Wine Gallery

This is the best tasting room and wine shop in Corona Del Mar. I walked up last night to taste a few whites and reds and planned to return home, but the night took a turn for the better! I met a group that was having a reunion (UCLA) and chose Wine Gallery as their first stop for the night. Now scattered along the California coastline from San Francisco to San Diego, they see each other a few times a year - but it's clear they're all still close and always out to have a good time. We started talking about wine at the bar and the next thing you know we're polishing off a '05 Boillot (1er, Les Epenottes) burg, indulging in Crow Bar's melt-in-your-mouth lamb shank, and Chip's telling the famous "Del Taco story." That's a pretty strong ending to a random Monday night in CDM.

M E S A grill

Had a lovely Sunday dinner with the girls at MESA in Vegas last night. Accompanied by some nice chardonnays...the 2004 Sonoma Cutrer 'Les Pierres' and the 2000 Daniel-Etienne Defaix's Cote de Lechet (Premier Cru Chablis). I picked the white burgurdy to exhibit the richness even Chablis can achieve to chard lovers in the New World comfort zone. Defaix makes his wines in a traditional style - without the use of new oak - fermenting and aging in stainless steel vats with significant time spent ‘on the lees’ (the skins, dead yeasts and other such physical matter of the grapes). This infuses his wines with phenomenal richness and complexity, while still allowing the freshness and minerality of great Chablis to shine. They loved it and I hope more of my family and friends start trying older Chablis when they see them on wine lists and in shops! 

Tasting notes: wines undergoes malolactic fermentation, driven midpalate, lemon, citrus, caramel, honey, hazelnut, medium plus acidity, subtle minerality