Listen in as Stretch and Dan visit the 3rd Annual Pinot Days festival at the Barker Hangar at the Santa Monica Airport. While there they chat with reps from some of their favorite California wineries, including Rodney Strong, La Fenetre and Big Basin.

The Grand Tasting showcased over 80 phenomenal producers of pinot noir. The boys were able to sample up to 300 pinots from every important pinot noir region, from the Russian River Valley to the Santa Rita Hills, Oregon to the Anderson Valley, Burgundy to New Zealand to the Sonoma Coast.

While on YouTube I decided to check out a video I shot several years ago in London featuring Pernod Ricard's inimitable brand-man Simon Ford, who offers tips on wine tasting. Not sure what the YouTube tech folks did to the video since I first posted it, but it now inexplicably has an unintended "visual effect" to it that makes it look like a classic Talking Heads or Peter Gabriel video. Pretty cool, actually. Here, have a look...

In the event that any of you have ever questioned whether or not this is the Best Job in the World, I recently had the opportunity to sit down and try the Domaine Serene 2007 Dundee Hills “Etoile Vineyard” Chardonnay and their entire current portfolio of Pinot Noir. You have reason to be jealous.

With Domaine Serene’s Wendy Heilmann leading the way, we sat down at BottleRock – Culver City. Glasses were brought, snacks were ordered and the wine began to flow.

We started with the Chardonnay.

2007 wasn’t a stand-out year for Oregon wine. (Or for me, either, which is why I know so much about alcohol. But I digress). The vintage is widely said to be good but not great; some people talk about lack of structure and flabbiness (see above). Tasting the “Etoile” puts all of those rumors to rest – and I’m not even a Chardonnay gal.

A perfect touch of bourbon vanilla/oaky/nuttiness from 50% new French oak and 15 months on lees. High acid and alcohol, balanced against cool melon and lime. A body full of earthy mineral that slips away for a minute and then returns on the finish.

If this is what can result from a bad year, than the past decade should totally start paying off for me. Especially if paired with oysters.