Clos Pepe

Great Wine Class next Thursday, 10/17, 7-8:30. Red Wine Blending Class with Wes Hagen. $30. Winning blend: $200 value prize.

"Solvang, Thursday, October 17th at Arrowsmith's Wine Bar: Come join Santa Barbara winemaker and wine educator Wes Hagen for a fun-filled night of learning and practicing the art of wine blending. Using four commercial dry red wines from all over the world, teams or individuals will use labware and their own tastes to blend the best red wine they can make from the four wines. Will you blend for your own palate, or make a wine you think will score with the critics? Will you focus on elegance? Power? Balance? We will start with a short lesson on how wine is blended, taste through the blending wines and discuss, and then spend about an hour making and perfecting our blends. Team Captains will taste each wine blind and vote for their favorites--and the winning group will receive a free tasting and tour at native9 and Rancho de Ontiveros--a Top 100 Winery in the World, and up to a $200 value! Limited seating: RSVP to Anna at Arrowsmith Wine Bar: [email protected]"

To my friends: thanks for giving me the support and will to hold on and keep growing. You know who you are. :-)

Old Cities, I learned some things! Love this country like I do? Register and vote!

Fun week in wine! I have worked with Dan and Sara at the Depot Bar & Grill in Los Alamos to rework their wine list for Los Alamos Old Days this weekend and beyond. My goal was to keep the dive bar feel, keep all but one glass under $10, and offer a few more items for wine folks that may want something new By the Glass. I added two flavored Moscatos for those that would like something bubbly and sweet, a bone dry Cava that I love, the Alta Maria Pinot Noir for an upscaled BTG Red, and a Loire Sauv Blanc from Torraine. Their regular house wines aren't going anywhere--keep the locals happy and the visitors engaged. Everything except the Alta Maria comes in under $10/glass. Hard to find that these days! Stop in and give the new selections a whirl!

I'm very excited to be heading out to help set up our France vs Santa Barbara Blind wine dinner at Plenty on Bell tonight. I appreciate the strong support we got from our Alta Maria Vineyards and Native9 Wines fans--we sold the thing out! And James Ontiveros is scheduled to be in the house too!

A week from tonight, 8/23 @ 6 pm : France vs. Santa Barbara BLIND Wine Dinner at Plenty on Bell in Los Alamos. Check out the menu: 2 wines with each course, same variety, France and SBC, but you don't know which is which!

PLENTY ON BELL: 508 Bell Street, Los Alamos, CA 93440 Reservation: 805-344-3020
WINE DINNER
Hosted by Wes Hagen
Amuse Bouche: Smoked Salmon, Dill Cream Cheese, Cucumber
Este NV Vinho Verde Rose

FIRST: Mushroom Pot Pie
2019 Rancho Vinedo Chardonnay, 98 points PDWR
2022 Wengier Bourgogne Blanc

SECOND: Duck Confit, Brussel Sprouts, Mustard Sauce
2021 Alta Maria Pinot Noir, SMV (91 WE)
2020 Guy & Dufouleur Hautes Cotes de Nuits Rouge

THIRD: Short Rib, Red Wine Reduction
2017 Ranchos de Ontiveros Cab Sauv, SY, 94+ Vin.
2020 Chateau Cleyrac Bordeaux Superieur
FOURTH: Cheese, Fig, Honeycomb
Leftover Pours, Coffee

For those that couldn't attend Adam Lee, Moret, and my ZOOM on Truth in Wine last night, here's the recording. Enjoy and have a wine-soaked weekend!

Wes Hagen and The Truth of Wine Wes Hagen and Adam Lee discuss the challenges and thrill of the wine market.

More wine education for the locals this week: I have jumped in on short notrice for this week's Cultural Sunday at Arrowsmith's Wine Bar--an oasis of culture and goodness in the local wine scene. I will be presenting: The History of Wine: From Pangaea to Pinot Noir. An hour to catch up on the last 200 million years, told in an energetic and momedic style, and then Q&A. All soaked with the delicious wines curated by two amazing humans: Tim Arrowsmith and Anna Arrowsmith. Buckle in, this will be a fun tale of Dionysus trolling Apollo and vice versa!

Sunday, 8/18 starting promptly at 5 pm. Free to join us, wine by the glass and bottle available! Ms Chanda Hagen will be joining me, of course!

My pivot at Native9 Wines has me in the market more often than not, and I only host a few formal tastings and tours at the Rancho Ranchos De Ontiveros per month. This Sunday at 1 PM, i have room for 4 more tasters--sign up here if you are interested, or you can always email me. I don't check Messenger all that often. wesATnative9DOTcom.

https://ranchosdeontiveros.com/reservation/

8/11 at 1 PM

Reservations » Ranchos de Ontiveros Ranchos de Ontiveros is, first and foremost, real. We’re still farming and ranching right here in the Santa Maria Valley—where our family’s dream began nearly two centuries ago. If you’ve liked what you’ve tasted, seen, heard or experienced, we’d love for you to join our club to get acce...

Booze consumption by country. Very cool chart, but my fellow Americans, we need to do better. Not a single mention?

Saturday 3-6 at Steller’s Cellar in Old Orcutt: SBC vs France Blind with your host Wes Hagen: the unnofficial Wine Olympics--who will win gold?

Deets: "This exciting and educational tasting will pit the great wines of Santa Barbara County from the mind of James Ontiveros and Justin Willett (Akta Maria and Native9) vs their varietal counterparts from France.

SBC Sauvignon Blanc vs White Bordeaux.

SMV Chardonnay vs White Burgundy from the Cote de Beaune

SMV Pinot Noir vs Red Burgundy from, the Cote de Nuits

SBC Cab Sauv. vs Red Bordeaux from the Medoc.

Wes Hagen will taste blind with the participants, give some history and context, and open up conversations and voting to see preference and whether the assembled vinophiles can discern Old World or New World.

You asked for exciting new tasting formats, and we listened. Come and learn the methods of deductive tasting and drink some delicious wines from both sides of the pond.

Make a night of it with plenty of restaurants in walking distance from the tasting: Far Western, Uliveto, Bella Forno, etc.

Which wines will win the coveted Gold Medal? We'll find out. See you in Old Orcutt on Saturday!

Two local opportunities to taste and hang out this week with myself, and all the Alta Maria and Native9 Wines.

Thursday (8/1) 4-7, Steller’s Cellar in Old Orcutt, Bar Takeover and I'll be pouring Alta Maria and Native9 Wine flights and chatting and telling stories.

Then SATURDAY (8/3) 4-7 PM, same Steller's Cellar, same Wes Hagen: Santa Barbara Wine vs French Wine, Blind! Alta Maria Vineyards Sauv Blanc vs White BDX, White Burg vs our Chardonnay, Red Burg vs our PN, and our Cab vs Red BDX. Can you guess which is which? And all wines will be for sale to take home, so you can recreate the tasting.