Dining in ATL just got better

I've spent a fair amount of time in Atlanta's ATL airport.  Partly because I'm partial to Delta and end up there on connecting flights and partly because I really like Atlanta and its food/wine scene.  I often wander around the airport looking at the food options, riding the train to other terminals hoping for better fare than a TGI Fridays.  Other than the fairly cool piano lounge in terminal E the One Flew South  Sushi meets Southern cooking restaurant is the best I have seen in an airport.  Perhaps it is also the most expensive but sometimes it is worth the cost if you are captive for hours with a delayed flight.

Brian Hannigan was kind enough to send a photo to PRIME of his family enjoying a bottle of PRIME at One Flew South the other day and I wanted to post it here.  That's Susan on the left and Melissa on the right.  I can't tell you how excited I was to receive this picture of a group in an airport across the country enjoying my wine.  Its amazing to see where the few hundred cases of PRIME I make end up!

Mystery: District 4 Cab, Oxbow and the man with the accent

I was passing by the Oxbow wine merchant a few days ago and noticed our District 4 Cabernet was unfortunately missing from the shelves.   I'm thinking, Great, how long have they been out? On a seemingly unrelated note I got a call from an East Coast Prime fan (with a terrific accent) that was on vacation in Napa and was looking for the wine.  Turns out after I missed his call he stopped by the Oxbow in Napa for lunch and by chance saw the District 4 and bought all they had in stock.

All the pieces came together the next day when a 2 case order came in from the wine merchant and the customer let me know he found what he was looking for.  Mystery solved, time for a glass of wine.

Prime time at the Oxbow Market

Not that you need another reason to visit the Oxbow Public Market in Napa but I'm going to give you one anyway.  Aside from my longtime favorite Taylor's Refresher (aka Gott's) there is a new excellent reason to show up at the Oxbow at least once a week.


The Oxbow Wine Merchant has picked up PRIME's 2007 District 4 Cabernet and is going to be pouring it by the glass.  Located directly across from Hog Island's oyster bar, you can't miss the shop so stop in and have a glass!  Don't forget to look for PRIME by the glass in San Francisco at Foreign Cinema, First Crush and Inner Fog too.

News from the recent tasting in SF

There should be much more hoopla for the recent release of our 2007 Prime Cabernet Sauvignon "Midoriya Hills Vineyard". Everyone else is giving it much more attention than we are. It is at least available on our website, with more info to come soon.

Ted poured at the public tasting for the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. Just discovered this nice write up regarding the tasting. Thanks to Frank Thorsburg of Wine Country Insider.

http://fthorsberg.wordpress.com/2011/02/24/tasting-winners/

A hot one in Napa

It is currently 80 degrees here in Napa.  Hardly seems like February but a nice enough day to take apart some of Prime's old barrels.  I took some time before the Superbowl to disassemble some barrels that I bought in 2007.  It takes a lot less time break them up than it does to make them.  That being said, I am always amazed at how well wine barrels are made.  It takes a lot of pounding with a mighty big hammer to convince them to fall into a pile of staves.  Its really amazing that these are made with only pressure holding them together.  No nails, glue, screws etc.  This batch looks likely to become firewood but you never know, maybe yard art if this heat keeps up.

A toast to 2011...

A huge thanks to all the supporters of PRIME Napa Valley's efforts over the last year.  2010 was a terrific year for us.  The wines received some great press that turned into quite a few new customers.  The best part of the job is getting to meet the people that love the wines.  It is all of you that have shown so much excitement over the  last year that make us want to do even better in 2011.


Speaking of New Years: Everyone seems to do a "best of" list to hit the highlights of the outgoing year.  I never expected to make any of those so I assure you it was a pleasant surprise to come in at #8 at senelwine.com's top 10 wines of the year list!  Check out what he has to say about the 2008 District 4 Chardonnay by clicking here.  My favorite quote: "Move over Sbragia, there's a new Chardonnay ace in town" 


(for those under-informed on wine trivia: Sbragia=Ed Sbragia, famous longtime Beringer winemaker.)

SF Vintners Market

1pm

5pm

The pictures are from the Vintners Market in San Francisco in November. It started out pretty quiet and then a few hours later the crowds hit the back where we were at. I tried to get a picture from the same angle of before and after the crowd came. These types of events are important to us because they give us a chance to meet directly with consumers and in turn these consumers (aka "you") can buy our wine that day and walk out with it. Since we are too small to have a tasting room, it is like a rotating occasional version of a tasting room. We met lots and lots of people during this two day event, thanks to all those who stopped by our table. The magnums were a big hit, maybe for holiday gifts? We will keep you posted on any other "try and buy" events we might be doing next year.

The Bay Bridge in the clear window pane.