Sideways, the play? Yes! Sideways writer Rex Pickett transforms his story Sideways into a stage play!

Sidways the book and Sideways the movie become a stage play!

She says: I love movies… so convenient, so easy to watch over and over again. But I REALLY love a good play.  Remember the book and movie Sideways, the tale of two friends for an “end of bachelorhood” wine weekend? Now there’s a stage play. 4 sure!  Any trick I can find to get He to a live theater, I’m using it.

Apparently they are serving very fine Pinot Noir each evening in the proper stem ware, too. So, check it out!

I have a feeling I’ll be seeing this more than once.

Show times and theater location for Sideways the play:  http://www.ruskingrouptheatre.com/

Big thanks to our friends at The Daily Sip for this news! Click here and you can read their interview with writer Rex Pickett.

View From A Glass ~ Pinot Days, Los Angeles, CA

View from a glass at Pinot Days in Los Angeles.

Wine reviews coming up!

Check out a Pinot Days event in your area!

A view from Pinot Days. Yes, we confess, we are looking through wine colored glasses.

2009 Stepping Stone “Rocks!” Red Wine (from Cornerstone Cellars)

HE says:  A few months back, we told you about Cornerstone’s rocking’ idea to create blended wines from what they determined is the best varietals of the vintage.

SHE says:  Here it is! It was a Cornerstone Fourth of July for us this year!

Cornerstone Cellars 2009 Stepping Stone "Rocks!"

HE continues:  We loved the white, which was a unique blend of chardonnay and muscat.  Well, I’m happy to say that the “Rocks!”  Red Wine follows nicely in its footsteps.  Ok, maybe more like plods over it because this is one big and bold wine.

It’s again a unique blend – zinfandel and pinot noir.  Now, I’m a huge zin fan and I don’t think I’ve ever had, yet alone heard of, such a pairing.  Zin is usually very fruity and “in your face” while pinot noir is more delicate and refined, so putting them together is a bit like having Mick Jagger duet with Sade.  But, you know, it works.

HE says some more:  The nose is really forward as is the fruit in this wine.  I didn’t know the blend when I tasted it and my senses kept telling me syrah.  The flavors are lots of black fruits and black cherry, with a hint of cocoa.  I thought it would have some zin, but I never imagined the pinot noir. Regardless, it’s a pretty juicy bomb of a wine.  The alcohol is up there, at 14.9% and the acid comes through more than the tannins.  So I recommend you have this wine with food, like barbecue ribs or meat or a juicy burger.
I rated it a very good 15.

SHE says:  You, my love have a complicated palate.  And you, my wine:  You’re a sharp, but friendly kinda wine.  Leaving a little fire in your path, I’ll likely follow.

Full disclosure stuff some fed somewhere thinks we should tell you:  This review is not a paid review.  We purchase most of the wines we write about (or steal them if we have to).  We do occasionally receive wine releases from Cornerstone Cellars.  Our readers know that free wine would never interfere with our honest opinions.  (Just glance around the blog and you’ll see that’s true.)

#Wine tasting at Pinot Days of Southern California Jan. 13, 14, 15

SHE SAYS: Well, here they come – more Pinot wine makers than you can even imagine serving up over 400 pinot wines.  I’m trying hard to imagine it, but I won’t have to imagine it on Saturday as I’ll be in the “thick” of it experiencing it.  The winemakers are unveiling their 2007 vintage and it is an acclaimed vintage.

Look at some of your options!

Thrs. Jan. 13 – The Winemakers “Table Hop” dinner
Thrs. Jan. 13 – Pinot 101 – at K&L  Wine Merchants in Hollywood (a free event)
Fri.  Jan. 14 – “Meet the Winemakers” Night at West Restaurant at Hotel Angeleno
Sat. Jan. 15 – The Pinot Days Grand Festival Public Tasting

..and then there is grilled cheese and wine (yum), VIP Tour and lots more.
See all of your Pinot Days options here:  http://bit.ly/PinotDays2011EventsList

With 125 producers of pinot noir, you’ll be able to sample up to 400 pinots (Who are we kidding?  No, you won’t – I mean no one can sample that many in one day and be able to make any distinctions – but you will try as many as you can.)

From the Russian River Valley to the Santa Lucia Highlands, Oregon to Carneros, Anderson Valley to the Sonoma Coast and to the Santa Rita Hills (one of our personal favorites.)  Taste the wines, talk with the wine makers and visit the specialty food purveyors who will be serving up the foods that pair well with pinot.

Leave a comment on the Barrysentials Facebook Page and get your discount code for the events!  See you there! http://facebook.com/HeSaidSheSaidWineBlog

Wine from Catalina Island? Yes!

SHE has said to HE a few times, “Lets take the ferry over to Catalina Island.”
HE has replied, “What for?”  lol…
Now SHE can respond, “To taste the wines!”  SHE wins!

SHE SAYS: Alison Wrigley Rusack is my new best friend.  I hope she doesn’t mind.  She’s made

Catalina Vineyard View - She says "Gorgeous!"

sure the Rusack wine making legacy now includes grapes grown on Catalina Island, about 20 miles off the coast of Los Angeles, California.  She wants to share the beauty of that island with as many people as she can and a vineyard is a brilliant way to accomplish that desire.  Hooray!

Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Zinfandel grapes are on their way to becoming wines. Read the full story at the LA Times:  http://lat.ms/LATimesRusackCatalinaWines

Read even more about the Catalina harvest on the Rusack website: http://bit.ly/RusackWinesonCatalina

Is it too soon to camp out for the opening?

Which Wines Would Barry Serve? Seven great choices for Thanksgiving dinner.

And now… for the Thanksgiving wines...

If you want a white wine, almost any Chardonnay you like will do.  HE’s personal recommendations for easy to find, easy to buy Chardonnays are below.  Print this list out, take it to your nearby wine store and if they don’t have one of these exact wines, ask them for something similar.  You’ll be a star dinner guest.

Chateau St. Michelle 2008 from Washington is (usually under $10) is a terrific Chardonnay. Socred a “90″ by those people who score wines.

2007 Qupe Reserve Bien Nacido – from Santa Barbara area, we’ve had Qupe many times and it is consistently good.   (around $20)

Rombauer *(approx $32/bottle)

Or a chardonnay from Longoria Wines for approx $35.

If you like red wines, Barrysentials recommends a Pinot Noir.  Again, most of these are easily and readily available at a local wine store, a World Market store, Whole Foods or larger wine cave.  Just print the list and take it with you and ask the sales person for assistance.  Here are a few to try:

Melville Estate Pinot Noir (around $25)  is reliable in almost any vintage  and not too big to overpower your Thanksgiving feast.

2009 Redtree Pinot Noir (you might be able to find as low as $6/bottle)  hard to believe it can sell for $6 but by now you’ve heard the market is a little flooded with wine.  Don’t be afraid of that screw cap…it’s all the rage now creating a much stronger seal while the wine ages.

2008 Oyster Bay Pinot Noir from New Zealand ($15/bottle)

Still a little nervous?  No worries, here’s more Thanksgiving wine information from the LA Times.

Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you’ll have leftovers!

Turkey secrets from Barry himself for perfect Thanskgiving Turkey

SHE says: The first Thanksgiving I spent with HE’s family was super-big. It was crowded with lots of relatives, but what I noticed more than anything was HE’s turkey was awesome. Super-moist. “How did he do that,” I wondered. He made me wait a WHOLE YEAR until Thanksgiving #2 to share the big turkey secrets. He knew it didn’t matter because I would never actually be cooking a turkey myself, so he made me wait. And now, I share “the big secrets” with you.

The big secrets for moist turkey?
#1 – SALT IT!   Salt for 2-3 days.  Use 1/4 cup of Kosher salt for every 20 lbs of turkey . Yep. Just clean the turkey, rub the salt inside the cavity and all over the bird.    Set your salted turkey into a BIG plastic bag, tie the end and set it in your refrigerator (breast up) for 2-3 days.  (3 days if you have the time.)  Don’t be alarmed if after the first day there is some liquid in the bag.  That liquid will be reabsorbed into the bird.

#2 – UPSIDE DOWN IT!  The day you cook your turkey, rinse off the bird (inside and out), pat it dry and season per your favorite recipe w/stuffing if you like stuffing.  THEN the first 30 minutes roast the turkey UPSIDE DOWN in a roaster at 425 degrees.  The juices will head towards the turkey’s breast.  Then, for the rest of your cooking time, turn the oven down to 325 with the turkey right side up.  If your oven is small, you can protect the top w/a foil tent and in the final 30 minutes or so, take off the tin foil tent and let ‘er roast. You’ll have a truly beautifully roasted turkey!  The upside down technique really works to make your turkey a juicy turkey.

And now… for the Thanksgiving wines...

HE SAYS:  If you want a white wine, almost any Chardonnay you like will do.  Personal recommendations for easy to find, easy to buy Chardonnays are below.  Print this list out, take it to your nearby wine store and if they don’t have one of these exact wines, ask them for something similar.  You’ll be a star dinner guest.

Chateau St. Michelle 2008 from Washington is (usually under $10) is a terrific Chardonnay. Socred a “90″ by those people who score wines.

2007 Qupe Reserve Bien Nacido – from Santa Barbara area, we’ve had Qupe many times and it is consistently good.   (around $20)

Rombauer (approx $32/bottle)

Or a chardonnay from Longoria Wines for approx $35.

If you like red wines, Barrysentials recommends a Pinot Noir.  Again, most of these are easily and readily available at a local wine store, a World Market store, Whole Foods or larger wine cave.  Just print the list and take it with you and ask the sales person for assistance.  Here are a few to try:

Melville Estate Pinot Noir (around $25)  is reliable in almost any vintage  and not too big to overpower your Thanksgiving feast.

2009 Redtree Pinot Noir (you might be able to find as low as $6/bottle)  hard to believe it can sell for $6 but by now you’ve heard the market is a little flooded with wine.  Don’t be afraid of that screw cap…it’s all the rage now creating a much stronger seal while the wine ages.

2008 Oyster Bay Pinot Noir from New Zealand ($15/bottle)

Good luck my friends!  Let us know how it goes!

Torii Mor, 2007 Pinot Noir, Oregon

HE and SHE both say: A gift from our friend “Andy” who happened to pick it up at BevMo.  Sometimes good wines are just a practical thing.   This a very affordable, very palatable daily table wine.

Torii Mor winery is in Dundee, Oregon.    HE is foggy with his memory of visiting Torii Mor with Andy in 2001.   HE remembers being lost on the road in Oregon wine country.  There was a lot of fog, and he recalls thinking  “This can’t be right…we are lost…this isn’t it…”  and then voila!   Like arriving at a retreat, he recalls.    Nice thing about the fog – very few will brave the confusion and mystery all the way to the end,  so they had the winery to themselves.  A passageway to beautiful things as the Japanese name Torii Mor promises.  To read complete details of the creation of this winery and the meaning of Torii Mor, the link is here:  http://www.toriimorwinery.com/index.htm

And so, for the Torii Mor, 2007 Pinot Noir we share:

HE SAYS: Nice, nose.  Rose petals and violet.  Pleasant cherry flavors.  Not big body though.  nice and drinkable.  Serve with:  Dinner – pork with cranberry or apple sauce on the side.

SHE SAYS: A very sexy everyday wine.  Serve with:  A friend who likes to get nekked.

Torii Mor is busy organizing their operations in a way that respects the environment and is pursuing their LEED certification.  If you’re in the Oregon wine country, why not stop in and check it out.

Salentein Vineyard and Winery – Uco Valley, Mendoza, Argentina

The Bodega Salentein Wine Cathedral

HE SAYS: Our other stop in the Uco Valley was at nearby Bodega Salentein. This is also a new winery, an endeavor by a large Dutch company. They also spent about 5 years building this massive winery, and constructed a large art museum, sculpture garden and restaurant up front.

In addition, they have a lodge and chapel on site. The massive winery building is in back, and it was shaped in the form of a cross with two levels to allow for gravity flow of the wines from the stainless steel fermentation tanks into the aging barrels.   Their facilities are quite impressive, and our tour guide, Luciano, was really informative and good-natured.

The restaurant had fine food, but unfortunately tasting was limited to the two wines they poured. Admission was about $12 US for the pair of us and included admission to the wonderful art museum, so a very worthwhile visit.

SHE SAYS: Remember how I wrote in our first Argentina wine country post that only silly people try to visit 4 Mendoza wineries in one day and we are those silly people?  This is that day.  My husband is an admirable Olympic wine taster, I am a humble amateur.  I love this bodega, but I am not in on this tasting.

They call this bodega  The Wine Cathedral and for those of you who are making wine your new religion, this is the temple at which you will want to worship.  Wry and beautiful at the same time is the tasting room with a counter hewn from rustic limestone that looks like a sacrificial altar.  “You will sacrifice everything for the vine.  Everything. Mwa, ha, ha!!!!”   In a pinch, when the chapel is full, they can say Mass in the tasting room.

The first generation of my Italian family who lived in Argentina was in the construction business. (something about getting on the wrong boat?  Ah well…)  Anway,  Uncle Louie owned a marble and stone quarry and so my exposure to and appreciation of stone work  is a little more intense than the average person.  This bodega has some extraordinary stone work as well as a deep appreciation of the earth and a duplication of classical architecture to create that feeling of homage and mystery as you travel through the experience.    They even have a glass enclosed cross section of the bodega’s earth as a piece of artwork on one wall so you can see some of the details of the soil.  These people rock.

The structure is beautiful and gave us numerous unique photos which we will share with you here as soon as the wordpress photo uploader starts working again.  There seems to be a glitch tonight.  Sorry for the delay.

The art gallery is indeed fabulous and the food in the cafe – outstanding.  The best roasted vegetables I’ve ever had.  I have no idea why, but they were incredible.   Another item to take note of at the winery is the gift shop.  Winery gifts shops can be so much “the same” after a while.  This was not the case at Bodega Salentein.  Some very unique wine maps, descriptions of the grapes of Argentina, gorgeous leather goods and excellent books.  Be sure to allow time for the shop.

2006 Salentein Sauvignon Blanc – HE SAYS: This was the only Sauvignon Blanc I was able to taste in Argentina and it was really quite nice. Great balance of citrus flavors, with the complexity of a chardonnay. It spent six months in French oak and would make a great food wine. 15     SHE SAYS: I’m going shopping, honey.  See you later.

2004 Salentein Pinot Noir – HE SAYS: This was the only Pinot Noir I was able to taste in Argentina and it too was really quite nice. It was grown in the highest vineyard they have, over a mile high elevation. It showed off bright fruits of cherry, strawberry and raspberry, along with nuances of violet and rose petals. Barrel aged for about a year, then bottle aged for half a year. Not much tannin, so you’d want to drink soon. Very tasty 16
SHE SAYS: I’m back!  Thanks for the credit card! )

2005 Melville Estate Pinot Noir, Verna’s

HE and SHE both say: This is a very special wine that we share with you.    Melville Winery is a favorite spot of ours.  Melville Winery is located in the Santa Rita Hills of Lompoc, California, in the Santa Ynez Valley.  Got all that?   Hills, Valley, Saints, California, Mediterranean architecture . . . traces of heaven, right?   We’ve had a bottle of 2005 Melville every August  for the last three years and every year it gets better.  Find some if you can.

Melville Winery

Do we have an ulterior motive?  Indeed we do.  We are sharing our joy with you.  2005 Melville wines were in the oak barrels Aug.  2006  when we celebrated our marriage with a wedding reception in the barrel room at Melville Winery.  There were only 30 of us, but it felt like 300 and  there was a ton of  love, joy, dancing, good karma and laughter seeping into the barrels and  “terroir” of Melville that day.  When the 2005 wines were released, we bought a case — half pinot noir, half syrah — with the idea that we’d drink a bottle each year to celebrate our anniversary.  When we decided we wanted to be married longer than 12 years, we went shopping for more.  Uh, oh.

Now, back to the 2005 Melville Estate Pinot Noir, Verna’s

SHE drank her 2005 Melville Pinot with perfectly grilled lamb chops (medium rare, thank you), mashed potatoes, roasted heirloom tomatoes with eggplant, and Parma ham with melon and figs.   HE drank his 2005 Melville Pinot with that same tremendous Parma ham, melon and fig appetizer — a pairing made in heaven — and veal saltimbocca topped with more Parma ham.  Simply delicious.

HE SAYS: This wine was unbelievably good. From the very first smell to the glory of that first taste, all the way to the last swallow, this wine was outstanding.  Beautiful color, with a lovely rose petal and violet scented nose, with a touch of mustiness.  In the mouth, a most delicious bowl of strawberries and cherries. Very soft and well balanced, a real treat.  We tasted this wine at Melville in May ’07 and my notes say “tasty, nice body, good balance” — a respectable 14+ in my ratings.  No doubt the occasion and symbolism of the wine played a part, but this wine has grown up and developed into a seriously terrific wine.  It was truly one of the finest California or Oregon pinot noirs I have ever tasted.  It could be peaking now — gonna have to wait another year and see.  A thundering 18+!
SHE SAYS: Wow.  An 18+  Melville, are you reading?  I hope he describes me like that someday.  So to this lovely Pinot Noir, I say, “Mmmmmm. You are so sexy the way you sneak in and light my fire.  Thank you!”

HE SAYS: One more note on Melville wines — I generally prefer their main line from Verna’s for pinot and syrah versus their Santa Rita Hills and other single vineyard designations.  I find the fruit more forward and approachable in the Verna’s, which comes from their ranch in Los Alamos.  Regardless, they consistently make very nice wines and their winery setting is just gorgeous.  And if you’re in the neighborhood, be sure to check out Babcock right next door.  SHE SAYS: That is way too much information for me.  I just drink it.

HE and SHE both say: If you can find any 2005 Melville wines that were in the barrels that summer, we say pay whatever they want, just buy it!