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This may be the winery tasting room opening of the year.  Raymond Vineyards, in Napa Valley, has partnered with the legendary French crystal maker Baccarat, to create a one-of-a-kind tasting room, the Crystal Cellar.

It’s pretty awesome.  Granted, I was at the soiree to celebrate opening the Crystal Cellar. The atmosphere was like a sophisticated night club. Mirrors everywhere – on the tasting bar and display cases.  A stunning crystal chandelier, the focal point of the cellar. A mannequin hanging from a trapeze.  Lots of colorful mood lighting.  Display cases with Baccarat wine decanters, glasses, and other decorative objects.

I have seen the cellar during the daytime, when it’s much more subdued, but equally brilliant.

The pairing of a winery and crystal manufacturer is nothing new, but this is the first collaboration for Baccarat with a winery.  The inspiration comes from Jean-Charles Boisset, who is head of Boisset Family Estates.  Boisset bought the Raymond winery  in August 2009, setting its sights on improving the wine quality and developing a unique wine tasting experience.  This is Boisset’s first Napa Valley aquisition.  They also own DeLoach Vineyards in Sonoma County, and recently opened Taste of Terroir, a wine tasting room on the square in Healdsburg.

Jean-Charles told me he starting collecting Baccarat at the tender age of 11.  You can imagine he’s got a large collection now.  He approached Baccarat about a partnership with Raymond.  Makes, perfect sense, both Boisset and Baccarat are rooted in France, and Baccarat creates beautiful decanters and glassware.

I can’t wait to take friends wine tasting in the Crystal Cellar.  You don’t need to make a reservation, but there is a $25 tasting fee.  What they’re pouring:  the Raymond Vineyards District Cabernet Sauvignon series, including the 2006 Oakville, Rutherford and St. Helena wines, the ’06 Generations, a 2009 barrel sample of a barrel fermented Chardonnay, and a 1987 Napa Valley Cab. This last wine was poured at the opening event, and I found it to still have fruit and a floral nose, and soft tannins.

If you get to Paris, you should plan to go to the Baccarat museum.  The crystal collection is amazing.  The galleries and restaurant were designed by Philippe Stark (reason enough to go).  The display cases are filled with both vintage and modern works.

Wine & Spirits magazine throws one heck of a party.  The annual “Top 100 Wines” soiree was on Wednesday night in San Francisco.  You do not want to miss it.  Quite simply, where else are you going to taste a 1988 Veuve Cliquot Champagne, Shafer’s Hillside Select or see a bottle of bubbly opened and disgorged under water.

That’s right.  Not just opening the bottle.  Disgorging it too (expelling the yeast sediment), all under water, right before you drink it.

Movia is a winery in Slovenia, — gaining more and more media attention, and not just from Wine & Spirits. [profile in Food & Wine] Movia brought their 2002 “Puro” rose sparkling wine to show along with the top rated Ribolla, a varietal common to Slovenia. Puro stole the show.

The bottle is turned upside down, and the neck submerged in water.  The cage is removed.  After a few minutes, the pressure builds up, and all of a sudden, the cork pops out, along with the yeast plug.  It’s really quite amazing.  The wine is ready to pour and enjoy.

Notice the cork pops out on its own.  I’ve seen other videos of Puro where someone twists the cork out of the bottle, still under water.

Why do they do this?  I was told the wine tastes fresher, a little more creamy due to the extra time spent on the yeast lees (sur lie).  Movia also feels that disgorging at time of corking versus right before opening the bottle to drink robs the wine of rich flavor.

Sure enough, the wine is clear and yeast sediment free.  No complaints on the taste, it’s a mighty fine sparkler.

Give it a try?  You can find Movia sparkling rose online, prices I’ve seen are in the $39-$49 range.

Disgorging is the step, in making Champagne, or sparkling wine the traditional way, where yeast sediment is removed just before corking, putting the cage on and wrapping the neck in foil.  The yeast is captured in a small plastic cup that’s right under the crown cap on the bottle.  The bottles are dipped in a solution to freeze the yeast plug, then it is removed, or disgorged, under high pressure.  The frozen yeast plug flies out, then the wine is topped off, corked and the wire cage and foil is put on.

Since wine can be made anywhere these days, it’s no big surprise that Oakland, Berkeley and Alameda, CA (also known as the East Bay) are home to many urban wine brands, both established and start ups. So what if there are no vineyards in the city (that I’m aware of).  At this past weekend’s Urban Wine Experience in Oakland, the local wines were showing rather well, paired with bites from local restaurants. The public event was held by the East Bay Vintner’s Alliance.

I found a lot to like, and some really good values. There were many good Rhone varietal bottlings, and that made me happy, since j’adore Rhone wines. I might just need to do a little East Bay Rhone wine tour.

These are the standouts:

One of my last sips of the day was at Stage Left Cellars. It’s a fairly new player in the urban wine scene. Partners Melinda Doty and Rich Williams exited the corporate world and discovered “everybody needs an exit strategy.” Opening Stage Left is theirs. “The Go Getter” white is a blend of Rhone varietals – Viognier, Grenache Blanc and Rousanne. Just yummy, refreshing and very aromatic. They also make a beautiful Grenache, blended with a little Mourvedre to make a fruity wine with a little spiciness added in.

At Prospect 772 Wine Co. they were pouring “The Brawler.” Oh yeah, its a big big Syrah, but tamed a little by the addition of Viognier in the blend. The grapes are grown in the Sierra Foothills, and the wines are made by Jeff Cohn (winemaker at JC Cellars).

Speaking of Jeff Cohn, his own label, JC Cellars , poured “First Date,” a terrific and rich Rousanne and Marsanne blend.  “The Imposter,” was a bold blend of mostly Zinfandel, Syrah and Petite Sirah.

Rock Wall Wine’s Cabernet France was so fragrant and jammy, just a beautiful wine.  I love to see Cab Franc on its own.

Urban Legend wines have great labels, inspired by the cranes at the Oakland port. They have a good Sauvignon Blanc that’s crisp and has really bright acidity. They also make a Teroldego, a darkly hued red varietal from Italy that has big ripe black fruits. Definitely worth seeking out!

Over at R & B Cellars, owners Kevin and Barbara Brown are not only winemakers, they’re also jazz musicians. Kevin plays piano and Barbara sings. Hence the wine labels with musical symbols. They’re striking the right notes with a very nice “Serenade in Blanc” Sauvignon Blanc and “Swingsville” Zinfandel, and both are less than $15 dollars each.

Verve wines from Aubin Cellars really charmed me. They’ve got a French Columbard, imported from France (Cotes de Gascogne). When have you ever seen French Columbard? Well it should be more often.  This is a great value too, at $12. Verve also makes wine with local grapes, a Carneros Pinot Noir and a Sonoma Mountain Syrah.

One final mention, loved the “Temptation” Rhone blend from Carica Wines, which is a GSM – Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre mix. And only $25 per bottle. No wonder the winery is sold out of the current vintage (I did find some bottles online)

There were many, many good bites to go with the wines. But the one that stood out the most for me was the pulled pork sandwich and grits from Brown Sugar Kitchen. Fabulous! And a perfect match with the Urban Legend red wines. If you haven’t

been to Brown Sugar, just go ahead and go now, for their fried chicken and waffles!

Most of the East Bay Vintner’s wineries have tasting rooms — either shared or on their own.  Check websites for days and hours open or to make an appointment.  Think of going to the urban wineries as exploring a new, modern wine country.

Recession worries seemed to fade as wine lovers opened their wallets and raised paddles bidding up the prices at the 30th Auction Napa Valley, held over this past weekend. There was lots of good food and great wine flowing throughout the event. I went to the Taste Napa Valley and Barrel Auction on Friday, at Rubicon Estates. I love this annual event, and it’s a great one to go to even if you don’t make it to the live auction on Saturday. Dark skies and cool temps threatened rain, but it held off.

At Taste Napa Valley, wineries pour whites and rose´and many of Napa’s top restaurants dished out bites.

You could nosh on anything from chickpea fries to pulled pork sliders from BarBersQ and watermelon sorbet with chocolate chips (for seeds!), topped with fleur de sel. Martini House served up a creamy mushroom soup that was an inspired pairing with the Kongsgaard “The Judge” Chardonnay. Check out this incredible paella, from Zuzu in Napa.

What I really noticed was that there were many more wineries pouring Rose´ than in past years. No complaints here, I love Rose´especially this time of year. Some of the best I tasted were from Entre Nous, (a Cab rose´) where Philippe Melka is the winemaker, and Louis M. Martini, also a Rose´of Cab.

The real excitement was inside the caves at Rubicon, where the live barrel auction was taking place. As you can see, it was jammed-packed, as people went from barrel to barrel, sampling and bidding.

Opening bids on the barrel lots started at $175 per case with the minimum increments of $50. In about 15 minutes time, I saw the Shafer Vineyards lot go from $5700 to $6000 (and yes, that’s for one case).
Updating the Shafer bids.

If you think that’s a lot, the final bid on the Shafer lot, the 2008 Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon, went for $58,650. Amazing! The second highest bid was $37,700 for the Spottswoode Estate lot, a St. Helena Cab.

At the end of the weekend, when all was said and done, more than $8.5 million was raised, with $1 million coming from the barrel auction alone. All proceeds benefit
health, youth services and housing non-profits in Napa County.

Spring is now here! The pink wine was flowing at the Pink Out! event in San Francisco. It’s an annual happening celebrating Rose´wines, put on by the Rose´Advocates & Producers (RAP).  It’s a great reason to break out your pink clothes and accessories. Real men do drink and wear pink! And yes, that’s my pink shoe.

Rose´ wines are fantastic — dry and crisp and light, perfect for warm weather drinking. Rose´ is made from a variety of grapes, from Pinot Noir to Syrah to Tempranillo.

I tasted old and new favorites, so here’s my shout out list.

My “go to” Rose´ bottlings:
Lucia – a Rose´ of Pinot Noir from the Pisoni family. Zippy with lots of strawberry

Blackbird “Arriviste” -A beautiful Rose´ of Merlot

Azur Rose´ – I first discovered Julien Fayard’s delicious Rose´ at last year’s Pink Out. It’s as good as ever, a classic southern France-style wine, dry and crisp.

Discoveries:
Dunstan Wines Durell Vineyard – a rose of Pinot Noir, floral and strawberry notes. That’s Chris Towt holding the bottle. A man not afraid to wear pink — with a cowboy hat!

Amorosa Bella NV brut Rose´ – a sparkling Rose´that’s a blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, made by Ziggy Eschliman, radio superstar “The Wine Gal.” It’s bright and lively and just a big yum!

Hendry Winery – a rose that’s a mouthwatering blend of Cabernet and Zinfandel.

Dacalier Wine Co – a Southern Rhone-style blend of Grenache and Mourvedre

Lasseter Family Winery – a classic GSM Rose´- Greanache-Syrah-Mourvedre blend. A lot of buzz about this wine from John Lasseter (Pixar) and family.

Best Values:
Wines from France’s Loire Valley, home to those amazing chateaux (or castles), were the steal of the event. These wines, called Rose´ d’Anjou, are about $10 per bottle! An easy wine to sip for the money. Seek these out in your local wine shop! Producers pouring at Pink Out! included Sauvion, Remy Pannier, Barton & Guestier and Marquis de Goulaine.

Best wine story
We were told that the Ros´ from French producer Chateau Minuty will be served at the Canned Film Festival, and we’re drinking this newly released Rose´ Cru Classe before the stars get to try it.

And finally, TasteLive.com made a splashy debut at Pink Out! I was interviewed about the event by Alan Kropf, editor of Mutineer magazine. It’s about 5 minutes, check it out here. It was shot/recorded by a computer camera, and as you can see, the field of view not big enough for both interviewer and interviewee. Ah well, I was in head-to-toe pink, even had on bright fushia lipstick and gloss.
http://www.tastelive.com/pinkout/events/rap-pink-out-san-francisco-2010