Check, Please! Bay Area: Season 2: Episode 4 (204)

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My name is Leslie Sbrocco and I’m the host of Check, Please! Bay Area. Each week, I will be sharing my tasting notes about the wine the guests and I drank on set during the taping of the show. Also, in my "What to Sip" suggestions, I choose one restaurant from each show and offer tips for selecting libations to enjoy with your meal.

Wine of the Week:

2005 Whitehaven, Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand $20
Think sunshine in a bottle. This wine is a classic style of Sauvignon from New Zealand, sporting herbal notes combined with pink grapefruit and passionfruit flavors. It’s ideal with shellfish, chicken in a mustard sauce, or just for sipping while soaking in a bubble bath.

What to Sip: Pasta Moon

It’s worth the drive to Half Moon Bay simply to explore Pasta Moon's all-Italian wine list. Not a huge tome that takes half the meal to navigate, it’s a manageable and well-chosen list that hovers around 150 bottles. Kudos to owner, Kim Levin, too who has a strong selection of half bottles. I’m a fan of these 375 ml sizes, which serve 2-3 glasses. Pick a white and red half bottle with your meal and make everyone at the table happy.

Sparina, Gavi di Gavi, Italy $17 (half bottle)
A creamy but vibrant white made from the Cortese grape in northern Italy, it’s a great pick for Pasta Moon's signature house made sausage pizza with forest mushrooms and gooey Fontina fondue topping. Magnifico!

Villa Antinori, Toscana, Italy $25 (half bottle)

Antinori is a famous producer in central Italy and their Sangiovese-based red is juicy and spicy and a dream date with the restaurant’s Nilda’s Lasagna.