Home Food & Wine Oenophilic Tendencies January guilts

January guilts

Tuesday, 08 January 2008

Where did all of the drunken fat people go?  No offense to John Toves, but on the whole, I tend to believe that we are much more fun than those New Year’s resolutions types donning new athletic gear and slapping down their credit cards for all of those new gym memberships.     Although usually by about mid-February, they generally see the error of their ways and rejoin the fun crowd of eating and drinking. Especially here in San Francisco where there is a new restaurant or wine bar opening every other week and the Tablehopper telling us about each and every one of them, often before they even open their doors. Even though Spruce and SPQR are overrun with crowds, particularly after Susan Dyer Reynolds’s picky palate has deemed them must-taste places, there are still more hot spots to be explored, like Conduit, located at 280 Valencia St. I am hoping that the items on the compact menu will be as tasty as its spectacular wine selections, which include a dozen half-bottles, seven different sparklers, and 19 wines by the glass, heavily dominated by France and California, with accents from Italy, Austria, and Washington State. Call me the evil wine fairy. I have been accused of being a bad influence more than once – mwa ah ah (villain laugh).     But I must admit that sadly, I too have succumbed to the January guilts (like Monday morning guilts, except magnified) and invested in a new pair of running shoes. I feel more virtuous already. How about some wine to celebrate?     Mwa ah ah.     Maybe I can run to some of these wine events and save on cab fare … Vintners’ Club, Carnelian Room, 555 California St. (at Kearny), 52nd floor, 415-381-4467, www.vintnersclub.com: •    Sonoma Pinot Noir Tasting with David Bruce, Tuesday, Jan. 8, 6-7:30 p.m., $110/person ($85/person for members and first-time guests) Nectar Wine Lounge, 3330 Steiner St. (at Chestnut), 415-345-1377, www.nectarwinelounge.com: •    Champagne, Tuesday, Jan.8 •    Loire Valley, Tuesday, Jan. 15 •    Cantina Terlano, Tuesday, Jan. 22 •    Domaine Mucyn, Tuesday, Jan. 29 Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant, Ferry Building, The Embarcadero (at Market), 415-288-0470, www.fpwm.com: •    Halleck Vineyards, Wed. Jan. 9, 4:30-7:30 p.m. SF Camerawork Gallery, 657 Mission (at New Montgomery), 2nd floor, www.uncorkedevents.com: •    Sonoma Superstars, Thursday, Jan. 17, 6:30-9 p.m., $45/person Viognier, 222 East 4th Ave. (at B), San Mateo, 650-685-3727, www.viognierrestaurant.com: •    Château Montelena five-course dinner, Friday, Jan. 18, 6:30 p.m., $135/person JJ Buckley Fine Wines, 888-859-4637, www.jjbuckley.com: •    Wine Dinner with Jean-René Matignon, Chateau Pichon Baron winemaker; Pierre Montegut, Chateau Suduiraut winemaker; and Gonzague Lurton, Chateau Durforts-Vivens proprietor at Bacar, 448 Brannan (at 3rd), Saturday, Jan. 19, 6-10:30 p.m., $150/person (limited to 50 guests) ZAP, 530-274-4900, www. zinfandel.org: •    California Zinfandel Tasting and Panel Discussions, City College of San Francisco, 50 Phelan Ave. (at Ocean), Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2-6 p.m., $130/person (advance only; partial proceeds to benefit Heritage Projects scholarship fund) •    Good Eats & Zin, Herbst Pavilion, Fort Mason, Marina Blvd. (at Buchanan), Thursday, Jan. 24, 6-9 p.m., $125/person •    Zinfandel Winemakers Dinner & Live Auction, Westin St. Francis, 335 Powell St. (at Post), Friday, Jan. 28, 5-10 p.m., $350/person •    17th Annual Zinfandel Advocates & Producers Tasting, Herbst Pavilion, Fort Mason, Marina Blvd. (at Buchanan), Saturday, Jan. 26, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., $69/person Cetrella, 845 Main St., Half Moon Bay, 650-726-4060, www.cetrella.com: •    Wine Lovers Dinner, four- course dinner by Chef Robert Holt featuring wines from Alfaro Winery in the Santa Cruz mountains, Friday, Jan. 25, 6:30 p.m., $90/person (limited to 60 guests) Santi, 21047 Geyserville Ave., Geyserville, 707-857-1790, www.tavernasanti.com: •    Sunday Supper Club and Wine Dinner, four-course Italian family-style dinner by Chef Dino Bugica featuring cuisine from the Umbria region, Sunday, Jan. 27, 5 p.m., $45/person