The Iron Chevsky Wine Blog

An extraordinary Champagne dinner organized by Harumi at  Cafe Pro Bono in Palo Alto. This was a genuinely special opportunity to appreciate Champagne: not simply a collection of great bottles, but a lineup spanning nearly four decades, from legendary mature wines to some of the most exciting grower Champagnes being made today. Several of these are produced in tiny quantities and are difficult enough to encounter individually; tasting them side by side, contributed and shared by everyone around the table, was quite something. The food at Cafe Pro Bono was, as always, delicious and expertly prepared. Their polished Italian cooking is especially well suited to a serious wine dinner, letting the ingredients and wines speak for themselves. The prawns and pasta dishes were terrific — particularly the sautéed prawns and linguine with clams — and absolutely perfect with the Champagnes. We started with NV Veuve Fourny Cuvée “R” Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut Premier Cru , a pleasant opener...

The other night I had the privilege of attending a private dinner hosted by our neighbors, who invited the owner / founder of Atherton Wine Imports - George Derbalian and his wife Sue-Min to be the wine stuarts for an aspiring group of wine aficionados. Atherton have been around for over 30 years and established reputation for carrying some of the top names in Burgundy, including producers like Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey, Groffier, Roty, Hudelot-Noellat, Anne Gros, and many others whose wines I cherish in my cellar. They also import some other famous regions, but it's Burgundy where I have typically seen and bought their bottles. The dinner hosted by a prominent Chinese family consisted of home-cooked Shanghai-style (non-spicy) seafood, vegetables, poultry and pork-based courses. I have noted in the past that Chinese food when not spicy, tends to pair well with both white and red burgundy, and this experience further cemented that belief. George and Sue-Min seemed like a delightful ...

Wine & Spirits Top 100 Wineries tasting is a great annual event in San Francisco each October that I make a point not to miss. Great venue (Metreon), sharp looking people, delectable food, and seriously good wines. Below are the highlights of the this year's 11th annual event. (The 2013 was documented here , 2012 here , 2011 here , 2010 here , and 2009 here ). Diamond Creek , with dear Boots Brounstein. As usual, Diamond Creek showed well - dark, cool, mountain fruit with good structure, one of my favorite Napa Valley wineries, recently highlighted on this blog . Dominus , with Tod Mostero, who hosted me several years ago at the estate. This was the second time I tasted the 2011 Dominus, and my opinion improved. The wine has some grippy tannins and herbs, slightly leaner than usual, thanks to the 2011 vintage. I like how the slight austerity and a leaner body give it a Euro-inclined balance. I believe it will age well. I ran into Burgundy's vunderkind of Do...