Wine
Qupé was my first stop at wine lands. The weather was unexpectedly nice in the Outerlands so starting with the white blend seemed fitting. The blend is about 2/3 Viognier and 1/3 Chardonnay. I really liked the way these came together. Viognier can be a little too frilly for me while Chardonnay can be too oakey but together, they balanced wonderfully. The Viognier was definitely the more prominent of the wines allowing a lot of floral notes to shine through.
Price: $20
Verdad is a little side brand of Qupé and I was really excited to try their Grenache Rosé. It was a really high acid crisp rosé with notes of cranberry, strawberry, and lemon.
Price: $18
The Syrah was also very nice. It was a dry red with notes of dark berries, cranberry, and hint of tobacco. The last note was really hard to pick up and I spent a long time just trying to figure out what the last taste was before I got it.
Price: $20
Red Car is a wine that has a very distinct label and even though it was on my list, I had a big feeling of Deja Vu when I approached their booth. I'm sure I've tried it before but the problem with trying so many wines all the time, is that stuff falls through the cracks. This rosé was much lighter in body and flavor than many others that I have enjoyed. Fermented like a white wine, without any skin contact, the pale salmon color is much lighter than a traditional rosé. This is definitely a wine for people who want something very very light.
Price: $25
My favorite thing about wine tasting is finding wines I've never tried before so as I was wandering around the wine tent and found a red called "Charbano," my interest was piqued. I asked the booth what it was as many times wines with interesting names are blends. The winery representitive gave me a really condescending response that it was a varietal. She then told me it was similar to Pinot, Gamay, or Barbera. It was really frustrating though that her first answer was still rude. I always thought the point of Wine Lands was a way to get exposure for your wine. I understand that a lot of people there just want to get drunk, but there are also people genuinely interesting in discovering new wines and if they ask about something unique that you have, don't shut them down. The pervasive snootiness that some people have with wine drives me crazy. I've meet so many friendly and amazing people in the wine industry who just want to educate people on what makes their wine special and that gets ruined when others have rude and condescending attitudes to people curious about wine.
But I digress... the wine itself was super interesting. Per their site, Charbano only has 70 acres in California and is extinct in France. The wine had a very intense nose. The earthy, berry taste was definitely reminiscent of Pinot. It was a very interesting wine and I'd love to try it again. Maybe next time I'll get to talk to someone willing to share more about the wine with me.
Price: $28
It's hard not to love the Love Red blend by Broc. The primarily Carignan blend also includes some Valdiguie and a dash of Petite Syrah. It's an very balanced blend and a smooth light red with cranberry and smokey notes.
Price: NA
These little cans of sake made their appearance at the press tent and I had to have a taste. I don't drink sake often but it's something I really enjoy. I particularly love to have some when I eat sushi, but as a person who generally gets sushi as take out to eat at home, I don't have good sake nearby to pair with it. I've tried to buy inexpensive bottles before but they tend to not be good quality and come in huge bottles that are more than I could drink in a night. So when I saw these little cans of Kibo sake, I was really excited. The cans are going to retail for about $5 each and are the perfect size to have with one meal and not worry about wasting the rest of a bottle. Besides having a great size and price though, I was pleased with just how drinkable the sake was. It's light and refreshing and definitely something I could just sit around sipping, with or without sushi.
The little can also honors traditional Japanese packaging. The brewery where it is made was destroyed in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. However, in the 3 years since, they've been able to re-build and launch their new sake.
Price: $5
This is really the kitchen sink of red blends. The wine includes Sangiovese, Viognier, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, and more. The nose was beautifully filled with ginger and cloves. The red was very light with a little of spiciness and earthiness. The hints of ginger carry through from start to finish. It's probably worth noting that it's one of the few wines I went back and got a glass of. I'm basically adding it to my K&L cart right now...
Price: $24
This was another wine that showed up in the press tent and I was excited to try it. I love Trousseau Gris and this one didn't disappoint. The nose is super light. The wine is very high acid, with tangy lemon and grapefruit notes. This would be an ideal wine for a hot summer day.
Price: $24
Food
The first night there, I was really craving a lobster roll. I knew this had to be my dinner that night. I was a little disapointed with it though. It still tasted awesome but for the price ($19!) it was not nearly as full as the one's the restaurant. It didn't really live up to my picture of an overflowing lobster roll. As you know, this inspired me to make my own rendition of the New England dish.
One of the fun little perks of the Press Tent was a special food and wine press release. One of the presenters was the owner of AQ & TBD. Even though I wrote about their restaurants, I wasn't familiar at all with the dish they were bringing to the event. However, they brought one of their Spaghetti Sloppy Joe sandwiches to the press event and Dan was able to snag it. Since it's basically gluten on gluten and wrapped in gluten, I let him enjoy the whole thing. He loved the sandwich though and has been bringing it up constantly. Apparently the dish is something you won't ever find on their menu but just a late night snack that the restaurant employees like to enjoy after their shifts. The treat was a way for the fancy restaurants to have a more low key dish for Outside Lands.
I still needed to eat though. I really wanted to try a bacon flight from Baconlands at the GastroMagic stage but they were sold out. Who sells out of bacon???? I really needed my bacon fix though so we went to the Bacon Bacon truck. I snagged this awesome double burger and instead of onions, they gave me extra bacon. It was happiness.
We were able to sit back with wine and bacon and enjoy the Killers. It was definitely a great way to end a really long weekend. Until next time Outside Lands!
