Barrel Tasting Poster 2012

The poster for the 2012 Barrel Tasting event has finally arrived! I created the watercolor and Liz Pembroke at Pembroke Studios did the design. As the event gets closer, I’ll announce the winery(s) I’ll be sketching at. Click to see the original painting and to find out more about the event. Here’s to a successful 2012 Barrel tasting weekend!

Update:

Saturday March 3, I’ll be sketching at Pedroncelli Winery in Geyserville, CA  just up the road a few miles.

Saturday March 10, I’ll be sketching at Robert Rue Winery in Fulton, CA south of Healdsburg.

I’m excited to sketch and wine taste at both of these award winning wineries!

Sparkling Wine Tasting

Some say the key to longevity is having good friends, eating good food, and of course, drinking good wine. I tend to agree and that is why I’ve enjoyed being part of my wine tasting group for so long. Our first tasting took place seventeen years ago while casually relaxing on a friend’s porch here in Healdsburg. We had each brought a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, and we discussed the wines while eating crackers. Though our tastings have become more elaborate over the years with the introduction of blind tastings and a full pot luck dinner, I’m happy to say that we still meet several times a year.

Recently, I hosted our group’s annual sparkling wine tasting. After we agreed on the the date of the party, I planned the evening’s festivities including the dish I would make and the wine I would serve. Once the food was purchased, the house cleaned, the table set, and two rosemary chickens were roasting side by side in the oven on a bed of potatoes, I relaxed as my guests arrived with smiling faces, fresh bread, aged cheeses, green salads, dessert, and of course, a bottle of sparkling wine each.

Bread was broken and updates on family and friends were shared along with recent adventures or mishaps. Additional still wines were opened by two wine makers in our group seeking comments on their latest release. I’ve been saving an interesting bottle I recently found in my wine cellar (coat closet) that’s ready to drink, so I opened it also.

After I caught up with each of my guests and made a couple rounds of the cheeses and still wines, I hid away in the kitchen wrapping each bottle of sparkling wine in a paper bag and numbered them for identification. This was a blind tasting after all, and even I tried not to look at the wine label while wrapping each bottle. Then I herded everyone to the dinning room table where glasses and note pads had been pre-arranged.

 

A row of six glasses, the equivalent to the number of wines being poured, was waiting at each place sitting. The wines were then passed around and poured in order. The chattering group of us settled and became quiet as we got down to business. Music that was once muffled by conversation was then recognizable above the clinking of glasses. Notes were taken, the wines ranked, and when each of us was done exploring the wines, we discussed them one by one.

Once our conversation was exhausted, we unveiled each wine by ranking, from the bottom to top of the list. “Aaahhhs,” “ooohhhhs,” and “huummms” were uttered, expressions of surprise and curiosity made as the bottles were revealed.

Then the scent of roasted poultry called me into the kitchen and we all prepared for dinner. Out of the oven came the two roasted rosemary chickens and potatoes, the salad was tossed, and more bread brought to the table. The feast was served and each of us chose from the remaining wines an accompaniment to his or her meal.

Clearing the table, we finished with a pomegranate pie for dessert, coffee and conversation well into the night.

After saying farewell to the last departing guest, the dishes were rinsed and put into the washer. Then my wife and I relaxed in the afterglow of a great evening of friends, food, and fun.

Toad Hollow Tasting Room

Once a year I host a sparkling wine tasting at my house and each person attending, including myself, must bring a bottle to the party. Half the fun of attending a wine tasting is making one’s wine selection, whether it be from a wine shop or tasting room. But Healdsburg is short on sparkling wine producers, and since I’ve been self-limited to my bike these days, I had to choose something nearby.

As I pulled my bike out of the garage, I noticed a bigger problem—a nearly flat tire. I didn’t even have a patch kit to fix it. Since it appeared to be a slow leak, I decided to take a chance, and after pumping up my tire, headed toward town. On the way, I remembered Toad Hollow Winery has a couple sparking wines and their tasting room is right off the square.

At my first stop—Spoke Folk Bike Shop—I purchased a tire patch kit, then rode the few blocks to Toad Hollow tasting room, parking against a tree. Standing away from my bike, I thought the view would make a good sketch, and standing as far back as possible on the sidewalk without stepping into the street, I began to draw. Soon after I finished blocking in the larger shapes, Jim Costa, the tasting room manager, came out to offer me a chair.

After adding watercolor to finish the sketch, I entered the tasting room, where a small group stood at the bar, and a young couple looked through shelves of merchandise at the back wall. Checking the day’s tasting menu, I learned luck was with me–I’d get to taste two sparkling wines.

The first was NV Amplexus Brut, a French wine produced in the Crémant style. This wine is made from a blend of Chardonnay, Mauzac, and Chenin Blanc grapes. I found it pleasing, with notes of peach and lemon balancing on toasty aromas of yeast.

The second wine, NV Risque, tasted fruitier than the Amplexus and reminded me of apple cider, pears, and honey. A medium sweet wine, it’s made entirely from the Mauzac grape using the Méthode Ancestrale, an unusual technique that predates the Méthode Champagne. It also has less carbonation and alcohol than the Amplexus. I enjoyed both wines, but since my preference leans towards dryer, or brut sparkling wines, I purchased a bottle of Amplexus for the party.

Slipping the wine into my backpack, I noticed my tire was underinflated, so I sped home. As I pulled up at my house, my back tire was now flattening against the pavement. I sighed with relief at having made it home, my tire intact, and with a good bottle of sparkling wine in hand.

The 34th World Wide Sketchcrawl in Healdsburg

Yesterday marked the 34th World Wide Sketchcrawl, an event that happens about every other month. What is Sketchcrawl, you ask? In 2006, Pixar artist Enrico Casarosa started the group in San Francisco, with the idea that artists worldwide might spend a Sketchcrawl day in kind of a pubcrawl like fashion, only sketching rather than drinking. Artists gather at a designated location, then go off in the direction of their choice to sketch what interests them. After a few hours, each member of the group returns to the meeting place to share their sketches with the other artists.

At 10am last Saturday, about a dozen sketch artists met at the Gazebo in Healdsburg’s plaza. We then scattered around town to sketch. My first drawing was of the northeast corner of the Plaza, where the day workers congregate in hopes of finding work. But it wasn’t long before scattered showers and cold weather pushed me indoors. My sketch friend Phil and I decided to head over to Moustache, a cupcake and coffee shop, for Double Barrel Americano coffees and cupcakes. Delicious!

 

Two hours passed in the blink of an eye and we hurried back to the Gazebo to re-congregate with the group. Mingling once again, this time we shared our mornings’ sketches. I thoroughly enjoyed this event, despite the fickle weather, made some new friends, and delighted in seeing other artists work.

Watercolor for the 34th Annual Barrel Tasting Poster

I’ve been working for weeks on a watercolor painting for one of our biggest local wine events. The 34th Annual Barrel Tasting is scheduled for the weekends of March 2-4 and March 9-11, 2012, in and around Healdsburg. Although I painted the poster art in my studio—it’s technically not a sketch—I plan to sketch the event’s festivities from the road.

Barrel Tasting is the only opportunity to sample wines still aging in the barrel while exploring the beautiful Sonoma County Wine Country. Winemakers are present in the cellars and caves of many wineries, ready with as little or as much information as any wine lover could desire. What excites most about Barrel Tasting is the opportunity to make “futures” purchases on wines sampled. This means that the speculating taster pays much less now for wines still in process. After bottling and any further aging, the wine becomes available for pick-up or shipping later in the year. Many wines are in such limited supply that buying futures is the only way to enjoy the finished wine.

Even though Barrel Tasting falls in the midst of our rainy season, the sun often favors early March. Starting at 11:00 a.m., tasters can easily be spotted around town, wine glasses in hand, as they make their way from winery to winery. By afternoon, large grins and teeth stained purple from wine make tasters even easier to spot. Hopefully by the end of the day, everyone’s had a good time, a bit of sunshine, and wine for next year’s picnics, parties, and patio sipping has been secured with futures purchases.

Limerick Lane

Late Saturday morning, as I packed and prepped the bike for a ride into town, sub-freezing overnight temps were rising into the mid-40s. As I set out, a chill nipped my chin, but the sunshine and exercise kept me warm. After crossing Healdsburg’s Memorial Bridge and cruising down Old Redwood Highway, a left turn found me on Limerick Lane, a gently sloping winery-lined road that opens onto rolling vineyards.

At half a mile or so, the county road ends, branching into two private roads leading in opposite directions. Two old barns frame the vineyard-covered hills awash in new autumn colors. Here I hopped off my bike and unfolded the portable stool to draw amidst the wild grasses. The scent of woodsmoke drifted on a gentle breeze, along with faint, but not unpleasant, barnyard smells. I pulled out my landscape sketchbook and began to block in the larger shapes of the landscape.

Midway through drawing, I heard a loud neigh just behind me. Spinning around, I found a beautiful cream and brown spotted horse a few feet away.

My new friend made excellent company as I put the finishing touches on the painting. Then I packed up my gear and rode back toward town. With the sun now low in the west I felt the evening chill once again filling the valley. I hoped to make it home before dark, but I had miles to go before I could rest.

Dry Creek Valley

As Dry Creek Road winds through the valley, high points along the way provide remarkable views. Riding a bike allows me to stop in the moment to enjoy the scenery, even in places unavailable to cars. This is one of those spots, where I stopped roadside at a vineyard slope, marveling at the view. As an added bonus, I was able to use the terrace as a seat while painting.

The Red Barn


Last weekend, my sketch friend Phil and I rode our bikes through the Dry Creek Valley, looking for places to sketch. I had driven this road a hundred times by car but never noticed this old barn until I started cycling around the area. We parked our bikes and sat on a stone wall across the street, which provided a good vantage point. The occasional car whizzed past, interrupting the otherwise still morning. Today we were lucky, the weather was unseasonably warm but I could smell smoke from a burn pile down the road that reminded me winter is not far off. After about an hour of sketching, we packed up our supplies and biked further into the Dry Creek valley looking for more sketching opportunities.