Penfold's Winemaker visits San Francisco

Penfolds' wines, featured at Cellar 360 in Ghirardelli Square, share many qualities with their Chief Winemaker, Peter Gago: they are approachable, have depth in character, and are naturally the life of a party.

I was greeted with a taste of Penfolds Thomas Hyland Chardonnay as soon as I walked through the glass doors past the wine shelves at Cellar 360. A refreshing wine to begin with on a warm sunny afternoon - Pale straw white, crisp, hints of white nectarines and light citrus.


The room buzzed with wine tasters, cameramen, and three tables of featured wines. Peter himself was pouring and mingling at the Cabernet based wine table, the most crowded table of them all. It was not an easy feat to reach the most popular person in the room who was serving what appeared to be one of the most popular wines. A Shiraz flight tasting and a bite of tri-tip wrapped asparagus later, I found myself learning about Peter's journey in becoming a winemaker. Bachelor of Science, teaching career in chemistry and mathematics, and Bachelor of Oenology - the perfect formula for becoming a great winemaker!

"What is your secret to winemaking?" I asked the 2006 Winemaker of the year, as named by Wine Enthusiast. "Is it a lot of science?"

"Allowing nature to do its work." Peter responded without hesitation. Simple, yet so interesting. It seems true, that the most excellent wines are those made through nature's own natural processes, with the winemaker's role being nature's partner - ensuring that the best conditions are there for nature to blossom. Peter's wines are unfiltered and are fermented using natural yeasts.

My favorite wine of the event was the Cellar Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz. A deep velvety purple wine with aromas of blackberries, cassis, vanilla and cardamom. Full of body, every taste came to life with ripe fruit and smooth rich layers.

Discovering Cahors, France

On a spring Sunday evening, as the sun was just setting at 7pm, Bar Tartine restaurant on Valencia in the Mission district of San Francisco was goldenly lit inside. Darren, Monita, Sima, Chris, and I decided that we'd share a bottle of wine over dinner, as we caught up on the exciting news that Darren and Monita were moving across the Pacific to Japan!

It was between a jammy, earthy Grenache based wine, or a more full-bodied French Mablec. We like Malbecs! Monita chimed in. Malbec, we chose. Chateau du Cedre 2004 from the Cahors region.

Our glasses were filled with a dark, velvety purple-red wine. Most prominent were aromas of dark berries and smoky tobacco, with a hint of dark roasted coffee. Blackberries and boysenberries, Darren and I agreed. Pepper and Licorice, caught by Sima. The Wine opened up beautifully as dinner progressed, and paired perfectly with our 4 orders of Four Story Hill Farm onglet (French for Hanger steak), trumpet mushrooms, marrow fritter, and with the oolong tea smoked duck breast, crushed pea stuffed pasta, in duck broth. The sun set, the restaurant dimmed, and the Wine finished smoothly, just in time for dessert.

Cahors is located in the Southwest region of France, west of Bordeaux, where Malbec is the dominant grape varietal. Wines from Cahors are known for their colour (nicknamed "Black Wine") and body. Grapes tend to be concentrated from the influence of Mediterranean and Atlantic weather, in contrast to Bordeaux's lighter wines.

Wine question of the day: How would one distinguish between the velvety, concentrated wines of Argentina from the Malbecs of Cahors?