Olson Ogden Wines

we've made it in new york city!

This has been an exciting year for Olson Ogden Wines with current distribution in about 100 boutique wine shops and restaurants across the country. We are now available at these locations in Manhattan. We hope you'll stop in and enjoy a glass or a bottle with friends. And when you do, please  tell us about it on our Facebook Fan Page for a chance to participate in upcoming contests and events. Be sure to become a fan!

Chinatown Brasserie : Russian River Valley Pinot Noir & Sonoma Napa Syrah

Porter House New York : Sonoma Napa Syrah

City Winery: Stagecoach Syrah

california wine merchant tasting

An enthusiastic group of wine lovers turned out despite the rainy weather for our tasting event at California Wine Merchant last Monday night. California Wine Merchant is a retail wine store and wine bar in the Marina District of San Francisco that specializes in small production, hard-to-find California wines. It's a great place to enjoy a cheese plate and Olson Ogden Wines 2006 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, 2007 Unti Syrah and 2007 Stagecoach Syrah by the glass or by the bottle. Pictured above: Owner Greg O'Flynn, John Ogden and Mick Unti tasting the Unti (what else!) Syrah.

-- Posted by Margaret Ryan

wine & wishes: a culinary celebration for a great cause

Wine-And-Wishes is an epicurean dream come to life. Held annually on Treasure Island, the gourmet food and wine event features samplings from the Bay Area's top culinary talent and wineries and benefits the Greater Bay Area Make-A-Wish Foundation which grants a wish of a child with a life threatening disease. Olson Ogden Wines was invited to participate in the event this year and John and I poured alongside a few dozen other wineries last night. We each took a break to explore the culinary lineup and it was food heaven. It was like going on a restaurant crawl and taking one bite from the best dish of the city's most exceptional restaurants. Here's a taste:

Masa's: Dungenes Crab Salad with a medley of winter citrus ripe jalapeno.                                                       

One Market: Dungenes Crab Cake with saffron aioli.

Farallon: New Brunswick Beausoleil Oysters.

Dry Creek Kitchen: Smoked Sturgeon + Sturgeon Caviar with preserved lemon, long peppercorn warm sourdough blini. 

Anchor & Hope: New England Clam Chowder with Hobbb's Bacon.

Limon: Ceviche Limon Marinated Red Snapper, Calamari and Shrimp in lime juice.

Aqua: Ahi Tuna Tartare with morocan spice, lemon confit & fresh herbs. 

Waterbar: House Smoked Wild Sturgeon Black Caviar Brioche.

Although you would never know it from this list (I'm a seafood fanatic) land lovers were satiated as well with dishes from restaurants Bardesseno, Bar Bambino, the girl and the fig, Delfina, Oola and many more.

-- Posted by Margaret Ryan

a wine bottle back story - season five

The good and bad about owning your own business is that you do everything. But I really love that about it. I'm currently overseeing the bottle design for our new wine (Olson Ogden Wines, name X, we have not announced it yet) which we will release in March. 1500 cases or 18,000 bottles. But seriously, no pressure! The process began by giving the wine a name. We held a contest on Facebook and Alltop's  Guy Kawasaki picked the winner. Next we identified a label designer (Scott, very talented) and finalized a label design. Next: what bottle style to go with? Burgundy or Bordeaux? We are going with Bordeaux. But there is so much more: what kind of glass (thick, thin, color, recycled or not); what kind of cork (natural, synthetic, composite, screw cap); height of bottle shoulder; size of the label; label placement on the glass and finally, the copy on the front and back of the label. I'm working on the copy now. I never realized how much went on behind a bottle of wine  - wine making excluded. These first picture shows the Bordeaux styles we chose from (we are going with the shorter shoulder) and an example of the different variations of front and back labels. I will share the final product soon!

via seasonfive.typepad.com

My wife blogs about fashion at www.seasonfivesytle.com and recently wrote about what goes into designing the packaging for a wine. Check it out. -- by John

half for haiti: 50% of sales go to earthquake relief efforts this weekend

This weekend we will donate 50% of the sale for each bottle you buy of our 2007 Until Syrah to Oxfam to help the earthquake relief efforts in Haiti. Oxfam is responding with public health, water and sanitation services to prevent the spread of water borne disease in Haiti. Visit Olson Ogden Wines and use promo code HAITI at check out until Monday at Midnight PT.

ribeye steak recipe to pair with 2007 olson ogden sonoma napa syrah

Just before the Christmas holiday, our good friend and chef Richard Haake sent us another new recipe to pair with one of our 2007 vintage wines.  This one was a delicious sounding Grilled Shallot Herb Marinated Ribeye Steak with Compound Butter to pair with our 2007 Sonoma Napa Syrah.  I did not have time to try the recipe or post it on our website before the Christmas holiday but it sounds mouthwateringly good and plan on trying it very soon, maybe this week if I get motivated!  The above link takes you to the recipe on our website.  Let us know if you try this one and how it goes.  Do you have any recipes you have tried and liked with this wine?  Let us know and we may post it on our website for everyone to try! -- by John

vinography.com tastes and reviews olson ogden wines 2007 vintage wines

Alder Yarrow who writes the vinography.com wine blog recently tasted our 2007 vintage wines and gave his thoughts on the wines.  You can read what he has to say by clicking here.  Alder writes one of the most read and respected wine blogs out there.  He covers a range of wine related topics and always provides thoughtful insight and perspective.  His blog also generates a lot of reader feedback to his posts which serves to make the blog more interesting and entertaining. -- by John

new recipe to pair with 2007 olson ogden russian river valley pinot noir

Yesterday our good friend Richard Haake sent us a new recipe to pair with the 2007 Olson Ogden Russian River Valley Pinot Noir.  The recipe is a Sonoma Liberty Duck Leg with Red Wine, Bay Leaf and Orange Zest.  Yum!!  We posted the recipe to the Food &  Wine section of our website. Here is a direct link to it.  I am looking forward to trying this recipe out soon!  I hope you will too and let us know how it goes.  Do you have a favorite recipe you pair with your Olson Ogden?  Tell us about it. -- by John

another wine blog reviews olson ogden wines 2007 vintage

Amy Corron Power of Another Wine Blog takes two of Olson Ogden Wines 2007 vintage wines out for a proverbial spin and shares here thoughts on these wines.  Here is the link to see what she had to say.  http://www.anotherwineblog.com/archives/6757 -- by John

pinot days in the windy city

I just got back from a weekend trip to Chicago.  We poured for a dinner at Bin 36 as well as the Pinot Days Grand Tasting on Saturday at the Navy Pier.  I always enjoy visiting Chicago.  It’s a great city with all the trappings of a big city but it somehow retains a lot of the warmth and charm of a smaller town.   The Pinot Days events went well, the organizers always do a great job and things ran very smoothly.  I was impressed with the size of the crowd and their good knowledge of fine wine and food.  Best of all, our wines showed very well.  I had a lot of visitors tell me they were told by many people to come by and try the Olson Ogden wines.  The word certainly got out as we poured through all our wine by 3 PM, only half way through the event.   This gave me a chance to get out and try the other wines.  There were some nice wines in attendance and I think our wines held their own with anything there.  But the real winners were the wine lovers.  The 2007 vintage has delivered some great wines and with so many nice wines at the show, it is clear that consumers will have a choice from many nice wines at prices that really reflect good values.  -- by Tim