Top Ten Most Popular Wine Brands Sold in Restaurants

Wine & Spirits magazine just released the results from their 2006 restaurant poll. The top ten most popular brands sold in restaurants are:

1. Cakebread Cellars
2. Sonoma-Cutrer Vineyards
3. Kendall-Jackson Vineyards
4. Silver Oak Wine Cellars
5. Jordan Vineyard & Winery
6. Duckhorn Vineyards
7. Stag's Leap
8. Caymus
9. Santa Margherita
10. Rombauer Vineyards

Whenever I go to Napa, I always make it a point to go to 2 wineries--Grgich Hills and Cakebread Cellars. Both make consistently stellar wines, and have fantastic tastings.

Last night we enjoyed a bottle of 2000 Napa Valley Chardonnay from Grgich Hills. I'm typically not a big fan of CA Chardonnays, which are often too oaky (I prefer Chablis or unoaked Chardonnay). But when I tasted this one at the winery, I had to bring it home. The oak is well integrated into the wine, and there are flavors of pineapple and mango that burst out of the glass.

We enjoyed it with cedar planked salmon with mustard sauce, and also for dessert, with grilled pineapple slices, rum raisin ice cream and butter/rum/brown sugar sauce.

We have a bottle of Cakebread Reserve Chardonnay setting on our wine rack, too. Wonder how long until we break open that bottle...