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!

Some random photos....

I'm a man of few words this morning... excited about this weekend as my oldest daughter, Michelle, graduates from UC Santa Barbara.....

The pictures here include the 2009 Mollydooker Violinist, the 2007 Sea Smoke Southing, the 2006 Zaca Mesa Syrah, and the 2007 Wild Horse Pinot....

cheers!

The Violinist... with music!

Instead of a blog, I've got some music.... recorded by my daughters Serena (on vocals) and Jamie (on violin) while I provided the guitars and production, here's a very cool version of Sheryl Crow's "Strong Enough".  I hope I'm not getting into copyright trouble here (Sheryl?) but I think it's a great soundtrack to a great and delicious wine... the 2009 Mollydooker Violinist.




Cheers!

No Right Foot

Three nights ago, I embarked on a mission. I wanted to see if I could 'break' the the 2008 Mollydooker Two Left Feet.  In other words, I wanted to see if I could cook up something bold and spicy just to find out if the Two Left Feet would hold up.

So, I cooked up some Mezzetta Napa Valley Bistro Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce in a crock pot and added 6 spicy Italian sausages from a local market. I cooked this for about 6 hours and served it on top of spaghetti noodles. To top it off, I added a romaine salad with purple onions, orange bell peppers, vine-ripe tomatoes, and Italian dressing.

The Two Left feet didn't even blink when it came to the spaghetti. Even with the slight red-pepper spices in the sausage, this very versatile and full-bodied wine survived very nicely... all the way to the end of a very long finish.  I've overwhelmed many Cabernet, Merlot, and Syrah/Shiraz in the same price range - usually unwittingly, but not this bad boy.  The wine is at 16% alcohol, which can sometimes be a bit much - sometimes masking flaws in an average but over-the-top wine.  However, I found that the heat of the Mollydooker was an asset in this meal as it took a bit of the edge off of the red peppery spices while leaving the dark fruit flavors and leathery tannins to sail on until the end.
For ‘fun’, I save the salad for the 2nd course. I will say that the salad was almost a bit much, especially following such an intense main dish, but again the Two Left Feet survived the abuse. I’m thinking that, next time, I’ll eat the salad first and pair it with a nice pale ale and THEN open the wine.... more on that later...

Anyway, I completed the evening a couple hours later having a small glass of the Two Left Feet…. We’ll call it dessert! It was ffabulous.  I didn't even need a chunk of dark chocolate to pair it with, although that would have been a perfect combination.

.... soooooooooooooooooooo.... that took care of half the bottle and half the adventure.

The next evening, I made a pizza.  I make my own crust using basic ingredients - flour, salt, sugar, olive oil, and just a touch of crushed basil leaves.  On any given night, I'd also use olive oil instead of Tomato sauce.  However, I was on a quest!  So, I used some of the leftover spaghetti sauce (now full of spice) on the pizza and topped it with mozzarella, pepperoni, sun-dried tomatoes, and a bit of medium cheddar.  The salad was the same as the previous evening, but this time I used a balsamic vinaigrette for dressing.
 
The wine was even better the second time around.  After being opened for 24 hours (spending much of that time in my little Vinotemp fridge), the Two Left Feet softened up very nicely and lost absolutely nothing in terms of nose, flavor, or finish. 
 
I ate the salad first.  I washed it down with a glass of the Two Left Feet and, once again, this wine didn't even blink.  If this vino from down under can handle this, I thought, then the pizza will be a breeze.

And it was.  In fact, it was phenomenal.  The complexity of the Two Left Feet - laced with dark berries, mocha, black licorice, and a hint of pepper was perfect for the pizza.... and after my 2nd (and last) slice of the evening, I finished the wine and smiled.

I smiled because I've had this wine with numerous foods... steak, blackened salmon, and now spaghetti and pizza.  And I loved it every time. 

Now, where is the chili cheeseburger?!!!

Cheers!

I'm quoted on Mollydooker.com

Imagine the smile on my face when I received an e-mail from Victoria Savage at Mollydooker wines asking if they could quote me on their website!  Of course, my response was that they could use anything they wanted from my blog.  Their wines are spectacular year after year, both elegant and very fun to drink as well as being some of the most food friendly wines I've ever had - pairing well with a variety of foods - even spicy bar-b-que stuff. 

I would definitely call myself a fan and encourage anybody reading this to become one too.  Just because a wine is full of big flavor, doesn't mean it's not also complex and subtle.  For me, that's the definition of a great wine. 

And Mollydooker makes great wines.

Click here to read the quote

Dinner

Sometimes it just comes naturally... yes, I'm bragging. Tonight, my daughter, Jamie and I decided to have a nice dinner. We had a great show last night at Moctezuma's in Whittier - our vocals were right on the money and the energy was good. We felt like we earned it. So, tonight, we created a meal of Pepper-Bacon-Wrapped scallops, Grilled Portabella Mushrooms with Red Onion, a Romaine Salad with Yellow Bell Peppers, Tomatoes on the Vine, and Avocado from our backyard tree. The main course? USDA Prime Sirloin steak rubbed in mildly spicy Cajun seasonings.

The wine? 2008 Mollydooker Shiraz. Yes, it does come naturally - or seemingly so, with the good folks at Mollydooker. Yeah, they come from the land down under but, tonight, I felt like I lived on the land up above. Not because of the mellow feeling after enjoying such a meal... but because the taste pairings all around... the 'flow' as it is, was perfect.

It might be an easy assumption that the appropriate wine would be one of the Cabernet selections from Northern California and, I would agree - it would be hard to go wrong. But, this wasn't a meal short of diverse flavors. I'm not really sure that a California Cabernet short of $100 would have held up under the weight of the spices, peppers, and, did I mention, balsamic vinaigrette dressing?!!!!

The 2008 Mollydooker Shiraz is a natural. This is a wonderful wine... filled with bold flavors of blackberry, black licorice, and black cherry.... drank very nicely with the blackened steak!

Now I don't presume to have the most discerning palate. I'm not a sophisticated wine drinker by any means. I drink what I like so that I like what I drink. That's it. But I think my taste buds are in tune even if my mental arsenal of adjectives is not. I still taste the wine... it's amazing. After all of this food, you'd think my taste buds would be dead. Not so. And there's still more wine left.

The 2008 Mollydooker Shiraz is flat out delicious. It's a natural. Just go with it.

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!

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.

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!