Cal-Irish — No Green Wines Here

With St. Patrick’s Day approaching, I looked around for some wines with an “Erin go bragh” bent and, surprisingly, found an interesting and representative selection that you don’t have to go to Ireland to  taste.

To immerse yourself in Irish wine culture, you should go to the When Irish Wines are Smiling tasting event Sunday at the Rutherford Grange in Napa Valley. Advance tickets are $30 at the door, $25 in advance from Brown Paper Tickets.

Four-leaf clover, for luck

The tasting event, organized by Small Lots, Big Wines, features a dozen  or so wineries from Napa, Sonoma and the Sierra foothills. There will also be Irish-themed entertainment and food, including cheeses imported from the old country.

“Cal-Irish” wineries pouring at the event include:

Brown Estate — A zinfandel specialist from Chiles Valley owned by the Brown family, whose ancestry is Jamaican. I’m not sure where the Irish connection fits in, but they really know how to make good zin and have a good time at Brown Estate. Join the wine club and you could get invited to the winery’s annual Kentucky Derby Party!

Dillon Vineyards — A very small producer of very good chardonnay, grown just south of Yountville.

Fitzpatrick Winery — A winery in the Fairplay appellation (near Placerville) producing a dozen or so red and white wines, mostly priced between $10 and $20 a bottle. Take a look at my recent blog about Fair Play wines.

Harrington Wines — A producer of fine pinot noir wines, sourced from top vineyards across the state.

Irish Family Vineyards — Family owned winery in Calaveras County that produces several cute Irish-named wines — Blarney Red, Blarney White, Kilkenny Red, and Pog Mo Thoin, which means “kiss my a** in Gaelic” — along with the more recognizable petite sirah, chenin blanc, viognier, tempranillo and barbera. Prices generally run $10-$30 per bottle.

Kelley and Young Wines — A new label produced by a husband-and-wife team whose family owns the Robert Young Estate and also farms about 320 acres of vineyards in the Alexander Valley.

McGrail Vineyards — Small Livermore Valley producer of chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon.

Murphy Vineyards — A father-and-son team (Kevin and Peter Murphy) with a background in vineyard management also make fine cabernet, merlot and syrah under their namesake label from grapes grown in Napa and the Sierra foothills.

Obrien Estate — A small family winery in Napa producing an award-winning blended red wine (Seduction — made from cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and merlot grown in the Oak Knoll district.) and also makers of a fine merlot, and chardonnay.

Sullivan Vineyards — Another Napa Valley producer of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and chardonnay plus a few high-end Bordeaux-style, blended red wines.

Taylor Family Vineyard — A small producer on the Silverado Trail in Napa, making cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay and sauvignon blanc.

Twomey Cellars — An award-winning “merlot-only” winery in Calistoga, owned by Silver Oak. Click here to read my blog on Silver Oak and Twomey.

Waits-Mast Family Cellars — A husband-and-wife winemaking effort from a  San Francisco couple (Brian Mast and Jennifer Waits) who produce tiny amounts of top-grade pinot noir sourced mostly from Mendocino County.

Livermore — A Bit West of Ireland

Concannon is a good Irish name and it’s also the name of a good winery in Livermore that makes a wide range of fine wines.

James Concannon founded his namesake winery, now owned by the Wine Group of San Francisco, in 1883 after leaving Ireland to make his fortune in America.

The Concannon Vineyard winery has been active ever since. It’s best known for releasing California’s first varietal labeled petite sirah back in 1961. The Concannon petite sirah is an inexpensive “go-to” wine when you need a good daily sipper that sells for $10-$12 in supermarkets and wine shops.

They are throwing a founder’s day bash at Concannon on Saturday (1:30-3:30 p.m., March 13) to honor the winery’s founder, who was born on St. Patrick’s Day! No charge to attend. Small fee for tasting. Picnicking is free on the grounds around the winery, which is surrounded by petite sirah vineyards.

Visit Napa, See Paris

Eiffel Tower

A new photography exhibit, featuring images from the award-winning book, Paris Icons, will open a week from Saturday (March 20) at Mumm Napa winery. The exhibit includes 50 pictures that emphasize the spirit of France’s most famous city. Author Leslie Little, and photographer James Scholz will sign copies of the book at the event, which runs 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the winery’s photo gallery.

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Wine Country Weekend

While grape vines lie dormant and rest up for the growth spurt ahead, it’s a great time to visit, taste and explore wine country before the large summer crowds are upon us.

The winter pace is slower. The roads are less crowded with tour buses and winery personnel have more time to spend with visitors. It’s also a time of great expectation, with the 2009 vintage resting in barrel and the 2010 vintage waiting to be born.

Here are some suggestions for the days ahead:

Vineyard and Mustard, courtesy Napa Valley Mustard Festival

The Napa Valley Mustard Festival is a natural choice. The festival actually began in late January and runs through March 27 with a wide range of activities across the valley involving food, wine and art, including a Grand Dinner tonight (Feb. 19) at Brix in Yountville.

Sip and Stretch

Beringer Vineyards in St. Helena is taking a more body-centric approach to enticing visitors by sponsoring a “sip and stretch” event that combines wine, yoga and chocolate.

From 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Sunday (Feb. 21), instructor Suzi Potts will lead enthusiasts through a tasting session that explores five different wines, Hatha yoga poses and gourmet chocolates. Tickets are $30 in advance and $35 at Beringer, the oldest continuously operating winery in Napa Valley.

Yoga, Take Two

For a different take on yoga and wine, check out Ubuntu, a vegetarian restaurant and wine bar in downtown Napa. Downstairs, you’ve got top-rate food and wine. Upstairs, it’s a yoga studio with a series of daily classes.

It’s quite an unusual concept, but it works! The combination of great regional wines and exquisitely prepared and locally-sourced food  has earned Ubuntu one Michelin star.

Crab Season at Seghesio

Seghesio Family Winery will be serving up crab cioppino for guests in Healdsburg on Saturday (Feb. 20). The dinner tab is $60 and includes generous servings of the winery’s newest releases (pinot noir and zinfandel) plus some of Seghesio’s port-style wine with dessert and cigars. The 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. dinner slots are sold out, but there may still be some seats left for the 4 p.m. seating. Salud!

Napa vs. Sonoma, Again

They’re holding a “sibling rivalry” tasting at the Rutherford Grange in Napa on Sunday (Feb. 21). The theme of the tasting is Napa vs. Sonoma cabernet sauvignon and there will be 10 wines from each area in the competition. Everyone gets a vote for their favorite bottle. Tickets are only $10 for what should be a interesting event sponsored by Small Lots Big Wines.

Sipping Away by SF Bay

If you can’t get out of the city for a wine country adventure, don’t worry. Check out the second annual “Around the World in 80 Sips” event at Crushpad, the urban winemaking commune in San Francisco.

Walking past the commercial and industrial buildings that line Third Street, you’d never know that inside the warehouse at 2573 Third Street was a wine wonderland waiting to be explored.

On a normal day, the property is humming with activity from amateur and semi-professional winemakers who share the space and equipment in their bid to build a brand or just make a personal creative statement. To learn more, check out my recent blog about Crushpad, which has plans to move its SF operations to another custom-crush facility in Napa.

On Feb. 25, there were be 80 wines  from around the world open for tasting at Crushpad from 6-9 p.m., courtesy of Bottlenotes, an online wine retailer. Tickets are $60 in advance and $75 at the door.