Burning Amp 2024!

Don't go to any of our breweries to buy the same stuff you get off the shelf at your local store! Lagunitas usually has about 20 beers available in the tap room at their brewery in Petaluma. Henhouse has a tap room literally across the street from them & had 13 on tap the last time I counted. If you don't want to stick to a single beer purveyor, try Brewsters in downtown Petaluma or Hop Monk in Novato or Sebastopol.

Lagunitas also offers brewery tours ($18). They only book them a couple weeks in advance (they're currently up to Oct 6), so check their website in 2 weeks or so if you're interested.

Russian River gets a lot of press for their Pliny the Younger (a triple IPA!) extremely limited release - once a year around the beginning of spring. Truly a great beer, but unless you're incredibly lucky, you'll probably have to come back then and wait a few hours in line (I was incredibly lucky!)
 
Actually, Russian River 20 km north on 101 from Petaluma is supposed to be even better.

Tom

Problem is... when you're in Russian River, you drink their chardonnay. The cool weather makes for some awesome whites.

Sonoma-Cutrer comes to mind.

Eons ago, on our first trip there... when we were young, we were told by a wine negotiant we knew here in The OC, Irv, to go there and ask for their "reserve tasting".

So we drove up on a Saturday morning. No one there except for a Jag. Wife was wearing shocking bright pink and white beach pants, Big Hair... (this was like '91) and I was wearing "normal" beach pants. Very SoCal... drove up in our '90 Accord SE sedan -when the SE was the top of the line.

Going in, this guy in his 50s, tweed jacket with leather patches at the elbows, one of them British hats... Veddy, Veddy british... San Francisco all the way.

Mr. Jag is drinking from the default wine list.

We come in and I ask for the "reserve" list.

They look at us... "How do you know about the reserve list?"
Name dropping time....
"Oh, Irv down in Newport told us to ask for it, says not to bother with the rest... we had a vertical of your chardonnays last month from ### hill"
Notice.. no "Newport Beach", just "Newport".. we're locals, you see.

They smile broadly and they bring out the "reserve list"

We start drinking, glasses mind you... we were like kids...

Mr. Jag, the Old Money Guy couldn't believe it... the young punks in beach attire are getting the good stuff. We were tasting drinking the $40 bottles... in '91 no less!

We bought three cases of Chardonnays... they actually took it to our trunk. They gave us the "Friends of Irv discount"... They gave my wife a t-shirt and two very nice wine glasses ( still have those ).

Then off we went searching for coffee and more wine... Found some killer late harvest Rieslings at the south of the valley ;-)

The moral is: Don't judge a book by its beach pants ( like the night before at the Chandon Restaurant - closed since.. )
 
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Tom- California has some great wines too. How can you dismiss the wines from the Napa area?

I find Cotes de Rhone wines too light and Bourdeaux is fine but Napa and Santy Ynez Valley produce some fantastic reds.

Heck, we recently had a Cabernet Sauvignon from Firestone winery down in Santa Ynez valley. Chairman series... about 15 years old, sitting on our shelves for quite a while. It was fantastic with peppered duck. I actually posted a picture in the food forum...

Then you got the Tempranillos, Monastrell and Garnachas coming from Spain and California. OK, no Monastrell yet.... but it's coming.

A cooled Garnacha Noir will warm up and open up in the glass in a bouquet building train of flavors. It stands to strong sausages and peppered meats, yet it is mellow enough that it will do great with seafood. A fantastic wine for a grilled entrecôte steak.

Have you tried any wines from Ribera del Duero, Panades, Reus or Alicante?

They blow a lot of those much higher priced wines... and unlike Rioja, they are still not at stratospheric prices... well, people are catching on with RIbera del Duero... I see them now at 80 bucks and more. But you can still get them for 12 bucks if you know when, how and where to get them.

Sorry.
 
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Actually there's a fair bit of it produced in California under its french moniker, 'mourvedre'. When it's well grown and made, it's nice from Spain, France, and California.

Funny thing... my paternal great, great grandfather came for that region. We were drinking wines from his old village.

He was a sheep herder.. moved North but instead of working at a factory, started to herd sheep in the mountains near the big city.

Eventually he became a butcher, fishmonger and bar owner.... family then become restauranteurs and wholesalers in fish, meats and booze.

Love that wine.... Just gotta love that wine. ;-)
 
I'll stick to beer. 🙂

Tom

What a Canadian thing to say! Mon Dieu! Zut Alors!

To come to one of the World's Best Wine regions and only drink beer.

I am NOT prejudiced, you see... I drink wine, beer, vodka, whiskey, shochu, rum. Ever Clear, Moonshine, Cinzano, Tequila, aged paint thinner. just NO GIN... Yuck!

Have you tried shochu? I love the barley version better than the rice or sweet potato. It's actually a great drink on ONE ice cube.

How about a good Palo Cortado or a Manzanilla?

Nothing like drinking some Manly Oloroso after a good hockey game!

Antoine.
 
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