2 glasses of wine....

Last night, I did some music at JT Schmids in Anaheim in the open air patio.... during the evening, I decided to try some wine by the glass.

The first was an Acacia Chardonnay... filled with oak, some nice pear and peach nuances... it was served in an appropriately tall glass with about 7oz of drink. It was also served chilled. This gave the wine a slightly harshness that dissipated as the wine warmed up.... then the rough edges smoothed out and it was really delicious!

The 2nd was the 337 Cabernet from Lodi.... ordinarily, I'm not big on this wine, but, last night - served in the same type of glass as the Chardonnay (a non-crystal glass about the size of the average Bordeaux glass from Reidel)... this wine tasted quite good. Perhaps it was because I followed the oaky Chardonnay, but the 337 had some nice berry fruit with a bit of tobacco and coffee notes on the finish... yeah, the finish was relatively short, but it was not unpleasant at all.

Bottom line? Sometimes it's just nice to get a glass of wine and not overly intellectualize it... just drink it.

After all, it's still grape juice!

Cheers :)

Miscellaneous Wine and Beer Stuff

It's been about a month since I last posted something here and there's a good reason for it. I've had nothing to say.

Yeah, I've enjoyed some nice wines during that time... the 2006 Justin Cabernet, the 2007 Concha Y Toro Cabernet, 2005 Zaca Mesa Syrah, 2007 Mollydooker Syrah... and I've tasted some good beer.... Bear Republic's Racer 5, Stone's Arrogant Bastard, and Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA....

And I've come to a conclusion. I'm currently bored with wine. There's nothing really exciting to me right now in terms of tasting something that gives me the sensation of WOW! In other words, in my budget... say... $7 - $30 per bottle, I've probably spent around $30,000 in the last 7-8 years...

So, I've tasted a lot of wine. And - nothing blows me away anymore. Yeah, there's some good tasting stuff and rarely do I taste something that I simply do not like - however simple the wine is.... but, really.... it's still just grape juice.

I've actually been navigating over to beer.... the problem is it's so freaking filling and I'm not a sipper when it comes to beer... I like to DRINK it! So, it goes quickly and sits on my waistline. Not good.

But my taste buds say different. My taste buds don't care about my waistline or my budget or my opinion. And I've found that, at least for now, beer is more interesting than wine.

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.

2005 Rosenblum Sonoma County Hillside Vineyard Syrah

I love finding new wines... new for me, I mean. Of course, I have varietals that I love more often than others.... Syrah being one of my favorites.

Last night I opened a bottle of the 2005 Rosenblum Sonoma County Hillside Vineyard Syrah and enjoyed two glasses with a Grilled Bacon Cheeseburger.... no ketchup or mustard... just lettuce, a thin slice of tomato... that's it.

And, damn, if this wine didn't just hold up but the flavor just kept coming and coming... hints of dried cherries, blackberry pie, mocha, and the unmistakable finish laced with soft tannins and white pepper.

This is a wine that just keeps on giving.

Enjoy.... Cost Plus World Market currently has a great deal on this wine. One of the best deals around on any wine in this price range!

Cheers!

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!