A Stanford wine without the Stanford label...

Many my workmates asked were one could buy the Pedroncelli Cabernet Sauvignon that was featured as a 2007 Stanford Wine Program selection without having to trek to California. [A bonus to working with me is that I share Stanford wine from time to time].

Why did it stand out so much? It's a nice medium-bodied red with lots of solid berry flavor and just a slight amount of spice. The finish is just right and lingers just long enough to remind you that you need another sip.

I emailed the winery and they forwarded the list of stores below. It retails in the "real world" under the name: 2004 Pedroncelli Cabernet Sauvignon Three Vineyards*. You can buy directly from the winery or find it at a good number of places with the Google Product Search.

Leave a comment if you have a chance to try it!


Boston/Metro West Retailers

Albert Winestein 84 Fairmont (Hyde Park) [20% off on a case!]

Brighton Beverage 1650 Soldiers Field Rd (Brighton)

Brookline Liquor Mart 1354 Commonwealth Ave (Allston)

Gomes Liquors 58 Ashby State Rd (Fitchburg)

Hyders Mediterranean Market 408 Pleasant St (Worcester)

Macy’s 1826 Centre St (West Roxbury)

Plaza Liquor Mart 761 Providence Hwy (Dedham)

Port wine & Spirits 25 Storey Ave (Newburyport)

University Wine & Spirits 323A Boston Ave (Medford)

Water Street Wine & Spirits 1 Nicholas Rd (Framingham)

Wine Cask Cellars 100 Powdermill Rd (Acton)

*Under the Stanford label it was called 2004 Dry Creek Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Great Bay

I've been slow to post the wonderful details of my Great Bay weeknight dining extravaganza. It's not for a lack of awesomeness on their part: instead, I can't find my camera cord and I've been a bit crazed at the day job. I'll share every last juicy, tender, tasty detail soon!

Facebook Wine App

Part of me longs to be a wine guru. Right now, I lack the play money, time, and patience to develop my wine knowledge. Instead, I can pretend to know what I'm doing by adding a Facebook App that allows me to share with other wine wannabes my "cellar" contents, wine wish list, and tasting notes.

In reality, my cellar consists of two cardboard boxes filled with mostly Stanford Alumni Wine Program vintages and my first shipment as a Vinum Cellars Wine Club member.

Chicken Quinoa Soup with Peas and Shallots

The worst thing about being sick and away from home or any significant others is that if you're sick, you're likely in charge of making/buying your own sick food. When I lived in Allston, I was more than happy to pay a delivery fee to get quarts of Zaftig's Chicken Soup egg noodles with matzo ball (plus extra matzo balls) sent to my door. If I were home, my mom would make chicken soup from scratch, or better yet, gingery, scalliony bubur ayam (Malay name of what's commonly referred to in Chinese kitchens as jook/congee or in my-speak "rice porridge with chicken").

In college, I got the nerve to learn to make chicken soup from scratch. I've always wanted to learn to make matzo balls on my own, but alas, this last 'bout of sickness zapped all energy I had to figure 'em out. Instead, I boiled the bones from my roasted chicken and turned the homemade broth into a simple soup of chicken, shallots, frozen peas, and quinoa.

p.s. I made the unfortunate mistake of adding more quinoa before my first 3/4 c. fully cooked. I added another half c. and came back to a pot of quinoa porridge! Hey, even mistakes (or surprises?) can be tasty =)

Boston Winter Restaurant Week(s) is Here!

Do your homework, then book your reservation.

Dates: March 9 - 14 & 16 - 21, 2008
Lunch: $20.08. Dinner: $30.08

p.s. It took three years worth of attempts, but I finally got my Mooo... (the restaurant formerly known as the Federalist) reservation.

My Boston Let's-Go-Out-and-Eat Map

Clearly, I haven't even made a dent in the many places to eat in this city. This will serve as my standing list of places I'm interested in trying. If you want to join me for an adventure at any of these places, pals, please do. This map and my other food map will live on my navigation bar, but feel free to the RSS feed of each map.

Like the other map, I try to denote cheaper eats and the far-out-road trippin' locales.

Hit "View Larger Map" to read all my tasting notes on each location


View Larger Map

My Boston Food Map

This is a map of some tasty places I've been around Boston. Some places are more noteworthy than others, and I tried to add some color commentary and color-code some $ differences. I'm not sure the best way of keeping track of new changes while still maintaining order of the list. Any suggestions?


View Larger Map

After fondly reminiscing about these old haunts, I'm thinking about making one of my favorite eateries while at college.

ficoco goodness

I love bread and crackers: that's probably why I love tasty items that can be spread and eaten of said carby treats. Ficoco is an all-natural, Croatian fig and chocolate spread. It's definitely more "figgy" than chocolately with a very light spreadable consistency. I took advice from Stacey to buy it from Whole Foods, where they demoed it by mixing it 50/50 with softened cream cheese and serving it on mini-toast crackers.

One of the recommended serving suggestions includes drizzling it over ice-cream, but I'm not that brave. It's worth a try if you see it!

What did I drink? Pedroncelli Winery 2004 Dry Creek Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, a 2007 Stanford Alumni Club wine selection. I offered the ficoco treat and the wine to coworkers as a Friday afternoon reward in exchange for helping the Research team stuff Dunkin' Donuts gift cards.