The Good Life: Let's Grape & Gourmet – and Wine & Dine
It's maybe the most common question from anyone who drinks wine, whether they're collectors or just folks who have a glass with dinner: What wine should I drink?
It comes in varying forms. The too-cool-for-the-wine-bar types make it sound faux sophisticated, and if they're really annoying, they'll bring up vineyard angles or ph levels or something just to sound all smarty-pants. But it all really boils down to "Help me find me something I will like."
Here's the thing, no one can. You have to find it yourself, because taste is personal and quirky, and even if some of the best wine judges in California like something, that doesn't mean you will.
However, an award-winning wine is a pretty good place to start, which is why the California Grape & Gourmet festival coming in July is a fun and useful food-and-wine event.
First off, it's a food-and-wine festival. Winner right there. But what makes this one special is all the wines being poured – and there will be about 600 of them – will be medal winners from the 2009 California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition. This is where anyone can find a few wines they'll like.
"You can close your eyes, stick out your glass, and you're guaranteed to get poured a medal-winning wine. How great is that?" said G.M. "Pooch" Pucilowski, the chief judge for the State Fair wine competition and the man behind Grape & Gourmet.
Let's pause for a couple points of disclosure. The Bee is one of the sponsors of Grape & Gourmet. Doesn't matter. I still like it.
Also, I was a guest judge one day during the competition and I have a new, even greater respect for what those people go through, particularly for the wines that win gold.
Back to the festival. It's July 9, runs 5:30 to 9 p.m., costs $50 in advance or $70 at the door, and because it keeps growing, has been moved to the Sacramento Convention Center for more space.
This is a big-deal wine event, but food is a huge part, too, with about 90 of Northern California's better restaurants supplying food to go along with the wines being poured.
That's something Pooch – everyone calls the cheerful and enthusiastic Pucilowski "Pooch" – is also proud of.
"I don't know any kind of wine tasting in California that brings in so many restaurants," he said. "Think about it, 80 or 90 of the top restaurants from all over Northern California. That's a pretty good thing."
Did I mention Pooch is enthusiastic?
With the move to the Convention Center this year, organizers are pairing with some Sacramento business groups to try to persuade attendees from out of town, or just from out of the central city, to consider making a weekend of it. Or even a week.
One big link with that is Sacramento Wine & Dine Week, running from July 4 to 12, which has more than 40 restaurants from throughout the area offering three- and four-course meals with regional cuisine, and each course is paired with medal-winning wines.
For Wine & Dine Week, the prices are different at each eatery and generally run $35 to $50 per person – for food and wine. The restaurants include Biba, Esquire Grill, Mason's and Grange in the city core to Gönül's J Street Café in east Sacramento, Hawks Restaurant in Granite Bay and Crush 29 in Roseville. There are loads more; for the full list, with menus, wines and prices, go to www.sacramentowineanddine.com or call the Sacramento Convention and Visitors Bureau at (916) 808-7777.
That's another good way to try some wines you might like, by the way, because food-and-wine pairings show a lot about the qualities and the balance in a wine, and, I'll argue, drinking wine with food on your plate is the best way to play this game.
For sheer volume, though, there are few opportunities for pairings or just tastings like Grape & Gourmet.
This is the 13th annual public festival, but it actually started about two decades ago as an event for the wine press and trade to announce the State Fair medal winners and to introduce some good wines to sellers and distributors.
"I still really want to do this for the wineries who are basically invisible. I want them to get exposure with retailers, particularly in the Sacramento area," Pooch said. "All the big wineries will be here, but this is most of all for the small guy who might never have the opportunity to meet the buyers."
The restaurants got involved when Pooch and the other organizers started inviting the public. That brought another problem, though. Something this big seems like it belongs on a Friday or Saturday night, except those are the exact evenings most restaurants are too busy to also handle a festival.
"We first started on Tuesday nights because we had a better chance of getting restaurateurs," he said, "but that wasn't great. We think Thursday is a good compromise because Sacramento has always been a good Thursday party town."
Not that Pooch is pushing this as just a party – not that there's anything wrong with that. It also is an outstanding chance to taste through a lot of wines. If you do come looking for your personal winners, a couple suggestions:
• Bring a notepad. You know you'll forget half of what you've tasted because a) you just will, and b) you'll be drinking wine.
• If you're really looking for wines – as opposed to going after the Thursday night party – don't feel you need to finish every drop in your glass, or that you should taste all the wines from one winery.
• If you find a wine you like, ask if there are similar styles around. Also ask the winery folks to describe their wine. Get details on body or acidity or whether it was heavily oaked, for instance, not just lists of flavors or mentions of billion-year-old vines. The goal is to be able to describe it to someone else. That will help you identify other wines you may like.
• Another way to remember a wine is to buy a bottle. Lots of the medal winners will be on sale there and proceeds go to the nonprofit Friends of the California State Fair, which funds youth scholarships and education programs.
But as even the judges would tell you, don't be stampeded by gold medals and praise from someone else. My first rule of wine, which is one Pooch backs completely, is: If you love it, you're right; if you hate it, you're right.
"When any wine wins a medal at the State Fair, or at some other fair, or even if it gets a high score from someone like Robert Parker," Pooch said, "that doesn't tell you you're going to like it.
"There are different kinds of tasters and everyone has a different palate. There are tolerant tasters and hypersensitive tasters. All of them are valid. What we're saying with a medal is, 'We suggest you try it.' When you get to a store, there are no guidelines to help. At least here, you'll have a place to start."
IF YOU GO
California Grape & Gourmet offers unlimited tasting of 600 State Fair medal-winning wines from more than 300 wineries, and food from 90 Northern California restaurants.
When: 5:30 to 9 p.m. July 9
Where: Sacramento Convention Center, 1400 J St.
Cost: $50 in advance through July 8, $70 at the door; $40 advance tickets for groups of 10 or more. VIP tickets are $100 and include early admission at 3:30 p.m. for the awards ceremony.
To buy tickets: www.tickets.com or the Sacramento Convention Center box office, 1301 L St., open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday.
Extras: Live music from the Cheeseballs and the Dean-O-Holics, microbrews, and commemorative wineglasses and wine totes.
Good eating all week: Sacramento Wine & Dine Week, July 4-12, involves more than 40 restaurants throughout the region offering three- and four-course meals; each course is paired with a medal-winning wine. Prices vary, but generally run $35 to $50 per person. For a list of restaurants with menus, wines and prices, go to www.sacramentowineanddine.com or call the Sacramento Convention and Visitors Bureau, (916) 808-7777.
Win free tickets from The Bee: Four people chosen at random will each win a set of four free tickets. To enter, go to sacbee.com/vip and sign up before July 2.
For more information: Go to www.thebestcaliforniawine.com, e-mail grapegourmet@calexpo.com or call (916) 263-3282.