The Iron Chevsky Wine Blog

Luca Currado of Vietti (on the left), my favorite Barolo producer at the event, and Iron Chevsky (me, on the right) holding the red wine of the year - Vietti Barolo Riserva "Villero" 2007 The 2015 Tre Bicchieri in San Francisco took place in February. The weather was spectacular, the setting at Fort Mason gorgeous, yet it seemed like few famous producers attended, and few bottlings per producer were poured, many of the wines ran out well before the event end. Despite my expectation to taste Brunello and Barolo from the much heralded 2010 vintage (because last year we tasted 2009 Barolo), there were but a handful of 2010's. Perhaps producers don't feel the need to promote their 2010's. Perhaps the famous brands of Italy are focusing on Antonio Galloni and James Suckling events rather than Gamero Rosso's. Whatever it is, I am left thinking that somehow this event is losing its importance to the big names, which is unfortunate as this has always been the top...

I run a wine tasting club at  Tango . It's a great perk for employees, especially when their VP of Engineering (i.e. yours truly) personally invests time and energy to entertain and educate. About a third of the company attends, it's popular. To celebrate our recent D round ( $280M ) and passing 200m registered users, we splurged a little bit. See for yourself - this was a mesmerizing line-up of some of the world's greatest wines. Chave and Quintarelli were jaw-droppingly, mind-bogglingly great. Others - very good too. Tasting notes: JL Chave Hermitage blanc 2009 - wow, amazing wine, depth, complexity, impact! Up there with top grand cru white burgundy. Marquis d'Angerville Volnay 1er "Clos des Ducs" monopole 2006 - top wine from Volnay, complex and interesting, secondary notes, but a bit medicinal / pine-needle and in need of more time to smooth out the remaining tannins. I suspect that 2006 was not the greatest vintage of this legendary wine. Gia...

San Fran is so big and happening, yet finding a place that hits the spot is not necessarily a slam dunk. As I examine my inner self, I tend to gravitate toward Italian food. It's funny because French and Chinese are my favorites. Yet, for comfort, I want gourmet yet relaxed sort of a place. Italian and Spanish are just right. Plus, any excuse to drink vino Italiano is worth consideration. The other night, Rona and I found ourselves spending four hours at Beretta - in the Mission district. Just long enough to consume respectable amount of vino and still be good to drive! Terrific food, perhaps just a notch below Restaurant Delfina , but then the parking is a hell of a lot easier at Beretta. Get there early (5pm) and call in 45 min beforehand to get on the waiting list. Since our friends were interested in learning about wine, I brought a couple of special selections: a 2008 Roero Arneis from Bruno Giacosa (top Arneis in the world, from Roero area in Piedmonte) and a 2001 Bertan...