Stomping Girl Holiday Wine Tastings

Stomping Girl Winery Holiday Pop Up

Saturdays in December  – Dec 1, 8, 15

2:30 – 4:30 pm

complimentary wine tasting

holiday gift bottles

at Zut on Fourth

 1820 Fourth St, Berkeley

details on our website

 

Holiday Winery Pop Up Saturdays in December

Join the winemakers of Stomping Girl for a holiday

Winery Pop Up

Complimentary wine tasting and gift bottles available for purchase

Saturdays in December

3:00 – 5:00 pm

@

1820 Fourth St, Berkeley

 

Thanksgiving and Our 2009 Pinot

We released our 2009 Pinots before the holidays this year for you to enjoy at the holiday dinner table and to be able to give as a gift.  They are young but very drinkable now, if you don’t want to wait.  If you happen to drink them side by side, here’s the order in which we recommend you enjoy them:

1) Lauterbach Hill, RRV–a delicate, lighter-bodied, food-friendly Pinot that pleases the palate with bright cherry and strawberry notes

2) Beresini Vineyard, Carneros–an elegant, medium-bodied, deep garnet-colored Pinot perfumed with cherry and a bit of spice

3) Corona Creek, Sonoma Coast–a fuller-bodied Pinot displaying darker fruit and a hint of roasting coffee and chocolate

Drink now or put in the cellar to enjoy a few years down the road.

 

Pinot Report review of Stomping Girl Wines

We just have to toot our own horn, once in a while.  We can’t help it.  Like proud parents of shy toddlers that are growing up.  Here is a recent review, click here for full PDF of the review , from The Pinot Report.

2008 Stomping Girl, Lone Oak Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highland, Pinot Noir – 90 Points

“Deep and earthy…”

Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands Lone Oak Vineyard
Medium-deep ruby color; deep, black cherry and earthy
aromas with some spice and oak notes; rich, black cherry
and earthy flavors with some sweet oak notes; silky
texture; good structure and balance; long finish. Deep and
earthy Pinot with a lot of interesting flavors.

2008 Stomping Girl Split Rock Vineyard, Sonoma Coast, Pinot Noir – 91 Points

“Spicy and complex…”
Stomping Girl Wines
Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast Split Rock Vineyard
2008
Medium-deep ruby color; lots of complex, pretty aromas
of cherry and earth; deep, full cherry flavors with complex
spice and earth notes; silky texture; good structure and
balance; long finish. Spicy and complex Pinot that is a
great match for grilled meats.

 

 

 

Pouring at Vin12

Stomping Girl at Vin12

We had a great time pouring at last week’s Vin12 One Year Anniversary event.  This was our second time pouring for them.  Vin12 holds monthly wine tasting events in San Francisco, each one a new wine theme.  These events attract young, wine drinking crowds; some are Vin12 groupies who attend every Vin12 event, others are new to the scene.

The events are held in a great spot called the Solarium in the lower floor of an office building on Second Street just below Market.  Its location is convenient for the after-work crowd, the setting is very attractive and it’s a great opportunity to try some new wines.  We’ll be pouring at some of their upcoming events (we’ll update our Facebook page when we pour.)  If you plan to come to one, give me a heads up–I’ll see if I can get you a complimentary ticket.

 

Barrel Tasting The ’09 Pinots

With pleasure, Uzi and I tasted barrel samples of our 2009 Pinot Noir last weekend.  Uzi was down at the winery topping the barrels so he pulled several samples and thoughtfully called me over to taste with him.

Each time we sample, a different wine seems to be the favorite.  The first time around it was our Corona Creek (Sonoma Coast) samples. Next time we preferred the Beresini (Carneros.)  The third time, we tasted with Steve Beresini (he grows what else?  our Beresini.)  Steve liked them all but in the end he “admitted” that at that moment in time, he preferred the Corona Creek.  This last time that Uzi and I tasted, our Lauterbach (Russian River) seemed to be the winner.  This, I think, reflects three things:  1) the different vineyards expressing unique characteristics; 2) the nature of Pinot Noir and how it changes and evolves in the barrel, in the bottle and in the glass; and 3) that we will end up with three distinct Pinots and definitely something for everyone.

 

By The Glass at Two Top San Francisco Restaurants

I am very exicted to announce that Stomping Girl Wines are now available at two top San Francisco Restaurants, COCO500 and the Moss Room.

Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to pour our wine for Clay Reynolds, the Executive Beverage Director for both restaurants. I was hoping he would like one of our offerings and serve it at Coco500.

I first poured our 2008 Sonoma Coast from Split Rock Vineyard for Clay.  We were swirling, sniffing, tasting, spitting and then I calmly waited for feedback…. finally, “I like it! Really nice wine, smooth, red berries and elegant finish.”

We chatted a bit about wine making protocol, cold soak, barrel selection, the vineyard location, our low intervention practices and selection of sustainably grown vineyards , while I opened our second wine–the Lone Oak Vineyard from Santa Lucia Highland.  Same ritual, see, swirl, sniff, taste, spit. Longer wait this time…”Wow, you used the same wine making protocol?” Everything was the same, apart from a slight increase in new French Oak.  What he was noticing was the difference in the vineyard locations.  The Santa Lucia Highland location has specific flavor profile (a very long way to say “terroir”, which I try to avoid) versus the Sonoma Coast, Split Rock Vineyard.  “Amazing how remarkable the differences are. I get more of the bass tones on the Lone Oak while the Split rock is a more high tones wine. I like this one too,”  says Clay.  His description also included these observations:  earthy undertones with a solid backbone of fruit, plummy with a lingering light acidity.  We both agreed the Lone Oak managed the new French Oak nicely.

It’s great tasting with someone who appreciates the fruit of your labor, especially if you learn something in the way of adjectives (high tones/bass tones.)

Clay could not make up his mind which one he’d take, so in the end he decided to take both. One for Coco500 and the other for the Moss Room.

Lorreta Keller , who owns Coco500 is an advocate for sustainably and locally grown ingredients. Keller is a co-owner of the Moss Room along with Charlie Phan (of Slanted Door fame), but is in charge of the kitchen where her style of cooking is carried on. Keller is known for her emphasis on using high quality, locally grown, seasonal ingredients in her Cal-Med dishes which produce bold flavors.  The Moss Room is a masterpiece of a restaurant built under the new California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. The Moss Room practices the same philosophy of locally grown, organic when possible, ingredients. Locally grown is taken to extreme some times–they grow some of the greens and berries they serve in the restaurant right on the roof!

We are really excited about this opportunity to showcase our wines alongside some incredible food made the way we like it and the way we make our wine. Local, sustainable, tasty!

Check it out before they run out!  Cheers!

 

Visiting the Vineyards

Over the long weekend we met with Chris, our Sonoma Coast grower of Corona Creek Vineyards.  We compared barrel samples of 2009 Stomping Girl Pinot Noir Corona Creek Vineyard with barrel samples of Chris’ Corona Creek Vineyard.  They’re both still very young but coming along nicely.  We agreed our Corona Creek has great color, some black cherry notes along with a nice earthiness–like freshly turned up soil in the vineyards.  We then compared the ’09s to Chris’ bottled 2008 Corona Creek Pinot which had nice dark fruit flavors and aromas that continued to develop as we enjoyed the rest of the bottle with dinner that night.

We also visited Beresini vineyard in Carneros, anohter source of our 2009 Pinot, to check out the vines and discuss a new pruning technique with Steve, the owner.  We are extremely happy with our ’09 Beresini Vineyard Pinot Noir that’s in barrels right now and are keeping a close eye on our rows in his vineyard for the ’10 harvest.  His two dogs and our son romped while we talked in the vineyards.  Steve sent us home with a bottle of his own wine–aptly named “Black Dog.”

Beresini's black dog

Uzi and Steve B.

Uzi had been been talking about this diner near Steve’s vineyard that has great biscuits–the Fremont Diner.  We were too late for breakfast but we stopped there for lunch.  It looks a little divey from the outside.  But the charm completely takes over as you notice the vineyards in the background, the lone chicken hanging with 2 friendly dogs outside  and the decor inside.  And the food is out of this world.  The food is down home cooking, all from scratch, fresh ingredients and definitely not for those on a diet.  I had the Whole Hog, a pulled pork sandwich with bbq sauce, coleslaw and these incredible beans.  I am already contemplating my next menu selection…

the Whole Hog

Fremont Diner

Fremont Diner chicken

 

Release Party A Success

Stomping Girl’s Inaugural Release Party was held on Saturday February 6.  I will venture to say that a stomping good time was had by all.  We poured our newly released 2008 Pinot Noirs: Split Rock Vineyard (Sonoma Coast) and Lone Oak Vineyard (Santa Lucia Highlands.)  We had a lively crowd, Deborah Crooks and her trio playing music, excellent “volunteer” helpers, and even the weather cooperated in the end.  Thanks to everyone who turned out!

 

Stomping Girl Release and Wine Pick-Up Party

The moment we’ve all been waiting for is here! Come join us in celebrating the inaugural release of Stomping Girl wine. We’ll be pouring our newly released 2008 Pinot Noirs, serving food and enjoying good music.

What: Stomping Girl Release and Pick Up Party
When: February 6, 2010, 2:00 – 4:00pm
Where: 2323 4th Street, Berkeley, CA
Cross street is Bancroft, our driveway is across from Kiss that Frog

RSVP: Party@StompingGirlWines.com
Please RSVP by February 1

Why Pick Up? If you order wine by February 1, you can pick it up at the party, get 10% off and pay no shipping.  Order wine at stompinggirlwines.com using coupon code “PreRelease” or by calling 707-317-6617.