Los Olivos

We spent a recent Sunday in Los Olivos with the infamous Caroline Henry, the author of two wine blogs: Missinwine and Wizinwinebiz.

Our first stop is now one of my favorite tasting rooms in Los Olivos - Blair Fox Cellars. I should point out that I still haven't been to every tasting room in Los Olivos - I find I have only the patience and the liver to hit three or four a trip. Caroline was professional enough to spit - but I'm not. All that spitting makes wine tasting hard work!

It had great wine, a lovely ambiance, a very charismatic pourer, and it wasn't very crowded. Of all the wines they poured, the Viognier was my favorite. It was blended with a bit of Roussanne which just really made the wine stand out. Interestingly enough, they had to externally-source the Viognier for 2008 because the grapes they normally use were destroyed by frost.

It was also interesting to hear the stories the pourer told about the Sideways effect. Sideways really changed Los Olivos. Before the movie, Los Olivos was split: there were about a dozen tasting rooms in town, and a dozen art galleries. Now there are two art galleries left, and two dozen or so tasting rooms.

Tied with Blair Fox for my favorite tasting room in Los Olivos is Qupé. It's not quite as intimate as the Blair Fox space, but that's to be expected considering how much more wine Qupé makes.

Qupé actually poured one of their wines with a Soirée Decanter, which is sold by many fine stores. The decanter attaches to the bottle, which is neat - and not something that I remember seeing a tasting room actually do before.

The Soirée is an ingenious device you attach to the end of your bottle, and it aerates the wine. There's no doubt that it will improve the taste of certain immature wines, although you'll have to experiment to find out exactly what type of wines you like better with it. I can't think of a better endorsment than Qupé using it when pouring.

I remember being at the first North American Wine Blogger's Conference, and the inventor of the Soirée was showing off his invention while we ate at a winery. The winemaker pointed out - and quite rightly - that you could get the same affect by sticking a straw in the bottle and blowing. But somehow I don't think Miss Manners would find that appropriate.

One thing I didn't know until now was that Au Bon Climat (ABC) and Qupé share the same wine-making faclity. In fact, they are having an open house on Sunday, April 17, 2011. This event happens only twice a year, and will certainly be worth checking out.

There are a bunch of other brands made at Clendenen-Lindquist Vintners besides Qupé and ABC. They are:

• Il Podere dell'Olivos
• Ici/La-Bas
• Vita Nova
• Clendenen Family Vineyards
• Makor
• Barham Mandelsohn

I'm not familar with some of these labels, but clearly I'll have to be on the look out for them.

The only thing you absolutely have to do when you're in Los Olivos is to stop by Enjoy Cupcakes. Since our last trip in 2009, they've added a flight option, where you can try any six of their mini cupcakes for $10. They offer consistent options as well as experimental, so you'll almost always find something new on the menu.

If anything, the cupcakes are even better than I remember them. For our gluten free friends: They'll specially make gluten-free cupcakes if you order them in advance, although I'm not sure what the minimum quantity is.

We finished the day by eating at the Hitching Post II. This is, of course, the restaurant made famous by Sideways. It was the first time I've eaten there. There's something about restaurants featured in movies that makes me nervous. Maybe it's just how disappointing Mystic Pizza (the eponymous restaurant that was the basis of a Julia Roberts film) was.

But, Hitching Post II was a wonderful experience! I split a 26 ounce Angus Rib Chop - and we still had leftovers. Included in the entrée cost was a baked potato, salad, and shrimp cocktail. It's refreshing to get a great steak and not have to pay extra for every side dish - like you do at most steak houses these days. For our designated driver, the restaurant even offered a complimentary appetizer and a non-alcoholic beverage.

The owner of the Hitching Posts, Frank Ostini, makes his own wines with a partner Gary Hartley, a commercial fisherman. They are sold under the Hartley Ostini label. We had the 2007 St Rita's Earth, a Pinot Noir. It was a fantastic bargain at only $35 for a very, very drinkable Pinot. You'd be lucky to find that good of a Pinot in a retail store at that price, but at a restaurant, it's almost unheard of.