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East Bay Wine Guide

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January 26th, 2016

1/26/2016

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Picture
(NOTE: Images used here are uploaded directly from the winery website, and will be updated as soon as I have time to get back to take my own.)

This weekend I had the (increasingly) rare privilege of two consecutive days off (of course hubby was off on day two, but we take what we can get).  We had some wine pickups to do, so we ventured out to Livermore for some much needed family time (yes, wine tasting counts as family time round here).  On this particular trip, we decided to try three new (to us) spots, two of which I will talk about later:

* Bent Creek
* Big White House
* The Singing Wine Maker

About the Winery:

Big White House is my kind of winery.  Small lot, big flavor wines in a very unpretentious tasting room with servers who know their stuff and enjoy what they do.  They host two labels: Big White House and John Evan Cellars, Big White House carrying their traditional wines, and John Evan Cellars carrying their premium, small lot wines.

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It is worth noting that there is no “big white house” on the premises, so don’t be looking for one.  The Big White House of its name is the house in which they started making wine. 


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Tasting Tip Tuesdays:  Go on Yucky Days

1/26/2016

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For those who aren’t familiar with tasting rooms at wineries, they are typically staffed by three kinds of people:
  1. Retired people who enjoy wine, and talking with people
  2. ​Family members of the winery owner/maker/operator who work to help out the family business
  3. People who love drinking wine and the benefits that working at a winery provides

One thing you will notice about all of the above is that none of them are there for the money, because very few of them make higher than minimum wage (plus the very-occasional tip).  Servers are there because, let's be honest, there are worse ways to spend an afternoon.  If you go into a tasting room and don’t like the vibe; leave.  It happens all the time, and no one will be offended!

If you are intimidated by the idea of “wine tasting” or are afraid it would be a snooty experience, I highly recommend going for the first time on a rainy afternoon.  People don’t think of heading to the wineries on rainy days, so the tasting rooms are very likely to be pretty quiet.  Tasting room staff love talking to people and are always happy to answer any questions you have or help you find a wine you like.  If it’s quiet, they will have the time to give you much more time, attention, and information so you will likely leave far less intimidated.
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"They're from CALIFORNIA..."

9/24/2015

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After living in California for a couple of years we went back to the midwest, where my husband is from, to see my in-laws.  There were lots of people to see and not too much time to see them.  One night, my in-laws decided in the interest of saving time, we could all just go to a nice dinner out at a well known Italian chain restaurant.  We were sitting at the large table and the waiter approached with a bar cart and asked if we would like to try any of their wines before ordering a glass.  That sounded great, so we made our requests.  The waiter poured us a sip of each and we picked up our glasses and looked into them and swirled the wine around for a second before sipping.  At that very moment I the table fell completely silent and I felt each and every eye at the table (and very likely in the dining room) when my embarrassed mother-in-law looked up and the waiter and very quietly explained to him that “...they’re from CALIFORNIA.”  The waiter looked up knowingly and said, “Oh, yeah?!  My uncle’s from Oregon.”

The California wine-scene (and, I am speaking only about the California wine-scene here, as it is all that I’ve experienced) is anything but the elitist, snobby, __ scene that we associate with wine.   If you go into Napa you are for sure going to experience some of that; real-estate in Napa is very expensive, and so you tend to see well established names and tasting rooms in the region as those are the growers that can afford to have wineries and tasting rooms in the Valley.  Napa is a destination, much like the well known Italian chain restaurant is a destination.  It is familiar and, for the most part, you know what you are going to get.  In Napa you are going to see Sutter Home and Robert Mondavi and likely many names that you see on your grocery store shelves.  Tastings tend to be on the expensive side, and as far as I’m concerned, not worth the money, all the wines kind of taste the same.

There are countless words that have been written about Napa and Sonoma wine, and I really don’t have anything to add to the discussion.  Instead of flying into San Francisco and heading North, fly into Oakland and head East.  The wine coming out of the East Bay is every bit as good as Napa or Sonoma (although, I very strongly believe it to be better), and you avoid the crowds, stupid expensive bottle and tasting prices, and get to, in many many cases, spend some quality time learning about wine from, in some cases, the winemaker themselves.  

So that’s my shout out to the East Bay wineries.  I love you and respect you all and can’t wait to walk in your doors and drink what you have to offer.  




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    Emily Daniels

    I am an East Coast girl who moved to the East Bay area in 2006 and immediately fell in love with wine and the wine industry.

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