North of Santa Barbara...

Yesterday, Jan 30 2010, my wife, Eva and two of our daughters, Michelle and Serena, drove up past Santa Barbara to Highway 154 where we detoured onto the Foxen Canyon Road. There we stopped for a picnic at Fess Parker Winery and capped off the afternoon at Zaca Mesa Winery.

Fess Parker is a fantastic place for a picnic. The lawn is about the size of a football field with picnic tables, trees, and ample room to play catch with a football or just kick back.

For us, it involved a football, a picnic basket filled with assorted cheeses, cold cuts, salad... and wine glasses.

Of course, we supplemented our experience with a shared tasting from the winery and purchased a bottle of 1999 Fess Parker Syrah - a wine that has mellowed over the years and turned from a fruit bomb into a peppery wine with nice acidity and fruit to perfectly compliment our picnic.

The folks at the winery were their usual hospitable and fun selves! Not only did we taste some of their newly released Pinot Noir (delicious wines) and their Syrah (delicious also), we got to keep the glass. Well, Michelle got the glass.

From there we drove up around the bend at Zaca Mesa and stepped past the very fun concrete chessboard... about the size of an average kitchen and into a very festive and full tasting room, where we enjoyed some more very delicious Syrah (2003, 2005, and 2006 Estate) as well as a fantastic Grenache!

After hanging out on the patio and playing half a chess game, we drove away with smiles on our faces through that beautiful countryside, culminating with some very tasting and budget-friendly sushi in Goleta.

This isn't so much a review, as you can see, as much as it is just a reflection on a great afternoon. Watching my wife and our girls laugh, talk, discuss 'boys', etc etc... was pure joy.

The wine was just an accessory. And a good one at that.

Cheers!

Regional favorites...

I love trying new wines. I wander aisles at various stores - grocery and wine warehouses - looking at labels, reading the tasting notes, ratings, etc... and comparing prices...

The underlying question I usually have is, how much great wine can I get for the least possible price?

This line of thinking clearly eliminates such gems as Insignia and Opus One. But it also eliminates such wimps as Charles Shaw and... well, plug in most under $4 bottles of wine here.

I also look at where the wines are from and I find that I have favorites from general areas, new world specifically, that I enjoy frequently and trust for quality while remaining somewhat within my budget.

For your amusement (and possibly mine as well) here's a short list. This is always subject to change and just happens to include wines that I'm thinking of now....

Washington State - Columbia Crest
Oregon - Ponzi
Napa Valley - Mondavi
Sonoma - Rosenblum
Paso Robles - Denner
Santa Barbara County - Sea Smoke
Lodi - Michael David
Chile - Concha Y Toro
Australia - Mollydooker

Of course, there are many more from these areas that I really enjoy.... but these are what come to mind today....

Cheers!

Que Syrah Shiraz....

... whatever will be will be... etc etc...

This is the feeling I get when drinking wine... good wine... tasty wine... wine that says 'drink more'... no, not to get drunk.

It just tastes so good! Note that I left out the f-word for those of you who like the movie Sideways. I still don't think Miles knew much about wine.... hence his ongoing dislike of Merlot and Cab Franc.

Anyway.

Last week, while visiting an old friend (and former boss - how many of you can say that!) we found, in his son's cellar, a 2006 Mollydooker Shiraz...

Temptation and a love for wine as it is, we opened it. And drank it. And wanted more. It's good... really good. The 2007 is good too. The 2008... haven't tried it. Want to.

Monday this week, I opened a 2006 Columbia Crest Shiraz. It was $7.99 at Bevmo. Good incentive. Columbia Crest wines are very reliable.

The CC Shiraz is tasty... a bit of pepper on the finish.. almost a white pepper, I think... and a caramel mouth feel...

Then, tonight, we open a bottle of 2005 Zaca Mesa Syrah. I've written about this before. It's good. Really good.

It reminds me of some of the best in Australian Shiraz that I've had... deep dark fruit... black licorice... cocoa... and a black peppery finish laced with soft tannins.

Never mind.

It's freaking good. Like the Mollydooker. Like Henry's Drive. Like Andrew Murray. Like Denner.

So, whether you speak Syrah or Shiraz... doesn't matter. Give these wines a test drive and you'll find yourself casting away the day and relishing in the sensations that only a yummy wine like these can deliver.

Cheers!

Charles Shaw and other cheap wines....

Keith Richards had a band in the 80's called "Keith Richards and the Expensive Winos"... makes me wonder... does Expensive Wino mean that they only drink expensive wine or does it mean that they are expensive musicians who happen to be winos?

I'm a wino. I love wine. Can't freaking stand Charles Shaw.... I try it now and then and find myself taking a sip and pouring the damn bottle out. I won't even cook with it. Won't pour it on anything except the drain. It's awful. With one exception - the Chardonnay. It's not awful. It's not good, but it's not awful.

Usually, cheap wine has no character. But it has alcohol. If the objective is a cheap buzz, then I guess it works. But I'd rather drink much less quantity of good wine than more quantity of bad wine.

Bad wine gives me a headache. It doesn't go well with food. Hell, it makes reading a book painful. It's distracting, not enhancing. Bad wine sucks.

Most cheap wine is bad wine. Then again, some expensive wine is also bad wine.

Now and then, something comes along that is really good and really cheap. But not two dollars cheap. Five dollars.... maybe. Seven or eight dollars, reasonably possible.

My favorite wines in the bang-for-the-buck category usually are priced between $10-20... there's some great wines in this category.

I'd rather drink one good bottle that costs $24 than a whole case of Charles Shaw at the same price.

And, if only Charles Shaw is available?

Pass the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

Cheers!