September is California Wine Month

Give a toast to the business behind the libation as the Golden State celebrates California Wine Month during the harvest month of September. Governor Schwarzenegger's proclamation recognizes the importance of the state's wine industry to California's economy and families, not to mention the global reach of California wines.

With so much attention focused on wine's pleasures, it's easy to lose sight of wine's importance as an industry. We were amazed by these remarkable facts about California wine, which make our beverage of choice even more awesome:

• California accounts for 90% of all wine produced in the United States.
• California is the world's fourth-largest wine producer.
• California wine generates $18.5 billion in domestic retail wine sales.
• California wine industries generate 820,000 jobs nationwide.
• The national economic impact of California's wine industry is $121.8 billion with an impact of $61.5 billion on the state's economy.
• Family-owned and operated businesses comprise the majority of the state's 4,600 winegrape growers and 2,800 wineries.
• California winegrowing began in 1769 with Father Junipero Serra and the Franciscan monks.
• California has 108 American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) with winegrapes grown in 46 of the state's 58 counties.
• California leads the nation in wine tourism with more than 20 million tourists visiting the state's winemaking regions yearly.
• California wine is the leading finished agricultural product in the country, even though less than 1% of California land is planted to vineyards.
• California wine drives the popularity and reach of "wine culture," evidenced in part by winemaking ventures in all 50 states.
• Women and immigrants have played pivotal roles in the development and growth of California wine.
• California is a leader stateside and abroad in wine innovation, quality, science, entrepreneurship, and sustainable winegrowing and winemaking.
• California wine country's top chefs comprise the vanguard of America's culinary revolution with their focus on fresh, seasonal and regional cuisine.

Source: www.discovercaliforniawine.com

Impressed? We were, and that's with nary a mention of how North American rootstock saved the European wine industry from devastation by the Phylloxera pest.

Many valley eateries are celebrating California Wine Month with wine specials. Mindy at Zin American Bistro has specials on many wines from her exotic wine list. All Roy's Restaurants have special wine promotions this month, including our Roy's in Rancho Mirage. And in case you missed our sold-out bash at Piero's Acqua Pazza last month, you can cruise by any Monday night this month for 50% off regularly priced wines by the bottle or glass.

Call your favorite watering hole to ask about their California Wine Month specials. Local stores participating in the celebration include Vons, Pavilions and Costco locations in California.

Now get busy making us the #1 wine market in the world!

Chef Nicolas

We were very saddened to read about the passing of Chef Nicolas Klontz in today's Desert Sun. Together with his wife and partner Mindy, Chef Nicolas created masterful food and wine experiences at Zin American Bistro in Palm Springs. Chef Nicolas' passion and flair for food found expression in the spirit of the dishes he served, which Mindy always honored with her amazing and exotic wine service.

We logged a few unforgettable dining experiences here and on our Web site. One special treat was the night our band of locals brought out-of-town guests and one high-palate child there for dinner. Determined to taste our way through as much of the tantalizing menu as we could, we all ordered different appetizers, entrees and desserts so everyone could try each dish – every bite delivered deliciousness, with not a mediocre morsel passing anyone's lips.

Another evening, we were surprised when Chef Nicolas sat down at our table to grab some late-night dinner for himself. Thinking perhaps we'd lingered too long, Chef Nicolas instead put us at ease by rattling off funny stories over more wine and fantastic food late into the night.

Tomorrow night's memorial service will be held at Zin from 5 to 7 PM. Stop by to honor a master chef, a terrific homme and to express your condolences to Mindy. Support this lovely lady with your continued patronage. Chef's spirit will live on in his food.

Palm Springs Restaurant Week

Palm Springs Restaurant Week kicks off this Sunday, May 31 through Tuesday, June 9 in Desert Hot Springs, Palm Springs, Cathedral City and Rancho Mirage. East valley eateries will fete their fare during the second half of the 20-day event on Wednesday, June 10 through Friday, June 19 in Palm Desert, Indian Wells, La Quinta and Indio. In all, more than 100 participating area restaurants will offer special three-course $24 or $36 menus to entice their loyal fan base as well as diners eager to try new locales or cuisines at bargain prices.

We're going and hope you will too. Even though it's a food event, we cruised a few online wine lists to guide our picks. Our search left us wondering: When will wine service catch up with food service?

As with most restaurants nationwide, local wine lists group wines by traditional categories based on color, type, grape variety, region or country of origin. Only a handful of restaurants offer lists that engage customers to consider wines to match their dishes and preferred wine styles. These progressive wine lists offer diners intuitive, personalized ways to find wines they're apt to like by grouping wines according to flavors, texture and body.

Some restaurants use one-liners or tasting notes to cue diners in to a wine's flavor profile. We like these annotated wine lists too. In fact, we like anything that makes wine more approachable or that encourages diners to venture into new wine territories. Say you're a fan of Pinot Grigio. Chances are you'll also like a crisp Pinot Blanc from Oregon or perhaps Albarino from Spain. Do you prefer big, bold reds instead and default to Cabernet Sauvignon? Maybe it's time to discover the pleasures of a Washington State meritage, Spanish Rioja or a saucy Australian Shiraz.

Take a look at PF Chang's sample progressive wine list to see what we mean. Within each flavor profile category, lighter-bodied wines are listed first, then medium to fuller-bodied wines.

We discovered a cool listing designed by sommelier Kurt Kirschenman of Mistral, the restaurant at Loews Coronado Bay Resort during San Diego Restaurant Week. Last time we looked, Kirschenman listed region, appellation, vintage, producer, grape varietal(s), body, and for Chardonnays, level of oakiness. He may tweak his system some more, perhaps adding more flavor descriptors.

Copley's lists wines by types or varietals but adds a brief description to each one. Will you order your usual white wine or give an Alsatian Gewurztraminer listed as "a great foodie wine with flavors of lychee, rose petals and spice" a swirl instead? Casual Matchbox Vintage Pizza Bistro adds punchy tasting notes to their value-driven (and typo-laden) list of sparkling, red and white wines.

The list at Ace Hotel & Swim Club's Kings Highway & The Amigo Room shows how less can be more. Their eight whites are grouped as fresh, aromatic or earthy. The restaurant pegs ten reds into four categories: mild mannered and subtle, soft and fruity, fresh and spicy or powerful. Done.

If you'd rather flip through five pages of wines from ten Bordeaux appellations in search of 2000 Pomerol Chateau Petrus, Le Vallauris has your number (it's $10,500, btw). Eclectic tastes will find a bevy of wines listed at Zin American Bistro, where Mindy offers spot-on pairings. The 18-page list at Johannes caught our eye for its out-of-the-ordinary domestic selections as well as featured wines from Austria. Blaufränkisch, anyone?

Tell us about wine lists you like and why. We'll take a look at east valley wine lists next week. In the meantime, log onto Open Table and make your reservations.