San Francisco Profile: Boulevard Restaurant

My final delight at the Wine Bloggers Conference was a dinner at San Francisco's Boulevard Restaurant, which I believe was awarded a Michelin star in the most recent guide. California American cuisine with a French backbone defines the style of this place, and its beautiful view of the bay bridge provides an appropriately Californian backdrop to the wonderful food on offer. I had a three course meal, including some nice Vouvray from Domaine Huet, and the wine list is well selected with a good range of styles and prices and mostly small producers both by the glass and the bottle.

Course 1: Short Rib Tortellini


Served with shaved summer truffle and squash and potato puree, this impressive appetizer had extremely decliate flavours, even with the short ribs. The thoughtful layering of flavour lay a nice foundation for the robust short ribs, which certainly gave the dish a nice punch when paired with the perfectly al dente pasta. I also appreciated how the creamy potatoes were coupled with crunchy diced cubes of squash, with the contrasting texture providing a little intrigue to the dish.

Course 2: Shrimp and Lobster with Seabass


Cooked with tomato, chili spice and some fresh crunchy beans, this dish again showed great attention to texture and subtle flavour combinations. While many think of sea bass as overwhelmingly rich, the fish in this dish was subtle and in no way over buttered or creamed. Rather, a light grilling highlighted the fish's fresh oils and how light its texture can be in the mouth - really bringing out the essence of the bass. Again, the beans and peas add great crunch and it is clear the chef here has great textural awareness. The lobster and shrimp were presented in a simple and pure form that brought out the umami flavours in the bass. This is a great dish with amazingly layered flavours and a very subtle spice kick. Really quite a brilliant dish.

Course 3: Panna Cotta


If all Panna Cotta tasted this good we'd all be the size of Italian opera stars. Plated with seasonal nectarines and raspberries, this was also served with perhaps the best sorbet I've ever tasted and a thoughtfully prepared baklava. The panna cotta itself had some impressively high quality vanilla beans ground into it: so pure and expressive with the perfect texture. The honey drizzled artfully on top added some intriguing floral elements to the dish. The sorbet was made with fresh nectarines and putting a spoonful in your mouth could be equated to eating a cloud. I've never tasted such light texture but such full flavour with sorbet before. The baklava was very high quality, with freshly cracked nuts and a floral and very fragrant honey. The pastry itself was light and crisp all in all making for textbook baklava.

In the end, this restaurant pretty much blew me away - and I've been to some very impressive places in the Bay Area when I was living down there. If you live in San Francisco or are planning a trip in the near future I highly recommend a trip to Boulevard.

San Francisco Profile: Press Club

Having opened in September 2008, Press Club is a new venture into the world of urban tasting rooms, representing eight respected Napa producers. I recently spent a few hours there checking out the scene and the style while sampling some California wine from five of the eight available wineries.




Miner Family Vineyards

Miner was hosting a special tasting of their 2004 Oracle paired with a nice helping of sheep's cheese, which inevitably drew me to their booth first, where I found a wine with classic cab notes of cedar, cassis and eucalyptus. The texture of the wine was quite velvety and clearly built this way in the wine making rather than growing process. However, there was a nice tannic backbone that was yet not as overwhelming as other vintages of this wine, making the 2004 ready for drinking now. A bit of residual heat on the back end of this wine dapened my impression somewhat, but that was remedied by the tasty cheese pairing. 14.2% ABV. Very Good+. $90.

I also sampled the 2005 Stagecoach Merlot, which had a minty black fruit nose and a spicy, full and expansive palate. Great tongue-wrapping structure that is yet subtlely wrought. Very Good+. $40.


Landmark

Known for Chardonnay and Pinot, the best wine here was actually the 2006 Steel Plow Syrah, which was meaty and earthy on the nose and not at all easily identifiable as Californian. The palate was peppery, but chocolate and dark fruits still lingered. Tasted like an old vine Cote du Rhones Village wine. Needs a decanting to open the nose. Very Good+. $30, but this got 94 from Parker so it will go up.

The 2006 Lorenzo Chardonnay was less impressive, however, with a more typical take on Carneros chard. That's not to say this isn't well made with its slight mineral edge, bright tropical fruit, and a tartness made for food. However, it was somewhat innocuous. Very Good. $50.


Chateau Montelena

The famed Chateau of Paris Tasting renown. But I did not taste their cab or chardonnay. Instead I opted for a couple of their more esoteric bottlings. First off was the 2007 Potter Valley Riesling, which had a rich fruity nose with a touch of minerals. Either this was oaked, or the fruit was ripened considerably. Quite a potent palate here, but also flabby. Too much melon fruit and not enough minerality. Simply cannot compare to a German riesling at the same price. Good+. $22.

The 2003 Cabernet Franc however, was another story. The nose was all cab franc with wood, earth, forest, and a little mint. The palate had very bright red fruit, was very upfront, and although closed on the mid-palate, was still a tasty and well structured drink. Quite dry, but not chalky - this is all foresty funky goodness. It would go well with rustic foods, like a good stew. The fruit was sourced from the Oak Knoll district. Very Good. $30.


Saintsbury

An impressive winery to be sure, starting with the light bodied 2006 Stanly Vineyard Pinot Noir and its bright red fruit nose. On the palate this was a feathery easy sipper that was still dry, drawn and earthy even with predominant red fruits. Simple, but I think it's good for the right pairing. Very Good. $45.

The 2006 Brown Ranch Pinot Noir was still closed, but had tremendous promise with a deep and thick mineral and spicy fruit nose. The palate's depth and concentration led to a strong stone-infused core that was slightly bitter, but also well balanced. With air this added more spice and a touch of chocolate. Very Promising. Very Good+ to Excellent. $60.

The surprise of this lineup was the 2006 Rodgers Creek Sonoma Coast Syrah, which had a vegetal nose with pepper and other exotic spices. Expressive in the glass, the palate had chalky white pepper, and was acidically very bright. I think this needs to mellow somewhat, and demands a food pairing. Syrah with a pinot character? 14.5% abv. Very Good. $40.


Hanna Winery & Vineyards

Situated on the steep slopes of Mt. Veeder, these guys have a pretty fantastic fruit source. Luckily for us, all their wines are made with their estate fruit, which they also sell to other winemakers. The accessible wine here is the one non-estate wine: a 25000 case 2008 Sauvignon Blanc from Russian River, with a nose of round persimmon and cat's pee. Very much an american version of a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, the palate was acidic, tart, clay-like and had tons of citrus like grapefruit and lemon. Very Good. $19.

The big daddy here, however, was the 1999 Bismark Noir, which is a bordeaux blend dominated by Cab Franc. Only 733 cases of this were made. The nose surprisingly offered up more cab sauv like characteristics of mint, wood and black fruits. The palate, though, was herbacious, savory, with bitter chocolate nibs. Black fruits and a dry extremely tannic structure round this out nicely. A big wine, but a very flavourful one that is both unique and well made. NB: this wine is now called "Titan". Very Good+. $50.

I finished off the tasting session with the massive 16% abv 2004 Bismark Zinfandel, with a massive nose of big zin fruit and a touch of rubberyness that blew off (may have been the inert gas). The palate was all chocolate, rich red and purple fruits, and caramel. A massive hedonistic zin that is not overly sweet or jammy. Reminded me somewhat of the Woodenhead and Storybook mountain zins I had a couple months ago. 910 Cases. Very Good+. $51.


Thus concluded my first experience at Press Club, which I thought presented a very nice space for sampling some good wines and getting that rare comparative perspective. The atmosphere is sleek, so those who eschew the corporate vibe may not like it here, but I think the sheer selection of wines and comparative potential make this a must see & drink destination for wine afficionados - at least once! Press Club also hosts special events, including new vintage releases, so be sure to check it out when you are in town.

San Francisco Profile: Toronados

Beer bars are a special place for me. Places where friendly geeks gather in an unpretentious setting and slowly enjoy some amazing and relatively cheap works of craft. Toronado's is known as not only the Bay Area's best beer bar, but one of the best in the USA. After dropping by one sunny Saturday afternoon I would have to agree with this assessment on at least two fronts: selection, and price. Atmosphere, well it's kinda bar-like, and the Server is a little dicky. However, you can't beat the selection!

Beer#1: Port Brewing Older Viscosity Ale

Old Viscosity is a super intense dark stout. Older viscosity is Old Viscosity aged in Bourbon barrells. mmmmm. Wow, what a great beer: vanilla, caramella, brown sugar/molasses on the palate - but less creamy and vanilla-intense than the Goose Island I reviewed earlier. There is also a very interesting herbaciousness on the thick and syrupy palate. At 12% abv, you've got to drink this slowly. But why would you want to do anything other than peacefully enjoy a sip here and there of this magnificently intense brew.

Excellent

$20/bottle at Toronados

Beer #2: Russian River Damnation

Russian River is a sonoma brewery making a very nice quality range of distinctive and yet flavourful beer. The Damnation is in the style of a Belgian Wit, and had a great not-too-sweet palate of spices like cloves and pepper. Drinking very smoothly, this is a good Belgian for those who don't love Belgian sweet malts, but enjoy the yeastyness.

Very Good+

$3/pint at Happyhour (normally $4)

Beer #3: Rodenbach Grand Cru

Having had the Rodenbach red ale a couple weeks ago at City Beer, I had to try this very rare Grand Cru from them - same beer but aged in oak. And, wow was it good. Like the red ale, but with more complexity, roundness and balance. Aged in oak for 8 months, the palate was very smooth and full with apple, pomegranate, dragon fruit, and blueberry. Awesome!

Excellent to Excellent+

$12 a bottle

San Francisco Profile: Fish and Farm

San Francisco is unfolding itself to me as a wonderful city for food. Restaurants are abundant not just in quantity, but also in quality and affordability. Fish and Farm is a great 'slow food' restaurant where the chef endeavors to bring as much 100-mile food into the restaurant as possible and when food is brought from afar, he ensures it is ethically sourced and as fresh as possible. As an added bonus, the corkage for a bottle of California wine is $5 ($10 for non-CA).

The food I had was tremendous, with innovative flavours and fresh ingredients abound. I won't get too much into the food since this is a wine blog. Luckily, however, the restaurant had great wines by the glass for very reasonable prices. Here's what I had:

Wine #1: Preston Sauvignon Blanc 2007

This wine is from Dry Creek in Sonoma Valley and is a tremendous bargain. The nose was classic new world Sauv Blanc with lively citrus and mineral. The palate was very complex for this price point with orange, quince and grapefruit dominating, but also with tinges of minerals or stones. The mid-palate was quite fruity, but this worked perfectly with the fennel and organic apple cider base of my dish. Highly recommended for shell-fish.

Very Good+

$9 a glass

Wine #2: Chateau Fagol Bordeaux Superieur 2006

An extremely tasty bordeaux with a nose of cassis, wood, cedar, forest and mushroom. The palate was slightly spicey with notes of blackberry, but also wonderful elemental forest floor and herbal aromas. This was perfect with thyme and red meat. Another great wine by the glass.

Very Good+

$10 a glass

If you are ever in San Francisco, check this place out.

San Francisco Profile: CAV Wine Bar

This is the sort of place I wish we would see in Canada, but that licensing and distribution laws make impossible: a wine bar that specializes in smaller producers and rare wines - and one that pours these wines by the glass! Cav pairs all its wines with small plates, which bring incredible quality food to an ecclectic and very well conceived wine list, that even included a 1920 Rioja Grand Reserva. Wow, I wish I could have afforded that bottle ($250)!

I started with an apparatif of olives and an Amontillado do Alvear sherry from Jerez de la Fontera. Here we had a palate of nutty goodness that sat very much on the dry side of off-dry. This was absolutely fantastic with olives and sheeps milk cheese.

Very Good+

$8 a glass at CAV

I then proceeded into a wonderful flight of Austrian white wines in 2 oz pours, as follows:

Wine #1: Wenzel Furmint 2007

The nose here was very savory and minerally with lime zest coming in nicely on the palate. A simple but tasty food-friendly glass of wine.

Very Good
$10.50 a glass


Wine #2: Johann Donabaum Gruner Veltliner 2007

A prominent nose of lemon zest and a slightly effervescent palate of grapefruit, pomello, and minerals. This paired absolutely fantastically with the house smoked Sturgeon, with yellow beet mash, creme freche and sturgeon roe.

Very Good
$9 a glass


Wine #3: Weinrider Kleinhadersdof Riesling Kyler

This had a bigger nose of grapefruit than I experienced with the other wines. Very cut and savory this was acidic, but not over the top in that component. Herbal and mineral elements in perfect balance made this the best wine of the flight.

Very Good+
$15 a glass


Wine #4: Hogel Bruck Riesling Feclerspiel 2007

This was the tartest of the bunch, with an extremely sharp and clean palate. A very fresh food wine this went perfectly with crispy pork rounds. Made for high fat food. Classic.

Very Good
$12 a glass

That's it for my initial excursion into San Francisco. It was quite a night, ending in an very nice concert peformed by the San Francisco Symphony. I am looking forward to future excursions and will be sure to post them here. Cheers!

San Francisco Profile: Ferry Plaza Wine Bar

So back when I first visited San Francisco in 2007 I stumbled upon a wine bar in the Ferry Building that looked pretty interesting. However, it wasn't until 2009 that I actually went there to try a few wines. It's a decent wine store and bar, with the added benefit that you can bring any food item from the Ferry Building to the bar to have with your wine. If you have ever been to the Ferry Building before, then you know that this is a tremendous boon, since food is king there! They pour wines in 2oz, 5oz, 1/2 bottles and full bottle sizes. I opted for 3 2oz pours.

Wine #1: Mount Eden Chardonnay 2007

From Arroyo Valley in Monterey, CA, this good value Chardonnay had a nose of citrus, apple, and lemon curd. The palate expanded dramatically to include saffron, pineapple and more lucious lemon. Fun, tasty, a good with food, but a bit impersonal (I prefer cheap Burgundy Chards to this). However, if I could get this for this price in Canada, I would buy it by the spades.

Very Good

$20 a bottle at Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant (FPWM for future reference)

Wine #2: Boekenhoutskloof The Chocolate Block 2007

A nose of balsamic, chocolate, game and spice, this promise more than it delivered with a basic palate of standard new world chocolate, blackberry and spice. In the end, this is boring and way overpriced, despite the rave review from the wine merchant.

Good+

$38 at FPWM

Wine #3: K Vinters 'The Boy' Grenache 2006

K vinters has a great reputation and I've been dying to try something from them. They are just too expensive in Vancouver to justify the purchase. I have to admit that I was somewhat disappointed, even though this was decent. The palate had pepper, chocolate and spice and tasted very much like a southern Rhone Grenache. But, in the end, this is super overpriced. It should be less than 1/2 of what they charge.

Very Good

$40 at FPWM

San Francisco Profile: City Beer

Just-Grapes (being me) has successfully relocated to our new temporary home in Berkeley, California. For the next 18 weeks I will be posting all my notes and updates from this great wine state, starting with a type of place one would never see in Canada: a retail beer store and beer bar merged into one. City Beer is a great beer-geek space where all the bottles sold for retail are also available to drink at the store for $1 more. The atmosphere is friendly and fun, and the $1 corkage is no impediment. I was impressed with the number of serious beer geeks in the store, both male and female, and the owners were very friendly, knowledgable, but not over the top in the beer geekdom. I had two beers there on a sunny Saturday afternoon. There's nothing like a 16 degree (celsius) and sunny January day.

Beer #1: Rodenbach Belgian Flemmish Red Ale

Classic balanced tartness with rich fermented raisins and apricots coming trough. This has a great mouthfeel With a very nice balance, this is the sort of beer that a wine geek will love: 25% aged in oak casks, 75% fresh beer.

Excellent

$5 a bottle at City Beer

Beer #2: Goose Island Beer Company Bourbon County Brand Stout 2008

This is a seriously serious stout, smashing in with 13% abv that demands slow sipping. However, this is one killer Bourbon-intense dark as night brew, with a super-intense nose of rich vanilla and oak. The palate expands to include tobacco and tar notes that make this a perfect after-dinner beer that will probably go well with cigars. Amazingly, this is drinking well now and is very smooth and silky in the mouth. A wonderful beer. Stout lovers will be blown away.

Excellent+

$6 a bottle at City Beer

So that conclude my first experience at perhaps the best beer store I've been to. There are more updates to come from California!