No Hard Sell

NO HARD SELL!

Dear Wine Friend,

Let's take a break from all the hard sell out there! Everything is the best, and better than the best before, at least last year's vintage.....or the deal, or the greatest saving.....or the highest rated, or at least 95 points! If I am exhausted, then you must be too!. It's St. Patrick's Day! Sit back, and have a beer or ale or two!

We have been attending trade tastings in San Francisco almost every week for the last month. Yes, I hear you! You are so sorry for us (heavy sarcasm)! But it is very tiring work. You try spending hours evaluating little specimens in less than ideal conditions. It's a battle royale just to position yourself at a "name" table to wait patiently for the order of your pours. We all look like baby birds asking for the morning worm. Next Monday's tasting is at the Four Seasons. Ok! We get special rates if we want to stay!

We finished a French import tasting late Monday at the Presidio. The weather was magnificent and crystal clear which is so unusual for SF. Once we hiked out of the park, we were able to hail a taxi to the Waterbar on the Embarcadero for happy hour. Yes, the patio was open. Heat lamps not required. A quintessential bayview. "Unhinged" Steamboat Puget Sound oysters for $1 a piece. Grilled calmari with pesto, chorizo and perfectly cooked butter beans. And SANCERRE! I'm sorry....does it get any better?

Yes, it does! So then we take another taxi about ten blocks up Mission to the old Mint Plaza for an early dinner at Chez Papa Resto. We were looking for some traditional French cuisine....Chez Papa is calling its menu Provençale. The steak tartar "assembled" tableside with quail egg and condiments et al. gratified our cravings. Then we shared an extremely rich risotto with braised oxtail and emulsified bone marrow. And finally, we swooned over a perfectly roasted medium rare squab with a mix of wild mushrooms & squab confit drizzled by a sumptuous black truffle "Perigourdine" sauce.

But the crowning glory was the bottle of 03 Domaine de Trévallon I spotted on the wine list for $85 (I sold rare bottles of it at only $38 three years ago). If you have a bottle with a little age on it, there is no Provence wine better suited for black truffles than this 50/50 Syrah-Cabernet Sauvignon blend. This standard bearer for the region is produced by the legendary and rebellious Elio Durrbach from his biodynamic estate near the picturesque villages of Saint Remy-de-Provence and Les Baux de Provence. I won't "bore" you with the details, but if you are interested in knowing more about this wonderful vigneron who pioneered the region, then please check out his website. I am also particularly fond of the Trévallon labels drawn by Durrbach's artist father Rene shortly before his death at 89 in 2000.

PROVENCE

06 Domaine de Trévallon Vin de Pays des Boûches du Rhône - $43.95