Sake Brewery in San Francisco

Sequoia Sake Company is a sake brewery in San Francisco.

It's located at industrial area, an unlike location for sake brewery, but inside, there are devoted sake makers who learned from tradition yet do not afraid of new challenge.
There are three founders, and everything is done by them.
They use passion and precision: the rice and water were sent to a lab in Japan to test if they were suitable to make good sake.

They offer Genshu, Nama, and Nigori.
These are unpasteurized sake. Fresh, crisp, and have good fruits quality.
Sake is gaining a popularity here so you can easily find many kinds of sake from Japan, but when it comes to freshness, you can't beat "made in San Francisco."  

They used pictures of animals on the label so that customers can easily distinguish which bottle is which sake. Very thoughtful.  

As a part of continuing effort to make great sake, they recently acquired Yamada-Nishiki rice, which is a staple for sake making in Japan, so we will see new, exciting products from them, hopefully soon.

Almost Vegetarian Bento

Almost vegetarian Bento Box lunch for JC.

Pickled vegetables, steamed spinach, dried Daikon were all prepared day before.
All I need to do in the morning was to cook rice and egg. Easy.

The Bento box is made of cedar wood. This specific style is called Mage-Wappa.
I bought this box here in Asakusa, Tokyo.
Cedar wood absorbs moisture from rice so rice won't get soggy and stays tasty even after it gets cold. It also has some sterilizing power.
The box is 3 years old but still keeps refreshing cedar aroma. This is another good thing about this bento box.

SERESIN WINE FLIGHT

There was SERESIN wine flight at Solano Cellars in Albany.

SERESIN is a biodynamic winery in Marlborough, New Zealand.
They are an only winery in Marlborough who does hand harvesting.

MOMO Sauvignon Blanc 2014
MOMO is a series of wines that are made from grapes harvested from the flat part of the vineyard. Reasonably priced.
This wine has very refreshing green fruits aspect.
It doesn't have that much depth, but it makes this wine a great choice for summer. Easy to drink.

SERESIN Sauvignon Blanc 2014 is very passion fruits.
SERESIN Sauvignon Blanc Reserve 2011 is more mineral than fruits. Use of French oak and lees gives this New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc multiple characters.

They were all good, but it was a hot day so my winner was MOMO.

MOMO Pinot Noir 2013
SERESIN LEAH Pinot Noir 2013
SERESIN RAUPO CREEK Pinot Noir 2012

Pinot Noir are light and bright.
They have an impression of carefully made beautiful wines, although Sauvignon Blanc spoke more to me.

The gentleman in the picture is Mr. Clive Dougal, the winemaker.
His affable presence made wines taste even more pleasant, and I don't call it a bias.

Ruche di Castagnole Monferrato

Tenuta Montemagno Ruche di Castagnole Monferrato DOCG 2015.

This is my first time to try the varietal called Ruche.
Ruche comes from Piemonte, was once a rare, obscure red variety.
It's said to have similar characteristics with Nebbiolo.
Ruche di Castagnole Monferrato DOCG has at least 90% Ruche grape.
The rest can be Barbera and/or Brachetto.
No minimum aging requirement.

Light in color. Floral like pink rose. Cherry, rosemary, thyme.
Tannin is on the higher side, but not aggressive.
Alcohol is 14.5%, but so balanced that didn't feel that high.
Very easy to drink, and good food wine.

It went great with sheep's milk cheddar cheese.

First blind tasting

I've been giving JC blind tasting for years, but today, out of nowhere, he gave ME blind tasting, so here's my first try:

Wine is white wine, clear, color is medium gold, medium viscosity, no gas or sediment.
On the nose, it's clean, medium intensity, ripe peach, pear, tropical fruits, white flower.
Palate is dry, no tannin, medium acidity, medium+ alcohol, ripe peach, tropical fruits.
Balanced. Medium length. From warm climate.
My conclusion was Alsace Riesling.

The answer was Trimbach Alsace Pinot Gris 2011.

With hindsight, the wine was so NOT Riesling: no green hue, not enough acidity, not so aromatic.
However, when I was thrown into that spot, I was panicked and forgot all the knowledge I read on books.

I enjoyed my first blind tasting - I saw wine from different angle - but was so nervous.

I've been a tough judge on JC's blind tasting, but from now on, I can be a little nicer. Maybe.

A. & G. Fantino Rosso dei Dardi

A. & G. Fantino Rosso dei Dardi 2014.

This wine is Nebbiolo from Barolo, but they didn't use any oak in the process. This is fermented and aged in stainless steel tank for 6 months to preserve the grape's fruitiness.

This is very fruity wine: the fuchsia color and the fruity aroma are almost like Gamay.  It's fun to see solely the fruity side of Nebbiolo.
Kind of wine you want to bring to picnic. 
JC wants to make Sangria with this.
Easy to drink, nothing like Barolo.

I wouldn't call this my favorite wine, but tasting wine like this, which is made from the same grape and the same area as Barolo, it's interesting to see how different outcome can be depending on the condition and wine making.
By the way, A. & G. Fantino makes great Barolo Chinato.

Valtellina Superiore 2001 & 2007

Balgera Valtellina Superiore Valgella 2001 and Balgera Valtellina Superiore Inferno 2007.
We ordered them at the last month's tasting, and they finally arrived!

Valtellina Superiore DOCG is from Valtellina, Lombardy, Italy, near the border with Switzerland.
It 's surrounded by mountains on both northern and southern sides, and these mountains protect this area from cold northern winds and hot summer air.
Vines are planted on the steep hill along the Adda river. The hill is so steep that grapes are cultivated and harvested mostly by hands.
There are 5 sub-zones: Maroggia, Sassella, Grumello, Inferno, and Valgella, from west to east.
Sassella enjoys the most sun light and is considered to be the best area, and Inferno is said to be called so because it's the hottest among the 5 zones.

Minimum alcohol level is 12.0%.
Aging requirement is minimum  2 years, including 12 months in barrel.
Permitted grape used is at least 90% Nebbiolo.

2001 Valgella is so soft and I'll have it with stewed meat on cold winter night...

 

Yuzu cookies

I planted a tiny Yuzu tree almost 10 years ago.
Now it's taller than the fence and gives us a lot of fruits.

Yuzu is a citrus tree originally from China and frequently used in Japanese cuisine.
My favorite dish is Yuuan-yaki (marinate fillet of fish in soy sauce, mirin and slice of yuzu for a couple of days, and grill): I cook this dish almost every week during the season, but there are still a lot of fruits left even after we give them away to neighbors and friends, so I make Yuzu marmalade, too.

Another favorite thing to make from Yuzu is Yuzu marmalade cookies.
These are soft cookies spiced up with sweet aroma and a tiny bit of bitterness from Yuzu marmalade.
I usually like to have sweets with tea, but if I am to pair these cookies with wine...probably Gewurztraminer?
Unfortunately I didn't have a bottle of Gewurztraminer so instead I opened 2012 Hattenheimer Riesling from Rheingau, Kabinett.
By the way, I'm not a big fan of sweets + sweet wine pairing, somehow.

Riesling was a little bit too acidic for the cookies, but the pairing wasn't so bad.
Happy ending for delicious cookies!

wine bag

Once you leave your house, you never know what awaits you.
You might meet somebody you haven't seen for decades, you might take wrong train and be stranded in unknown city, or you might find a bottle of wine you fall in love with.
But, what if you don't have a bag to carry it home...
To prepare for this sad scenario, I made a small wine bag which I can keep in my handbag.

First, cut two pieces of fabric: one for the bag, one for the lining.
I like to use contrasting color and design for fun effect.
Then sew each of them into a box shape (make sure they are big enough to hold a bottle of wine),
and sew them together with handle.
Be careful not to twist the handle - that's a kind of mistake I usually make.

Edge stitch to give the bag a shape, clean up any excess thread, and done!
I didn't use interfacing or other reinforcement so that the bag was light and small and I could carry it always.
For the wine bag for two bottles, I used interfacing for the lining and reinforced the bottom of the bag with plastic plate, and the handle is leather.

Now I'm ready for the encounter anywhere, anytime.