Category: Santa Ynez

Sips & Bites: News from the Phoenix restaurant community

Events & news about what’s going on around the Phoenix restaurant community, breweries and wineries.

Marcellino Ristorante puts an Italian twist on Thanksgiving family meals

Not in the mood to do much cooking or don’t want turkey this Thanksgiving look at what the Scottsdale restaurant’s Taste of Italy take-out menu has to offer. Handcrafted raviolis, Paccatelli and Gnocchi Sorrentin by Marcellino himself are being made for large (serving 15- 20 people) and medium (8-12 people) parties are available with reheating instructions. Orders are to be pre-paid and ordered Tuesday- Saturday no later than Tuesday, December 26th for pick-up on the next day (Wednesday) from 2-4 p.m. Orders can be placed by calling 480-990-9500 and more information and pricing can be found on their website.

Phoenix City Grille hosts Remus Bourbon Dinner

Tired of turkey and leftovers then make your reservations for the four-course dinner being served on Wednesday, December 4th at 6 p.m. Co-hosted by Arizona Whiskey Guy John Christie, the main courses will be Pan Seared Jumbo Sea Scallop and Duroc Pork Chop paired with special edition and reserved bourbons. The experience is $120++ per person and can be made by emailing Brittnee Reed or calling 602-510-7174. More information can be found at PCG’s website.

Festivin tickets are on sale

The Wrigley Mansion’s annual celebration of wine will be upon us quicker than you can say “fill up the glass” come January 16th – 19th 2025. Tickets for the Grand Tasting, interactive seminars, cooking demonstrations and more are sure to sell out. Tickets for events must be purchased in advance and can be purchased here.

GenuWine Arizona hosts holiday market

With the holiday season just about in full swing the downtown Phoenix wine bar/shop is hosting a holiday market next Sunday, November 30th. From 12- 3 p.m. attendees can visit with four jewelry and ornament vendors and of course, there will be wine with free samples and 20% off wines poured.

Chompie’s Scottsdale gets a new look

To offer dine-in and take-out customers a better experience the restaurant has new tables, chairs & booths, new counters & marketplace, new restrooms, new furniture & blinds on the patio and more. Don’t worry the sandwiches, soups, salads and other traditional Jewish deli dishes haven’t changed.

Andrew Murray and his wines

Andrew Murray fell in love with wine while in the Rhone Valley of France, learned to make wine in Australia and studied viticulture and enology at UC Davis before starting his own winery in Santa Ynez. Making only Rhone varieties, Andrew sources grapes from vineyards up and down California’s Central Coast, a region known for Syrah, Grenache and other Rhone varieties because of it’s Mediterranean type climate. Many of the grapes are sourced from steep, hillside vineyards. Andrew has garnered accolades from Robert Parker, Food and Wine Magazine and many others for not only his wine making but for his passion and dedication. In addition to the accolades, Andrew also garnered attention on the big screen when his wines were featured in the hit film “Sideways”. Andrews wines are big in flavor and alcohol, often going above 15%, and he’s not afraid to say it. He feels that to be commercially viable wines they need to be higher in alcohol because lower alcohol wines seem to get lost after higher alcohol wines. When not making his own wines, Andrew makes wines for Oak Savanna Vineyards where he can make some other wines that are not Rhone inspired. http://www.andrewmurrayvineyards.com/

I recently sat down with a group of wine enthusiasts to taste 5 of Andrews recent releases. In this post I will give our thoughts on the 2 Syrahs and in another post I will share what we thought on the 3 of the blends tasted.

2008 Tous les Jours Syrah- The name translates to “everyday” and could be drank that way. Aged for 11 months in new and used French oak barriques after the grapes were fermented in both open and closed top tanks. Sourcing grapes from vineyards in Paso Robles and Santa Ynez, this Central Coast bottling had aromas of red bell peppers and tobacco on the nose and was soft on the palate and had a long finish. Drinkable now it should get better with a couple years of aging. This wines was considered very good by the panel. 2,500 cases were produced of this wine and should retail for about $20.

2008 Terra Bella Vineyard Syrah- Making a mere 240 cases,this Paso Robles bottling comes from a hillside vineyard near Halter Ranch and Tablas Creek. A nice nose, this wine is big on fruit, thick and is a deep colored wine. With raspberries and blueberry nuances, this wine was aged at least 18 months in mostly new French oak barrels. Nice and balanced the group felt this was the best of the 5 wines tasted and a great deal at $36.