Concha Y Toro 2007 Cabernet

2 nights ago, we had a few friend over for dinner.... grilled some steaks, salmon, made a salad, and dined. Unusually, there weren't very many wine drinkers among us this time so I made margaritas for those who still wanted something to drink.

Me, I opened a bottle of Concha Y Toro Marques De Casa Concha 2007 Cabernet. It paired very nicely with my grilled Rib Eye steak. The wine was still young, however and - although I should have decanted, I opened the bottle after the steaks were done and we were seated. So, there wasn't much time.

I had a couple of glasses and re corked the bottle, only to open it up again last night. NOW the wine had softened a bit... I could taste yummy notes of dark chocolate and mocha or cocoa powder and there was a nice cedar and spice note to the nose.

Keep in mind, this wine is still just a baby... it needs to cellar for a while... I'm going to pick up a few more bottles - love those $14 prices at Costco - and lay 'em down... I think that, by late 2010 to mid 2011, this wine should be phenomenal and will probably only get more phenomenal as the years go by... probably good for 8-10 years.

Cheers!

Zaca Mesa Syrah

Last night, we had a couple of friends over for an impromptu dinner - grilled burgers seasoned in sea salt, whole wheat buns, avocado, grilled white onions, lettuce, tomato, and the rest of the usual burger suspects... oh, and some BBQ chips to round things out.

Since we had already finished our Racer 5 and Arrogant Bastard, we decided to open a bottle of 2005 Zaca Mesa Syrah. Damn, I love this wine. It's the 3rd or 4th bottle I've tasted in the last 6 months and, today, I'm off to pick up some more - because it's delicious and that was my last bottle.

This wine is so smooth... so velvety, with soft white pepper on the finish, but not after being hit with wonderful blackberry, licorice, and mocha notes... very nice wine... love it.

And, it went well with the burgers!!!! Pickles and all. We held our glasses up to the sky, looked through the bottom of the glasses and, except for the edges, the wine was almost completely opaque. See the wine notes from Zaca Mesa: http://www.zacamesa.com/pdf/wineNotes_syrah2005.pdf.

I'm ready to see what this thing will do with a Cajun Rib Eye steak at Morton's Steakhouse.... salivating already.

Cheers!

We're only in it for the money...

There was a Frank Zappa album that came out in the late 60's called "We're Only In It For The Money" - a parody of the Beatles' Sgt Peppers album. Most of the record was filled with random sounds, musical instruments occasionally playing in time or harmony with each other... it was brilliant satire. It was also clearly as noncommercial as music could get - on an intentional level. That was the pitch, really - to say you're only in something for the money implies that you are going to create something that is very middle-of-the-road - something for the masses to easily grasp and enjoy. The irony is that the Zappa album was actually the opposite... hence the fun!

For me, wine is like music. White Zinfandel is a tasty little bugger - and there's simply not much difference between what each winery makes in this regard. It's fruity, food friendly, tasty when chilled, and appeals to a wide audience. I can't tell you how many times I've been in the grocery store and watched people buy White Zinfandel. It's like getting a kid an iTunes gift card. It's so generic that the kid will find something to love with it.

So the question for me is, do winemakers create wine for money or is there something more? It's probably both. I have a friend who makes amazing beer. I know it's amazing because I've tasted it. I've also tasted other folks homemade brews and, for the most part, they suck. I've taken my friends beers and shared them with other folks - 'serious' beer drinkers who can't stand Budweiser but love a nice robust Arrogant Bastard or Racer 5. These folks love my friend's beer. I asked him if he was interested in marketing it; making it for sale. His reply was no. He's not interested in making money - even though, if you are a beer drinker and tasted his brews, I'm certain you would also buy it at the market or order it at a restaurant. It's that good. But my friend is perfectly content making 5 gallons of very high quality brew for his own enjoyment and to share with friends. The end result is satisfaction enough.

I have another friend who loves wine as much as I do. He's a bit more knowledgeable about wine making than I am - he's growing his own grapes to make his own wine. He hasn't mentioned selling it. He only mentions how excited he is to make his own wine - and do everything he can to make a great wine! The rationale? If he can make a great Syrah or Zinfandel, then he doesn't need to pay someone else to do it. Bottles that might cost him $50 or more can be enjoyed in abundance in his own home... with the pride and satisfaction of knowing that he did it himself.

But, I wonder, what if my friend decides to sell a few bottles.... and people like it and ask for more... then, he has a problem. He either continues to make it for himself and forget the money-making possibilities, or he decides to take a chance on a new business endeavor: one that was born of a passion to make and enjoy great wine only to become a business filled with the technical and financial realities that come with having to produce, have quality control, sell, market, etc etc....

I just wonder when the passion dies and gives way to trying to compete. When does even enjoying a glass at home become a test marketing comparison as the mind starts seeing everything in a financial light? At what point is it time to either move on or just accept that what started as a passion and love of craft becomes just a job and daily quest for survival in a very tough industry?

Thinking of Frank Zappa again, I think Charles Shaw wines are mildly drinkable, most are awful, and some are just this side of good but not delicious by any stretch. However, many people buy this wine because they just want a wine that doesn't cost much. Last I heard, Mr. Shaw was making a ton of money on this wine. His challenge seems to be making wine that even the two-buck customer will appreciate and not be offended by. Mr. Zappa made an album that implied mass appeal but, as any Zappa fan of that time will tell you, the goal was never being in it for the money. It was about making great music. Just like my friends' goals of making great beer and great wine.

Someone once told me that, if what you do causes you to say fuck humans, then get out. Make loving those that you love the thing you are best at - above all else. I want to extend that into love of craft... if you do not love what you do, think about this: you're going to die. You will. We all will. And between here and there, do you want to leave behind a legacy of making money or making something memorable, lasting, and special? We will all forget how much money you made. But, pour out a great wine that you put your heart and soul into while we celebrate that special conversation with a friend or loved one, and we will never forget you.

Cheers!

Finding a good wine...

Some wines really taste great... some are okay... some are awful. Not everyone who makes wine does a good job of it and many must be in it for the money only because the quality is 'just enough to pass for wine but a nice ice tea would probably have more depth and complexity than these pretenders.

Conversely, some wines are a complete experience themselves.... these wines hit the taste buds and don't go away... and you really don't want them to. The wines are so delicious that you want to keep drinking... caution - intoxication on the way... it's still alcohol. But getting buzzed is merely a side effect to a really great bottle and, hopefully, some cool conversations with a fellow wine-lover.

Both of the above are somewhat rare - at least in my price range.... I don't buy $4 bottles of wine since a really great micro brew is a much better buy. Where most wines fall for me - in every price range - is that drinking them is a very subjective experience. It depends so much on what you've had to eat - that day or, even the day before - or what else you've had to drink.... do you have a cold (stuffy noses affect taste buds, dude - or dudette)... or maybe you're just looking for a particular flavor and the wine you open either matches that expectation or doesn't. This is not reflective on the quality of the wine but merely the situation.

When I first got into wine, I figured that the more I spent, the better the wine. Then, more recently, I started looking at the wine ratings from the vino rags, choosing the higher rated wines - a little better than just looking at price. Both of these assumptions are not grounded in experience but consumer gullibility. Even though, often, I find myself in agreement with the wine ratings, it comes back to the moment - because, when you drink the wine, that's the moment that the ratings count - not the ratings from the magazine or website, but YOUR ratings!

Bottom line, if you like the wine, then for you it's a good wine. Enjoy, drink up... don't drive... and be adventurous!

Cheers!

Nice family dinner.... with wine, of course

Last night, I decided to try something different.... BBQ spaghetti. Well, not entirely... I took a pound of extra lean hamburger, seasoned it up with lots of garlic salt, and put the whole slab on the BBQ. I turned the slab about every 2 minutes until it was cooked almost all the way through.... then I took it from the grill and moved it into a frying pan, chopped up the slab, and added some sliced spicy Italian sausage. I continued grilling the sausage and chopped beef and, as the sausage became dark around the edges, I added basil tomato sauce and some chopped onion. Then, I let the whole thing just simmer for about 20 minutes while I boiled the spaghetti noodles, heated up some bread, and tossed a baby green salad.

While I cooked, I enjoyed a nice cold bottle of Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA. Delicious beer.

With dinner, we opened a bottle of 2005 Columbia Crest Two Vines Vineyard 10 Red... a deliciously mid-fruity and mildly spicy red blend that worked very nicely with the spicy spaghetti.

Final thought - doing the BBQ added nice flavor, but it also dried the meat out a bit. Oh well.... didn't matter. We enjoyed the dinner complete with the wine, and I crashed around 9:30 last night... game over.

Cheers!

Justin Malbec

I love the Justin wines, for the most part. The good stuff is really freaking good. I mean, world class good. The Isosceles is year by year one of the most consistently good wines I've ever had... and I've been drinking every vintage 9 years running.

Their reserve wines... especially the Savant (Cab/Syrah blend) and Cabernet, are simply wonderful, as is the Justification. If you know anything about Cheval Blanc, taste the Justification - Merlot/Cab Franc.... wonderful wine with amazing structure, tannin, and dark fruit.

The Justin white wines... well, I'm not going to focus on these... that's not what they really do best.

But the reds.... that brings me to the 2007 Malbec. We opened a bottle last night with some DiGiorno pepperoni pizza (I always add more cheese and pepperoni) along with a nice romaine salad... and the wine was perfect! It has luscious fruit - blackberry, boysenberry, with some nice cocoa power and mocha on the finish. Great wine - especially for the $20 that it's easily worth.

Congrats to Justin again for a job well done.

Cheers!

2007 Sea Smoke Southing

Yesterday, my wife and I celebrated our 21st Anniversary at Arnie Morton's Steakhouse in Los Angeles.... for lunch!

We love this particular location - not only because the food is as good as any we've tasted, but because the folks there are some of the friendliest people we've met at any restaurant - bar none. From management all the way through the ranks, we are greeted with smiles, treated warmly, and provided with an experience - every time - that gives use one more great memory of Morton's.

Yesterday, we brought our own wine... a brand new bottle of 2007 Sea Smoke Southing Pinot Noir. As soon as I dropped my nose into the glass, I could tell this was a winner. The semi-sweet raspberries and cranberry aromas were soft and... well... were kind of like foreplay. The wine tasted.... incredible. This is a very BOLD.... BOLD Pinot. It's got the kind of structure one would expect from a Cabernet or Syrah (Please don't tell me that Syrah is added to this wine)... and the finish has incredible acidity and minerality...

Enter our food - I had the Morton's Cheeseburger.... with grilled onions, mushrooms, horseradish cheddar, and fries.... my wife had the Rib eye and mashed potatoes....

And the 2007 Sea Smoke Southing Pinot Noir handled the whole thing!!!!! The wine didn't weaken or faint once... in other words, if the food was the stage, this wine pole-danced all around it... naked and alluring, sultry, full of style and substance....

Okay... when is the last time you heard of a wine being compared to a stripper?

Take the cork out of this one and drink up... but save 1 or 2 for aging... this wine will last 3-5 years easily.... on my scale... it's a bold 95 points.... but, then again, with wine this freaking good, who's counting?

Cheers!

Santa Ema

I opened this bottle of 2005 Santa Ema Reserve Cabernet from Maipo Valley in Chile about 6 days ago. It paired very nicely with the Cajun Rib Eye my wife and I shared but was still a bit over the top on the fruit... medium berries overwhelmed the tannins... so, I corked it and put it in the fridge.

Yup... the fridge.

Then I opened it again 2 nights ago and WOW! Thinking back, I probably should have decanted this thing... what a wonderful dark and rich Cabernet this turned out to be. For fun, I corked it one more time and put it back into the fridge until last night... damned if the wine wasn't even more balanced! This after 6 days... 6 days!!!!

Now - before you assume that I drank it too cold, I didn't. I let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before pouring. There was no chilling-green effect. The wine was simply delicious.... and all for $9.99 at Cost Plus World Market.

Cheers!!!!!

I can't say enough about Columbia Crest wines

The title says it all. I'm looking and cannot find a wine under $10 that I like as much (let alone more) than the Columbia Crest Grand Estates wines.... especially the Cabernet and Merlot. The 2004, 2005 and 2006 vintages of these wines are up to the task of many wines I've spent over $20 on over the years. In fact, in many cases, it's not even close.

For example, the 2005 Beaulieu Rutherford Cabernet sells for between $18 (costco) to around $30 (markets) and starts nicely out of the glass but finishes thin and weak. By contrast, the 2005 Grand Estates Cabernet is a bit softer up front, but finishes with nice tanin and structure to pair well with grilled meats that are rubbed and spiced up.

In fact, in a test that I recently did, I opened the BV and the Columbia Crest, and drank both over a 3 day period. I ended up pouring out the BV on day 3 and finishing the Columbia Crest. The temperature conditions and timing of bottle opening were virtually identical. But, after 3 days, the Columbia Crest was still drinking heartily and full of dark fruit flavors.

As for the Columbia Crest Merlot.... the 2004 was incredible. The 2005 is a bit more earthy and darker but has a bit more body than the 2004. The 2006 is much like the 2004 and I'm anxious to find out how it holds up into 2010 and 2011.

These days, value is important. There are many overpriced products out there, products that are priced according to reputation and name value. But I don't care about name value. I care about taste... I care about flavor... and I care about getting the best wine for the least amount of money.

Columbia Crest wines kick ass. Whatever is going on up there in the state of Washington is a fine benchmark for others to follow. Create a great product, don't insult the customer's wallet, and keep 'em coming back for more.

Cheers!

Central Coast Musical Road Trip

Okay, I can't visit the Central Coast of California without thinking about wine. Everywhere I go, drive, walk, stay, there are reminders of the rich winemaking that exists all up and down highways 101 and 1 - extending from Santa Barbara up to Paso Robles and everywher in between. Hotel lobbies are full of brochures on wine trails and vineyards that one can visit. There are simply too many to catch in one day... or one week.... I estimate it would take 2-3 years for a serious wine lover to vist all of the wineries in this area.... over 500 of them.

Thing is, we weren't there for the wine... we were there for the music. My daughter, Jamie and I perform as The Beckers - a Rockin' Family Friendly Father Daughter Musical Duo. We performed at Bernadette's on July 4, Last Stage West on July 5, and returned to Los Angeles for a show that happened to be cancelled at the last minute. This didn't matter... we had a great trip, met some really cool people, and tasted some good food! Also, thanks to Hotwire and Priceline, we were able to get some semi-premium lodging at rock-bottom prices.

Along the way, however, I did manage to have some wine. We stopped in the Olive Garden in Santa Maria on Sunday night and I had a glass of the Columbia Crest Grand Estates Merlot... 2006, I think - anyway, this is a great wine. After two days of bbq food, burgers, ribs, etc, I settled on their breadsticks and salad bowl. My daughter (who is only 14) had the Poratabella Mushroom Ravioli.... she shared a bite with me and I washed it down with the merlot.... very nice!

This stop was after a 3 hour show at the Last Stage West in Atascadero... if you're ever in the area, stop by, have some incredible slow-cooked baby back ribs and say hello to Tom. The folks there are more hospitable than many that I've seen at fancier places, and the food is simply fantastic! Tom also has a small wine selection from local vineyards in Paso Robles - diverse enough to please anyone who likes wine with bbq.

On Monday morning, we drove down Highway 1 through Lompoc and stopped at the warehouse at 333 Highway 246 to pick up my 2007 Sea Smoke purchase. I can hardly wait to open one of these bottles. It's one of my favorite wines a few years running and I've no reason to believe that the 2007 will dissapoint. Although I believe there's been some personnel changes at Sea Smoke, the location of their vineyards and the high expectations will make the production of top notch Pinot a mere link in a very successful chain of great Pinot from Sea Smoke.

Well, I realize this is a bit incoherrent, but I don't really care. It was a great weekend.... some wine, lots of music, and good times with Jamie and my wife, Eva. Heck, even Michelle and Kristna joined us from UCSB on Saturday at Bernadette's.

Cheers!

The schedule....

For the next several days, I'll be immersed in music for The Beckers! This is the band I have with my 14 year old daughter, Jamie.... we've got tons of stuff going on! I've added the calendar to my page in case you're interests. Looking to make a Temecula wine trip next week and have some new pics and wine blogs.... meanwhile.... Cheers!