April proved to be a time of culinary discoveries. I've found delicious new wines and made some tasty food finds. And a friend gifted me with a must-have gadget for fetching pickles and olives out of jars.

First, let's talk wine. When I attended the International Association of Culinary Professionals in Denver in early April, a fellow attendee and friend invited me to share a bottle of wine. It was made by a new-to-me Colorado winery: Boulder Creek Winery. The wine, a 2004 blend of 50 percent each cabernet sauvignon and syrah, was a delicious big, bold wine with the flavors of plum, currant and a touch of black pepper.

I was interested in finding a few more bottles and learned at bouldercreekwine.com that its wines are not widely distributed. The best bet was to visit the winery near Boulder, which my husband and I did.

We got there to find out that the winery operators had produced only 168 cases of this wine, and because the inventory was getting low they were not pouring it for sampling in the tasting room. We bought a bottle ($30) to sample and decided to buy a case. For future reference, we tasted the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon ($24 a bottle) and decided that when we need to replenish offerings from the winery we would go for that if the 2004 is sold out.

Sample their award-winning wines at the Manitou Springs Wine Festival June 6. Some are sold at Wines of Colorado, 8045 W. U.S. Highway 24 in Cascade.

The second wine I have become enthralled with comes from Clif Family Winery. I was introduced to this wine at the "Simply Colorado Ultimate Culinary Experience," hosted by the American Culinary Federation, Pikes Peak Chapter, at St. Francis of Assisi Parish Hall in mid-April. The winery is owned by the same people behind Clif Bars and Luna. According to Laura Larsen - of Wine Cru, who arranged to have the Clif Family wine donated - "The winery has only been bottling wine for about two to three years and they are always blends. They are made from grapes that are grown by farmers who demonstrate a commitment to the environment and sustainable farming of their land."

Some of the wines are sold exclusively at one wine store. For example, Kit's Killer Cab is only at Queen Liquors, 1744 W. Uintah St. Gary's Improv can be found only at Cheers Liquors Mart, 1105 Circle Drive. The wine we were served at the chef dinner was Clif (The Climber) Red, which costs about $14 a bottle; it is widely available at local wine stores.

Next up, food finds.

When I was shopping for Colorado rack of lamb for Easter, I found just what I needed at Ranch Foods Direct, 2901 N. El Paso St. While there I did a little shopping and found small packages of sliced pancetta for $7.99 a pound. I picked up some to fry up and toss into a pasta dish. It was deliciously porky and crispy.

Over in the condiment area I spotted a quart jar of Kruegermann Mediterranean Spicy Garlic Pickles - amazingly flavored and crisp in texture. They cost $4.20 a jar. I'll be making regular stops at Ranch Foods for more than just the great meat.

A friend surprised me with a FridgeFORK by chef'n. It's a gizmo with a flexible band that fits around a jar of pickles or olives. Attached to the band is a caddy that holds a three-prong fork that is supergreat to stab pickles or olives. Sparrow Hawk, 120 N. Tejon St., has them for $6.99 each.
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Reach Farney at 636-0271 or teresa.farney@gazette.com. She appears Tuesdays on KOAA's Comcast Channel 5 at noon.