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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.

UCLA Graduation Week

It’s Sunday, June 16, 2019 and it’s time to leave “The Rooftop” for home and back to reality.

We enjoyed our time here, especially watching Jackson graduate from UCLA, with a Bachelor of Arts in International/Global Studies, with a Minor in Global Health.

While Mike and Mav couldn’t stay for the actual graduation ceremonies, they gave us the house to entertain and enjoy good food and wine while they jetted off to Barcelona.

They did however host a special Pre-Graduation Party for Jackson and his friends on Saturday, June 8^th.

I asked for permission, got it, and oh boy, here’s what we drank throughout the week. All I can say is thank you Mike and Mav and please don’t do an inventory check upon your return!

And, I did not drink all of it, Alma, my mother-in-law and grandmother to Jackson did her fair share, so it’s not all on me.

Here’s the list of wines we drank from the Wojo’s original wine cellar throughout the week, starting with the Wojo’s party for Jackson and his friends on Saturday, June 8, on “The Rooftop”:

Whites

2016 Liquid Farms Chardonnay, Golden Slope
2017 Aubert Chardonnay, Sugar Shack, Napa Valley
2017 Bramito Chardonnay Umbria (two bottles)
2017 Carmenet Chardonnay

Reds

2004 Tandem Pinot Noir, Sonoma County
2005 Pahlmeyer Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast
2010 Guado al Tasso
2011 Alto Moncayo Garnacha
2012 Falcor Syrah, Napa Valley
2013 Falcor Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
2015 Chateau De La Croix, Medoc
2017 Pessimist, Paso Robles

Thanks to all who could join us throughout the week and a special shout out to the Villante family for hosting the BABC Graduation Celebration!

Pictures from the four official events, over the past two weekends, can be accessed at the following individual links below:

What a great week!

California in February

On February 10, 2012, I visited The Hilltop Winery and had the opportunity to watch my sister-in-law and niece run the Los Angeles Chinatown Firecracker Run.

They both did exceptionally well placing high in their age brackets.

After the race we visited Empress Pavilion, a dim sum house, and enjoyed some great food with great friends. Yes, that’s me eating chicken feet. They tell me it’s a delicacy. I don’t know about that, but never again! And I thought peer pressure was a thing of the past for me.

Well, the trip wouldn’t be complete without visiting the cellar and pulling a few bottles. On this trip we tasted the following at a private dinner party:

1990 St. Francis, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma County
1991 Opus One, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
1993 Von Strasser, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
2004 Realm, The Tempest, Napa Valley
2006 Alto Moncayo, Garnacha, Spain

What a night! Good food, great family and friends and some incredible wine!

For the slideshow of the events click HERE.