citizen wine

Citizen Space Reneges; SFWEG benefits

2007-06-09T19:49:00.000-07:00

Our next judging of Sangiovese wines will occur on June 18th at a leading market research company. We are extremely pleased to hold our tasting at these superb facilities.

Our first tastings, as you'll note on this blog, were held at Citizen Space. In May, the owners of this space, Chris Messina and Tara Hunt, providing no reason, refused to honor a scheduled tasting, causing us to scramble at the last minute for another venue. Fortunately, Tempura House allowed us to bring in our wines. We consider that Messina and Hunt broke an agreement and are highly unethical. What goes around comes around.

But now that we are able to use superior space, we should thank Citizen Space for finking out. They ended up doing us a favor.

Citizen Space Citizen Space Citizen Space Citizen Space Citizen Space

Sonoma Wine Taste-Off

2007-04-02T17:16:00.000-07:00

Sonoma Wine Taste-Off Results & Thank You!

Posted May 30th, 2007 by Vinquire

On Tuesday night the Vinquire team and the San Francisco Wine Enthusiasts Group got together for a fabulous wine tasting with 12 bottles from Sonoma County. Thanks kindly to the wineries for their fantastic contributions as well as to Tom Merle for doing the legwork to obtain these bottles.

Despite running around and not being able to take the proper time to taste, Andy and I both enjoyed the majority of the wines. We tabulated the results from everyone's excellent reviews, and here are the highest ranking wines:

Hook & Ladder Russian River Valley Estate 2005 Merlot
Score Average: 89
Approx Price: $24
Order Tasted: #8
General Comments: FAVORITE MERLOT!
Tasting notes included:

* "Very fruity, tasty!"
* "Fruit forward, long finish"
* "Nice rounded nose, jammy, spicy and bold. Good overtones, great with red meat or lamb."
* "Nice chocolate/eucalyptus finish"
* "Really nice - berries & jam. Stands alone."
* "Flavorful, nice finish."

Roshambo Winery "Justice" Sonoma County 2004 Syrah
Score Average: 89
Approx Price: $17.50
Order Tasted: #10
Review Details: http://www.vinquire.com/wines/286268...
General Comments: GREAT VALUE!
Tasting notes included:

* "Spicy and full of flavor"
* "Honey and dark chocolate"
* "Just perfect in every way!"
* "Candied cherries and mincemeat spices w/ blackberries and chocolate. Rich & interesting."
* "Fruity, spicy, like it."
* "Tasty, addictive!"

Deerfield Ranch Ladi's Vineyard 2002 Syrah
Score Average: 89
Approx Price: $40
Order Tasted: #12
Review Details: http://www.vinquire.com/wines/340468...
Tasting notes included:

* "I totally dig this wine!"
* "Spicy, zippy, and good taste."
* "Wonderful."
* "Spicy bold cloves w/ notes of raisin. Slightly sweet finish - a nice smooth round syrah."
* "Warm and fruity - tasty. I like this."

Roy J. Maier Sonoma County Mountains 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon
Score Average: 88
Approx Price: $49
Order Tasted: #9
Review Details: http://www.vinquire.com/wines/191800...
Tasting notes included:

* "Very smooth, wonderful cab. Tasty to drink."
* "Big fruit flavor w/ smoke undertones"
* "Tobacco, cayenne pepper, bold, good foundation. Not much fruit and I like that."
* "Earthy, strong tannins, blackberry."

Loxton Vineyards Sonoma Hillside Vineyards 2003 Syrah
Score Average: 88
Approx Price: $25
Order Tasted: #11
Review Details: http://www.vinquire.com/wines/283322...
Tasting notes included:

* "Versatile and tasty, would pair well with many foods."
* "Fruit forward w/ a lot of cinnamon and cloves. Bold wine."
* "Very good."
* "Spicy, jammy, a bit of plum and tobacco."

Alexander Valley Vineyards 'New Gewurz' 2006 North Coast Gewurztraminer
Score Average: 85
Approx Price: $9
Order Tasted: #1
Review Details: http://www.vinquire.com/wines/195818...
General Comments: FAVORITE OVERALL WHITE!
Tasting notes included:

* "Nice citrus with peach overtones - some bitter walnut and nice rounded spice as well."
* "Nice crisp finish".
* "Refreshing, nice for an afternoon sipper."
* "Nice floral honeysuckle notes, strong citrus."
* "Nice mineral quality."
* "Lemon zest, rich floral notes."

Deerfield Ranch 2003 Merlot Cuvee
Score Average: 85
Approx Price: $25
Order Tasted: #6
Review Details: http://www.vinquire.com/wines/286104...
Tasting notes included:

* "Chocolate bouquet."
* "Blackberries and Spice - robust."
* "Chocolate on the finish."
* "Plummy, delicious."
* "Good structure, body. Rich cherry, I like this."

Thanks kindly to everyone who participated in the event — your palates helped us determine some solid winners. Feel free to post any comments on the event (both positive and negative) here.

-John & Andy

Our Inaugural event

2007-03-13T12:52:00.000-07:00

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A collection of blog posts, no matter how well-written, surely is a cold, cruel substitute for an actual wine event. A virtual tasting lacks the ambience, the face-to-face interaction, and, well, the sheer volume of wine that make up a typical tasting event. Real wine tastings can be romantic, date-worthy affairs. Virtual wine tastings ... not so much.

Yet, undeniably, wine enthusiasts are enjoying these virtual events. They're educating each other on wines from around the world. They're networking and making friends. And they're having fun along the way.

They may not be in the same room drinking the same wine at the same time, but these wine bloggers seem to be having too much fun to care.

from: Wine tasting with no real crowd or even place
On Blogs: Troy McCullough
February 25, 2007
Baltimore Sun

Well, we have decided to combine the best of both worlds....

With this event we have launched our monthly ~ Citizen's Choice California Wine Competitions ~ at, where else, Citizen Space--a co-working community in the SOMA area of SF. And we started with what might be considered, because of its functionality and low cost, the ultimate citizen's wine.

We also felt that it was fitting, too, that for our debut at Citizen Space we were featuring "space bags", slang for the container that uses a vacuum sealed bag inside.

Plus it would coincide with the blogosphere's Wine Blogging Wednesday ritual. Box wines aka, "Premium Wine Casks" had been chosen for WBW #31.

Seventeen members of the newly formed San Francisco Wine Enthusiast Group , representing all manner of professions, ages, ethnicities, genders, and the myriad other categories of diversity, set about to evaluate what many, including some in the judging panel, believe are best left unevaluated. And, most of us agreed, they proved to be right.

The following wines were purchased for our critique. All were California Appellation with two exceptions as noted (vintage year seems superfluous):

Pinot Grigio
Wine Cube
Fish Eye
Bandit (Three Thieves)

Chardonnay
Black Box Monterey
Kingfish
Trove
Corbett Canyon

Merlot
Wine Cube
Black Box
Bandit

Cabernet Sauvignon
Bandit
Killer Juice
Black Box Paso Robles
Trove

Cab/Shiraz
Wine Cube

Shiraz/Syrah
Delicato
King Fish
Fish Eye

Ringer
Hardy’s Shiraz that had been sitting on my kitchen counter for 4-5 months. I placed it in the tasting both as a foil for the Californians and to demonstrate the ability of the technology to keep wine fresh.

Midway through our collective critique it became clear that we would have to abandon our individual rating and ranking system (next time). Not surprisingly, there was too much sameness, too much dullness (or too much harshness, too severe, too tart), too little varietal character, no there, there. Many comments along the lines of: watery, lacks aroma, simple, undistinguished, not bad but then not good either. One judge was moved to write "flatulent".

Some comments, e.g., spicey finish, fruity, approachable; seemed to damning the plonk with faint praise.

Yet everyone agreed that these jug wines in a bag were acceptable quaffers, the equivalent of vin de table/vin ordinaire. As such, they would be fine as accompaniments to standard home alone dinners. We were reduced to picking best of tasting, though no one felt there was a clear winner, a diamond in the rough, with one notable exception: The Ringer!! Yes, it was the vocal consensus of our downtown wine gang that this Aussie bested all the Californians.

It also deserves mentioning that our Wine Enthusiasts did appreciate the efficiency of bag-in-box. Both types of spigots worked fine; when turned off, not a drop escaped, though the Bandit boxes which poured like milk cartons did sometimes dribble, or failed to pour fluidly.
Several participants were downright impressed with the portability of the 250 ml Wine Cube containers--great for taking on hikes they exclaimed (and we know that younger Bay Areans are happiest when they are hiking or biking, as distinct, say from gathering to discuss ideas).

Best Whites: Corbett Canyon Chardonnay, Wine Cube Pinot Grigio
Best Reds: Black Box Merlot, Bandit Cab
Best Brand: Wine Cube (available only at Target)
Best Deal: Corbett Canyon whose cost translates to $2.50/750 ml
Worst of Tasting: Kingfish Chardonnay

Best of Show: … Hardy’s Shiraz

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For a wrap up of what other bloggers posted on this theme surf over to the box wines blog.
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We’ll be interested to see what wine is selected for April's Wine Blogging Wednesday. But we had a fine time, with some grub in the bargain. Mucho gratias to Chris and Tara at Citizen Space (who had to be out of town), for allowing us to use their superb communal place. Next time we will bring table cloths to protect their conference room tables!