Check, Please! Bay Area: Episode 11 (#111)

My name is Leslie Sbrocco and I’m the host of Check, Please! Bay Area. After each episode I’ll serve up a behind-the-scenes look at what went on during filming, including the wine we were sipping…

During shooting I was almost left speechless…a hard thing to do, believe me. When Josh said he didn’t actually eat at Dishdash, I stared at him with my mouth agape. He proceeded to tell me they sat him in the adjoining restaurant, but I’d never before had to handle someone who actually hadn’t eaten at the chosen spot! Josh was a good guy with that twenty-something, sassy attitude. He was playfully bossing around the crew, ordering more wine and asking to reshoot his takes (which we didn’t). Both Vija and I teased him mercilessly in the name of fun. One thing that unified us was the don’t-miss dish of drunken mac and cheese at Josh’s pick, Blue Plate. J.T. is a fellow wine lover who lives in the East Bay, so we chatted about the many merits of Livermore wines. Too bad we didn’t have one on set to sip. Next time…

Wine of the Week:

2004 Joseph Drouhin, Chirobles, Beaujolais, France $14
Most people think of Beaujolais as just the fruity nouveau wine that appears each November, but Beaujolais is so much more. This juicy sipper from the venerable house of Drouhin is a top-quality Cru wine. Hailing from the appellation of Chirobles in Beaujolais, the Gamay-based red is elegant, soft, and packed with red berry fruit flavors. Chill it down and serve with spicy fare for a treat.

Sponsor Wine of the Week:

2004 Five Rivers Winery Pinot Noir, Santa Barbara County, California $12
Silky, fruit-driven Pinot is pleasure in a bottle but you rarely find it priced so affordably. Complex and classy, this wine easily matches versions costing twice as much. Pour it alongside pork tenderloin roasted with sliced plums and a sprig of fresh lavender.