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Ad for Mr. Picky's Moderation Wine Glass. Glass is on it's side with purple bubbles showing 4, 6, and 8oz marks.

Wine and Health: Red Moderation Wine Glass Makes Moderate Wine Consumption Fun

The Red Bordeaux Moderation Wine Glass features 3 bubbles that mark 4, 6, and 8 ounces next to the cute graphic of Mr. Picky.

The Moderation Wine Glass features 3 bubbles marking 4, 6, & 8 oz. so you can easily measure your wine. Weight Watchers wine drinkers have been measuring their wine for years.

One month after the release of the innovative Mr. Picky® Moderation Wine Glass, Mallen Designs has released the Mr. Picky® Red Bordeaux Moderation Wine Glass. This new glass is designed for red wine, specifically Bordeaux varietals, and is therefore larger than the original Moderation Wine Glass. The elegant glass is made from lead-free crystal in a Riedel factory in Germany and sports a white Mr. Picky logo that contrasts nicely against red wine. The logo features subtle moderation bubbles, designating 4, 6, and 8 ounces, making measuring your wine both simple and discrete.

Wine and Health
Whether you are on the Sonoma Diet, Weight Watchers, following Mayo Clinic recommendations or American Heart Association guidelines, the buzz word these days is moderation. The Mr. Picky® Moderation Wine Glass is a subtle way of measuring wine consumption in a stylish glass. Moderating intake means being selective about the wine you drink which is what Mr. Picky® is all about.

Diet gurus, cardiologists, health and longevity experts as well as the American Heart Association recommend moderate wine consumption. It is often difficult to judge the size of a wine pour without the hassle of using a measuring cup. The Mr. Picky® Moderation Wine Glass is the answer!

Dr. Connie Guttersen, R.D., Ph. D, a nationally and internationally renowned registered dietitian and culinary professional with a degree in nutrition, New York Times bestselling author of The New Sonoma Diet and The New Sonoma Diet Cookbook, registered dietitian and nutrition instructor at the world-famous Culinary Institute of America put it this way: Continue reading

Mr. Picky's Wine of the Week: 2010 St. Supery Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley

The 2010 St. Supery Sauvignon Blanc label is split vertically down the middle into two colors: lavendar on the right and off white on the left.Year after year St. Supery consistently produces some of the best Sauvignon Blanc in the country. It is my go to white wine along with Beckman Sauvignon Blanc and Starlane Sauvignon Blanc. You simply cannot go wrong with these wines. The 2010 St. Supery Sauvignon Blanc Napa Valley was also a wine of the week at The Press Democrat. Check out what writer Peg Melnik had to say, below.

Ratings:
89 points, Wine Spectator
91 points, Wine & Spirits

Where to buy: Lowest price online is $12.95 at NapaCabs.com. Also available for $13.89 at Costco, and $20 at St. Supery:

Peg Melnik, The Press Democrat
Michael Scholz grew up in the vines, in a century-old family vineyard in Australia’s Barossa Valley. That’s why the Aussie tendency toward crisp, grassy sauvignon blanc is not lost on him.

Scholz is the winemaker behind our wine-of-the-week winner, the St. Supery, 2010 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc at $20. Continue reading

Red Wine Benefits: Moderate Drinking May Reduce Breast Cancer Risk, Study Shows

New research from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center finds that red wine may reduce risk of breast cancer. In the study, chemicals in red grape skins and seeds lowered estrogen levels while elevating testosterone among premenopausal women who drank eight ounces of red wine nightly for about a month. Use the Mr. Picky Moderation Wine Glass as a fun way to moderate drinking.

photo of woman drinking a glass of red wine

Photo courtesty of www.estatevaults.com

From medicalxpress.com

Drinking red wine in moderation may reduce one of the risk factors for breast cancer, providing a natural weapon to combat a major cause of death among U.S. women, new research from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center shows.

The study, published online in the Journal of Women’s Health, challenges the widely-held belief that all types of  heighten the risk of developing breast cancer. Doctors long have determined that alcohol increases the body’s , fostering the growth of cancer cells.

But the Cedars-Sinai study found that chemicals in the skins and seeds of red grapes slightly lowered estrogen levels while elevating testosterone among premenopausal women who drank eight ounces of red wine nightly for about a month.

White wine lacked the same effect. Continue reading

Picky's Wines of the Week: 2008 Jaffurs Bien Nacido Vineyard Syrah, Larner Vineyard Syrah

The 2008 Jaffurs Larner Vineyard Syrah label, like most Jaffurs Vineyard labels, has a framed painting of the Matilija Poppy.Over the holidays we dug into our 2008 Jaffurs Syrahs that we had been saving for more than a year (wine doesn’t last long in Mr. Picky’s cellar) and it was worth the wait. We tasted two beautiful Syrahs: the 2008 Jaffurs Larner Vineyard Syrah, and the 2008 Bien Nacido Vineyard Syrah from our Jaffurs wine club membership. Comparing the two Syrahs is like comparing your children: There isn’t a true favorite, and each is unique and beautiful in their own way. If you’re not familiar with Jaffurs Wine Cellars, they’re located in downtown Santa Barbara, produce some of the best Rhones in Santa Barbara County, and have one of the friendliest staffs in the wine biz.

FROM THE WINEMAKER

The 2008 Larner Vineyard Syrah – is the only wine we make exclusively from new French ENTAV Syrah clones. This means the wine has a more spice driven focus. It is elegant, dark, and fruitful. The grapes marry with the sand and limestone vineyard site giving this wine a character reminiscent of the great Northern Rhone syrahs. 43% of this wine was whole cluster fermented. (300 cases produced). Continue reading

Mr. Picky's Wine of the Week: 2009 Quivira Vineyards Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel

Artistic shot of a bottle of Quiviera Zinfandel. Bottle is shot at an angle and is positioned in the top, left corner. A plate of food is in the background.

Photo courtesy of vinespot.blogspot.com

Often Zinfandel is associated with huge, high alcohol fruit bombs from Paso Robles and Lodi. The 2009 Quivira Vineyards Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley, is not one of those Zinfandels: it’s medium modied, delicate and with a touch of spice. We enjoyed this beauty with some friends at Sea Grass in Santa Barbara and it paired perfectly with my delicious Slow Braised Kurabuta Pork Cheeks.

WINEMAKER’S NOTES: 

About this Wine
Ruggedly enigmatic and powerfully built, Zinfandel is the reigning celebrity of Dry Creek Valley. Both complex and down-to-earth, it also displays a bit of an edgy darker quality. And, like any star, Zin has a challenging, quirky side that demands attention: it ripens very unevenly on the vine and its thin skins can break if over- cropped or over-irrigated. It’s typical to find slightly under-ripe, perfectly ripe, and raisin-like berries all within the same cluster. 2009, however, was beautifully balanced and even – an exceptional vintage that allowed the Zinfandel clusters to ripen much more uniformly than usual throughout the valley. Continue reading

Santa Barbara New Year's Eve: Montecito Wine Bistro $15 Flight Includes 97 Point Cristal

A bottle of Cristal Champagne next to a champagne glass with a pink, sparkly background.

Photo courtesy of nonsensopedia.wikia.com

The gorgeous new Montecito Wine Bistro and the popular Pierre Lafond Wine Bistro in downtown Santa Barbara are ringing in the New Year with a high-end sparkling wine flight for only $15. Included in the lineup is a 2004 Louis Roederer Cristal, which is described by the winemaker as “a highly seductive vintage, reminiscent of the classic 1988 vintage.”

Here’s the line up:

  • NV Pasqua Prosecco
  • NV Cristalino Brut Cava
  • 2005 Domaine Carneros Blanc de Blanc  (95pts, Wine Enthusiast)
  • 2004 Louis Roederer Cristal (97pts, Wine Enthusiast; 100 Best Wines of 2011 Wines and Spirits)

Here are the addresses for your limo driver. Tell them Mr. Picky sent you!:

Pierre Lafond Wine Bistro (516 State Street, Santa Barbara)
Montecito Wine Bistro (516 San Ysidro Road, Montecito)

Escondido to Become Major Wine Producer?

Escondido looking to become major wine producing region by building the largest grape-crushing cooperative south of Santa Barbara and growing grapes on thousands of acres of land:

By DAVID GARRICK, North County Times

The former site of the Escondido Police Department might become the biggest cooperative grape-crushing plant south of Santa Barbara. Photo courtesy of North County Times.

Escondido’s efforts to become a prominent wine-producing city include inviting every vintner in the county to a brainstorming session at City Hall next month and searching for a site to build the first cooperative grape-crushing plant south of Santa Barbara.

In addition, city officials have begun exploring some sort of land-grant program that could allow amateur vintners to grow grapes on thousands of rural and undeveloped acres the city owns.

The campaign began in early summer when Councilwoman Olga Diaz stumbled across a Cal Poly Pomona student’s 55-page proposal to make Escondido the hub of San Diego County’s blossoming wine industry by building a crushing plant in the city. Continue reading

Retired Basketball Star Yao Ming Releases Yao Family Wines Cabernet Sauvignon

Ex-Houston Rockets basketball star Yao Ming the latest celebrity to enter the world of winemaking:

From HuffingtonPost.com
From the basketball court to the tasting room? That’s the latest move from recently retired NBA star Yao Ming, who has started his own Napa Valley wine company: Yao Family Wines. This isn’t the first venture into the business world for 31-year-old Ming, who also owns the pro basketball team Shanghai Sharks.

Under the brand name YAO MING, Yao Family Wines has released its first wine — a 2009 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon — which will be immediately available for distribution in China. Capitalizing on the regions’ wine boom, Ming’s label intends to cater to the top tier of the Chinese market. The first 5,000-case production is priced at 1,775 yuan (US $289) per bottle. Continue reading

Mr. Picky's Wine of the Week: Santa Barbara Syrah from Dierberg Winery

2008 Dierberg Syrah Santa Ynez label is a simple, white label with a thin, tan pattern running down the left and right sides.

2008 Dierberg Syrah Santa Ynez Valley: The Syrah grapes for this delicious 2008 Dierberg Syrah Santa Ynez Valley were sourced from the coldest microclimate within the new Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara Appelation.

WINEMAKER NOTES

  • Each fermenter is filled with hand sorted, 100% whole cluster grapes which bring a very savory, Rhone-like character to the wine.
  • A three day cold soak was followed by a moderately warm fermentation with native yeast only.
  • Free run wine was moved to barrel “dirty,” meaning that much of the fermentation lees were kept in contact with the wine and an uninoculated malolactic fermentation finished in July following Harvest.
  • After 18 months in 3 year old demi-muids (600L) and a light fining with 6 fresh egg whites per demi-muid, we bottled our Syrah unfiltered.

VINTAGE NOTES

  • In spite of tentative growth due to drought, the vines put out an enormous number of flowers and the prospect of a very heavy crop load seemed certain.
  • Although we had record heat prior to bloom, it vanished almost overnight and our well-watered plants were vigorous.
  • A lot of hand work was required to manage excessively vigorous canopies.
  • The wines from this wild ride of a vintage have turned out to be absolutely delicious.

WHERE TO BUY
2008 Dierberg Syrah Santa Ynez Valley can be purchased for $34 at Dierberg Estate Vineyard.