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!

The 20th Anniversary of my 29th Birthday.....

... is on the 4th of June but it begins at about 1:00 in the afternoon on Thursday June 3, 2010... with my daughter, Jamie, at Arnie Morton's Steakhouse on Figueroa in Los Angeles... bottle of 2007 Isosceles in hand....

First off, the hospitable folks who manage and work at Morton's Los Angeles are some of the friendliest people I've meet in any restaurant... bar none.  This is why it is also my favorite Morton's location.  There has not been a visit where our time and money spent has not been worth it and some.  With the added bonus of celebrating my birthday (now an annual tradition for me: LUNCH at Morton's), both my daughter and I felt like royalty.  I'm not exaggerating.  It was all about us.

The food was exceptional - Cajun Rib Eye, Crab Cakes, Grilled Asparagus.... oh, and the Morton's burger Jamie ordered - with fries.... it's like the All-American steak and potato meal - it just LOOKS like a burger!

As for the wine - each year on my birthday, I open a new vintage of Justin Isosceles.  This is truly one wine that, year after year, meets and often exceeds my expectations ever since my first taste of the 1997 vintage.  As for the 2007, this is silky smooth - can benefit from decanting up front - but it's probably the softest (not without a bunch of flavor) Isosceles that I've had since the 1999... I've got a 2nd bottle that rounds out a 6 year vertical going back to 2002.  Not sure when I'll start on the older ones, but I can hardly wait!

Friday began with a family trip to Northern California to visit some good friends in Merced.  Now don't laugh.  I like Merced.  Even living in Los Angeles hasn't jaded me to small town life.  It's just a mellow place and, when the sky is blue, the snow-capped Sierra mountains are clearly visible from our friends' back yard. 

From then until Sunday, it was food and drink.  Steaks.... shrimp... pizza... hot wings.... homemade IPA, and a bottle of 2006 Columbia Crest Reserve Merlot.  Unfortunately, there might have been a 'slight' bit of cork taint on this bottle but, after a bit of air, it softened up beautifully.

The road back home was filled with music from the Rolling Stones' Exile On Main Street, Tattoo You, and Undercover.  My all-time favorite band, finishing off a very delicious and fun 20th Anniversary of my 29th Birthday.

Family, friends, food, fun.... and good wine.  It doesn't get much better than this!

Cheers :)

I remember that!

It's been about 6 weeks since I last contributed to this little series of wine exploits... somewhat because I'm a bit discouraged. I have no idea how to market this or what to even do with it! I love wine and think it would be fun to work around it in some capacity. However, the only credentials I have are pretty much self-learned or gleaned from the expertise of friends. Truly, some of these friends are very knowledgeable about wine and hold fairly high level positions in the wine industry. I've learned alot from them. But, I also pretty much "wing it" when it comes to my wine selections.

Oh, I do the basic stuff like red wine and red meat, white wine with white meat, etc... then I go off and have red wine with a burger or fish, or white wine with tacos or hot wings, then have another red wine to finish things off. It's fun to experiment and I really don't have any boundaries for this. Once we drank a Petite Sirah with sushi! Did the stuff match? Not at all. But the wine tasted good and the food tasted good and that's all I cared about.

Recently, we opened a bottle of 2001 Justin Isosceles at the Melting Pot in Santa Barbara. It worked great. Of course we tasted all kinds of different things... fish, chicken, beef, cheese, bread, veggies, etc... so, the food was all over the place - not to mention the spices and sauces. The wine held up fine. In fact, after sitting out and breathing for about 30 minutes, it softened up into a phenomenally smooth wine but still had the structure to maintain its elegance in spite of the onslaught of flavors circulating the table.

Other wine I've tasted over the last month include the 2006 Columbia Crest Reserve Cabernet (needs to sit for a while... it's far gentler than the robust 2005)... 2006 3-rings Barossa Shiraz, 2005 Zaca Mesa Syrah, 2006 Rosenblum Rockpile Road Zinfandel... heck, can't really remember them all.

No matter. I'm not really sure what the purpose to this blog is at all, except perhaps a casual journal that I might look upon one day and say... Hey... I remember that!

Cheers!

Wine notes from the road....

Let's start with a visit to Barnes And Nobles in Chico, CA... walking around during a rare visit with mom... not because mom and I aren't close, but because of geography... I find the Twinkies Cookbook. Something is very wrong here!Anyway, later that evening, I visited my dad... and we grilled up some rib-eye steaks - purchased at Costco for the bold price of only $7.99/lb. I've not found better meat at a lower price anywhere.

The wine we enjoyed was the 2007 Mollydooker Two Left Feet. I really like this wine and wanted to turn my dad onto it as he's a big fan of Australian Shiraz - the cheap stuff - because it's good and cheap. The Mollydooker is bold and full of flavor... dark berries, licorice, mocha, and holds up very well rib-eye steaks. Oh, did I mention that we cooked over oak and manzaneta?

Well, my journey had a few other detours as well. I had the distinct pleasure of visiting The Wine Room in Paradise, CA. This is a charming little boutique with quite an inventory of gifts, cards, and various trinkets that my wife might be more familiar with than I am.... but they have a very nice little wine inventory.... in fact, I found the magnificent 2005 Columbia Crest Reserve Cabernet here and bought one.... I think they have 3 or 4 left. It paired very nicely with grilled slightly Cajun-spiced salmon - again cooked over oak.
Of course no visit to the Chico/Paradise area is complete without a stop by the Sierra Nevada Brewery. Dad and I enjoyed a nice lunch - a nice hoppy Torpedo IPA - and a small tour of the facility. If you're ever in town, visit the Sierra Nevada brewery. The food is great, the building is beautiful, the people are honestly friendly, and the concert hall deserves a peek as well. Oh, the tour area smells like fresh hops!

After leaving Paradise, I made my way down to Moss Beach to visit family and enjoy more wine and food. The Seal Cove Inn is a wonderfully charming chateau located within walking distance from the ocean, a bunch of seals, and a fantastic sunset! Looking over this while enjoying the 2006 Rosenblum Lyons Reserve Zinfandel from Napa Valley is a pleasure all by itself.

Well, two days at Moss Beach and we were back on the road, stopping in Paso Robles at the Denner Winery to check out their new member facility. It's beautiful. The view is sensational. The people are very nice. The wines are great. Enough said.

The trip culminated with a visit to friends in our local area to enjoy some homemade pizza and a nice bottle of 2004 Columbia Crest Walter Clore Reserve. Well, we also opened a bottle of 2005 Turnbull Cabernet and a bottle of 2006 Provenance Cabernet and.... needless to say, we slept very well that night.

When all is said and done, a couple of nights ago, an old friend visited and we duplicated menu items from the Morton's Steak Bible - bacon-wrapped scallops, Cajun rib-eye steaks (I'm a big fan of rib-eye)... their signature spinach salad (in the cook book but no longer on their regular menu)... and washed it all down with a bottle of 2005 Domaine Serene Pinot Noir and a 2006 Justin Isosceles.
It's been a great month... a tasty month.... and one filled with good food, tasty wine, and, most of all, great friends and close family. It doesn't get much better than this.

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!

Justin and Denner...

Hi. Just for fun, I thought I'd take a couple of pictures for this post.... a 6 year vertical of Justin Isosceles - 2001-2006.... and 4 of my favorite wines from Denner... The Dirt Worshipper, Ditch Digger, Syrah, and Zinfandel...

Because it's my Birthday...

I'm 48 today... Yup. I love it.

Got up this morning to a great breakfast made by my wife, Eva and, as our youngest daughter, Jamie, joined us, we enjoyed omelets, bacon, coffee, orange juice, blueberry muffins, blueberries, strawberries, peaches, and bananas.... anyway...

Meandered through the morning and decided to treat myself to a great lunch... at Arnie Morton's on Figueroa in Los Angeles... not only a great steakhouse but, you REALLY NEED TO TRY THEIR MORTON'S CHEESEBURGER!!!!!

Of course, add a bottle of 2006 Isosceles, some Beefsteak tomatoes, and carrot cake dessert... not to mention the after lunch drinks... and... well, my near abstaining wife drove us home safely.

Oh, and the Justin Isosceles.. paired with the Tomatoes, and the Cheeseburger - topped with mushrooms and grilled onions, didn't miss a step. This is a serious freaking wine... serious... worth every penny and as versatile as anything I've ever had.

Happy birthday to ME... and cheers!

Free dinner and a bag of pasta????

About a week ago, I got this white paper bag from Carino's restaurant (www.carinos.com) that provided for one free create-your-own pasta dinner (value $9.99) and the restaurant would fill the bag with one pound of uncooked pasta. Not a bad deal.

So, I went to the local Carino's here in Whittier and - yeah - brought my own bottle - a 2007 Justin Cabernet. I've been wanting to sample the wine anyway and figured a pasta dinner would be a good pairing.

I was right. I ordered bow tie pasta with a spicy marinara sauce and meatballs. Simple.

First off, the food was actually quite good. There was just enough spice to give the dish a kick; the pasta was cooked just the way I like it - slightly firm... and the meatballs were yummy.

The Cab was very nice; the 2007 Justin Cab is a bit more... dare I say it... 'refined' than some of the prior vintages... I like this one... it's not a fruity beast as many Paso Robles cabs tend to be. Instead, it's got lots of medium berry fruit with almost a dusty cocoa powder finish, all wrapped neatly in soft tannins...

No, didn't finish the whole bottle... or the whole meal, for that matter. Got leftovers! Besides, I want to see how the cab tastes tonight after being open for 24 hours...

That's my story.

Cheers!

Passing through Paso...

This week I drive up to Berkeley to pick up my daughter.... this is always a joyful occasion as we are a very close family and we're looking forward to a few days together. Meanwhile, driving from Los Angeles to the Bay Area also presents another opportunity... to cruise on up the 101...

This charts a course through Santa Barbara and Paso Robles... certainly presenting opportunities to stop in and see what's going on at some of the local wineries...

On this trip, I will most likely stop at Denner and Justin... two of my favorite wineries. The folks there are as hospitable as can be and the wines are always fun and tasty. It's also possible that I'll make a stop in Los Olivos... perhaps taste some Andrew Murray (in the words of Miles from Sideways, "Well Okay").

The highlight, of course, is picking up my daughter. But along the way, stopping by wineries is much more fun than just cruising non-stop on the freeway.... maybe I'll check hotwire.com or priceline.com and book a room - turn the whole thing into a mini-vacation.

Cheers!

More on wine shopping....

In a recent post, I listed several wine stores that I frequently shop at. Most were large warehouses that typically have large inventories or buy such large quantities of wine that they are able to discount prices significantly... this is great, especially when I'm looking to buy a few cases of the stuff.

However, I don't want to discount (pun intended) the local small wine stores. There's something very cool and personal with the little neighborhood wine store. For one, they are usually a bit nicer and friendly than the folks moving large amounts of merchandise. Second, they tend to make honest attempts at stocking wines that can't easily be found elsewhere... they are especially good places to avoid all of the big name popular brands that are typically found in every major supermarket. (Side note - ever notice how Ralph's, Von's, Safeway, Albertson's, etc all have the same wines?)

One of my favorite local stores is Vinatero in Whittier, CA. Lisa and Ernie are two of the kindest and hospitable folks you're likely to meet. They also have a passion for wine and even a greater passion for helping their customers enjoy their wine experience to its' fullest. They have a very nice inventory - diverse both in varietals and in price. For instance, you can find wines from Kosta Browne, Justin, and Sea Smoke as well as wines from Mollydooker, R Wines, and Poppy. It's a fun place for good conversation, a nice tasting menu, and good tunes piped into the store.

Perhaps you have a store near you like Vinatero... I'd like to hear about it. Cheers!