(N)OT timista

The title's kind of confusing, but I was trying to merge a restaurant called "Ottimista" with the word "not" to refer to our disappointing evening there. It's an Italian restaurant/wine bar on Union St here in the Cow Hollow neighborhood. I've been there once before and really enjoyed my time. That time, the sommelier was nice enough to pour us 4-5 wines to try, the food was exceptional, etc. But this time was different.

The server apparently knew nothing about the wine, which is a big no-no for a wine bar. I told her I wanted a medium to full bodied white, with bold acidity. She recommending one of the featured wines for the night, an unoaked chardonnay. Now, I DID legitimately want to try this since I'm not really a fan of oaky chards, but i was also hoping that it indeed would be medium/full with good acidity. well it wasn't. it was flabby and watery.

then i ordered the sea perch and i asked for a sparkling wine to go with it. Disappointingly, the server not only brought me the wrong entree (pasta w/ sea urchins), but she brought me the same sparkling wine my boyfriend had just had, even though i specifically asked to try something different.

My friend ordered the lamb, and asked for something to pair with that. The server glanced at their list of nightly specials/pairings and just picked the wine at the top (which their menu said was supposed to pair with the sea urchin pasta). so it was official: this server knew nothing. which is a shame for a wine bar.

the food was pretty good, the wines were ok, and the service was bad. so the fact that the 3 wines we tried were only so- so, combined the server's poor performance means i don't think I'll be going there again for a bit.

Champagne and Caviar: Super Bowl XLIV

Yup. That's right. We had real French Champagne and truffled caviar (in addition to the usual ribs, burgers, bbq drumsticks, chips/guac, etc).

My friend from college is doing a Masters in Wine program in Burgundy France, and was in town the past few weeks with her class, exploring Napa/Sonoma, Lodi, Central Coast, etc. First of all, how awesome does that program sound (except is all in French)? Secondly, her taste has definitely gotten notably more French--she brought the Champagne and caviar, in addition to a Cotes du Rhone, Zin blend from Ridge Winery in the Santa Cruz mountains, and Lillet--a much needed digestif. When she asked me what she could bring to our little Super Bowl gathering, i told her to bring beverages, assuming she'd go for the usual Corona or what have you. Well she really stepped it up a notch to say the least!

Champagne: fuji apple on the nose and palate. fresh, crisp, not overly nutty/yeasty. i actually prefer nutty/yeasty, but since we were having truffled caviar (as opposed to regular caviar) i thought the crisp and more subtle flavors were appropriate.

Cotes du Rhone: medium-light bodied, ripe cherry...and that's about it. Not a whole lot going on there. It was disappointing, so I guess it's no biggy that i can't remember the name/vintage/etc for you guys.

Ridge Winery Zin blend: I'm not sure what this one's actually called, but it was a blend of Zin (74%), Carignane (not sure what that is), and Petite Sirah. This wine was definitely the best (at least for my palate): full bodied, fruit forward, great tannic structure. It was the most interesting and satisfying. it was also the only new world wine. At this point, working for a company that imports wine from Argentina, I definitely prefer the new world, fruit/oak driven wines.

But I better force my palate to study the intricacies of the "more subtle" (aka: watery) flavors of French wine if I want to pass the sommelier exam!