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When it comes to Italian restaurants in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood, the choices are nearly endless. When it comes to Italian restaurants in the area that are actually good, the list tightens up a great deal. So enters Albona, which is best described as the Italian restaurant in North Beach that is pretty much not Italian nor in North Beach. A simpler way to say that is to call it an Istrian restaurant.     Istria is a peninsula that sticks off the far western corner of Croatia. This wasn't always the case as the region has been under flags of Venice, Italy, and even France for a spell. This is reflected in the cuisine a great deal. While it's easy to call it "Italian-esque" and leave it at that, this would do a heavy disservice to what makes the food unique. It's a crossroads of Central European, Mediterranean, and Slavic foods and you taste that with every bite.     Take for instance the strudel. Yes, that's right, a strudel. Try and find that on an Italian menu! This dish which is oft considered Germanic or Slavic is one of the stars on the Albona menu. But, it's not like your Central European strudel. It has prosciutto, béchamel, a tomato-cream sauce, and a number of seasonings that lend it an extremely unique flavor. It's absolutely delicious and is typical of what Albona offers. The dish is a delicate balance showing the influence of several different cultures.     The menu doesn't stop there and while it has a great selection of pasta and chicken dishes, there are also a few seafood dishes and a veal shank that is delicious as well. You really can't go wrong and the best part is that the foods go well with any number of wines from many places, again showing diversity of the region. In fact, Blue Danube is happy to announce that Albona is going to start pouring our Kozlović Malvazija and Santomas Big Red Refosk which add distinct authentic flavors to their already eclectic wine list.     Albona, much like Istria is a little out of the way, sitting at 545 Francisco, just off Columbus. It's in something of a transitional area between North Beach and Fisherman's Wharf. The beauty of this is that it avoids the cheesy hustle and bustle on Pier 39 as well as a lot of Columbus, while still being very convenient and offering a quieter, classier evening out. Give them a try if you want to sample a much different take on dishes that you've known a long time, as well as getting to know some new ones.

This is what's called "Just In Time Delivery". When our guest Tamara Glavina, the wine maker of the top Slovenian winery Santomas, hopped on the plane to visit San Francisco for the first time in her life, our friends at IntoWineTV posted the video of the Santomas Big Red tasting on their web site. Then Roger and Cindy followed up with a delicious Slovenian wine maker dinner at Caffe Venezia in Berkeley.
What a nice way to welcome Tamara in California.     We always knew that the Santomas Big Red is a great wine but now our opinion has been confirmed by a group of expert tasters which gave it excellent ratings. Made from 100% Refosk, the Slovenian name for what Italians call Terlano and Croatians call Teran, it is easily recognizable by just looking at its deep purple color. The Big Red sports dark red cherry and black berry flavors. A good dose of acidity makes it an ideal wine to pair with many foods. But watch the show yourself and then pop a cork of this inexpensive beauty.          

The Wine Century Club celebrates its 4th anniversary this week. Becoming an honorary member of the exlusive Wine Century Club is easy and fun. This funky club has no membership fees, no monthly wine shipments, and no entry exams. The only requirement is that you'll have to taste wines made from at least 100 different grape varietals.
    We help you to achieve this lofty goal. In our wine-web shop we offer more than three dozen different varietals, many you have never heard of and much less tasted before. Be adventurous and have some fun:
Try something new today!
    Auxerrois - Babich - Bena - Blatina - Blaufrankisch - Bouvier - Cabernet Franc - Cabernet Sauvignon - Chardonnay - Cserszegi Fuszeres - Debejan - Debit - Frankovka - Furmint - Gamay - Gewurztraminer - Grasevina - Gruner Veltliner - Irsai Oliver - Harslevelu - Kadarka - Kekfrankos - Kerner - Kiralyleanyka - Krkosija - Krstac - Lasin - Malvasia - Marastina - Merlot - Muskat Lunel - Muskat Ottonel - Olaszrizling - Pinela - Pinot Blanc - Pinot Gris - Pinot Noir - Plavac Mali - Plavina - Posip - Refosk - Riesling - Rotgipfler - Rumeni Plavec - Saemling - Sansigot - Sauvignon Blanc - Shiraz - St. Laurent - Vranac - Welschriesling - Yellow Muscat - Zametovka - Zelen - Zierfandler - Zilavka - Zlahtina - Zweigelt

There is a great deal of truth in the saying that "good things come to those who wait". About two years ago, I discovered what a great wealth of wine was on offer in the Herzegovina region of Bosnia & Herzegovina. Unfortunately, beyond what I could pack in to my suitcase for the flight home, I was unable to taste it since.     This has all changed now that the wines of Vinarija Čitluk are available to be purchased here in the U.S. And from our travels in 2007 you can read all about a visit to Čitluk here.     The best part in all of this is that Blue Danube Wine Co. was able to get a hold of most everything Čitluk produces, thus providing a great taste across the core varietals of Herzegovina. This includes several of the white Žilavkas, several of the red Blatinas, and even some Vranacs which people will find is a bit different than what is being made across the border in Montenegro. For those looking to try a bit of everything, there are the Premium Mostar and Value Herzegovina Six-Pack Samplers as well.     Finally, if you want to read more about the region as a whole, take a look at the wine guide I wrote, Vinologue: Dalmatia Herzegovina.

IntoWine is a nice, review show for wine that is based in San Francisco. They have a good tendency to pick different wines for review on the web-based episodes. This naturally means that they pick up on a Croatian wine here and there.     Recently they reviewed the 2006 Bibich Riserva. It's a wine that I personally love and was happy to see it get some good press. The reviewers all gave it favorable marks. For some reason, they picked up on the oak of the wine a great deal, which is surprising as I've never found it all that oaky, but hey, they're professionals, so maybe there's a nuance I've been missing or I need to have a glass of the 2006 again. You can also try it for yourself to see what you think.     It should be noted that in what Broadbent said, the third grape in the wine actually isn't Bibich, but Babich. It's a small detail, but the first is Alen Bibich's family/winery name and the later is a common varietal grown in the Northern Dalmatia region.     

Having visited Pfneiszl last year, I've been intrigued by the wines that Birgit and her sister Katrin have been making.     In preparing for her career as a winemaker, Birgit literally traveled around the world to learn about winemaking in Italy, California, Argentina, Chile, and New Zealand. The result of this was an interest in trying out the various wines from these regions in their vineyards in Hungary. These few vines were just starting to produce last year and they had they have had their first proper harvest of them.     The end result is the távoli világ, a wine that is a blend of Shiraz, Carmenére, Malbec, Zinfandel, and Sangiovese. Definitely a wild blend (that I hope I never have to pronounce in front of a Hungarian), but one that is done quite delicately reflecting the fact that Birgit learned these grapes well in her travels. It's quite subtle at first, but then opens up with mint and watercress in a decently mineral nose. That watercress then turns in to a peppery, enjoyably spicy body that is light and fresh with the slightest tinges of strawberry and much more prevalent dark chocolate flavors. Raspberry also comes out after some decent breathing. On there finish there is a slight effervescence which is also in the nose when first opened.     An interesting wine that, due to the small amount of vines is not a large production, which is shown in the 500ml bottles and the fact it's most likely not going to be available outside of Hungary and Austria.

It was just a bit over a year and a half ago that I first visited the new (at the time) winery of La Vinyeta. What a difference 20 months makes. For starters, they now have their website fully up and running which does a great job of showing the design aesthetic that goes in to the look of all things Vinyeta, which are created by the winemaker's brother. It was a bit hard to convey that in 2007 as the winery wasn't finished and they only had a couple of releases. The winery is indeed done now and open for visits most of the week, although they generally follow the sun, meaning that winter hours are shorter and summer hours, longer. Visiting in the winter probably isn't allowing this region of Catalonia to be all that it can be. Upon getting out of the car, it was like getting clocked by a sack of ice cubes as the Tramuntana wind ripped through every layer I had on, freezing me to the core until I got inside the winery.     But beyond all these superficial changes, there is the fact that the wines have matured and not just in aging; they're massively more complex and I would say demanding a great deal of respect now. While winemaker Josep Serra Pla is youngish at 31 and it would seem that he is steadying his hand with his craft, it's actually the material available that has changed the wines more than anything else. In my prior visit, he still wasn't harvesting from Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Merlot vineyards. This means that the Heus Negre was good in 2007, but not outstanding. This has solidly changed. The addition of blending the grapes from his new vineyards has made this wine delectable. With a blending of 27% Syrah, 26% Merlot, 25% Samsó, and 22% Garnatxa, the Garnatxa is not as pronounced now and it's creating a more round wine with chocolate touches to it, as well as bold, unwavering depth to the body. The best part is that it's still high enough in tannins to be great with food and only €6. If I ever live in the region, I think I know what my daily drinker is going to be.     But there are more wines to his lineup now and what's great is that they just build upon each other. The Llavors (pron. Lya-bors) takes off from the Heus and presents an even stronger wine, albeit still smooth. Comprised of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Samsó and 12% Merlot and 8% Garnatxa, it spends five months in an oak regimen of French, Hungarian, and Romanian barrels. It is firm in the mouth with touches of boysenberry and strawberry, yet it pulls back enough to still be had with foods.     The Puntiapart, with it's very clever boxes you can see here, is the boldest of all the reds that Josep is making. This blend of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Samsó, 23% Merlot makes for a strong wine, yet oddly enough, it's the smoothest of the lot. It goes through a grueling, slaving, absolutely treacherous 13 months of lying in the oak to reach the point where you get what you taste from the bottle; a delicately balanced wine with a great deal of substance to the body. It is at once both mineraly and tannic, but not harshly so. While I feel it would be best enjoyed on its own, it would pare with with a nice grilled lamb or pretty much any grilled meat with a lot of character that would pick up the notes of the wine. Chicken need not apply, although the Heus could get cozy with the bird.     Lastly of course, there is a sweet Garnatxa, because in Catalonia, you're just not officially a winery until you're producing a sweet wine, or so I think. The Sols is an equal blend of red and white Garnatxa from the 75 year old vines that Josep has. And while I'm usually always a Moscatell man when it comes to Catalan sweets, if you put up a bottle of Moscatell and a bottle of this Sols and made me choose just one, I would be very, very unhappy. It's a mighty fine sweet. It's aromatically nutty in the glass and has a pleasant, lingering sweetness, that sticks in the mouth after the swallow and slowly slips away as the perfect close to a meal.     Ah, let's not also forget that La Vinyeta is also putting out an olive oil, which is just as natural a progression for a winery as producing a sweet. It's all from locally grown olives in the Empordà area. Yes, it's aromatically fantastic and of course it tastes great. Toss in a little jamón with some pa amb tomàquet and you've really got yourself the quintessentially perfect Catalan meal.

Last Saturday, CAV hosted a tasting of Slovenian wines. Naturally, such a tasting wouldn't be proper without Frank Dietrich from Blue Danube Wine and Emil Gaspari from Slovenian Premium Wines in attendance to point out the various facets of the extremely long list of wines. In case you missed it, stay up to date at the News & Events section on this site as well as my twits that I write about wines and events in San Francisco.     And what it list it was, drifting from whites to reds, to desserts. It showed that not only is Emil able to somehow talk these very small producers in to exporting, but also that Slovenia is really producing a great wealth of wines these days. Starting with such wines as the Guerila Pinela those in attendance wandered in to the Batič Cabernet Franc and Batič Rosso 2005 (which I hadn't tasted previously, but found to be one of my new favorite vintages). Then it was off to the bolder reds such as Santomas Big Red and Santomas Antonius to experience the great, full-bodied Refošk that the Slovenes on the coast are producing. Closing all of this was a taste of the Batič Valentino which is a delightful, nutty dessert wine.     It looked to me that all in attendance were really enjoying exploring these wines. And while this was merely a week long tasting stretch, the good news is that CAV regularly stocks these wines as well as a great number of Croatian wines to enjoy anytime. While it can get a big packed in the evening due to popularity, CAV is a good place to check out anytime, since they always put together interesting wine lists.

These days wine blogs are almost passé, Twitter is on the go, Wine TV is in, and social wine sites mushroom. Witness the many new entries in this field. I was made aware of yet another social site called IntoWine.com with a wine tasting TV section build in when its founder Brad Prescott contacted us. He was planning to produce a future segment on "Wines from Strange Places". Well, that sounded a little better than the usual "Weird Wines of the World" so we complied and offered a selection of our wines from Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, and Croatia to be put through the ringer by an illustrious tasting panel at an equally illustrious place, namely the Incanto Restaurant in San Francisco.          The first episode from this shooting has been posted and you can watch it here. It features a wine made by one of my favorite Slovenian producers, master vintner Franci Cvetko of the Kogl estate in the North-Eastern Podravje wine region. It's a Saemling (AKA Scheurebe) mainly found in Germany in a fruity style and sometimes in Austria as a dessert wine. In the hands of Franci Cvetko it joins his Mea Culpa line-up of elegant dry white wines with a rather filigrane (filigree) structure and subtle flinty fruit.

Cantallops, Spain. The name for English speakers might sound like, "cantaloupes", but it couldn't be further from that in meaning. If you take it at face value, in Catalan it means, "singing at wolves". But it appears if you dig a bit deeper that the name has an old Latin root to it that means something more along the line of "wolves' rock" which makes much more sense given that the town is built on a massive rock outcropping and they had a big problem with wolves up until the 19th century.     Probably the best thing about this small hamlet sitting on the edge of Pyrenees is that they have two (count 'em) two wineries. One is Masia Serra, which it seems only has its information on the Empordà wines website. It's a gorgeous place, but not often open, which makes it hard to judge the wines as getting a tasting is tricky.     The other winery is Vinyes dels Aspres. Now, this is a winery that we actually encountered back in 2007 at a Spanish wine show in San Francisco. I can't say enough good things about this winery. For starters, the owner, David Molas Albertí is a very enthusiastic guy. He's restarted his family's winery after decades of their not producing wine. With the exception of picking the grape harvest, he does everything himself. He bottles, ages, and sells about 40,000 bottles of wine a year.     With all this exuberance, he is producing some incredibly top quality wines. This is the only winery I've ever found a White Garnatxa. The red version is everywhere in Catalonia, but no one seems to want to make a white wine of it, possibly due to price disparity with the red fetching more than the white. This is a serious error as in white form it is simply unlike any white that I've ever tasted before. Minerally yes, but with a strong, succulent body and light sweetness to it, that makes it great for both white and red drinkers alike. At €12, it's more expensive than the vast majority of wines in the area, but oh, oh so worth it.     There is also a young wine that he makes, which was unfortunately a 2008. I say unfortunately because he says (and I completely agree) that it shouldn't have been released so early. He did so because he sold out of the 2007 long before the holiday season as it was his most reasonable wine at €5.50. Just like in the rest of the world, there is economic crisis in Spain as well and his distributors pushed him in to releasing the 2008 before it was really ready. The problem this caused was that the nose is quite off and needs another three months or more in the bottle to develop. The body however is luscious and smooth, which makes the clumsy nose even more of a shame as many folks might be easily put off by that alone, when it is and will be a great wine.     The other standouts for me were the S'Alou, which is a high-end red made primarily of Garnatxa. It's a hearty, complex red. There is a lot of strawberry in the nose once it opens up properly and the oak in the body is subtle without really being overpowering, yet at the same time strong enough to be appreciated. At €23, it's getting rather pricey for the region, but is a wine that is very much worth every euro.     But the #1 wine that David is producing is the Bac de les Ginesteres. It's a sweet wine make from the raisin grapes late in the harvest. If left to age normally, these Garnatxa raisins would produce a sweet wine just like the lower cost Negre de Panses. But, to punch it up another notch, David places the wine in large, clear glass bottles that he then ages them in the sun of all things. I thought they were a joke when I saw what you see at the top of the article, sitting outside the winery, but no, they were the newest release of the wine aging. Again, at €30, it's a decently high priced sweet wine, but it is transcendent. I have gotten a new appreciation of dessert wines in successive trips to Spain, but this wine, this creation is so above and beyond and Moscatell and Garnatxa sweets that I've had before. The wine is nutty in the glass and like the best sweet Sherries that I've ever had. It ceases to be like a normal sweet wine and reaches some other level that I don't even know what to call it. All I can say is wow. Of course with only 500 bottles a year being produced, it is not easy to come by.     If the wines didn't speak enough for the winery, David is doing other things to make it stand out. For one, there is the website which is a really nicely done site. He understands marketing, which, while something that California vintners know very well, is not something that European winemakers do that much of. He also sources all of his grapes from his own lands. He doesn't buy any grapes from outside growers, which is nearly unheard of due to it limiting your production volume. And of the grapes the he grows, Garnatxa is predominant. Every wine that he produces has Garnatxa in it. He does this because it is a local varietal and he feels a good deal of pride in growing it. He doesn't grow anything like Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay because they aren't local. David wants to be a Catalan winemaker first and foremost and in this he is doing exceeding well. If Cantallops doesn't know it now, he will be their star citizen in the coming years which will replace the current star, who was a farmer that shot six wolves in one year back in 1868. I'm joking,although it might not be far from the truth...

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