happy halloweeen!

I just love Halloween. Wishing you all a spooky and debauchery filled night.

Still wish I could 'trick or treat' to get Reese's but maybe I should make these.. 

And for my Halloween lovin' brother, who will kill me for putting this up..

serengeti safari boy- lovin' the hat

happy national champagne day

Let's pop that "famous French fizz" because today is the day to celebrate, it is National Champagne Day. We all know Champagne's effervescent charm has conquered the globe and whenever a celebration of any sort takes place in the modern world, we can be certain that the sound of Champagne corks are popping not far away.

So the sparkling conversation begins... to make sure we are all on the same page. Here are my favorite facts about sparkling...
~Champagne levels range from dry (brut), a bit sweeter (extra dry) or very sweet (demi-sec). This was only changed after 1850 because before then all champagne was sweet.

~Champagne originates from the province of the same name in the northeastern France (100 miles east of Paris). We must call all other bubbly, sparkling wines.

~In 1927, the boundaries of the viticultural area of Champagne was legally defined. About 76,600 acres!

~Only three kinds of grape varieties are permitted in Champagne- Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier & Chardonnay.

~The largest Champagne bottle is a Nebuchadnezzar which is 20 bottles. (Nebuchadnezzar was the king of Babylon)



photo 1 from blanccoco.com
photo 2 from dustjacketattic.blogspot.com
photo 3 from marthastewartweddings.com
photo 4 from ffffound.com

wine and music

Last night I had the opportunity to attend an event, Wine & Music at the Hub SoMa Gallery. It was presented by SFAMA. It was a special evening with industry experts sharing and demonstrating unique ways to engage marketers and wine lovers to taste and learn. Right up my alley as I am studying for the certified wine professional exam!

wine salon [education + experience] 

the funky art on the walls in the gallery

let's discuss wine, shall we?

first wine + song pairing

happy wednesday.

birthday girl

This weekend I celebrated my 24th birthday with amazing friends. Just wanted to share a few snap shots.

red velvet cake. yum.

beautiful friends and family 

wishes and pearls 

laughs and flowers 

happy monday. 

keeping up

With wine class, work, tastings, dinner and fun outings this week flew by.

Winemaker Wednesday: at 1313 Main St. I am always down for a glass of Schramsburg bubbles.

1313 Main St. 

schramsberg bubbles  

 Napa Valley Film Festival Pop-Up Shop: The Napa Valley Film Festival is starting to get traction, its the first weekend in November and I will be posting much about it, as the parties and dinners are all the rage. This first pop up shop was at Cake Plate in downtown Napa. Alpha Omega was pouring, 29 cosmetics was there founded by Lydia Mondavi , Jeffrey Levin was too.

girls of AO- thank you!

Kendall of Sequin Harvest snapping away

pretty clothes

cake plate

happy friday. birthday celebrations here i come!

oh i crumbled into the world of tweeting... @gianna_bocci

a hidden gem in the mountains

Yesterday I had the opportunity to go to Storybook Mountain Vineyards. Not only were the leaves falling but it was the perfect sunny, crisp, autumn day to experience harvest. This vineyard is highly known for Zinfandels, I mean they are ah-mazing. Their caves are dug into the side of the volcanic rock mountain under their hand tended vineyard. The head honcho, Jerry is the wise cowboy farmer you want making your wines. Everyone of us had an incredible time.. I brought bottles home and obviously, they are already gone. I need to go buy more.

mountain vineyards in calistoga, ca 

the cowboy mountain winemaker 

inside the caves, large oval barrels with family carvings 

MS (master somm, less than 200 people have that title in the word) Tim Gaiser pouring 

ps. their $40 Anteaus wine that is a steal of a deal and highly sought after in the wine world. Just thought I'd let you know!

missing the owls

At our vineyard in Rutherford, we have big white owls. We love them because they keep the rodent population down in and around the vineyard and make us feel like Harry Potter. They are gone for a few months, flying south but will be back around February.

I think I should get one of these pendents.

image from google

try this

Sticking to your normal three drinks every weekend? One of my favorite drinks is a traditional Negroni, if I am not drinking wine that is. But this weekend I branched out and had an Aperol Spritz. Aperol is a sweeter less alcoholic sister of Campari. It is a super light liqueur with over 30 fruits, herbs and spices, while mixed with Prosecco, this spritz is bound to make you order more.

3 parts prosecco 

2 parts aperol 

dash of club soda 

served over ice with a slice of orange or lime, you pick 

super easy, super delicious, great for an aperitif  

fiat obsession

Can't you just imagine racing down European cobblestone streets, jetting to fancy aperitifs or meeting on the Spanish Stairs in Rome or even sipping an espresso overlooking the Ponte Vecchio? I want this to take me there in that iconic red..

From dustjacketattic.blogspot.com

From sundayinbed.tumblr.com

From theamericanlegacy.tumblr.com

From google.com

I mean, come on, iconic elegance with an Italian sporty twist, how could I not want one!

busy bee

And of course, remember...It's hump day and I am feeling particularly overwhelmed.
Feeling somewhat like this...

I will just have to imagine:

From survivingoptimist210.xanga.com

here:

From 24.media.tumblr.com

Or maybe here:

From desiretoinspire.net

With this wine,

From google.com

And of course, remember... 

From etsy.com

classics

Did you know that 24,000 varieties of grapes have been named and ampelographers (people obsessed with grapevines) believe these represent about 5,000 truly different varieties..since most grape varieties have numerous names depending on where they are grown, i.e. pinot gris & pinot grigio. And of the 5,000 there are only 150 planted in significant amounts...of those 150, only 9 are considered classic. Do you know what they are?

chardonnay
riesling
sauvignon blanc
chenin blanc
semillon
cabernet sauvignon
merlot
pinot noir
syrah
Thank goodness for  The Wine Bible by Karen MacNeil. 


I bet they drink syrah or.... a beer. 

From celebritysmackblog.com

I bet she drinks chenin blanc or... a martini. 

From imdb.com

I bet she drinks Chardonnay

From 1.bp.blogspot.com

love, your favorite corkhead. 

take me back

Last January, I headed down under to New Zealand and Australia. It was the perfect time of year and the sun was shinning. This morning I woke up, missing the adventure and the wine. 

Waiheke Island, off the coast of New Zealand. Full of wine and wonderful vineyards

Those rolling hills. 

Great place to eat lunch in the middle of all those vineyards, 

take me back there, please. 

this is actually in Australia, on the coast headed to Adelaide.. and more wine country! 

something's up

Not only are there lots of trucks traveling up and down highway 29 with loads of ripe grapes, ready to be crushed or even whole-cluster pressed but it's my favorite time of year. It's harvest and the smell of wine permeates the Valley along with the raw vibe of organic natural excitement. Plus Fleet Week is this weekend, thats exciting by itself.

But I did dive into something new... something that reminds me of high school again yet a hundred times cooler, wine education, more like an immersion into the little berries themselves.

Yes, tasting in class.. 

Studying, you are right, that is a bottle of Caymus 09 joining me. 

stay tuned winos & savvy people of the world.

print love

If you haven't, check out this much talked about lifestyle magazine. If it doesn't get your design juices flowing, I don't know what will!

Rue Magazine 

They just had their one year anniversary, which was amazing at H.D. Buttercup. The epic night was a full-throttle creative blend of amazing people and design love. 

some of my favorite people from Rue's First Birthday!
photo taken by 2010 Drew Altizer

harvest happenings

This weekend was filled with lots of par-tays and weekend activities. Starting at a tasting at Leaf + Twig, then harvesting, tastings, dinners & entertainment. Here are a couple of my favorite photos from the leisure days.

jersey boys' perform!