australian wineries and I was happy to donate them to the cause.

[I hope I got all the names and vintages correct. If not, my error and I apologize.]

I must say it was a lot fun being on the other side of the table: pouring wine and pretending I knew what I was talking about; hanging out with Steve and Nate, Wendy and Jim; seeing our friends coming through the line; seeing people that we haven’t seen in awhile; and meeting new people as well. And of course, it was all for a great cause.

We were scheduled to pour for the first hour, and it actually went by much too quickly. We turned our station over to our friends Lucas and BJ Herme, who were volunteering for the second hour, and said goodbye to our “coworkers”. We headed off to sample the wines that were being poured by the local SCV Vintners, enjoy the music, eat, and to find our friends.

We really had a great time and we left knowing that not only did we have fun, but we helped in a small way to contribute to a terrific event. I’d like to thank the owners of All Corked Up for allowing us to do this and I encourage you all to try volunteering at an event sometime.

Michael Perlis provides outsourced controller services to businesses that do not need a full-time controller. He balances this with his interest in wine: reading and writing about it and, of course, drinking it. He is still trying to figure out how to combine these two pursuits. Feel free to contact him about either at mcpfinancial@aol.com or michaelthezinfan@aol.com.

Perlis Picks: Helping NorCal Wine Country

November 4, 2017 by Michael Perlis Leave a Comment

My most recent two-part article was devoted to whining about our trip to NorCal that had to be cut short when my wife Karen fractured her knee on the second day. As the first of that two part article hit our site, we were at the end of the week of devastating fires in Napa and Sonoma Counties that made my complaints seem petty.

Truly, my heart has been broken over this. The loss of life is the worst part of course, but the loss of property and impact on the community is devastating as well. It was especially difficult for us was to learn of the damage to Santa Rosa, our adopted home-away-from-home.

Over that week, my Facebook feed was inundated with images and stories of the damage and destruction being wreaked by Mother Nature’s fury. I’m sure your social media accounts were as well. And as a wine lover, I expect that you have friends and/or family up in NorCal wine country, or perhaps even live there yourself. You too probably know personally people who were evacuated [or like one of my friends – evacuated twice, or like another of our friends whose parents lost their home and all of their family heirlooms]. Even the hospital ER where Karen had to go with her broken leg in September was evacuated.

After what seemed like forever of hearing the words “no containment”, we were all extremely ecstatic when, due to the efforts of the heroic first responders, the fires were finally brought under control.

What happens next? The long rebuilding process begins.

I think there is this myth of wealthy winery landowners. I’m not denying there are a few. But the vast majority of California wineries are small operations that can’t afford devastation that comes from the fires as well as the hit to the local economy which is fueled by wine tourism. Not to mention all the winery workers that are also impacted. Please bear in mind that not only wineries and their workers were impacted. The entire community needs help.

There are many organizations to donate to. Eve published a link to a list recently…

https://www.fastcompany.com/40479325/how-to-help-napa-fire-victims-8-things-you-can-do-for-californias-wine-country-right-now

Are you having a hard time deciding who to pick?

Clay Mauritson of Mauritson Wines suggested http://www.sonomacf.org/sonoma-county-resilience-fund/

In addition to donating, the consensus of how to help is to buy wine. Buy wine from the wineries in the affected areas and buy direct if you can.

If you get a chance, watch this video from Martin Cody of Cellar Angels:

https://www.facebook.com/martin.a.cody/videos/10214525161868448/?hc_ref=ARQG7Aw7y56Vht2eVdIxsNsoBnoc3M1K0MyWXENttOaORoKqba2vSaRkD6coOiiI8GU

I definitely support his ideas. If you’re looking for who to buy from, I’d suggest researching wineries who suffered losses and also wineries who are helping in the relief efforts. Look for wineries that are donating significant proceeds such as:

Limerick Lane is donating 100% of the proceeds of the sale of their 2014 Syrah/Grenache blend.

Idlewild is donating 100% of the sales proceeds of their full or ½ case of Northern California fire relief wines.

[I have to give props to the Bilbro family, Jake and Sam respectively, for the above. Even brother Scot of Marietta Cellars, which can’t typically sell to the public, put together a flash sale with Vivino to donate sales dollars to wildfire relief.]

There are other wineries that are donating as well, along with a host of fundraising events. We’ll do our best to keep you informed of them on this site and on our Eve’s Wine 101 Facebook group page. I’m not sure how long these offers and events will last, but even when they are gone, Northern California Wine Country will still need a steady influx of wine sales and tourist dollars to facilitate the rebuilding process, which is going to take a long time. So, buy early and often.

PERLIS PICKS: The Week That Wasn’t – Part Two

October 21, 2017 by Michael Perlis Leave a Comment

Karen’s knee injury meant that we had to head home. We did get to spend one night at one of our favorite hotels anywhere. Vintners Inn in Santa Rosa offers a great wine country experience with outstanding rooms, excellent dining and an on-site vineyard to stroll through. We had to skip the vineyard stroll and our dining was limited to the room-service burgers we ordered [which were excellent by the way]. Hotel staff was caring and accommodating; and we were very grateful under the circumstances to be able to switch from an upstairs room to a downstairs one with no trouble at all.

VINTNERS INN As we sadly had to hit the road the next morning, we were already planning our next, hopefully extended, stay.

This week, I want to share with you the places we had planned on visiting. We had done a lot of research and planning, so we know these places will be on our list for our next trip back up to Northern California.

In Santa Rosa, we were planning on spending a few days at Vintners Inn. While there, we had a few winery visits planned.

In the Dry Creek Valley, my favorite wines from Mauritson Wines are Clay Mauritson’s outstanding Zinfandels and Petite Sirahs. Bella Vineyards was on our list as well for its great Zins.

During our last trip to Sonoma County, we visited Jake Bilbro’s Limerick Lane winery. Jake has two brothers who also make wine. Sam Bilbro’s Idlewild specializes in Italian varietals while the winery that started it all in the Bilbro family, Marietta Cellars is now under the care of Scot Bilbro.

While in the area, we were looking forward to return dining experiences at Healdsburg SHED and Café Lucia.

Heading south to San Francisco, we had booked our stay at Hotel Diva, great looking hotel within walking distance to Chinatown and couple of restaurants we wanted to check out: La Marsa and Bota.

The last leg of our trip was going to be on the Monterey Peninsula. We were really looking forward to our stay at the Monterey Bay Inn.

White Monterey County is known for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, we had planned on visiting two wineries that did not fall into these categories.

Pierce Ranch Vineyards is known for Portuguese and Spanish varietals, along with Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, Zinfandel and Rhones.

In addition, we had not visited Boete Winery in many years and were really looking forward to their Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc.

There are lots of great dining choices on the Peninsula. Fifi’s Bistro Café in Pacific Grove is an old favorite, Passionfish is legendary and we were excited to try a new find for us – Jeninni. Not to mention the grilled oysters at Monterey’s Fish House.

We’re looking forward to Karen healing from her injury and heading back up to really report on all of this for our Eve’s Wine 101 readers. At least this time we won’t have to do a lot of advance research.

PERLIS PICKS: The Week That Wasn’t – Part One

October 14, 2017 by Michael Perlis Leave a Comment

Maybe I should have realized things were going to go south.

It all started innocently enough. We had planned a trip to Northern California, meticulously researching wineries, hotels and restaurants in Sonoma County, San Francisco and the Monterey Peninsula that we wanted to write about for Eve’s Wine 101 readers.

Things got thrown a little askew initially when something good happened – we got invited to attend a tasting party at the Napa home of one of our favorite winemakers – Abe Schoener of The Scholium Project, whose 4-part story you had the pleasure of reading on our site just recently.

As the party was the day before our planned trip, it was an easy decision to head up to Nor Cal a day early.

At some point, we realized we had missed the email that the party had been canceled due to harvest considerations. No problem, we were still in Nor Cal a day early, specifically in Napa.

The only problem was it was a busy Sunday evening and we did not have dinner reservations anywhere. After driving through downtown Napa and seeing lines outside of every restaurant we had an interest in, we decided our best approach would be to head over to the Oxbow Public Market, which is home to a variety of eating and drinking places. It was also busy there and by that point, we were really looking for somewhere to sit down and be taken care of.

Sharing the parking lot with Oxbow is the CIA at Copia.

The Copia property has an interesting history. Founded in 2001 as a wine and food educational project between Robert and Margrit Mondavi and other notables such as Julia Child, it closed in 2008. The Culinary Institute of America acquired the property in 2015 as a home for its Food Business School. They also offer classes, winetasting and other experiences, as well as having a restaurant.

We’ve dined at the CIA at Greystone before and have had marvelous meals there. Assuming that this place was similar, we weren’t sure we wanted something that upscale, nor were we particularly dressed for it. I said: “Let’s just check it out. We don’t have to stay.”

I was glad we did. The dining room was comfortably casual and the menu was reasonably priced. The food was delicious and service was excellent. My hanger steak was cooked perfectly [rare, just as I like it]. The restaurant wasn’t very busy and I think it doesn’t get nearly enough attention.

We had a wonderful dinner and I thought that the week was starting off great.

Wrong.

The next day we headed to Santa Rosa to begin the main part of the trip we had planned. Since we had essentially arrived a day earlier than planned for our winery appointments, Karen suggested visiting the Armstrong Redwoods for some enjoyment of nature. Well, some tangled roots and a day in the ER left Karen with the diagnosis of a fractured knee and that was pretty much “all she wrote”.

To be continued…

Perlis Picks: IN VINO DUPLICITAS by Peter Hellman

October 7, 2017 by Michael Perlis Leave a Comment

Let me make this clear, the new book IN VINO DUPLICITAS is not a rehashing of the wine fraud documented in THE BILLIONAIRE’S VINEGAR by Benjamin Wallace. I am bringing this up at the beginning of this review because I have seen some confusion out there about this. That book covered the exploits of wine fraudster Hardy Rodenstock and is also definitely worth your time reading.

IN VINO This book, IN VINO DUPLICITAS [The Rise and Fall of a Wine Forger Extraordinaire] by Peter Hellman, tells the tale of Rudy Kurniawan, a young immigrant from Indonesia who managed to worm his way into the hearts [and wallets] of wealthy wine aficionados, ultimately bilking them out of millions of dollars before being caught, arrested, tried and convicted. He is currently serving his 10-year prison sentence at Taft Correctional Institution in California.

[And there was a connection to the aforementioned Hardy Rodenstock, as some of the same investors were duped by both con men.]

Mr. Hellman reported on the Kurniawan story for Wine Spectator over a span of eight years and his expertise and writing talent definitely show. He brings a lot of details to the story that only one who has done an extreme amount of research and is this close to the sources could.

Those details are fascinating, as we read about how Rudy Kurniawan seemed to come out of nowhere and quickly achieve a position of very trusted status within the high end wine community, and to then take advantage of that trust. It was a nice touch to include the crime scene photos of Rudy’s home-based wine counterfeiting operation. Also helpful was the look into Rudy’s interesting family history.

Equally fascinating to me was the inside look at the world of high end wine acquisitions. Whether through auction or direct purchase from Rudy, the amount spent on these rare bottles bordered on the astronomical, sometimes tens of thousands of dollars or more.

Now, there is no doubt that I’m a wine lover. There is also no doubt that my net worth is nowhere near that of those participants in the high-end wine markets. If it was, would I have been as apt to have been deceived by Rudy’s practices? Who knows? Some of his wealthy victims were hugely successful business people who would not be readily duped in their own professions yet fell victim to the counterfeit wine being sold to them. I found it very interesting how the business acumen that contributed to their success did not seem to apply to the decision making in their passion for wine.

You may be familiar with the expression In Vino Veritas – “in wine, truth.” Not in this case. Read this book and you’ll learn what questions were answered about how Rudy did it and which ones are still maddeningly unresolved.

In Vino Duplicitas

The Rise and Fall of a Wine Forger Extraordinaire

by Peter Hellman

Published by: The Experiment