“That may be the most horrid thing that I have ever tasted” …was my lovely wife’s reaction to the “martini” that I have just concocted.

Before you judge me too harshly (and I know that I deserve it), please know that I work very hard to purchase and drink all of these wines for you.  Know that I do it for you.  I sacrifice my liver, day after day, to ensure that you know what bottles to pick up and what bottles to avoid.  Sometimes…just sometimes, I don’t feel like wine.  I feel like a beer.  And maybe another beer.  And then maybe I’ll try to make a pseudo-martini with whatever I have in my liquor cabinet - today was one of those days.

The ingredients, and no, it turns out that I’m not too proud to tell you are:

One healthy pour of Seagram’s Lime Flavored Gin (pretty awful on its own)
One splash of Taylor’s Dry Sherry (we only use it for cooking, and I didn’t have vermouth)
One splash of green olive brine
Two olives - one to eat on the spot and one for later

All were shaken, over ice and poured into our sole martini glass.  Sadly, I think that this glass is the widow of a forgotten pair of martini glasses that met their end the way most glasses die - they meet their maker at high velocity after a drunken fall.  Honestly, I have no idea what happened - that’s just my best guess.

Glasses aside, how did these fine ingredients taste?

Bloody awful.  I completely agree with her; this drink is shit.  My punishment?  My conscience, and some twisted issue with wasting alcohol, will not let me pour it out and just enjoy a gin and tonic, or another beer, or a bottle of wine.  This is my torture for making such a shitty drink - I will finish it, and my guess is quite rapidly.  Probably like a shot.

Happy New Year’s Eve!
-Ryan

 Revision - Posted 20 minutes later

Yes, I am an idiot - I tried it again.  Skip the olive juice and it tastes like cold gin with a little sherry coloring.  We’re rockin’ now.

-Ryan

Guest Review:

It’s gone…a sad but pleasing send off for a fantastic gift from long ago. We finished our last bottle of Mazzocco 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon to compliment our Christmas Prime rib dinner. Having received a case of wine as a gift, this was the final salute to an enduring foundation to my wine collection. But before I talk about the wine, a short dissertation on the vineyard itself. Situated in Sonoma County between the Dry Creek and Alexander Valleys , this small family owned vineyard is a pearl hidden amongst numerous larger producers of fine California wines. Best known for its single-vineyard-designate Zinfandels, they also produce award-winning Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and more. I actually visited the vineyard in 2005, a year that the taste room host said was to be declared one of their best ever so take note and pick some up (you can still buy some on line at www.mazzocco.com).

So on to the wine. After decanting it for a short while, we dolled out small pours as the beef was being sliced. Upon first sip, my self proclaimed wine aficionado daughter and son-in-law gave me a look that said it all. Velvety smooth with wafting blackberry and plumb nose hits, it became a conversation piece. At big meals, we usually uncork several bottles and move thru them with alacrity, but we ended up making the single bottle last, between the four of us, for the entire meal, and then some. Notes of cedar, pepper, and cola were reported by those around the table. As the bottle wound its way down, the wine got better and better and every sip was savored like the last drops of water by stranded desert travelers.

So thanks to M&D for bringing the wine back from their 2000 trip. Plan to visit this fine little winery if you are even fortunate enough to travel to the Napa valley area. It is a beautiful drive up from the city of Napa and you will be rewarded with some fine wines. Enjoy!!

-Scott

Clos du Val - where to begin?

This winery was recommended to us by a our server at Domaine Carneros.  I will preface this review with the knowledge that he ended up batting .500 at the end of our trip with his recommendations.

Clos du Val is set at the base of a very scenic hill, and the tasting facility reminded me of a grand old barn.  Walking around the building from the parking lot and through some of the largest doors I’d seen in my life, I was surprised to find a smallish bar area with no one tasting and two people behind the bar.  What made this even more interesting was that the fellow who fancied himself in charge was berating the other employee behind the bar (a young woman) about some seemingly trivial detail about pouring a bottle of wine through an aerator.

Shortly thereafter, we were finally acknowledged (after being looked up and down) and asked if we were interested in a tasting.  While the tasting sheet had two tiers, we were told that we would probably only enjoy the first (cheaper) tier that consisted 50% of whites.  Off to a great start.

After this brilliant introduction to Clos du Val, I had nothing but the highest hopes for their wines.  To be totally honest, the tasting aspect of this stop was very disappointing.  The wines were very expensive, with cabs starting at $32 and topping out at $105, and also very mediocre. 

In closing, I would suggest that you not waste your time with this one.  There are so many good wineries, why bother?

On the upside, Turnbull was our next stop - and we had a completely different experience here.  Turnbull is sweet.

Happy Drinking,
Ryan

Pepperwood Grove - My favorite bottle of wine after the first bottle of wine.

I’m not being intentionally cryptic, in fact, I’m pretty damn sure that you all know what I mean.  You’ve had that first bottle and the party isn’t quite over.  You’re not ready to drink anything too hard, but you don’t want to piss away a good bottle after a good bottle.  Enter anything Pepperwood Grove!

This Shiraz happens to hail from down under, like many of the economically feasible shiraz’s available today.  However, I like it better than it’s cheaper Aussie cousins.  The PG Shiraz happens to be as dark as the night itself, and have a very decent taste.  While I won’t pretend that I get anything too specific off of this one, it hasn’t disappointed me yet.  And like most good shiraz, makes a good show of staining your teeth purple.

As many of you know, “Syrah” was originally grown in the French Bordeaux region and was moved across the ocean to Australia and then called “Hermitage”.

Personally, I think this is a load of nonsense and I’m calling BS on Wikipedia.

However, what does seem to be uncontested is the fact that Syrah is the same grape as the very popular Shiraz now grown in Australia.  The US has largely adopted it’s original name, Syrah, and has proceeded to make some very good wines.

As proof positive that I’m fond of this wine, I have purchased one half case.  It’s a nice complement to the other half of a case of Pepperwood Grove Pinot that I happened to purchase at the same time (I’m a big fan of the case discount).  This is a very drinkable wine that I don’t have to feel bad about breaking open, which makes it one of my favorites.

Laters Mates,
Ryan

*Please do not confuse “syrah” or “shiraz” with “petit syrah” which is actually a different varietal.

Where to begin?  Darioush was recommended to us by a Frenchman at Domaine Carneros, where we had a really good time.

A preview: Go to Darioush, it’s worth the $25 tasting fee.

First thoughts on Darioush: What should those pillars be holding up?  Is this some sort of Persian temple? Where did this rented Dodge Charger take me?

Darioush was one of the top three wineries that we were to visit on our little tour of Napa.  Brilliant architecture, worth stopping for even if you don’t make it in for a tasting.

After wandering in the entrance and pulling myself together enough to stop staring at the three-story indoor waterfall, we found a spot at the bar.  The tasting room staff was really professional, and my favorite thing about them was their healthy pours.  They also knew about wine and were very interesting to talk to.

The wine was awesome, but wickedly expensive.  This was probably the only winery that I really enjoyed, but at the same time, was convinced that I could not afford anything.  The cheapest wine at Darioush?  A $39 Viognier.  Very good, but I haven’t met the white yet that was worth forty bucks to me.  To be totally honest, I was too ‘overwhelmed’ at this point to really remember what we tried, with the exception of the 2005 Syrah.  Dark, smooth…and a fantastic wine.  Not a value, but fantastic. That’s about all I can recall.  It became a rough day from this point on.

Darioush - Damn good, but expensive.

-Ryan

I’m beginning to get a little sensitive.  I’m beginning to think that all of my reviews are on the positive side.  Where are the bad reviews?  We’ve all had awful wine, where is it on this site? Which wines should I stay away from? 

Truth be told, I try really hard to not drink bad wine.  Life is way too short, and we spend far too much of our busy lives committed to nonsense to add more pain by drinking shitty wine.  Please don’t jump to conclusions, I have (and still) enjoy a good glass of wine from a box.  Every now and again, we all need our fix and sometimes, just sometimes, the box will do.  I will not fall to the ground from the sheer enjoyment of said box wine, but it will do in a pinch.  The wine from a box (or jug) will not be white, pink or anything lighter than a cab - and my bank account had better be in overdraft, but I will not shun a box.  What I’m talking about is genuinely bad wine. 

The Red Bicyclette 2004 Syrah is not this mythical awful wine.  It’s really good, and I’m thinking I’ll start picking this up regularly.  The nose is extremely subtle, but if you really look for it, you can catch a faint hint a tart cranberries.  This almost-black wine is light and smooth, with an incredibly soft finish.  I would definitely by this wine again at $9.  And I take back almost everything that I’ve ever said about the French.

At first I thought that this was similar to a Cline Syrah, primarily because of the price point, but these wines are vastly different.  While the Cline is heavy and rough, the Red Bicyclette is smooth and light.  Think of a Budweiser Clydesdale vs. Seabiscuit and you have the difference in these wines, if they were horses.  However different these wines may be, at the end of the day, they are both better than box wine and not at all bad.  Some days, I may prefer the Clydesdale and others I may lean towards the thoroghbred.  At the end of the day, both of these ponies take you to the same place, but in a slightly different manner. 

The moral of this story: drink the Red Bicyclette, it’s an excellent wine and a good value.  The presentation on the bottle is also good, so don’t feel bad about bringing it to dinner at my house.

Bonsoir mes amis,
Ryan

Where to begin?  This winery is easily one of the best all-around wineries that I have visited in my short life.

Operated by Taittinger, Domaine Carneros makes one think of a lavish, French estate as you approach its sprawling grounds.  The hell of it is , Domaine Carneros IS a lavish French estate, even sporting authentic Frenchmen serving their sparkling wines.  As we were seated for our tasting (that’s right, seated outside at a table on the patio) Jean Claude, our authentic Frenchman, offered us a tasting sheet.

F’ing spectacular.

The tasting flight included a Brut, a Brut Rose and a Blanc de Blancs, all of which were really excellent.  Even the Brut Rose, which was pink in color, was an excellent wine.  Very dry and fruity, the Rose was actually a really good wine.  Also excellent was a the Brut Cuvee, this was easily one of the better sparklers that i’ve enjoyed, but it was sadly put in its place by the Blanc de Blancs - truly a formidable opponent.  This at least six year old Blanc de Blancs had everything that a luxury champagne should have: tiny bubbles, a buttery finish and a Frenchman serving it.

As I’m sitting here sipping on my gin and tonic, I’m wondering whether I was ever actually at this winery, or whether I’m just making all this nonsense up.  Luckily, I have a bottle of Brut Cuvee in my cellar to back up my story.

From the grounds, to the three sparkling wines in the tasting flight (the Blanc de Blancs is currently the sparkling wine of choice served in the White House), to our incredibly polite and helpful French server - who asked only that we “…do not mix this with orange juice”, this was a really incredible tasting.  The selection of wines at Domaine Carneros was not large, but what wines they did produce were really notable.

This is a must see winery on any trip to Napa, and one of my favorites.

Also, they are certified organic - apparently pesticides and expensive bubbly don’t mix.

Au revoir!
Ryan

The view from Domaine Carneros

With Thanksgiving only a few days away, many of you may be wondering: “What wine should I drink with the turkey this year?”  Enter the French: Georges DuBoeuf  vs. Louis Latour in a Beaujolais-Villages showdown.  While this may not be the battle of the century, or even that hard-hitting of a fight (I haven’t met the pinot that was able to take me out), many would agree that a pinot noir is decent pairing for one of the largest turkey slayings of the year.  And with good reason.  The lighter style of the pinot is agreeable with most people’s palettes and pairs well with many of this holiday’s traditional dishes.

(I should note that both wines have been training since 2006 for this fight, and were allowed to breathe for one hour before consumption.)

Georges DuBoeuf: 2006 Beaujolais-Villages

While Georges’ offering appears to be the underdog of this battle with a floral-themed label, he has weighed in at a healthy $12 and has a nose that arguably smells of fresh-cut flowers, possibly even dandelions.  It’s a very light wine, with a quick finish that’s chased by a faint jab of citrus.

While I will openly admit that I tend to enjoy the heavyweight matches a little more, it’s always fun to see what the lightweights can bring to the table.

Louis Latour: 2006 Beaujolais-Villages

Also weighing in at a spry $12 is Latour’s offering, which has a wicked cranberry-right cross.  With a short, soft finish, this wine would also be a good choice for Thanksgiving dinner.  And this may be a ridiculous critique, but I would feel much better about bringing a bottle of Louis Latour’s Beaujolais-Villages to a gathering of friends and family, the bottle just screams old school French style.

The decision:

Latour by a knockout.  DuBoeuf simply lacked the refinement and experience that Latour brought to this match.  While both wines fell safely within the pinot style, Latour was a slightly heavier, more refined wine than the DuBoeuf.  And the DuBoeuf just felt young and unprepared for this battle.

Post-fight analysis:

At the end of the day, pairing wine with anything (especially Thanksgiving) just comes down to what you enjoy.  If you would enjoy a gin and tonic with your Thanksgiving dinner, then by all means, please enjoy a tumbler of your favorite.  And if you really worked at it, you could probably even convince me that it would be a reasonable pairing, as wild turkeys are often found roosting in pine trees.  While this may or may not be utter nonsense, I hope that it serves to prove my point - drink what you like and enjoy the company.  The holiday season is one of the few times a year that I get to raid my father’s cellar, and get away with it.

Happy Holidays!
-Ryan

Guest Review:

Armed with an exciting new recipe in hand, my wife and I tromped off to the grocery store to gather up the yummy ingredients in preparation for a hopefully nice meal. As is usually the case when we food shop together, I become impatient so I get my little assignments and scurry off to find items, only to return for a new assignment. My first stop was to get the wine! The meal actually called for a white, but my eye fixed on a wine produced, as it turns out, by one of the oldest wineries in the states, Concannon. I had never tasted any of their wines and for that matter never really heard about them. I’ll get to the wine itself later but I thought it interesting to share some info about the winery first. Thanks to the wonders of the internet, and of course the web site on the bottle, I found the winery and read thru the site to see what was what. Turns out, Concannon is celebrating 125 years of operation this year, the vines being planted by an Irish immigrant in 1883. Located in Livermore Valley , which is west of the San Francisco area, James Concannon figured that the grapes would flourish with warm days and cool nights, given winds moving inland from the adjacent bay. In life’s unending quest for knowledge, it is always refreshing to learn something interesting and somewhat obscure for strategic use later on. So I have neatly tucked away the fact that the Concannon Vineyard produced the worlds first Petit Syrah from its 1961 harvest, a wine they still produce today. So enough background info and, onto the wine. So I picked up a 2006 Pinot Noir, Limited Release, price $16. Packaged in a cool bottle with a trademark gate embossed on the bottle, I decanted it before sitting down to eat. While the professional tasting notes sport a long list of adjectives (as always), I caught dark fruit right away and a solid earthy aroma. The first glass was good but not great. We finished dinner and then sat on the couch to finish the bottle. The second glass was much better with a smoother finish and was far less biting than the first, indicating that maybe the wine is still a bit young and could be aged a bit longer. This wine would serve better paired with some nice grilled lamb chops and that will be the plan when I go back to cop a few more bottles.

-Scott

Concannon - 2006 Pinot Noir