Un bon raisin.

Last night, when Vinomaker suggested we open a bottle of Buena Vista's French Colombard, (that we had purchased on a visit to the winery this past March), I was a little less than enthused.  It's not that I have anything against French Colombard, or just plain Colombard as the grape is known in France, it's just that the mere thought of Buena Vista's proprietor, Jean-Charles Boisset, brings me out in hives.
Premiering in California in the 1850s, the Colombard grape was first cultivated in the southwest of France.  Nowadays, the French use Colombard mainly in the production of Cognac and Armagnac.  Thought to be the offspring of Gouais blanc and Chenin blanc, this grape variety reached the peak of it's popularity in California during the table wine boom of the 1960s and 70s when it became the most widely planted variety in California.  The grapevine displays high vigour and high productivity and can yield anywhere from 8 - 13 tons per acre.  That's a lot of grapes!  Due to the heavy crop, maturity can be somewhat slow and so French Colombard is usually amongst the last white grape varieties to be harvested in California's north coast vineyards.  The fruit has a winning combination of high acid and low pH, so it produces a fruity, crisp wine that is easy to drink - a wine that should be a popular summer tipple.  But let's face it, French Colombard is just not perceived as a very sexy grape: not many people have even heard of it.
The Buena Vista, 2011, Russian River Valley, French Colombard was a most appealing wine.  On the nose I got a lovely, limey-green apple, spicy-apricot-creaminess and on the palate, well, the elevated acidity had me on the first sip.  With just 50 cases produced (our bottle was no. 339), there is not a lot of this wine to go around.  But if you can find a bottle of it, buy it.

Come in No. 69.

I don't know if I want to admit this, but I did buy some wine on my recent-ish visit to Raymond Nightmares, I mean, Vineyards.  I came home with a single bottle of JCB No. 69 - for Jean-Charles Boisset, not the construction equipment people - a sparkling rosé made in the saignée method from 100% Pinot noir.  This bubbly hails from the Boisset Family's vineyards in Burgundy.  I didn't taste it at the winery, but seeing as I like Pinot noir based bubblies I didn't think I could go wrong.   No. 69 seems to be a strange name for a wine, but according to the JCB website all the JCB wines are known by a number.  Apparently, the flamboyant Jean-Charles was born in 1969.  Ho-hum.
As for the wine, it wasn't bad - aromatic and crisp, but with the weight of Pinot noir - it's just that it simply tasted red to me.  Yes, red!  The colour.  On tasting this wine I think I experienced a phenomenon that is known as synaesthesia and my senses got all discombobulated.  First time that's ever happened.  It seems the absurdism at Raymond Vineyards has had a deleterious effect on me.  Bizarre!

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Yikes.  I don't know where to start.
No, I haven't been to Chris's Club again, although one might be forgiven for thinking that if taking a quick glance at the lingerie enrobed mannequin in the above photograph.  Yes, a mannequin wearing lingerie on a trapeze, no less.  Y'know, the type of lingerie-clad mannequin on a trapeze that one would expect to find in the tank room of a Napa Valley winery.  And she is not the only one.
Once a year, the owners of TWWIAGE treat the staff to a day of wine tasting (with lunch in between, Bardessono, very nice).  An event we refer to as our Recon Day, it is an opportunity to do a little team-building, visit with neighbouring wineries and, perhaps, possibly pick up a few fresh ideas along the way.
First stop was Raymond Vineyards.  And this, dear readers, is where I will let the above photograph do the talking for me...except I want to give an honorable mention to The Red Room which is what I imagine a French brothel looks like.  Actually, one more thing; I don't believe that proprietor Jean-Charles Boisset just wanted to expand the family's wine empire to the United States: I truly believe he was asked to vacate Burgundy - tout de suite!
In stark contrast, the wine tasting experience at Gargiulo Vineyards was reverent, elegant, polished and...all about wine. Our little group tasted beautiful reds with wonderful fruit expression (focused berry-loveliness); superbly structured tannins (composed and silky); artfully balanced acidity (fill up my glass, please) and a subtle minerality (a delicate whiff of hot pebbles).  We were also treated to a sneak preview of Gargiulo's 2012 Pinot grigio which is fabulous, so I bought 4 bottles. Gargiulo is a little gem of a property on the Oakville Crossroad, but they also have acreage, just a stone's throw from there, on Money Road.  I don't need a thousand words to describe the visit to Gargiulo, one will do - classy!