Wine Lab in Newport Beach

Waiting for a yacht cruise, my buddy Marvin (Executive Chef from Playboy) and I stumbled upon the Wine Lab to kill some time. The atmosphere was great and Taryn, the host/manager was even better. They have beer on tap and wines by the glass. They serve rustic pizza, cheeses, and olives to compliment your favorite beverages. They also had specialty products like chocolate from Christoper Michael, Marvin's classmate from le Cordon Bleu. Prices are reasonable and a great hang in Newport. They're on PCH across from the BMW dealership located at 2901 W Coast Hwy, Newport Beach 92663 . Here's their website: winelabnewport.com

Santa Barbara Winery's Negrette is Going Bye-Bye

The area around Santa Barbara is wine country, and one of the places we always stop in whenever in town is the Santa Barbara Winery.  The winery is only a couple of blocks from the beach and the main drag of State Street, they make some good wine, they're open every day and it's inexpensive to do a testing there.

One of my personal favorites is their Negrette.  It's a delicious red that's not too bold, not too weak and makes me happy every time I drink it.  At $24 a bottle, it's more expensive than a lot of the wines you can find at your local grocery store or Trader Joe's, but not crazy pricey.  The bad news, though, is that their current batch of 2006 Negrette is their last batch.  The vineyard where they source the grapes for this wine decided to tear out this variety of grapes and plant some other type that they can make more money on.  DAMN!!!  I can't blame anyone for trying to make a buck, but I'm gonna miss this Negrette.

Maybe I should take this as a challenge to find a new fave Negrette.  Yeah, I think that's what I'll do.

Santa Barbara Winery can be found at 202 Anacapa Street in Santa Barbara and on the web at sbwinery.com.

Cheers!
Druu