Building Brix

Your Personal Sommelier

Judging by all the parties over the last few weeks, it’s not a stretch to say that there’s a lot of wine to work through out there. And since about ten percent of it is actually worth drinking, we think weeding through it all is a chore best left to an expert. Which is why you’ll want to bookmark Brix26, a personalized online wine recommendation service helmed by Peter Langenstein, a French-schooled California wine expert who swigs the juice day and night to bring you obscure, limited-production California gems right to your doorstep. Think of Peter as your at-home sommelier. Say you’re cooking up some steaks (in other words, a romantic dinner) Friday night and need help pairing a few bottles of wine to set the mood. Give Peter a call (or email him), and he’ll hand-select just the right cult cab from his library that’ll make your rib-eye pop. He can even get his hands on hard-to-find wines, like the obscure, artist-labeled 2006 Eric Kent Pinot that tastes as good as it looks. Once he has you figured out, you might consider joining the Insider Club, a hybrid wine club that ships you a constantly changing personalized assortment of up-and-coming wines, before they’ve been discovered by the masses. After all, membership has its privileges. Brix26, 866-427-4926

Dan Akroyd

Dan Aykroyd is on a mission from god…to launch an SF-based series of wines called TheDan Aykroyd Discovery Series, in conjunction with DeLoach Vineyards. We sat down with the Renaissance man, Blues Brother and SNL alum to chat about wine, women and Ghostbusters III… UD: You’re an actor, comedian, writer, musician, restaurateur, spirits distributor and now wine producer…why wine? DA: I’ve turned the whole thing around—I don’t buy wine to complement food. I walk into a steakhouse, I’ll order the biggest boldest red, and then I’ll look at the steaks. UD: Red or white? DA: Red. But give me an ice-chilled white and a couple of chicken wings. It’s not that I don’t drink white, but my last bottle—the death house bottle—it would be a red.   UD: Chicken wings, eh? Which wine goes with four whole fried chickens? DA: Definitely Chardonnay.   UD: How about white bread toast, dry? DA: Cabernet Franc Icewine from Niagara.   UD: What kind of wine would Jake drink? DA: Jake would drink Stone’s Green Ginger Wine…If you ran out of antifreeze, you could put this in and the car would run.   UD: How about Elwood? DA: Elwood would be a Manischewitz guy. He had a lot of Jewish girlfriends.   UD: Would Joe Friday even drink wine at all? DA: Joe Friday’s a whiskey man. He’s about good company, good clean streets.   UD: In your opinion, what are the five top wineries in California, after DeLoach of course? DA: Coppola, Turley, Diamond Creek, Kendall Jackson. UD: Would you rather make a movie with Francis Ford Coppola or a wine? DA: That’s a very good question. I’d love to maybe make both—a movie about wine with Coppola called Noble Rot. It was one of Jim Belushi’s projects. Noble Rot is a story of the fungus that looks horrible and smells horrible, but it produces the best wine…   UD: Speaking of movies, which of your past movies would you like to see updated? DA: Spies Like Us, no question about it. I would reprise my role, Chevy would reprise his, and we’d train a bunch of new pups—the best of the best. UD: Any chance of a Ghostbusters sequel? DA: A very good chance, in fact. Two years ago I couldn’t have told you this. We have writers working on it right now. I hope to see a script at Christmas, and maybe shooting by the summer if you can believe that. UD: Do you still watch SNL? DA: Diligently. Every week. I think Kristin Wiig is a genius…an empire-builder, and Fred Armisen. I think we’re seeing talent that’s just as good right now. Today’s cast is as good as we were.   UD: You’ve played everything from Jimmy Carter to a Wild and Crazy Guy on SNL. Any one favorite? DA: Fred Garvin, Male Prostitute, absolutely…It’s a fantasy I could never live. The fantasies that never come true are the best ones. UD: After working together on three films, Jamie Lee Curtis called you the best onscreen kisser. DA: On or off, you know. UD: What’s your secret? DA: You’d have to ask the women. I don’t know. UD: When it comes to women, is it better to be a comedian or a musician? DA: Comedian, no question about it. It’s laughter first, then conversation, good food and wine, and then a hot tub… Dan Aykroyd will present the Dan Aykroyd Discovery Series Thursday from 4-6pm at the Jug Shop, 1590 Pacific Ave (at Polk), 415-885-2922

A Cut Above

Kobe and Cab at Your Front Door

When other people think delivery, they think pizza and chow mein. But you, you dream bigger. You think huge shipments of kobe beef and Napa estate wine. And now you can finally live it. Say hello to the Kobe and Cabernet Club, maybe the best thing to hit the delivery world since the milkman. The Club is a joint venture between two of your favorites, Snake River Farms and Signorello Vineyards. It pairs the Idaho ranch’s richly marbled, super-tender kobe-style meat with the Napa winery’s lush, full-bodied wines. (We know—some matches were made in heaven.) They’ll deliver both to your front door three times a year—around Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Father’s Day—and all you do is pay per shipment (no signup fees here). Expect deliveries like the holiday package—a rib-eye roast that serves ten, paired with three bottles: the Estate Cabernet, the Padrone Reserve Cabernet and the club-exclusive Meta (50 percent syrah, 50 percent cabernet). For Valentine’s, you’ll get four tenderloin filets, a bottle of the club-only Uvaggio (a cab-merlot-cab franc blend) and two bottles of cabernet sauvignon. (If this doesn’t satisfy you and your sweetheart…you might need a new sweetheart.) And if you’re jonesing for a buttery filet or a hearty cab come July, you can place additional orders year-round. They’ll even cut you a deal. After all, membership has its privileges. size=”2″ face=”Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif”> Kobe and Cabernet Club from Signorello Vineyards and Snake River Farms, $390 per shipment, sign up here

Wine Shop Review – Los Angeles

Beer and Wine on Fountain Avenue

For the barbecues you’ll be hitting this weekend, you need: Beer. Wine. And a little something extra. All of the above can be found in one spot at Venokado, the sleek new shop open today on Fountain Avenue. You’ll have to pay attention to find the place—it’s in that oddly triangular building between La Brea and Fairfax that used to house a random, divey market. Once inside the modern (but still oddly triangular) new incarnation, head left for the wall of rare but mostly affordable bottles selected by the trio of wine-loving women—your favorite kind—who run the place. They got their hands on a few bottles of Sea Smoke Pinot Noir, as well as some biodynamic Domaine Olivier Pithon (we hear you can taste the dirt…in a good way). You’ll also find some rare brews like Bohemia, Hitachino’s Red Rice Ale and that rarest of specialties, PBR in a can, inside the beer cooler at the back. And unlike any wine shop of note you’ve ever entered, you can also head over to the right for piles of unique design-y goods, in case you need a suede baseball or trippy money clips from Copenhagen to go with your Merlot. They’re big into unusual gift boxes here, to keep your status as VIP Party Guest intact. Not that there was any question. Venokado, 7714 Fountain Ave (at Spaulding), West Hollywood, 323-850-1600

NYC Wine Shop Review

Case Clo-sed A Robot-Powered Wine Shop

You’re well-acquainted with the pleasures of wine, but those pleasures haven’t changed much in the past few hundred years. The top notes have stayed nutty, the hangovers have stayed vicious, and the sommeliers have stayed…human. But that’s all about to change. The sommelier part, anyway. Welcome to Clo, a futuristic new take on the wine shop opening this weekend, discreetly nestled on the fourth floor of the Time Warner Center. Just find your way through the maze of escalators—and past Per Se and Masa—to a frosted glass box at the top. (You’ll know it from the sci-fi glow and waft of merlot.) Inside, a stunner view of the park and twelve automatic wine-dispensing machines wrap around the room. Snag a pre-paid card and then do what you would with an ATM—only instead of wads of cash, you’ll be flush with wine: A single swipe will get you a two-ounce mouthful ($2 a pop at the low end to $70 a swill on the high). If you like it, you can get a bottle to go. Of course, to you it’s more than just a shop—show up after a hard day of work to blow off some steam and do some serious “tasting.” The shop’s also got its own Minority Report-style interactive menu, which you peruse by waving your hands all around the place—you know the drill. Since the computer does the thinking for you, you should end up with the perfect pinot. And no human error. Clo, Time Warner Center, 4th Floor, Columbus Circle, opens to the public this Saturday, August 16. Brace Yourselves.

Marching Orders

Marching Orders Wine Bar in Ghirardelli Square Like a true San Franciscan, you make it a point to avoid areas where out-of-towners dressed in Alcatraz fleeces might outnumber locals. So it’s been a while since you last visited Ghirardelli Square. We’re here to tell you that it’s safe to go back. Softly open now, with the second-floor restaurant fully opening Friday, Marché on the Square‘s gourmet market/wine bar/bistro represents the next phase of the Ghirardelli Square rebirth—into what some are now dubbing, ahem, Lower Russian Hill. With 100 wines (60 French, 40 California and New World, 25 by the glass), five champagnes and soaring views of the Bay, you won’t have to try too hard to appreciate the vibe here. The accommodations even include a gluten-free beer from Belgium, “Green’s Dubbel Ale,” making this perhaps the perfect place to meet up with all your vegan drinking buddies. Take in the airy décor from a stool at the cast-iron-topped bar, or head upstairs for a better view of that island prison—the Cal-French menu is served in both spots. Start with Spiced Sauteed Diver Scallops, then move on to Steak Frites and finish with a made-to-order crepe or cheese plate—you’ll like the rich, buttery triple-cream Brillat-Savarin. You’ll still be sharing the place with a few tourists, so bring a date, or make it a double date. After all, there’s safety in numbers. Marché on the Square, Ghirardelli Square, 900 North Point (at Larkin), 415-359-0365

Casa Lapostolle Wine Review

The folks at UrbanDaddy recommend…

In the Casa  World-Class French Wine from Chile

You’ve had wine with backbone, wine that’s earthy, even wine with “good legs.” “Well-traveled” isn’t an adjective that comes to mind in matters of the vine, but we submit that the traditional lexicon may need some expanding. One very good reason: Casa Lapostolle wine. Casa Lapostolle combines the superb wine terrain of Chile with the wine know-how of France. Founded by the Marnier Lapostolle family (yes, that Marnier Lapostolle family, producers of tasty French liqueur Grand Marnier, as well as other great French wines), the label set up camp in Chile because of its perfect vine-growing climate. Casa Lapostolle’s vines are unique to Chile in that many of them were actually brought over from France in the last century—so it’s almost like they’ve got dual citizenship. As a result, Casa’s wines reach levels of jovial sophistication that only wines from such a multicultural fusion could, from their smart Sauvignon Blancs and Chardonnays, to their sassy Cabernets, Merlots and Syrahs. The venerable Wine Spectator even named Casa’s 2005 Clos Apalta one of its “Hot Wines,” awarding it 96 out of 100 points and describing it as having “gorgeous aromas, great grip and density.” Now, that’s the type of wine review worth drinking to. For more information visit www.casalapostolle.com