2010 Roadblock

Sounds like the name of a wine, but it's not.  It's the result of my lack of interest in much of anything, or perhaps my interest in so many things that I became incapable of doing much more than just dabble in a bunch of stuff.  Over the year I brewed 13 new homemade beers, mostly IPA's.  I wrote 17 new songs, 12 of which are going on my new album.  (Yes, it's a new album - even for those of you who didn't know that I had ANY albums at all.)  I began school again - yes, again.  I guess I needed to get out of my head and open myself up to new ideas, even old ones that I'd not considered. 

And I tasted some really good wine.

And I got pretty cynical about wine in general.  At what point does it really matter?  I mean, we have our individual taste buds and some of us like one thing while some of us like the other.  Take note: taste buds don't know that you have a credit card.  They can't read tasting notes.  They can't distinguish between wine of the year awards and those that are never mentioned. 

But taste buds can tell the difference between the things you've decided that you like and don't like. 

Personally, I care as much about what I don't like as what I like.  The dichotomy of these polar opposites give me perspective and reference points.  So, when I opened a bottle of Penfolds bin 128 Shiraz that I paid $18 for and find out that I like it less than the $6 Pillar Box Red, I take note of both. 

That said, my favorite wine for 2010 - the one that resonated with me the most - is the 2008 Pali Riviera Pinot Noir.  I like the price and the 'big-ness' of this otherwise delicate pinot stunned me.  It's flat out delicious. 

So is the 2008 Columbia Crest Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet - tastes like chocolate.  I love chocolate.

The 2006 and 2007 Zaca Mesa Santa Ynez Syrah's are both magnificent.  As is the 2008 Marquis Philips Shiraz and the 2009 Mollydooker Boxer and Two Left Feet. 

The 2009 Santa Barbara County Syrah from Jaffurs in, um, Santa Barbara is a wonderful treat.   My daughter, Michelle, and I joined them early September to help with bottling.  The kind folks at Jaffurs served up a tasty Mexican lunch with many different wines before we jumped to the mobile bottling assembly line.  A very fun day!

I drank some Sea Smoke, some Williams Selyem, Mondavi, Justin, Yellow Tail, Layer Cake... found something enjoyable in all of them.

Love what Rosenblum has been doing over the last couple of years, especially in the Zinfandel area - they know what they're doing, in my opinion.

And this is all my opinion.  That's it.  Tonight I'm going to cook a steak and open a bottle of something; I don't know what yet.  I'll let the moment decide.  Meanwhile, have a great Christmas season and I'll catch you next year.

Thanks for reading.

Cheers!

Great tunes with 'wine' in 'em

I was thinking, what songs go good with wine? Then, I thought, what songs actually mention wine in their lyrics or title? Here you go:

Spill the Wine - Eric Burdon and War
Sweet Virgina - The Rolling Stones (... thank you for your wine, California)
Red Red Wine - UB40
Champagne Supernova - Oasis
God Of Wine - Third Eye Blind
Elderberry Wine - Elton John
Bottle of Red Wine - Eric Clapton
Bitter Wine - L7
Champagne and Reefer - The Rolling Stones and Buddy Guy
Little Ole Wine Drinker Me - Merle Haggard
Old Red Wine - The Who
You Can't Always Get What You Want - The Rolling Stones (... a glass of wine in her hand)
Hotel California - The Eagles (... pink champagne on ice)

I know there are many more.... but, I thought this was a good start. Now, for your convenienced, I've added a link to an iMIX that I created on iTUNES with all of the above tunes. It's an easy way to download these songs, open your favorite bottle, and rock out!

Click Here For the iTUNES Wine Mix







Cheers!