Undercover at Kendall Jackson Winery

I have to admit...my DVR is typically filled with Sitcoms and Trashy Reality TV (I know, I know...don't judge!), but I also happen to LOVE watching the show Undercover Boss on CBS. Each episode features a high-ranking executive or owner of a corporation going undercover as an entry-level employee in their own company. The executives alter their appearance and assume an alias and fictional back-story. The fictitious explanation given for the accompanying camera crew is that the executives are being filmed as part of a documentary about entry-level workers in a particular industry, or a competition with another individual with the winner getting a job with the company. They spend approximately one week undercover, working in various areas of their company operations, with a different job and in most cases a different location each day. They are exposed to a series of predicaments with varying results, and invariably spend time getting to know the people who work in the company, learning about their professional and personal challenges.

At the end of their week undercover, the executives return to their true identity and request each employee they worked with individually come to corporate headquarters. The bosses then reveal their identity, and reward these hard-working employees through campaign, promotion, or financial rewards, while other employees are given training or better working conditions.

This weeks episode features the President(and 20 year industry veteran)of the Kendall Jackson Winery, going undercover! According to the episode guide: "When the president of Kendall Jackson goes undercover, he finds out it's more difficult than it looks. And it's not all wine and roses!"

I think this will provide not only an entertaining look at how the President does working the different jobs in his own company, but also a great look into the inner workings of this large winery! Tune in on Sunday, January 29th at 8/7c on CBS!

Taittinger Official Champagne of SAG Awards

I am not really a big fan of award shows, but judging from the way my Twitter stream blows up every time one is on, a lot of people enjoy them. This Sunday, January 29th, the Screen Actors Guild Awards are on TBS and TNT. During the event celebrities will be drinking Champagne Taittinger and you can too:

Champagne Taittinger and the Screen Actors Guild Awards make the awards season the perfect reason to celebrate!

For the 13th year Champagne Taittinger is the official Champagne of the Screen Actors Guild Awards. The 18th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards are Sunday, January 29th and will feature Taittinger Brut la Francaise during the awards show, backstage in the green room and at the after parties.

Whether you have a coveted invite to a glitzy Hollywood affair or you’re inviting friends over for a fun Hollywood inspired viewing party, popping a bottle of Taittinger is the perfect way to start the night.

The Screen Actors Guild Awards red carpet will be opened by an official toast, the Taittinger Moment, hosted by Vitalie Taittinger heiress to the Champagne house, who is coming from France to attend the event. The awards air live January 29th on TNT and TBS at 8 p.m. (ET), 5 p.m. (PT).

Barrel Tasting at Doukenie Winery

Regular readers of this blog know this past weekend the wineries along Route 9 held their annual barrel tasting. I am a sucker for sampling directly out of the barrel, so I love this event.

Our first stop was Doukenie Winery. Sebastien continues to impress me with his wine and with the changes he is making to the winery.








I especially love the library room and the way they are filling it up. I wish more wineries in the area would build one of these, it shows pride in the wine and makes for a great display.








As for the wines, some highlights:

2011 Chardonnay: Surprisingly smooth for a Chardonnay with a refreshing effervescence and notes of lemon. Fermentation was done in barrels on lees. They stirred the lees every 15days.

2011 Sauvignon Blanc: Fermentation was done cold and slow over three weeks. The wine only had 6-18 hours of skin contact. Citrus notes with prominent pineapple, big aromas and really nice acidity. 50-50 green and gold grapes.

2011 Viognier: Picked after the rains. Very exotic and tropical notes.

2010 Merlot: 2010 was a hot dry year, because Doukenie does not irrigate their vines they actually lost 40% of their Merlot crop that year. The wine is extremely dry with pepper, black current, black cherry, spice great tannins.

2010 Petit Verdot: Doukenie wines tend to have a good earthiness to them. Great dark color, really coats the teeth nice acidty and strong tannins.

2010 Cabernet Franc: Good pepper aromas, strawberry and tobacco notes. Medium body with a soft finish.

Cabernet Franc Vertical at Fabbioli Cellars

Cabernet Franc is arguably the king of reds in Virginia (though, some argue it is Petit Verdot) and Doug Fabbioli does it as good as anyone. So, when Doug told me he was going to do a Cabernet Franc Vertical I jumped at the chance to join. I invited the wine club and the awesomeness that is Swirl, Sip Snark to join us.



Melanie, assistant winemaker and CellarBlog favorite, lead us through tastings of Cabernet Franc from 2008, 2009, 2010 and a barrel sample from 2011.

Cabernet Franc has some qualities in Virginia that tend to be consistent across vintages. Most notably are the pepper and dark cherry notes, but tasting across vintages like this you can really pick out the differences as well as the similarities.



The 2008 has really come into its own. After a banner vintage in 2007, 2008 was initially a bit of a let down, but as it has matured it has smoothed out and developed a nice balance. There are good earthy and leather notes to this wine, and a surprising acidity.

2009 had raspberry and chocolate notes with strong tannins and really nice structure.

2010, unsurprisingly, was the superstar. Lots of white and green pepper blended well with the red fruits. Still some oak notes on the wine but throng tannins that balanced well against the fruit. This is a powerful wine that will be enjoyable for years to come.



The event was a good time and everyone learned a lot about the winemaking process.