San Francisco Bay Area and California Wine News — — SFGate

San Francisico Bay Area Wine news. — SFGate

• 2009 Napa Valley Cabernet: The Chronicle recommends
  Napa Cabernet is typically our biggest and most pivotal tasting of the year. Our panel considered some 60 wines from the 2009 vintage in a range of prices. We found wines that exemplified the power of Napa and the...
  
  
  
• Napa's 2009s herald what great Cabernet can be
  There's debate these days as to what makes for a great vintage. In some minds it might be a year like 2007 in Napa Valley, brimming with warmth and sun. Or perhaps 2008, which enjoyed that ripeness although in a...
  
  
  
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• Bordeaux's second wines affordable, exceptional
  We Americans don't realize it, but the Chinese are determining what wine we drink. They're not flooding the market with knockoffs or gray-market bottles. Instead, their voracious appetite for big-name Bordeaux has...
  
  
  
• The Chronicle recommends: domestic Muscat
  Lately, there has been a good deal of ink devoted to a sweeter, straightforward, easy-to-drink varietal that is a good aperitif and pairs with lighter fare. That varietal, known as Muscat Blanc, Muscat Canelli and...
  
  
  
• A spring treat: strawberries, sabayon and Moscato
  Strawberries - the quintessential fruit of spring - are featured in all manner of desserts, but garnishing a goblet full of them with a light, soft zabaglione custard is one of the nicest. This slightly frothy dessert...
  
  
  
• Specchio, S.F.: Rustic Italian food in the Mission
  Take a break from - or fuel up for - the nearby bars and dance clubs at this quirky Mission spot. Chef and co-owner Gino Assaf, formerly of Gondola in North Beach, serves up rustic northern Italian cuisine in a...
  
  
  
• Sonoma Zinfandel: The Chronicle Recommends
  Zinfandel is California's grape, and nowhere has it found a home like Sonoma County, where more than 5,300 acres are devoted to it. If you want a barometer of the state of Zin, look no further. It has been a few years...
  
  
  
• Run out of vino in S.F.? Rewinery delivers relief
  -- Serial entrepreneur Paulo Lerner and his partner-in-Web endeavors, Joana Koiller , have harnessed the GPS capabilities of iPhones to provide direct-to-picnic-blanket deliveries of wine with Rewinery . Deliveries (...
  
  
  
• 2010 Chablis clear winners
  Few things offer more pleasure in wine than a great vintage of Chablis. When the stars align, when the fruit gets just ripe enough without verging into overkill, you can't but see how a truly meaningful wine really can'...
  
  
  
• Francis Ford Coppola restoring Inglenook's legacy
  Francis Ford Coppola knew he had a special place when he bought the old Niebaum mansion in 1975. But, how special? Robert Mondavi, who came over from nearby Oakville to pay his respects, perhaps framed it best. "You...