28-Sep-2009 @ The Valencia Wine Company

Headed up to Santa Clarita Monday afternoon for a fund raiser at the Valencia Wine Company. My FB friend, Eve Hammond Bushman - blogger extraordinaire - was acting as wine server to raise money for her SCV Unitarian Universalist Church. We arrived early, of course, and wandered around the store, reading wine labels and trying to decide what we wanted to drink. We settled on a Bordeaux from Saint-Emilion – Chateau Comte des Cordes 2006. 75% Merlot/25% Cabernet Sauvignon. Dee-lishus! Deep ruby, pale around the edges; nose full of earth, leather, mushroom, toffee; mouth full of earth at first, but opened up and got gorgeous red fruit; nice acid/tannin balance. $34.99 We also purchased a combination cheese and meat plate, a nice charcuterie comprised of 2 types of salami, prosciutto, 6 different cheeses, marinated olives, mini dill pickles, and a plate of water crackers and lavosh. All we needed was some chocolate, and the experience would have been complete! Spent some time with Rusty Sly, one of Eve’s friends and co-bloggers. He’s very knowledgeable about corks, and has written extensively about corks and why we should keep using corks. He’s also in the earth/space science industry and actually contributes to the labors that go on around shuttle launches and such. A well-educated and opinionated (in a good way) nerd. We liked him a lot – and he must have liked us, as he treated us each to a 2 oz. pour of Mollydooker 2008 The Boxer – a huge Shiraz from MacLaren Vale. It was too much after the elegant Bordeaux; big and jammy; opaque red/black color, smoky, peppery nose; a real fruit bomb with a nice helping of black pepper. And 16% alcohol! Extremely extracted – cherry, pomegranate. Needed a steak or leg of lamb to go with it. Also got to meet John Carter – not from Barsoom or ER – but from Bar Parts, an online retailer of everything you could possibly need for being in the wine or beer or spirits industry. Last year when I joined WineShop at Home, I ordered plastic dump buckets from him. They didn’t arrive with the rest of my order, and when I called and asked about delivery (as I had tastings scheduled), he said they didn’t come in and he was sending me better quality buckets. In fact, he sent me 2 gorgeous stainless steel buckets that are much more attractive and durable than the plastic ones would have been, and they’ve doubled as ice buckets several times as well. Another nice connection to make. He asked me for info about WSAH, and said he would feature me on his blog. Nice! Meanwhile, Eve was going back and forth, serving wine and taking orders, and sipping something red while she was doing it. It was fun to watch, as she has never actually waited tables, and was surprised at what a sweat she was working up! We were very amused, and made fun of her because we could. We rolled out of there around 6:30 or so – it was still light out. A pleasant way to end the day!