At nearly 80 degrees in the shade that day — summer-style wines were understandingly enticing. Virginia, an old college friend just getting into wine, ordered a glass of the 2005 Chateau Revelette Rosé at my urging. Revelette is a biodynamic wine from Peter Fisher in Aix en Provence ($8) made from 50 percent Syrah and equal parts Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache. This wine was crisp and fresh, boasting a bouquet full of Provençal lavender and thyme with an undercurrent of tart black currants. The wine went fabulously with the roasted vegetable panini with buffalo mozzarella.

I ordered a glass of the 2004 Mauritson Sauvignon Blanc ($8). I had tried the 2005 back in June when I visited the Mauritson’s Dry Creek winery and loved it so was excited to try another vintage. The Mauritson family has been growing grapes in the Dry Creek Valley since the 1870s, but didn’t start making wine until the mid-1990s, releasing their first vintage in 1998. This Sauvignon Blanc, like the 2005, was stainless steel fermented, contributing to its bracing acidity. I loved the ruby red grapefruit aromas on the nose and the hint of minerality on the finish. If you’re looking for a wine that compliments that overjoyed feeling you get on a lovely, warm December day, this is it. My inner wine geek was impressed to find such a small production, lesser-known wine in the shop and by the glass no less. (Bottle Rock also has the Rockpile Madrone Petite Sirah from the Mauritson’s second label, Rockpile, on the shelves.)

Not wanting to get smashed mid-day, we decided to take advantage of Bottle Rock’s policy of pouring anything in the shop by the glass, selecting the 2003 Bandol from Domaine Tempier’s “La Tourtine” vineyard as our third wine. If you go this route, make sure the service staff or owner explains the pricing clearly so you’re not surprised when you get your bill. The wine gets marked up from the posted retail signs, not unlike corkage, if it’s poured in-house. Cost confusion aside, the Bandol was worth every penny, (we ended up buying the whole bottle). It had the fabulous Mourvedre-y anímal qualities coupled with high-tone cherry, raspberry and mulchy forest floor aromas. The finish was long and luxurious and utterly memorable.

If you’re looking for something fun or funky, Bottle Rock has a great selection, irreverence not taking precedence over knowledge and passion. And while Virginia and I were the only customers in the shop for more than an hour that day (not complaining) I’ve heard the place rocks out at night. So whether you’re itching for scene or just a really great bottle of wine to take home to your friends — the main line is Main Street.

Bottle Rock
3847 Main Street
Culver City, CA
310.836.WINE
bottlerock.net

I ventured out to Willi’s at the end of November, just after finishing up harvest at Pax Wine Cellars. My tasting companion and I ordered two flights of wine and then asked our bartender, Ryan, to select three small plates from the restaurant’s internationally themed menu to compliment our choices.

We began with the 2005 Adegas Gran Vinum Albariño “Nessa” from the Rías Baixas appellation in Spain. The wine had a light nose of green apple and pear with white stone, flattering to its flashy minerality and acidic blast. This wine was lovely and refreshing with a lingering finish. It’d be great on a hot day and a nice contrast to spicy food or lighter seafood dishes.

Our second wine was the 2005 Alban Vineyards Viognier, Central Coast. I had recently tried two Alban Syrahs, the 2003 Alban “Reva” from Arroyo Grande and the 2002 Alban Syrah “Lorraine Vineyard,” Edna Valley and both blew me away for their concentration, reductive smokiness and sense of place. John Alban’s vineyards and winery are completely dedicated to Rhône varietals, so I was eager to try a white. The Viognier, like Alban’s Syrahs, was unfined and unfiltered so its appearance was a bit cloudy compared to the others in our flight. Its bouquet was full of apricots and honeysuckle and it was very lush in the mouth, like lemon meringue with accents of vanilla and toasty new oak. It went well with our first dish, a delicate lobster gnocchi with smoky bacon, corn and fava beans and just a sweet touch of basil oil.

The dish paired even better with our third white, the 2005 Madam Preston, Dry Creek Valley from Preston Vineyards. The wine is a certified organic blend of Rhône varietals: Marsanne (62 percent), Rousanne (31 percent) and Viognier (9 percent) and is delightfully balanced. The nose is intoxicating with the aromas of honey and jasmine balanced by a hint of nuttiness. Pear and citrus flavors fill the mouth. The Madam Preston is an excellent food wine, it’s balance of fruit and acidity and slight heft helped it stand up to the richness of the gnocchi.

Next Ryan served us pomegranate glazed chicken meatballs with a chickpea and cucumber salad. The Madam Preston also went extremely well with this dish, the floral notes and honey balancing out the piquant pomegranate glaze and mild pepper spice of the meatballs. The dish also tasted great with the first red in our second flight, a 2004 Piancornello Rosso di Montalcino from Tuscany. Made from 100 percent Sangiovese, the lighter body, mellow tannins and bright Rainier cherry flavor keep this wine food friendly and particularly suited for chicken or fish.

Our second red was the 2004 Copain Syrah from Lake County. This Syrah was thick with aromas of blackberry and black cherry and a heady, reductive smokiness that is beginning to seem characteristic of California, cool-climate Syrahs. And while the new oak on this Syrah was a bit like licking the inside of a brand new Latour barrel at first, the cardamom and cinnamon packed spice from it complimented the super-concentrated fruit well.

Our final red, from France’s Languedoc, was the 2002 Domaine Lignéres Las Vals Rouge. A blend of Syrah and Mourvedre, this was easily my favorite wine of the night. Like the Madam Preston, it showed excellent balance and was food-friendly. It paired well with our final small plate: roasted pork riblets with long beans and pineapple-quince chutney. The wine was had the sweaty Mourvedre quality, forest floor and game notes with a high-tone cherry, red currant and cocoa kick. I loved the equally wild and elegant natures of this one and thought it was an excellent way to round out the evening.

Willi’s Wine Bar
Open Sunday/Monday 5-9; Wednesday and Thursday through Saturday 11:30-9:30. Closed Tuesdays
4404 Old Redwood Highway
Santa Rosa, CA
707.526.3096
www.williswinebar.net

Wine is complicated, there’s no point in trying to skirt around that. But it doesn’t have to be challenging or frustrating. You shouldn’t have to drink a lot of wines that you don’t like to find one you do. What’s missing in the grocery/big box store experience is guidance, someone who understands wine, who’ll take the time to help you. What you need is: Dean Schaecher.

Dean Schaecher is the proprietor of the Pour House, a small wine shop located on Jibboom Street in Truckee, California. Having worked in the restaurant industry and as a wine distributor before opening the shop, Dean knows a lot about wine. But what makes Dean different, and the Pour House different as a result, is that he wants you to enjoy wine too. And he’ll take the time to help you find the right bottle, staying within your comfort-level price-wise. In fact, says Dean, “I usually undersell people. They typically want to pay more and I’ll sell them stuff that’s a couple of bucks or ten bucks less than they’re used to paying.”

Inside the dimly lit shop, the shelves are lined with bottle after bottle of wines from around the world. Walk in a little further, just behind the register, and you’ll notice a little aluminum-sided bar — this is where Dean works his magic. On any given day, Dean’s got at least four or five bottles of wine open for tasting. Tastes are inexpensive, $1 for wines that sell for less than $15 a bottle, $2 for those $15-25 and $3 for wines that sell for $25 and above. Tastings are done less with selling you a particular wine in mind, than with helping Dean establish what he calls your “bull’s-eye,” where you, the patron, want your wines to exist. Do you like white wines that start of fruity and end up mineraly? Do you like reds with a certain mouth feel, a lot of bright red fruit or a leathery quality? Since most people don’t have the extensive vocabulary by which to describe their wines, Dean works to discover what you like, watching your reaction to what you taste and asking questions. “When I’m in the same room as them [the customer], I know exactly what the frame of reference is, because they’re standing in front of me, tasting a wine and I know exactly what that wine tastes like. They tell me something. That points my arrow towards their bull’s-eye. And the more times we have that interaction, the customer and I, the closer I get.”

The Pour House, of course, isn’t just for newbies. No matter what your level of wine knowledge, Dean’s bound to have some insight. He doesn’t always carry the wines you’d expect; there are few Wine Spectator picks, which, Dean feels, represent such a small percentage of the palates out there. He focuses instead on winemakers off the beaten path and the up-and-comers.

Winemaker tastings are also becoming more frequent at the Pour House. Yesterday Dean hosted Carol Shelton of Carol Shelton wines. Shelton was the award-winning winemaker for Windsor Vineyards for 19 years before leaving to start her own Zinfandel-focused label. She poured five Zins, including the incredibly unique 2004 Monga Zin from dry-farmed old vines in Rancho Cucamonga, California, as well as her 2005 Rendezvous Rosè, a crisp, refreshing rosè made from 100 percent Carignan. Shelton makes about 5,000 cases of wine each year, all sourced and custom crushed at Taft Street winery in Sebastopol.

Events like these and Dean’s attention to smaller producers and attempts to stay ahead of the curve allow his business to be more value-driven. He tastes 100-plus bottles of wine a week, so when a customer comes in and asks for something he doesn’t have, he’ll know what the wine tastes like and can point them towards something that might taste like it. And as customer relationships develop, he’ll be glad to steer you toward new experiences. I can’t wait to try the 2003 Domaine de Cassan Les Esclausels, Cote du Ventoux from France ($12.49) that he sent me home with yesterday.

At the Pour House you might just find you like the wine-buying experience so much that you make it part of your evening out. And then, the only stress will be trying to decide how many bottles you can afford to buy.

The Pour House Wine Shop & Tasting Bar
Open Tuesday through Sunday from 11-7
10075 Jibboom Street
Truckee, California
530.550.9664
www.thepourhousetruckeee.com

Gourmet au Bay, Bodega Bay
Another wine bar in Sonoma County would be hard-pressed to beat the ambience at Gourmet au Bay, located just past The Tides on Highway One in Bodega Bay. Guests can stand at a small wooden bar inside, browse the cute gifts, or loll on a comfy wicker-like chaise on a deck overlooking the water while sipping on their glass of wine. I happened in on a sublimely sunny November day with just the slightest breeze strumming across the water and sat with my surfboard shaped wine tray listening to the gulls, surfing a flight that proprietor Tammi Sales chose for me. Tammi, a fashionably dressed brunette with a relaxed, welcoming demeanor, is a superb host, chatting amicably with everyone who enters the shop.

Tammi Sales, proprietor at Gourmet au Bay.

“It’s a one-woman show,” she says. “I do all the wine buying, all of the gift buying and all of the bartending.” She also spends a lot of time establishing relationships with the locals who are her business from January through June. She buys wines that they couldn’t easily find elsewhere, quickly making repeat customers. Gourmet au Bay’s wines have all scored 90 points or above, are Gold Medal winners or small production wines (under 1,000 cases) from California, says Tammi. Browsing I found a number of wines I’d love to try, including a 2004 Radio-Coteau Pinot Noir and a Kunin Pape Star, alongside more familiar names like Silver Oak and Duckhorn. At the bar, things were less commonplace; “I try to pick things for the bar that are under $25 a bottle,” changing them up at least once a week, sometimes twice, she says.

The view from Gourmet au Bay’s deck.

My flight started with the 2005 Culler “Rosie Syrah Rosé, a refreshing, strawberry-esque quaffer with nice acidity and none of the cloying sweetness that give American rosés a bad reputation.

Next I had the 2005 Balletto Vineyards Pinot Gris, Sonoma Coast, which had some nice tropical fruit on the nose, a hint of vanilla creaminess mid-palate and a nice, slightly mineral finish.

Venturing into the reds, I drank the 2003 Michel-Schlumberger Maison Rouge, Dry Creek Valley, a lovely medium-bodied blend made from Rhône varietals (among others)> This wine had hints of mushroom, smoke and cocoa on the nose along with approachable dark fruit and a nice, round finish. Perfect for food and at only $17 a bottle, I couldn’t resist picking one of these up for the holidays.

Finally, I tried a 2005 McManis Family Vineyards Zinfandel. While I enjoy a good Zin, I couldn’t get past the American Oak on this one, which also lacked any real structure.

With great prices, a less-than-predictable selection and passionate, knowledgeable service, I definitely recommend making Gourmet au Bay part of any North Coast beach trip or a destination in itself.

Gourmet au Bay
Open Thursday through Tuesday from 11-6
913 Highway One in Bodega Bay
707.875.9875
info@gourmetaubay.com
www.gourmetaubay.com