The Iron Chevsky Wine Blog

September 2014 marks the fifth anniversary of Tango , the mobile tech company in Mountain View, where I am the VP of Engineering. As mentioned previously , besides my main job, I also run the "Tango Winos" wine tasting club there as an extracurricular activity and as a management "thank you" to employees. We do this quarterly, paid 100% by the company, with focus on higher-end great wines of the world, something that employees will not usually (perhaps ever) drink. Forty people attended the latest one, which is a lot for barely a 200 person start-up. The tasting, served with catered dinner, was a ton of fun for everyone, and is the only corporate wine tasting event of such caliber anywhere in the Valley, AFAIK, which makes me particularly proud to do this at Tango. What made this tasting even more special was the 5th anniversary of the company, so we upped the ante with famous bottles at $200-$500 each! I prepared a venerable array of 7 wines, 3 bottles each, ...

For my 3-day birthday weekend in September, Rona and I decided to take Evan to Napa Valley. At 3.5, he is of the age when he would hopefully enjoy running through vineyards, pick grapes hanging in full glorious ripeness, and last through gourmet restaurants (while watching iPad, thank god for that!) I had a bit of extra motivation for Napa this time, because 2011's are just coming out, affording me an opportunity to evaluate something special for Evan's birth-year collection (he was born in 2011). On my short list were Dunn, Phelps, Diamond Creek, Mayacamas, and Harlan. And Ridge of course, but that's another trip, not Napa. I was able to book Joseph Phelps and Diamond Creek this time, while the others requested to follow up later in the year, after the harvest. Visiting two major wineries with a kid in a 3-day weekend was perfect. One winery per day (2-3 hrs) is more than enough, and in the day in between, we drove to the very cool African Safari ( Safari West ) in San...

People keep asking me for recommendations for a day trip in Napa Valley. Here is the latest perfect itinerary, which takes just a little bit of preparation. Schedule no more than two winery appointments. It's about quality, not quantity. Spend 2 hours at each winery on average, and let your world slow down for just one day. While cruising along the main road - highway 29, pick up your lunch at Bouchon Bakery  in Yountville or Oakville Grocery  in Oakville - two Napa Valley lunch-picnic "institutions" (with picnic tables outside - simply beautiful on a sunny day). I especially love the frenchified ham-n-cheese from Bouchon - the fresh baguette and Dijon mustard make the sandwich. And their tuna nicoise is the best tuna sandwich ever, and a good match for white wine! The line outside of Bouchon Bakery in Yountville. Allow yourself 10-15 min to get though, and you won't regret it! Or if you are in the mood for something heftier, stop further up the highway right...

10:40am on Saturday morning, we made a brief pit-stop at Oakville Grocery for a croissant and a coffee. The place is a classic - the original Oakville Grocery on highway 29 (now there is another store in Healdsburg in Sonoma County) is a charmer, from their fleshy croissants to filling chimichangas to their cool Napa Cabs cave. Outdoor tables behind the store present a view onto the vineyards and mountains. This is a nice picnic spot when you are in the mood for something quick, cheap-n-good. 15 minutes later, Dan, AC, JJ, and yours truly IronC were greeted at Joseph Phelps with open arms for what was to become yet another great day in Napa Valley. We were here to attend an Insignia blending seminar, a rare opportunity to taste through the portfolio of component vineyard lots that never get bottled individually, and attempt combining them into a winning Bordeaux blend against the masters at Joseph Phelps. Insignia is world famous. Its 2002 bottling was Wine Spectator's #1 wine ...