The best part of drinking champagne....

is when you chase it with a real wine - like a Pinot Noir!

This calendar year my happy place has put on an event once a month called, Passport, and I've blogged about most of those events. I have attended all of them and have enjoyed them immensely. While I may not have always liked the wines, I learned quite a bit and I appreciated all that I tasted. The last event of the Passport Series was not my favorite by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, I really had no desire to attend at all. I was tired, had a stressful day, endured my work holiday luncheon and just wanted to go home and curl up on the sofa with my dogger and shut out the world. But, I am the TinyWineGirl and I couldn't let my fellow winos down. I have been to all of the Passport events and damn if a little French champagne was going to stop me from attending them all!

I don't care for champagne. That being said, I don't know much about it and I haven't tried very many. The only time I really can fathom champagne is when orange juice is involved. I forgot my orange juice last night. Yep, potential for disaster.

The Evil Red Genius and I arrived early to enjoy wine and cheese and to try to pump ourselves up for drinking bubbly all night.  Thanks to Arthur's recommendation (the second one because I wasn't feeling brave enough to try the first recommendation), the night was not lost!

I must admit this wine label caught my attention. An eye chart! How cool and unique!

When I found out it was a California Pinot Noir, I was immediately disappointed.

When I found out the California Pinot was a collaboration wine of well-known winemakers, Joel Gott and Dave Phinney, I was flying high again!

You may recall from earlier posts that I think Dave Phinney is a wine genius. He is the winemaker for Orin Swift Cellars which produces my absolute favorite wine. If Dave Phinney has his hands on the making of the wine, I want to try it. Normally, I wouldn't ever choose a California Pinot but Dave Phinney pushed me over the edge and made me get out of my comfort zone. I like him that much.

At first whiff, I was transported to a field of wild violets and raspberries. At first sip, I tasted red berry jam, a hint of cola and spice. Very fruit-forward, this wine is smooth, easy to drink and food-friendly. It paired wonderfully with fig-infused goat cheese as well as horseradish cheddar.

I should have known from the start of the event that it was going to be an interesting night. Arthur told us there was the potential for people to be "under the table" quickly.  Then the presenter mentioned that we would be "drinking people tonight".  No one even batted an eye at that comment but Brad and I gave each other the perplexed puppy-dog-head-cocked-to-the-side look. Obviously I was disappointed that we were drinking bubbly but I had no idea we were going to be drinking people instead. Interesting concept.

The first bubbly wasn't terrible. I could drink two sips but then I gave Brad the rest in my glass. We have a "no waste" rule with our crew. You don't have to like it. You don't have to drink it. But you can't waste it. Don't pour it out. Give it to your neighbor.  That rule was thrown out the window at the bubbly tasting. Why? First, Brad was going to be one of those immediately under the table if we made his glass our dump bucked. Secondly, after the first one, Brad didn't even like what we were tasting. For the first time ever, we filled up the dump bucket that evening. In fact, I didn't even like wasting this stuff so I asked for my pours to be less than the usual pour. I would try it but I wouldn't guarantee I'd like it.

As the event went on, we were definitely entertained. The one-liners were coming at us so quickly that I couldn't even keep track. The laughter was overwhelming as we tried to suppress it and not cause a scene. The best part is the funnies were coming so quickly and innocently out of the presenter's mouth that I don't even remember the context of most of them.  Here are a few:

"This champagne is quite aggressive. It's like a fist in the mouth."

"You can really taste the growers in this one."

"File that one in your palette rolodex."

"Nun's fart"

"Dirty press and then the big cork went in."

"This one goes good with PIG!"

"The front label is like blah blah blah"

"The necker!

"The Big O!"

Three things that I took away from this event:

1. When you are at French champagne tasting and supposed to behave yourself by sitting quietly but you're whispering to your wine buddy, make sure your wine glasses aren't close together. When the wine glasses are too close and they clink really loudly in a starkly quiet room, instead of being embarrassed when the entire room stares at you, just play it off and proclaim, "Vive La France!" It worked for us!

2.  Eye charting is the new vogue! There's always inspiration found in (or on) a wine bottle!

3. Don't be ashamed of using the dump bucket. Also don't be afraid to save at least 1/3 of the Pinot Noir that you opened prior to the event. It will serve as a perfect champagne chaser (and mouthwash).

Happy Holidays!

 Buy wine. Drink wine. Share wine.

"One of the disadvantages of wine is that it makes a man mistake words for thoughts."

Samuel Johnson