Monday, August 27, 2007

This is only a test


I will be taking a wine certification test in Napa next month... a test which I will fail at miserably.. (so much for positive thinking.. I'll get my name right, so there's one thing). Have not studied at all for this. Tonight, I pulled out this map and... looks kind of nightmarish. Isn't Tuscany supposed to be beautiful? Looks more like a Petri dish. Oh my.

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Christopher Walken cooks




I was hoping Christopher Walken would be weirder in real life. Baked chicken with salt and pepper... thanks for the secret recipe. Those pears do look good though.

No tasting today... but bought the following for a rainy day: Arrocal 2004 Ribera Del Duero - Tempranillo(Spain), Kenneth Volk 06 Malvasia (California), Castello Romitorio 05 Morellino Di Scansano (Italy).. a Tuscan blend of Sangiovese, Syrah and Petit Verdot. Our Italian buyer gave it a good write-up and it was only $17. I actually bought it because I liked the label...

Friday, August 24, 2007

Happy Friday yall!

No wine today (still with good memories of Sonoma & Family Winemakers in SF.. which was phenomenal). I came into it, telling myself I would spit.. but everything was so good, how could I? My favorites from Family Winemakers were:
Hollywood & Vine(Cabernet Sauvignon),
Bravante(Howell Mt. Cabs and Merlot- I'm a little biased there),
Spence (Howell Mt. Cab), and
Anglim (Viognier and Pinot Noir).

Saw this and had to share...an old school clip with some awesome dancing (those kids rocked) and sights from years ago when New York was beautiful and dirty.

I tried doing one of those moves the guys did on the floor after watching this:
and I soon realized that I could easily dislocate my shoulder blades or back.
But I can moonwalk (kind of).

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Keefer Madness



Sonoma. I forget where, exactly.







Walking tour of Keefer Ranch, vineyard where Kosta Browne is grown.




Did a tour of Keefer Ranch today. Siduri, Loring,Flowers, Freeman, Talley among others, all source fruit from this parcel of land. We were started off with the Pommard Pinot noir used by Kosta Browne... Breakfast of champions. We then tried several other pinots from them and all were exquisite in their own rite. Our tour today also included: Bella, Hartford, Ferrari-Carano, Rochioli, Pappapietro-Perry and Belvedere. Had my fair share of wine today, but am trying to save myself for Family Winemakers tomorrow.




Michael Browne (center w. glasses) pouring his wines for the group.



Chad walking up to Arrowood where we tried some great cabs!

Thanks, Chad on catching that error (had called Michael Browne Michael Kosta)..oops! Too much wine that day! :)

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Wooing wine - 2003 Volker Eisele Family Estate Cabernet Sauvignon


A good friend once told me, "The purpose of wine is to woo." I think this wine is woo-worthy.

Volker Eisele has been growing grapes in the Chiles Valley appellation of Napa since the 70's and making wine since the 90's. The Volker Eisele Cab is made of: 84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Cabernet Franc & 8% Merlot. Color: dark ruby-purple. Body weight: medium. Aged almost 2 years in French barrels, you can subtly taste the oak. This is not a big, overpowering Napa cab which a lot of producers are doing right now. This is old school... an elegant bordeaux-styled wine with nice black fruit to it. It's sexy and lithe. It integrated well with my meal (spaghetti bolognese). This would be a lovely wine you could pop open to accompany a meal you were making for your honey. Wooing wine. That's the ticket. $35.

Endnote: According to our Napa buyer, there is no connection between the Volker Eisele cab and Araujo Estate Eisele Vineyard cab.

*tasted 2 weeks ago.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Too many wines, not enough time


Am on a 2-week rest from "imbibing"... but promise I'll be back with avengeance this weekend during the Sonoma trip and at Family Winemakers in San Fran.

My wine fridge is almost at full capacity (75), so that means either:
A) a party soon
or,
B). Stop buying wine and live off what I have for the next few years.

The answer is obviously A.



Sunday, August 12, 2007

Yesss!

The best news this week was that David Lee Roth is coming back to Van Halen.


Tuesday, August 07, 2007

For Your Viewing Pleasure

Yet another break from wine reviews...

This is, James Brown's Celebrity Hot Tub Party, with Eddie Murphy from SNL circa the 80's.

Sunday, August 05, 2007

Family Winemakers - Coming! Aug 19th




If you happen to be in the SF area, do try to make it to Family Winemakers, being held at Fort Mason, in San Francisco, Sunday, 12-4pm on August 19th. It's an awesome event. Around 300 wineries will be pouring, and they're all pretty great. Tickets are $45 (in advance) and $55 at the door.



I will be a relief pourer for friends at Bravante Vineyards. So if you happen to be in the "B" area, come by to say Hey.
That's me last year, helping Duane pour his D-Cubed Zinfandel. I was pretty lit.

After looking through the list of participating wineries, I drew up my list in alpha order of wineries I want to try (some I've had before, but most will be for the first time). I plan to hit the P's, V's M's, & S's first. It's lengthy but I plan to be spitting (sometimes). I'm excited!!

Here's my hitlist:

Ancien
Andrew Geoffrey
Anglim
Bink Wines
Chameleon
Charles Creek
Cima Collina
Core
D-Cubed
Diamond Terrace
El Molino
Fantesca
Hollywood & Vine
Krupp Brothers
Mantra
Meyer Family
Modus Operandi
Navarro
Orin Swift
Paloma
Parallel
Pisoni Vineyards
Reverie on Diamond Mountain
Saddleback Cellars
Saracina
Siduri
Spelletitch Cellars
Turley
V. Sattui
Viader
Vineyard 7&8
ZD

http://www.familywinemakers.org


Paul Hobbs at Family Winemakers



Barb and Jim Richards of Paloma Merlot



Maureen and Hal Taylor of Diamond Terrace (Winemaker: Joe Briggs (of August Briggs)



Ken Bernards of Ancien

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Boy Shakira Update. 8/01/07

I love Boy Shakira.



This is Boy Shakira's last performance on America's Got Talent, as Boy Britney.
Unfortunately, Boy Shakira's run on America's Got Talent came to a halt this Tuesday. There were 5 acts out of 10 that could advance, and instead of Boy Shakira, a wannabe revival of the Osmonds (the Duttons!! a large, musically-challenged family) took its place....I think the Duttons just had all their family members call in to vote.

Boy Shakira will stay in my heart. I hope one day he meets the real Shakira, and that they shake their midsections until the breakadawn.