Wine Raconteur

10) Le Macioche


Score: 13.5/20

Enticing aromas of Pomegranate, apple and bilberries. Has some great fruit character but alcohol not balance. Wine seems over riped. Bold but lack definition. Much of oak lingering around with a nice bright acidity on the finish. It’s a monster.

11) Pertimali di Livio Sassetti

Score: 17.5/20

A sturdy, well defined tannic structure. Trace of earth from the nose and the back palate. Impeccable balance and subtle minerals on the finish. The wine seems shy at the moment. Fruits evolve gradually in the mid palate. A very focus wine, need time to unfold. I will re-visit this wine in 3-5 years.

12) Le Potazzine


Score: 18/20

This wine is elegant than power, it is symmetrical and harmonious. Multi-layers of earth, marjoram & dash of pepper as overture. Silky and well paved tannins grips firmly with the acid. Undertone of cassis emerging to the front. Mineral subtleties marry playfully & graciously with the thyme nuances. Finish has good length but a bit one dimensional.

Cimarossa - Cabernet Sauvignon - Howell Mountain (AVA) 2005


Score: 11.75/20 Concluded by my 5element tasting method.

Nose: very extract. aromas of cherries, in your face blackberries. over the top. It became boring after my 3rd sniff.
Mid palate, the structure fell apart. its like drop from 20 stories. Overall one dimension, trying really hard of being persuasive.
There are some good grip of Tannins however lack refinement. Finish off with some mid tastiness.

Few months ago I heard someone was talking about a vineyard in Santa Cruz which stirred a controversial debate from the residents who live in the town of La Honda. 83 percent of the water supply are from the bottom of the 16 acres swath. The residents were afraid their water will be contaminated by the newly planted vineyard due to the planting on the steep drainage and destabilize the slope, causing landslides they say could bury the spring and choke the creek with silt. Clos de la Tech, owned by T.J Rodgers & Valeta Massey, which located against the slope of the summit of Langley Ridge, considered to be the steepest Vineyard in the US, with vines planted in vertical rows down slopes as extreme as 45 to 70 percent.
Rodgers and Massey say they have invested more than $20 million since breaking ground in 2001, planting 16 acres of what they hope will be an 80 acre vineyard.
Based on these facts, it is enough to trigger my curiosity !
I decided to pay a visit there and investigate whether the 70% slope are accurate !
So I called up my friend who grew up in the nearby town to drive me up the ridgetop to locate the Vineyard.
After spending an hour looking for it and we finally see the sign of the entry. Unfortunately, it was a foggy day, I mean really bad visibility. So, even though I knew that we were at the edge of the slope, I mean I could feel it but I couldn’t see a damn thing. I was disappointed but still I was glad I did it. Here are some pictures below….

I totally forgot how I found out this restaurant. It is nestled with many other restaurant in the busy street of Geary in central downtown of S.F.
The ingredients in the menu are mind boggling and courses are reasonably priced. I have to say after all the top notch restaurant that I have been to, such as Fleur de lis, Gary Danko, Michael Mina etc, this is one of the most surprising one. The service was impeccable too. It lived up to every standard of a 5 star restaurant. Here are the courses below… {Sorry for the orientation of the pictures, I couldn’t fix it to vertical}

Soup shot for two.
Citrus, Chicory & Avocado salad, kumquat coffee caramel, pomergranate & kaffir lime.
Toasted Marcona Almonds spiced w/teecino & chilies. (Teecino is type of herbal coffee without caffeine)
Roasted baby beets & Burrata, Bergamot, liquorish herbs & salad burnet. This dish was out of the World !
Prawns a la Plancha, creamy crab rice. Simply Delicious.
Duck & Fuyu Persimmon 3 ways with riliette, foie gras torchon. Great combination.
Roasted Venision, poached Seckel pear, celery root puree, hazelnut & long pepper. What a balanced dish. The meat was done perfect.
Seared Pekin duck breast, Trumpet mushrooms, leeks & baby rucola. Another favorite of mine.
Coconut Frangipane w/ caramelized bananas, Teecino ice-cream & passion fruit. This dish brought me euphoria ! I m still craving for it now !
Pistachio Milkshake shots for 2. What a great finish!

I decided to go vegan tonight, just a night I promise. I heard a lot of hypes of this vegan restaurant which located on Main St. of Napa downtown. So I was quite curious. Ubuntu is the name and it roughly means Humanity toward others. There is a Yoga studio inside the restaurant on the second floor which is quite smart.
Here is the tasting menu I had:
The Garden Menu

2 of my favorite dishes above all are the Garlic confit in summer stew and the Alliums & fregola in Bordeaux sherry broth

Unfortunately, after all this….Mmm… I was still hungry