In some states it is common to witness a patron bringing wine into a restaurant. Restaurants typically charge a corkage fee for this privilege. In California, where there are many wine-growing regions, this practice is particularly common. In some states it's illegal, and in others, although technically legal, it simply never occurs, such as in the many famed restaurants in New York City. So what is the general rule regarding corkage in restaurants?

Yes, I am a sommelier and I earn my living serving wine to people, so it comes naturally that I have certain expectations of proper wine service in restaurants. But proper wine service ...

The Willamette Valley in Oregon is incredible country. Unlike some other North American wine growing areas, it is a varied agricultural community. Sure, there are carefully manicured vineyards sloping the hills, but there are also, fruit and nut orchards everywhere, Christmas tree farms, and perennial nurseries. This variety gives the area an awesome beauty and the handsome old barns as well as the swank new wineries add to the appeal.

Last weekend I worked as a guest sommelier at the Central Coast Wine Classic- the illustrious and super-fun event founded by gentleman and wine collector legend, Archie McLaren. As always, the event was low on pretense and high on quality...

At our house, I am not sure which we have more of- wine books or cookbooks.
Surprisingly, they all seem to get used at some time or another. Recently, however, I received a wine/cookbook that I am certain will be used with great regularity in our house...

The other evening I opened a bottle of bubbly to drink with friends. It was Champagne, from a small, reputable producer named Duval-Leroy. The wine was delicious - fresh, appley, hints of brioche. On the front label, the wine said, Blanc de Chardonnay...

It was not so long ago that I was one of the youngest sommeliers around. I looked up to the senior sommeliers- Larry Stone, Roger Dagorn, Daniel Johnnes, Emmanuel Kemiji. It was honor to be near them, to taste wines in their distinguished presence. They (and others) inspired me and generously shared their knowledge. Recently, at a large wine event…

I am embarrassed to say that it has taken me months to get up to Healdsburg to dine at Cyrus. After all, it is one of the hottest new restaurants of 2005 and everyone from foodies to restaurant critics to winemakers is talking about it. And for good reason. Cyrus, located in the swank Hotel Les Mars, is a complete and incredible dining experience. If you haven't been, do yourself a favor and go. Cyrus succeeds in every way as a fine dining restaurant. From the decor and the ambiance, the gentle lighting and the flowers, to the beautiful bar and comprehensive cocktail & spirits program to the service staff and the food; everything is near perfect. I had one of the best meals of my life at Cyrus.

Most people would probably agree that there is no place on Earth like Las Vegas. While some despise Las Vegas, others love it and live for it. Rarely is there an indifferent inbetween. Me, well, I am mostly fascinated by Las Vegas. I feel like the tiniest person in the world when I am there; it is all just so outrageous and overwhelming. I abhor the lack of natural environment, the loud, bad music, the smoking permitted inside, the rampant commercialism and incessant consumerism. On the other hand, I admire the creativity, the entrepreneurialism, and the sheer gall of the place. Las Vegas is freedom and capitalism at its best and you've got to respect that. Most of all, however, I love the restaurants. Indeed, the casino and resort hotels on the Las Vegas strip house some of the finest restaurants in the world. I don't go to Vegas to gamble; I go there to eat and drink.

Okay, so I am not a restaurant critic. But, in some ways, after working more than 20 years in restaurants, both in the front and in the back of the house, I feel that I could be. People that know me, however, know that wine has become my specialty, so here I offer up MY random OPINIONS about my favorite city's wine lists... Remember, great wine lists can be found all over the Bay Area, but here is my own substantiated Best of the Best...

Recently I had a semi-important birthday. Let's just say it ended in 5, not in 0. Still, it was a good reason to celebrate with loved ones and open some great wines. Fortunately, I was born in what some consider a classic Bordeaux vintage. With friends we cooked a special dinner and enjoyed two amazing wines from my birth year. As it turned out, it wasn't just about my birthday and these two legendary Bordeaux clarets, Chateau Lafite and Chateau Lafleur-Petrus. The vintage happened to be the same birth year as two of the other guests. One of their birthdays was very close to mine. Another guest's birthday was only a month later. Still another reason to celebrate was that the evening marked the 20th anniversary of friendship of one of my guests and me.

I hope that you didn't let the summer pass by without sipping on some lovely white wines from Greece. Well, it certainly is not too late. One of the oldest wine growing regions on the planet, Greece offers a wonderful array of wines. Interstingly, 75-80% of Greece's total wine production is white. And they come in many different styles. It is fun to look for and to taste the wide variety of Greek whites that are finally ending up on our retail shelves in the United States. More and more of these exciting wines are available all the time.

Once a sommelier, always a sommelier. Even if a former sommelier no longer works on the floor of a restaurant, there are still sommelier characteristics that remain.

For one, it is impossible not to be continuously aware of every aspect of service when one dines out. A former sommelier always scrutinizes a wine list. A former sommelier can be extra critical about the serving temperatures of wines. A former sommelier can never quite sit still at a dinner party and feels personally responsible to pour the wines. As a former sommelier myself, I recognize that part of me will always be a sommelier.

Last weekend I went to the most beautiful wedding in Santa Fe. The ceremony was held at the historic Loretto Church downtown and the reception was out at a ranch in the breathtaking New Mexican landscape. The sunlight was captivating as I walked up to the bar alongside the adobe building.
As an aperitif, I was offered a choice of water, beer, or sangria. I was assured by the bartender that all of the chioces were cold and refreshing. Well, I certainly couldn't have water; this was a celebration after all. And I had had enough beer the night before, sitting around the bon fire, at yet another stunning desert ranch. So I opted for the sangria. Heck, I was in New Mexico, what did I have to lose?
As I took the first sweet, and yes, refreshing sip, I realized that I had not had sangria in well over a decade. Definitely not since college. I realized that I had been missing out on one of life's greatest SIMPLE wine pleasures. It was delicious! Why hadn't I been drinking sangria all these years...?

Wine Lingerie...

Every sommelier I know has a T-shirt from one winery or another. So does every wine lover, collector, and vineyard worker. But how many of you sport wine "underwear"? Now I can name a few sommeliers that do! And let me tell you... it is some pretty risky stuff! Here is how we got our hands on it...

Spring springs eternal. The finer weather, wherever you live, makes you want to get outside.
My feeling has always been that one of the greatest pleasures in life is a picnic. I simply love to eat outside. The food always seems to taste better, and being outside seems to bring us closer to nature.
This Spring & Summer, I encourage everyone to get outside more and have more picnics with their friends and families. Whether on a blanket or at a picnic table, or in a tree house for that matter, just go outside and enjoy it. And whatever the menu, don't forget to bring along some tasty wines... they complete any picnic.

Over a year ago, while I was still the lead sommelier at Restaurant Gary Danko, I got a call from a gentleman asking me if he could stop by and taste his wines with me. He said he was in the neighborhood and could be there within minutes. The gall! Didn't he know that we were the busiest restaurant in town? Didn't he know that it took weeks to get a tasting appointment with me, and that suppliers were lining up to sell us wine? Furthermore, I had never even heard of these wines.
It was about 3:00 pm, my assistant sommelier had the day off, and I was swamped. I should have said no thank you to him, and put him off for some undetermined date down the road. That, after all, is what I nearly always did. I simply didn't have the time for impromtu tastings. But something in me that day said yes to the man on the other end of the phone. Surely I was procrastinating all of the paperwork that I had to do. But I remain very happy that I told him to come in...

It is no secret that Champagne is one of my favorite wines. In some restaurants that I frequent, when the Sommelier or Maitre d' see me come in, they automatically bring over a glass of Champagne without asking me what I would like to drink. They know me, and often, they are a good friend.
But that is alright with me, because over the years I have always touted the pleasures of beginning (and often ending) an evening with a glass of bubbles. Nothing is more refreshing. Nothing is more elegant. Nothing gives you the lift like Champagne.

La Paulee de New York 2005. Wow. I went to La Paulee in 2001 and 2003 and I was wowed then, but I was really, exceptionally wowed in 2005. As John Kapon, President of Acker Merrall Condit, wrote of the recent, magestic event, "...Daniel Johnnes... brought the glory of La Paulee back to New York City earlier this month with a weekend of decadence, excess and camaraderie unsurpassed in the wine world." I couldn't agree more. For me, the camaraderie I felt with the producers and the collectors was special and genuine, but the friendships deepened in the back room, the "wine staging room", where 50 of the nations best sommeliers pulled corks, sniffed rare bottlings, and decanted double-magnums of legendary wines. In fact, many of the Vintrust sommeliers were there, and surely they remain as stary-eyed as I do about the event. Likely, there will be more than one entry on this site about La Paulee de New York. Even if we all wrote about it, we couldn't possibly convey its true glory.

Now that I live in downtown San Francisco, I love making new discoveries in Chinatown.
I love to eat there. And on a day when my spirits are down, I take a stroll through Chinatown and the bright colors, smells and smiles always cheer me up. I love dim sum on Sundays and sauteed mustard greens with garlic sauce any day of the week. But what to drink in Chinatown? I have happily long stopped ordering a Tsing Tao. Refreshing as Chinese beer may be, nothing beats a crisp, low-alcohol, high-acid wine with this flavorful fare. But most Chinese restaurants have extremely limited wine lists or none at all. The good news is, nearly all of the restaurants do not mind if you bring your own wine.
Some have nominal corkage fees and some none at all. The stemware, on the other hand, is never ideal, but I am not suggesting that you bring a legendary fine wine. Rather, bring something light that will cleanse the palate and bring out the delicious flavors of the cuisine.

By now you've probably seen the much lauded film, Sideways. If you haven't, you should, whether you are a wine lover or not. Sideways has won numerous awards in the film industry, including an Oscar for Best Screenplay. Sideways is a triumph of an American film-- rather than the usual Hollywood blockbusters that tend to be vehicles for young, beautiful stars as well as violence and in-your-face sexuality, Sideways offers a look at subjects of realism. The main characters all face realistic conflicts, despite the fact that the picture takes place for the most part in the wine coutry and environs of Santa Barbara county. Throughout the flim, viewers witness serious conflicts, mostly in the form of relationship issues, and some hard-core humor. For California wine lovers, the film is a real treat: many of our top Central Coast wineries are mentioned and some of our favorite wines are consummed. In fact, hardly a scene goes by without some swirling, sniffing, and tasting.

Ever refer to a specific wine in that all-knowing, collective way? You know, like a wine that comes from a 40,000 case production, let's say Chateau Margaux, and you find yourself saying, "Last time I tasted the '89 Margaux it was still tight." Or, "The '78 margaux is my favorite first growth of the vintage."
Even if one had tasted a dozen bottles or more, there still remains the question of bottle variation.
Especially as wines age, change hands, and move from cellar to cellar, things happen. Some bottles get special storage and others are made to suffer in less than ideal conditions. Those are only two of the many reasons that bottle variation occurs. The best wine tasters, in my opinion, are the ones who recognize that bottle variation is a fact of life and accept it. They even find education in it.

I have a collector friend who is extremely generous with his fine wines. He loves nothing more than to share. I have another dear collector friend who hoards his wines and drinks most of them alone.
Observing these different characteristics in people fascinates me. Recently, I tasted some magnificent wines with "generous" collector friend and some other oenophiles. ("Greedy" friend wasn't there.)
Half way through the tasting, having learned that the day before was one of the guest's birthday, "generous" opened an epic wine from the guest's birth year. And when I say epic, I mean EPIC. There is perhaps nothing more profoundly beautiful in this world than a well-stored, perfectly decanted, properly served bottle of 1961 Chateau Lafite. It can sweep you off your feet. As we oh'd & ah'd over the wine and tried in our best winespeak to elaborate on its delicious complexities, I considered the spontaneous generosity of our host.

It is no surprise that soup goes well with many wines. But next time you are planning a dinner party, don't just consider soup for the first course. Think a hearty stew, followed by a green salad and a cheese course, and you have a classic dinner.

The western side of the Mediterranean's largest island, Sicily, is profoundly beautiful. At the same time, it is rustic, industrial, and mysterious. The imposing slopes of the Mt. Etna volcano fall down to villages scattered along the pristine coastline.