What They're Saying...
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Hear Suzanne Phifer Pavitt, With Her Wonderful Interview on WIST Radio The Wine Show !February 2012 Just Press the arrow button below to hear Suzanne ! Advance to minute marker 25:30 where the inteview begins.
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Meet Suzanne Phifer Pavitt, DATE NIGHT WineWith Special Video !October 2011 This is the story of city boy meets country girl. What you may not know is that every country girl that has ever successfully worked her way out of the country life has worked exponentially harder than any city boy could imagine. |
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A Date Night DrinkA Napa Valley cabernet with the sweetness of a Georgia peachOctober 2011 It all began when a country girl from the small rural town of Ringgold, Georgia, fell for a big-city boy from Manhattan Beach, California. Forced to decide which life to lead... |
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Phifer Pavitt 2007 Date Night Cabernet SauvignonAugust 2011 While I am always excited to try new wines and share my thoughts about them, I rarely get excited about physically sitting down at my PC and typing up a review. This time however, is an exception, as I have been excited about writing this review since my trip to Napa Valley back in May. |
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Suzanne and Shane's Wedding...May 2011 Wedding date: October 1998.... Read the article... |
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10 Questions: Making time for ‘date night’March 2011 Suzanne Phifer Pavitt remembers her early days of living in Napa Valley. Back in 2002, Phifer Pavitt and her husband, Shane Pavitt, had decided to move to Calistoga full time. Parents of two infants, the couple was in the midst of starting Phifer Pavitt Wine. To top it all off, Phifer Pavitt was acting as the general contractor on their dream home in Calistoga. “That was a crazy time,” Phifer Pavitt said. “I thought I’d have a nervous breakdown.” How did she survive? Read more... |
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Dream property offer made on the back of a menuFebruary 2011 By Pat Hampton, MUD CITY WEEKENDER Swept up by the food, wine and people of Italy on a romantic getaway, Shane Pavitt and Suzanne Phifer dared to dream about someday owning their own vineyard property. They were caught up in reading “Under the Tuscan Sun” before the movie was out and went to look at property in Italy and thought, “What if we moved here?” It wasn’t practical because of wanting to be close to relatives. |
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Hear the Pavitts on KGO Radio, Dining Around With Gene BurnsFebruary 2011
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Suzanne Interviewed on Wine Crush RadioFebruary 2011 Part 1 Part 2 |
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Phifer Pavitt Wines | Wine Tasting Room of the WeekFebruary 2011 By James Knight Graffitied with cowgirl sass, lit with recycled, fence-wire "chandeliers," the brand-new winery's interior is furnished with hay bales. A sometime-working 1946 Farmall tractor ornaments the front of the building, itself largely remade from a recycled redwood barn. The massive plank bar comprises two slices from the trunk of what must have been a granddaddy of a walnut tree. |
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Join Date Night Proprietors on Valentine's Day!February 2011 Vintners Suzanne Phifer Pavitt and her husband Shane will greet guests from 6 to 9 p.m. Monday, Feb. 14 at the Solbar restaurant in Calistoga. Their latest Date Night Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2007 vintage, will be for sale by the glass, which is unusual, since it is usually not available anywhere by the glass. Suzanne Phifer Pavitt said, "How fun it will be for those celebrating with their valentines to enjoy our wine, which celebrates romance as well." Phifer Pavitt Winery opened its tasting room this past November. The tasting room, located at 4660 Silverado Trail (just north of Dunaweal in Calistoga), welcomes visitors for tastings at 11 a.m. or 1 p.m. on Mondays through Saturdays at a cost of $25 per person. To make an appointment for a visit, contact 942-4787 or suzanne@phiferpavittwine.com. |
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My 50 Best Wines of 2010 - Phifer Pavitt Date Night Cabernet Sauvignon 2006, Napa Valley. Exceptional!!January 2011 What could be more straightforward than that? Not that all lists aren’t arbitrary in some degree, but after going through all the posts from 2010 on this blog several times and doing some cogitating and sighing and reluctant winnowing, here they are, The 50 Best Wines of 2010, as experienced by me and written about last year. |
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One Bottle Post: 07 Phifer Pavitt Date Night Cabernet SauvignonJanuary 2011 I've been drinking Phifer Pavit Date Night Cabernet Sauvignon for about five years. The first time I tasted it, I wasn't out on a Date Night, but at a fundraiser in a private home in the Hollywood Hills. It was the stellar wine of the evening, and it still rates a minimum 95 Eve Points every year. The current vintage came via my Chateau Pacific winemaker friend from Manhattan Beach, Gary Warburton, as his step-son is the other half of the Date Night couple: Shane Pavitt. (Full disclosure: It was a gift.)
Aroma: Blackberry, black cherry, white pepper, mushroom, bell pepper with just the perfect chaser of mint. Taste: High tannins, black pepper, dry, very pleasant mouth feel, black cherry, long peppery finish, thinking good now or hold 5-10 years. Tasted again in 10 minutes and some of the tannins blew off - though I loved it either way - and it became even more rounded. Eddie (my Date Night partner) said it "opened up" nicely. Retail $75 (Though I expected more like $100 for a Napa Cab.) 14.8% alcohol. 96 Eve points. Want more? Call 707-942-4787. (In Napa try the wine in their new tasting room.) |
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For the Phifer Pavitts, every night is a Date Night – Calistoga winery now open - San Francisco wineDecember 2010 A must-visit for couples seeking romance in the Napa Valley is the newly-opened Phifer Pavitt Winery in Calistoga. Suzanne and Shane Phifer Pavitt make a cabernet sauvignon called Date Night, so named because of the many dates they had during their courtship where they dreamt of a life together making wine. They settled in the Napa Valley in 2001 releasing their first vintage in 2005. |
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between the Life vines podcast!December 2010 Their 28th podcast features Bruce Cakebread-President and CEO of Cakebread Cellars, Suzanne Phifer Pavitt of Phifer Pavitt Date Night Cabernet and our first Italian winemaker Marko Moroder of Moroder Wines in the Ancona area of Italy. |
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Tastenapa.com Personal Review!November 2010 "Date Night Cab = Love & Inspiration"
Find all about the excitement here. |
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auction napa valley 2010June 2010 Last Thursday night, Zach and I went to Shane and Suzanne Phifer-Pavitt’s house to cook a Wine Auction dinner. Ted Osborne is the winemaker for Olabisi and Datenight (which is Suzanne’s Cab), the labels of the five wines that were poured over the course of dinner. I’m going to let the pictures tell the story (Kim Wedlake, Ted’s wife, took the good ones), and try and locate a couple of links for pieces done by food writers who were at the dinner. |
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Auction Napa Valley kick-off dinner is a date night at Phifer PavittJune 2010 Throughout the Napa Valley on Thursday evening, vintners were holding welcome dinners for guests and bidders participating in the 30th annual Auction Napa Valley. In Calistoga, one of these special dinners was hosted by Suzanne Phifer Pavitt and Shane Pavitt of Phifer Pavitt Wines, producer of Date Night Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. |
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Live from Auction Napa Valley 2010June 2010 A four course dinner, prepared and served by Sharp and his agreeable Solbar crew, included such tasty offerings as seared Alaskan sablefish with black garlic, Duroc pork tenderloin and belly with plum mostarda and polenta, plus strip loin of Painted Hills beef paired with toothsome vest-pocket potato agnolotti — the latter dishes complemented by Date Night 2005 and Date Night 2006. For the real yummy chocolate pot de crème, the Pavitts broke out the yet-to-be released Date Night 2007 — dark, ripe, mysterious, bewitching. |
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Napa Valley Wine Auction “Welcome to Napa Valley” Bidder Dinner May 2010 We are so excited to be hosting one of the Napa Valley Vintners “Welcome to Napa Valley” bidder dinner parties at our house. These special dinners affords you an insider’s look into the cellars and lives of some of the world’s most-renowned names in the wine industry. Please join us at our private estate off Silverado Trail for what promises to be a remarkable evening of food and wine pairings. Winemaker Ted Osborne provides casual insight to his extraordinary artistry. SolBar Chef Brandon Sharp serves up the type of inspired fare that has made him such a rising star on the culinary scene. Sit back and enjoy, while the sun sets above the picturesque patchwork of vineyards that comprise Napa’s most newly minted appellation.
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What do Date Night and Wine Spectator have in common? May 2010 Click here to see what winspectator.com had to say about our recent trip to the premiere of Date Night the movie. |
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Guess What’s Coming to Theaters? February 2010 HINTS: Tina Fey, Steve Carell, www.datenightthemovie.com, April 9 2010 |
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Paula Deen – Cooking Doyenne January 2010 When Paula Deen makes Valentine’s Day suggestions, we listen! |
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Top 10 Wine & Movie Pairings December 2009 |
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A Second Date with "Rational Denial"November 2009 "A Second Date"
Read all the sweet somethings here. |
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A Podcast with Tasting Notes!November 2009 "Two Guys and a “Date Night” Cabernet"
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An Appearance in Cuisine et Vins July 2009 You never know what will appear in your inbox. Today I learned that pictures from my trip to the French wine country will appear in the August 09 issue of Cuisine et Vins de France! |
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James Laube: “Another Super Bonus Round of Cabernets” April 2009 Posted by James Laube in his blog : 03:43 PM ET, April 20, 2009 Not only were many of the 2006s outstanding — among them a trio of Hall Cabernets (at $70, $100 and $150), Girard Artistry ($42), Chappellet Signature ($52), Piña Howell Mountain Buckeye Vineyard ($85), Snowden Reserve ($75), Phifer Pavitt Date Night ($75) and a pair of Buehler wines at $36 and $45 respectively — but these wines are a bit trimmer in terms of ripeness, more like 2005 than 2004, the latter having been a super-ripe vintage. Winemakers say the wines ripened and developed flavors at lower sugar levels, hence their lower alcohol percentages. While I enjoy many styles of Cabernet, from opulent to tight and Bordeaux-like, the 2006s struck me as being exquisitely balanced, rich without being heavy, and distinctive in reflecting where they’re grown. The Piña, for example, has a rich core of gravelly-pebbly currant and sage, true to Howell Mountain. And Phifer Pavitt’s Cabernet comes from Pope Valley; it might be the best wine from that appellation that I’ve tried. (PopeValley is legally part of Napa, but is separated from the valley by Howell Mountain.) This is the second exciting vintage from this producer, and I’m sure that once people realize how good Pope Valley wines can be, you’ll start to see and hear more references to the Pope Valley-Napa Valley appellation –and more producers seeking its grapes. The wines are rich and fleshy, with gobs of fruit and great depth, but not as heavy as some Cabernets from the valley floor. |
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Top 100 Wines of 2008 / San Francisco Chronicle[Date Night] was chosen as one of the Top 100 Wines of 2008 in the December 7 San Francisco Chronicle. Jon Bonné, the wine editor, wrote in his introduction that the wines he chose "... are showing their mettle at a time when it's hard to stand out. There are more West Coast wineries than ever before.... The proliferation of new names can be dizzying. And yet the competition is propelling the most talented vintners to do their very best. ...every wine in the Top 100 shows the virtues of that quest to stand apart." Here's what he said about the 2005 Date Night: "The name and the cowgirl label of this Napa newcomer belie an impressively serious effort made from Pope Valley grapes. Defined by a gorgeous, deep nose: blackberry, violet, mint and a perfume overtone. Black fruit on the palate is just plain lovely -- bold, pitch-perfect and ripe, with broad, finessed, seductive tannins. Ready to drink." Link to article. |
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Five Cult Wines You Haven’t Heard Of / October 2008 October 2008 by Julie Brosterman (CEO & Founder of Women & Wine) |
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Make It a Date / October 3 2008 October 2008 Posted by Fredric Koeppel under Cabernet sauvignon, Best Wines When I wrote about cabernet sauvignon wines from Napa Valley and Sonoma County last week, I omitted one because I thought it deserved mention by itself. The first vintage from this new winery, the Phifer Pavitt “Date Night” 2005, Napa (more…) |
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Good Wine Under $20 Blog August 2008 Good Wine Under $20 Blog / Finding a Wine You Love? Priceless. |
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Rational Denial Blog August 2008 He’s smitten! There were lots of sweet somethings in their take on our wine, but here’s just the closing: Grapes were sourced from a single block, organically farmed and hand-picked. Vinification is low-intervention using only wild yeasts. No fining, lightly filtered. If your date is good enough to stand up to this Red, it probably should end at a little chapel in Reno. Rational Denial looks at the science of attraction and Date Night Wine, among other things. |
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Chronicle Wine Selections / Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon more than $50Lynne Char Bennett, San Francisco Chronicle, November 14, 2008 "Rating: THREE AND A HALF STARS 2005 Phifer Pavitt Date Night Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($75) The eloquent, complex nose sells this wine. Delicate and perfumed with mushroom, loam, violet, sweet blackberry and mint. Generous, almost fat, juicy fruit flavors - plum, cassis and black fruit - combine with bold tannins on the finessed finish." Complete article. |
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Wine Library TV with Gary VaynerchukSuzanne pours the 2005 AND 2006 Date Night, adds in Veré chocolates, and wows Gary and the Vayniacs. |
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It ain't called 'Cowgirl Cabernet'By David Stoneberg St. Helena Star, February 07, 2008 After a while, Phifer Pavitt opened a bottle of Date Night, to let it breathe a little. She said the 2005 vintage is nearly 100 percent cabernet with “just a whiff of petite verdot.” The grapes were grown by Arthur Spencer at his Temple Family Vineyards in Pope Valley and were harvested on a “nearly ice cold October morning,” according to the tasting notes. The winemaker is Ted Osborne, assisted by Phifer Pavitt’s father-in-law, Gary Warburton. "Shane’s parents are very involved in the wine making," Phifer Pavitt said. "It’s a family affair and Gary loves Ted and wants to make a good wine." She adds the grapes are grown organically. Complete article |
