Wine Enthusiast and Wine Spectator are arguably the burly boys of the wine magazine world. They and their tasters can make or break the reputation of a winery (deserved or not…but that’s a debate that will never be resolved) by the flick of a pen. Or tapping of a keyboard as the case may be. Their tasting notes, ratings, and recommendations are read avidly by millions of wine fans, and we all look forward to their yearly Top 100 lists.

It is no secret that I’m quite the Paso Robles wine aficionado. What they do with Zinfandel and Rhône blends is terrific, but it’s more than that.  The talented winemakers there also do amazing things with grapes sourced outside of the region.  For instance, Hug Cellars makes some of the best Pinots I’ve ever tasted, and the grapes are sourced from various coastal areas. Other wineries, such as Sculpterra, Villicana, Ecluse, Estrella, and more, have estate-grown wines, right in the Paso Robles AVA. Quality grapes plus passionate winemaking equals great – if unheralded – wine.

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The Contestants

Let me explain.  This was another Trader Joe’s wine adventure, but it was a lot more fun than I had anticipated. It began with a bargain bottle of Newton Chardonnay (that is not a typo), and culminated in a competition between the Central Coast and  Sonoma/Napa.  The wines were 2008 Trader Joe’s Petit Reserve Chardonnay – Central Coast and 2008 Newton Chardonnay – Sonoma/Napa.

You all know that I’m a Central Coast gal, and this tasting was particularly challenging.

I had great fun!

First, a little about Chardonnay and me.  Many eons ago I had the opportunity to taste a really good Chardonnay.  It was rich, luscious, loaded with fruit, buttery and wonderful.  Because I was a relative wine newbie at the time, I thought that was normal for Chard and couldn’t contain my disappointment the next time I tasted one and found it to be, well, kind of like lemonade laced with apple juice.  It was hardly the rich and wonderful wine I remembered. Unfortunately, that became my experience through the years as I would try it from time to time, still seeking that ethereal Chardonnay experience.  But it was lemonade. Every single time.  So I became an ABC (Anything But Chard) gal. It was quite a few years before I found the Chard character my palate desired and, as I discovered, you had a spend a little money to get it.  Nowadays – whether it’s because you really don’t have to spend a fortune to enjoy a good Chard or because my palate has matured – I enjoy it on a fairly regular basis.

Yup. Me. Liking white wines. Who’da thunk?

Rather than read lots of stuff about how wonderful (or not) these wines were, enjoy the videos!  I liked this wine tasting review so much that I may do more.  If you’d like that, just let me know.

By the time you’re reading this, I’m hoping that you’ve had some time to marvel at the new look and feel of the Vegas Wineaux website and blog.  Months of planning went into the development, and it was almost all lost about three weeks ago when my (now former) hosting company had serious server issues which caused my databases to be corrupted and my design and layouts to disappear.  In a nutshell, about six months of work was jettisoned because of the snafu.

But rather than cry about it, I fired them, found another company, fired THEM, and am now with a company based in San Francisco (just outside of Napa – can’t be a bad thing), and so far, they’ve been very helpful.  Not only that, I was able to retrieve years of postings which means that you guys are going to be treated to lots of golden oldies in the future!

So while the site isn’t as complete as planned, it is still ready to go even if it’s a little skinny in the content department.  But fear not … there’s so much more to come!

Enjoy the new site – it’s actually smaller than the previous one because I tried to be a lot more efficient while offering a few more bells and whistles. Watch for an upcoming YouTube slideshow on the changes.

I’m sitting here, late on a Sunday evening, finally able to sip a glass of a wonderful Rosé from Paso Robles . Who needs Champagne anyway!

Thanks so much for all of your patience and concern.  This has been a long undertaking, and there’s still more great stuff to come.  The disaster was merely a setback, a ripple in my schedule, but it has given me more. um, *opportunities* to plan for the futre. And I so appreciate my fellow wine lovers whom I’ve missed during my hermit months!

This is just the beginning. Stay tuned!

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• A tale of two Pasos (steveheimoff.com)
• Paso Robles: The Best Wine Region You May Not Know (abcnews.go.com)
• Establishment of the Calistoga Viticultural Area (2003R – 496P) (wineindustryreport.finewinepress.com)
• All About Paso Robles (passionatefoodie.blogspot.com)