Thomas and I flew down to Newport Beach for our California distributor Henry Wine Group's general training meeting last Friday. Afterwards we headed up to Los Angeles where we spent the weekend checking out the culinary scene there. On Saturday, we enjoyed an amazing brunch at Campanile Restaurant. Originally built in 1929 by Charlie Chaplin, La Brea Bread Company and Campanile were opened by famed Chef Mark Peel in 1989. Both have been the recipients of numerous awards and nominations including James Beard Outstanding Restaurant Award and Best California Chef. Thanks to GM and wine director Jay Perrin for taking the time to taste through our wines.
We also visited Manhattan Beach where we hit the very hip and beautiful Shade Hotel and then Rock'N Fish for delicious artichokes and oysters which pair perfectly with the 2007 Cuvee A Muller Thurgau! You'll be seeing our wines on all of these lists soon. Thanks to Cynthia for being such a great hostess.
Pictured above, winemaker Thomas Houseman and me outside of the Rock'N Fish in Manhattan Beach.
Cheers,
Kim
Your hair looks awesome in this picture! Sunny California and the pier - tres bien!
Posted by: Leah | July 01, 2008 at 08:59 PM
Thanks for your letter dated 112008. It is a disappointment that South Dakota and the liquor wholesalers have such a tight control on what wines a consumer has for choice; especially after the Supreme Court ruling 2/3 years ago which essentially left the choice to the state legislature to open the state to limited direct sales. I for one think Anne Amie is exactly the type of winery which gets short changed by this narrow view point regarding direct sales. Certainly limiting a resident participant to share in a wine club experience of tasting fine wines not available (Anne Amie)anywhere else is very frustrating. You will likely never be able to market your wines through the wholesale state liquor monopoly and hence your winery is closed out to resident participants who like to search for very good wines from small producers. To wit:given the Oregon production laws limited gross output there are few Oregonian wines of anykind in South Dakota, your wineries don't have enough clout to market in SD. Whatever you can do to work with other small producers around the country but especially in Oregon to convince our legislature to open the state to limited direct sales would be a good thing. In the meantime I will savor what i have in my wine cellar and hope for the best. D. S. Hooper
Posted by: Donald S. Hooper | December 13, 2008 at 12:16 PM