My Weekend at The Rooftop Winery

Sunday, July 14, 2019, I’m leaving “The Rooftop” for a business conference in Long Beach.  It was a quick visit to the Wojo’s before I had to leave for business an hour south.

For the record, I arrived on Friday, as my usual LAX travels have me do, and started with our customary Friday night dinner at a new place called Pikoh with some great food and wine.

Saturday, was a relaxing day, a visit to the Bel Air Bay Club to lay back, read a book and have a drink in the Cabana before dinner.  Oh, that’s right, we had dinner in the formal dining room.  That’s my favorite place!  For pics from the dining room go HERE.

Here’s the list of wines we had on this short trip:

Rose

• 2018 Angeline Rose of Pinot Noir

Whites

• 2016 Aubert Chardonnay, Hudson Vineyard
• 2016 La Follette Chardonnay, Sun Chase Vineyard
• 2016 La Follette Chardonnay, Lorenzo Vineyard
• 2016 Liquid Farm Chardonnay, Bien Bien
• 2017 Unique Sauvignon Blanc, France

Reds

• 2008 Valquejigoso, V2, Madrid Spain
• 2012 Falcor Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley

Pictures from my short weekend visit to “The Rooftop Winery” can be found HERE.

Raymond, Raj and Andrew Storm The Hilltop

On January 8, 2016 Raymond invited himself and a few friends (he has a habit of doing that) to The Hilltop Winery for a wine reception hosted by Mike and Mav and then off to one of his favorite restaurants in the Pacific Palisades, Casa Nostra.

The weather that particular Friday was stunning!

The evening wouldn’t be complete unless his favorite mother-in-law (he only has one by the way) joined us on The Hilltop Winery for the festivities.  Oh, she also just happened to be his transportation from the airport to the house or should I say Villa.

The festivities began promptly at 4:00 p.m. with a twist this visit, Mike made everyone a specialty cocktail to start the party!  He made tangerine martini’s using freshly picked produce from his backyard as well as his favorite vodka, Tito’s.

Once we all settled down and said our hello’s, finished our martini’s, we proceeded to the cellar where the real party began.  Hold that thought, the special guests were given a second specialty cocktail, a burnt grapefruit vodka soda!

Now settled, in the cellar, and in honor of Andrew’s birth year, and the fact that Raymond got married that same year, the Sommelier (Mike) pulled a very nice 1991 Staglin Cabernet Sauvignon.

We couldn't stop there so we had to pull a wine in celebration of Raj’s birth year and Mike pulled a 1990 Chateau Clerc Milon Bordeaux.

Both needed a little time to breath and then both were consumed and enjoyed by all.

Well it was now time to go to Casa Nostra for our 6:30 p.m. reservation so we took an Aubert Chardonnay, a Brander Cabernet Sauvignon and rounded it out by taking a Frank Family Cabernet Sauvignon.

Here’s the entire list of wines we drank throughout the weekend on The Hilltop Winery. Thanks Mike and Mav for another wonderful weekend!

White

• 2013 Aubert Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast (2 bottles)
• 2014 Carmenet Chardonnay Reserve (2 bottles)

Red

• 1990 Chateau Clerc Milon Bordeaux
• 1991 Staglin Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
• 2002 Chateau Montelena Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
• 2009 Frank Family Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
• 2010 La Follette Pinot Noir, Dunah Vineyard, Russian River
• 2011 Alto Moncayo Garnacha, Spain
• 2011 La Follette Pinot Noir, Sangiacomo Vineyard, Sonoma Coast
• 2014 Brander Cabernet Sauvignon, Santa Ynez Valley

For pictures of the evening go HERE.

Cellar Pruning: A Daunting Task But Someone Has To Do It!

During the week of July 11, 2014 we had two official functions at The Hilltop Winery, A Lawyer Visits The Hilltop and the 8th Annual West Institute Wine Reception and Dinner, click the links or scroll down to review those outings.

For those of you who have been to the cellar in the past, you know it could use a good thinning from time to time and when the outlaw from the East Coast comes to town he does his best to play that role.

The wines listed below were pulled throughout the week by the in-house Sommelier, Mike Wojo.  Most of these wines were pulled earlier in the week and put on the table for a quick "see something, pull something" mindset.

Please note the table in the middle of the cellar and the amount of wine selected for immediate tasting HERE.

While we tried our best this trip to clear the table, we can never keep up with the new wine that gets delivered each year.

I must also say we didn't have a bad bottle in the list below.  May your summer trip/s be enjoyable and may your path/s cross a bottle of white or red of your choosing.

White

• 2009 Ramey Chardonnnay, Napa Valley
• 2010 Aubert Chardonnay (multiple bottles)
• 2011 Staglin Chardonnay, Rutherford, Napa Valley
• 2012 Rombauer Vineyards Chardonnay, Carneros

Red

• 1984 Shafer Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, Hillside Select
• 1988 Conn Valley Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
• 1990 St Francis Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma County
• 1992 Moraga Red Table Wine
• 2000 Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon
• 2001 Casanova di Neri, Tenuta Nuova
• 2002 Araujo Cabernet Sauvignon
• 2002 Araujo Syrah
• 2005 Hunnicut Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
• 2006 Chateau Les Grans Marechaux
• 2010 Chateau Haut-Surget Bordeaux

For a slideshow of the wines and random pictures of our week long stay at The Hilltop Winery go HERE.

8th Annual West Institute Wine Reception and Dinner

On Thursday, July 17, 2014 Mike and Mav hosted the Institute team at The Hilltop Winery for another great evening of fun and fellowship after a great week at Loyola Marymount University.

We mixed it up a bit this year and decided to stay on The Hilltop for a special pizza party using the relatively new wood fired oven in the backyard.  Our friend Edgardo, a specialist when it comes to making pizzas, was making everyone smile with his creations.

And of course, since we didn't make our annual trip to Sam's by the Beach to see our friend Sam and his wonderful staff for dinner, we brought Sam to The Hilltop Winery.  He provided us with a Caesar Salad, passed appetizers and a wonderful assortment of dessert items.

Now let's get to the good stuff!

Our very own faculty member and industry wine expert Brian Baker from Chateau Montelena Winery brought three Estate Bottled Cabs from the winery that The Hilltop Winery Sommelier, Mike Wojo, matched with three bottles of Bordeaux from his cellar.  Let the comparisons begin.

But before we get to that we obviously had to start with a few white's.  So sit back, don't get jealous and enjoy the ride we took on this beautiful Thursday evening with friends and family.

White

• 2005 Puligny-Montrachet, Domaine Henri Boillot
• 2010 Julien ColloVray, Saint-Veran
• 2011 Aubert Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast
• 2011 Staglin Chardonnay, Rutherford Estate

Red

• 1986 Chateau Olivier, Pessac-Leognan
• 1989 Caymus Special Select Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
• 1989 Dunn Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
• 2004 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley (Magnum)
• 2006 Chase Zinfandel, Napa Valley
• 2009 Staglin Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford, Napa Valley
• 2010 Pedestal Merlot, Columbia Valley

Special Cabernet Sauvignon vs Bordeaux Tasting

• 1989 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon, Estate Bottled
• 1995 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon, Estate Bottled
• 2002 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon, Estate Bottled

• 1989 Chateau Montrose, Saint-Estephe Bordeaux
• 1995 Chateau Cantenac Brown, Margaux Bordeaux
• 2002 Chateau Leoville Barton, Saint-Julien Bordeaux

As we all know, all good things must come to an end.  So as we packed up, said our goodbyes and took a couple of last minute photos, we got on the bus and returned to the hotel for our trip home in the morning.

Mike and Mav hopes that Brian, the Institute staff and volunteers had a great time at The Hilltop Winery.

A great evening wouldn't be complete unless we captured the memories to hold us over until next year.

Feel free to download any pictures from the entire evening HERE.

Institute All Stars

On Tuesday, July 16, 2013, The Hilltop Winery hosted the Institute All Stars for a wine reception and pizza party while enjoying the view and the Baseball All Star Game being played in New York.

It was a quick trip and a prelude to our upcoming Annual Institute Wine Reception and Dinner this coming Thursday.

The following wines were tasted along with some great wood fired pizza’s:

White

• 2010 Aubert Chardonnay
• 2010 Julien ColloVray Chardonnay
• 2012 Realm Sauvignon Blanc

Red

• 1988 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon
• 1998 Araujo Eisele Syrah
• 2003 d'Arenberg Shiraz
• 2005 Alto Moncayo
• 2005 Pahlmeyer

For a slideshow of the afternoon and evening event click HERE.

The Hilltop

On October 4, 2009, my friends Clint and Bill were able to join me with my friends at The Hilltop Winery for another great tasting of wines from around the world.

This night we tasted many wines from white to red but the two standouts for me were the Aubert Chardonnay and the Whispering Dove.

• 2003 Whispering Dove, Cabernet Sauvignon, Stags Leap Reserve
• 2005 Aubert, Chardonnay

For more information on Aubert wines click HERE.
For more information on Whispering Dove made by Stags Leap click HERE.

For a slideshow of the day click HERE.