October 2011 Archives
The Wedding Weekend-Part Two-THE Big Day
by Phil Anderson
This is the second part of a three part series about our trip to Temecula wine country.
The big day had finally arrived. All the girls spent the day doing make up and getting their hair and nails done. The guys swung the sticks on the course. I tried to find somewhere to lie out in the sun and soak up a few rays since this is something I love but can’t seem to find the time to do it.
As the hours ticked off and the time drew nearer and nearer to the ceremony starting, we got all dressed up and prepared ourselves for a limo ride from our hotel to Leonesse Cellars, where the wedding was to take place. Having been to the rehearsal the day before I knew that it was going to be beautiful but not THIS beautiful! They did a phenomenal job decorating, although, it’s not too hard with the vineyards as the backdrop for the ceremony.
The Rock Star couple after the ceremoney during pictures in the vineyards at Leonesse Cellars.
Everything went off without a hitch (and the happy couple WAS hitched!) and then we were shuttled from the ceremony location to where the reception was to be held, Leonesse’s barrel room. Two barrel rooms in two nights! There was a bit of a wait while they shuttled 150 people to the reception (it was a rather long walk…). During this wait I met somebody whose career I found quite interesting. Click HERE to read all about THAT story!
This barrel room was much larger than the one at Ponte Winery the night before. It was fabulously decorated and had a wonderfully festive ambiance. This might surprise you but, the moment we got settled at our table, I sashayed to the bar to find out what they were pouring. I was VERY much looking forward to trying their wine! (If you are a fan of Drinking Wine on Facebook you will know we have a wine neighbor that is always bringing wine over to our place. She brought a bottle of Leonesse Port that we had with chocolate one night that was WONDERFUL!)
We started out with a Leonesse Melange de Blanc which consisted of 44% Roussane, 41% Viognier and 15% Marsanne. With all the celebrating activities going on it was difficult to really savor the experience of the wine but the Viognier really stood out as their were notes of peaches a hint of honey.
Dinner was uttlerly spectacular. It was a buffet that featured (in my case, anyway, because I didn’t try the grilled chicken with brushetta) top sirloin with bacon, shallot and Gorgonzola compound butter. I paired a 2007 Leonesse Melange de Reves with the sirloin and it was perfect! It was a red blend of 54% Syrah, 25% Cinsaut, 16% Grenache and 5% Mourvedre and it was a bit smokey with flavors of peppory raspberries.
A bonus was a sparkling wine for the toast of the bride and groom. This wine wasn’t produced by Leonesse but from Wilson Creek Winery and Vineyards, also in Temecula. Wow! It was an almond flavored sparkling wine that was absolutely delicious! I didn’t expect the almond taste but it was certainly there.
After writing her own personal note of good luck on the Leonesse cork to her son and his new wife, Shelley places the cork into the cork catcher at the reception.
This night was, obviously, a very special occasion as Shelley’s second child was the first to be married off. There was dancing, laughter and high spirits, great food and wonderful wine at a magnificent venue, Leonesse Cellars. It was seamlessly orchestrated by Meghan and Katie of Intertwined Weddings and Special Events. I would typically not even mention them but the night was so flawless they deserve special mention. People even wrote little notes of luck to the bride and groom on corks and pitched them (ok, more PUT them) in the cork catcher I had made for them as a wedding present. We met new family and friends and sampled the best that Temecula has to offer.
The only downside was Shelley’s Nikon digital SLR turned up missing and I ended up making two trips back to the winery looking for it without success.
I would suggest a trip to Leonesse Cellars for sure to sample their extraordinary wines if you have the chance. It is certainly a winery that takes great pride in producing high end juice! Or better YET, if you’re planning an event and you’re near Temecula, why not consider Leonesse Cellars? Laura Mitchell, the Weddings and Events Manager at Leonesse who handled this wedding would be more than happy to hear from you!
Thank you so much for reading and remember, bottoms up!
Networking At Weddings
by Phil Anderson
I wanted to use, “Pardon The Interruption”, or, “Now For Something Completely Different”, as the title to this post since it is NOT Part Two of The Wedding Weekend, but they are both taken, and, undoubtedly, trademarked. However, what happened on the night of the wedding is REALLY worth writing about on SO many levels, so here you go!
I know it’s considered taboo to do business at weddings but this was something I didn’t see coming. So, since I was caught off guard I didn’t even KNOW I was networking! While standing in the horde of people waiting to get from point A (the wedding ceremony) to point B (the wedding reception) I was introduced to one of Shelley’s friends whose wife happened to be in the wine business. DOH!
While we all said what we did for a living, Andrea’s explanation piqued my interest. She told me she worked for ONEHope Wine and she went on to tell me what the winery’s mission was. Apparently, what I did (write a wine blog!) piqued hers, as well and we exchanged contact information. A new wine relationship was born!
ONEHope Wine, as it turns out, is a winery that supports great causes through the sales of their wines! Can you say, “Win/Win”? Some research uprooted an interesting story of a sales rep for a large wine distributor, Jake Kloberdanz, who, while stocking shelves with wine at a store realized specialty items used to raise awareness and proceeds would garner and enjoy preferential and prominent placement on shelves and thus move faster than other products off those shelves. Six months later he had created Hope Wine, a name that has since been changed to ONEHope Wine.
In a nutshell, ONEHope Wine produces several varietals of wine, each of which help support a particular cause with the proceeds. For example, 50% of the profits of their 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon, which runs $18.99 and was co-created by Rob Mondavi Jr., goes to help the Fight Against Autism. They also produce a Merlot which helps in the Fight Against AIDS, a Pinot Noir which goes to Supporting Children’s Hospitals, a Sauvignon Blanc which goes to Supporting Our Planet, a Zinfandel which goes to Supporting Our Troops and a Chardonnay which goes to the Fight Against Breast Cancer. In all cases, 50% of the profits go to the cause in which that varietal is supporting. In fact, Rob Mondavi Jr. has his hand in each of these wines as well!
Andrea was nice enough to send me a bottle of their 2009 Zinfandel and their 2009 Chardonnay. Because we are in the midst of Breast Cancer Awareness month (did you know that each year it is estimated that nearly 200,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and more than 40,000 will die?), I am writing about these wines today!
Suffice it to say, many products that represent causes or issues are….how do I say…um….well, not of high quality. I am happy to report that this is NOT the case with these wines!
They chose their Chardonnay to help with the Fight Against Breast Cancer because one out of eight women are effected by breast cancer in this country today plus they prefer Chardonnay 2 to 1 over any other varietals. Ours had a very light and balanced hint of oak on the nose. It opened up to butterscotch and butter. It was simple and delicious. We paired it with breaded Talapia and it was phenomenal! It will go with other light fish perfectly. This wine finished very well and I would recommend it without pause. The bonus of drinking this delicious Chardonnay is that you know that you are directly helping to fight breast cancer!
We opened the Zinfandel and paired it with one of Shelley’s fabulous steaks. It was not a big Zin, a bit light, but paired very well with the steak. What I love about Zinfandel is the spicy, peppory, earth tones and this one didn’t disappoint. It was also very berry-ish and fruit forward which I loved. 50% of the profits from this wine goes to help support our troops which is outstanding because, since 911, more than 8,000 children have lost a U.S. service member parent as a result of the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. OHEHope Wine is right there to help with each bottle of their Zinfandel bought and enjoyed.
I love the concept behind OHEHope Wine and I hope you will pick your favorite varietal (or two…or three….or……?) and give them a try. The juice is good but what they’re doing is even better!
I will write about Part Two and Part Three of The Wedding Weekend next but I am excited to announce we’re having another big tasting and it’s happening this weekend! We are tasting through some quality Pinot Noirs (hopefully even my very FAVORITE Pinot I’ve ever tasted, from Patricia Green!) and sparklers. It’s like Christmas in October!
As always, thank you so much for reading and I look forward to reading your comments especially those comments about how much you loved the OHEHope wine you tried! Be sure to find me on Facebook and Twitter!
Bottoms up!
