Boy's Night In

As the ladies celebrated a much deserved weekend away in Palm Springs, I took my talents to Carlsbad with Max and Keira occupying the back seat. Tom and I figured if we were going to have our hands full, we'd might as well enjoy each other's company (and indulge in some fine vino).

The combination of making sure the girls didn't have too much more fun than us, we didn't have a skunker wine night like our last trip to C-Bad and we didn't have to share bottles with Beth and Meg, (what? I'm just being honest), had us pulling out some big guns.

First, I finally got around to introducing this to Tom:

Monchhof 2010 Riesling ($14.99)


I firmly believe that if you don't like this wine, you don't like Riesling. It's just sweet enough and super smooth. I might start calling this "Grandpa's Wine." My dad doesn't often drink wine, but when he does, you can bet that it'll be Monchhof Riesling. I just made a special trip to Hi Times for 6 more bottles for him. Of course, I had to get a few more for myself.

Grade: A

What's next:

Loring Wine Company (LWC) 2009 Gary's Vineyard, Pinot Noir ($38.00)
Wine Spectator 93 Points


Tom cracked this bad boy with apps of fine 15 year aged cheddar and shrimp cocktail.  We went Pinot before the main course, thinking the Granache would be bigger and hold up better with our beef. This might have been the first of 4 mistakes I made on the night. As I finished my last few sips with dinner, I realized those were the best sips of the bottle I'd had. It would have paired wonderfully with steaks. Pinot with steaks? Hell yeah.

It was very nice with the apps, not as powerful as the 2009 Belle Glos, and had a little, very slight burn on the way down. But I'm going to base my rating on the end of the bottle and conclude it's a really awesome bottle from some fantastic wine makers.

But I still think their purple spray paint label thing is stupid.

Grade: B+
Tom's Grade: "Solid B"


Man's dinner. Yes, the 3rd steak was for Max and James, which they devoured.

Next:

Villa Creek 2010 Granacha ($50.00)


Now Beth, before you go thinking we're not going to be on speaking terms for a week for drinking this bottle, understand that I made sure Aimee could replace it when she heads up to Paso next weekend. So really, think of it as a taste test, you know, to make sure you'd like it. You will, and you're welcome.

As I said, I think this should have been opened with apps, but here's where I (we) made mistake #2 on the night. We should've decanted it. Oops. The first sips of this felt like I had strawberry Pop Rocks in my mouth. Unbelievably smooth strawberry Pop Rocks, but wow, what an incredibly lively wine.

It absolutely settled down and turned into a fantastic bottle. I enjoyed it most after dinner, on it's own. As I said, lots of strawberries, a little spice, and a long, super smooth finish. Then I made mistake #3.

Tom didn't make the mistake of making s'mores for the boys. They cleaned their plate, they earned it, the timing was right. What I did was take a big bite of Max's s'more. It was heavenly. Not sure if it was the perfectly toasted marshmallow or the chocolate, but I lost that loving feeling from my Granacha. My wine was never the same. Shucks.

Grade: A

This should have concluded the evening's events. But it didn't.

We got the boys to bed with no problems then I made mistake #4. I really should have stopped while I was ahead. The two of us were already 3 bottles into the evening.  But, it was only 9ish, the tunes were solid, why not crack another bottle? And so we did. And we finished it.

It was as great as it was the last time I had it. It didn't taste so good on my morning breath though. I didn't feel so well Sunday morning. Or Sunday afternoon. I didn't even have a glass on Monday. But Saturday night was awesome.

What's Eighty-Two To You?

Every number, well a lot of em, can evoke memories or feelings. Saturday, eighty-two made me think of many things.

It made me think of Grandma Harriet. I think she's 82. Maybe she's 83. I should know. And I should call her.

Eighty-two points from Kobe against the Toronto Raptors made Laker fans think this face was cool and helped them dismiss all alleged transgressions from Eagle, Colorado.

1982 reminds me of the first Super Bowl I can recall. Joe Montana and the 49ers beating the Bengals in Super Bowl 16 in Detroit, well, Pontiac, Michigan. 

1982 also brought us E.T. and Survivor's, "Eye of the Tiger."

But in the wine world, an 82 rating is a death sentence. I think I could grow grapes in my back yard, barrel them in the garage and score at least an 82. That rating says, "Your wine sucks. Stop making it." To me, at least. 

I realize Wine Spectator's 100-Point scale states that 80-84 is considered, "Good: a solid, well-made wine," which I interpret to mean, "Do Not Buy." 

Yesterday I excitedly read the new Spectator article, "Zinfandel Elegance," which raved about the 2009  Zins, many of which came from Paso Robles. I was also excited to see a free list of prices and scores of all the Zins they tasted, wondering if any of the great Zins we tried on our trip made the cut. I skimmed through, noticing plenty we tried and then stopped dead in my tracks on the M's. 

There, sitting at 82 points was Minassian-Young's 2009 Estate Zinfandel. Double take. Yep, 82. 

Minassian-Young 2009 Estate Zinfandel ($24)

We tasted that wine, loved it, and bought it. It was resting comfortably on the top rack of the wine fridge. Top shelf! Having already made the decision to grill steaks for dinner, I knew what wine I'd be pairing them with; an 82 point Zin. Either my mind went all Ghetto Boys on me in Paso, or Wine Spectator nailed it and I'm lucky I didn't break it out with company because it would have been an embarrassment. 

Judgement time. I passed Beth's glass to her, she smelled it, then sipped it and let out a moan that may have sounded inappropriately personal if I weren't talking about a fantastic bottle of wine. It had that distinctive Paso-earthy smell, a wonderful burst of flavors and a long, peppery, super smooth finish. I will say, I thought it was a tad on the sweet side of Zins, almost Port-ish but there was nothing just "good" about it. It was awesome. 

You could say ratings don't matter, and on one hand they don't. But just like thinking your college football team's gonna contend for a national championship and then see them ranked 22nd in the preseason poll, it can be a bit of a letdown. I would've absolutely been swayed away from any wine with an 82 rating, so no doubt, Minassian-Young will feel it in the sales department too. And that's a shame because they make great stuff and they are two of the nicest people in the biz that I've met. I demand a re-taste! 

Offical Grade: B+

Beth's Grade: A-

Are You Smarter Than A 7th Grader?

Probably, if you're reading this blog!

Don't ever bother looking for images of Jeff Foxworthy, you can just trust me on this, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say there's never been a human being that is as consistant looking as that guy. Seriously, every option I had to pick from had the exact same dicky smile. Simply amazing.

Yesterday, longtime friend of the blog, Jared sent me an email that had the reading levels of some of the country's sports writers (link). They used the Flesch-Kincaid readability test, which is this formula to come up with said levels:

This got me thinking about three things:

1. Do people like Flesch or Kincaid really exist? Like, they actually looked at countless samples of writing, counted sentences, words, and syllables of these samples and then kept playing with numbers until they came up with a mathematic formula that would produce outcomes that jived with grade levels that normal people could comprehend? Wow. I don't think these people would enjoy my company much.

2. Did author of "The Reading Level of Sports Writing," Ben Blatt really comb through New York Times articles then the writing of Whitlock, Wilbon, Simmons, Reilly etc, counting sentences, words and syllables or did his assistants do it? My assistant won't even refill my wine glass.

3. What's the reading level of Purple Tooth? I remember a professor in one of my extremely high-level courses that had said something about validity. Pretty sure he said 2 is the perfect sample size to prove everything ever in the world. So I valiantly poured through my last 2 posts to find the reading level (or would it be writing level?) of my typing.

Dim the lights...

After two extensive glances through two blog posts...

America will now know...

That the average reading level of "Yesterday Was a Good Day," and "Kinda Like Philip Seymour Hoffman," will be revealed...

After the break...

I suddenly have an urge to buy and write about Cal-i-for-ni-a and Ge-wurz-tra-mi-ner wines Screw Spain and periods.

Ok, so, I check in at 6.77. Take that Rick Reilly. Damn you Tucker Wyatt (you clicked the link, right?).

If I never calculate anything ever again, that'll be ok.

Yesterday Was A Good Day

I really have to admire Ice Cube's ability to not only have a good day, but to be able to write about it at its conclusion. Actually, upon further review, it doesn't seem that his day was too spectacular. He ate a good breakfast, shot hoops, shot craps, got laid, saw his name on the lights of The Goodyear Blimp, and managed to drive himself home "drunk as hell" without puking (or getting pulled over). Well, the blimp thing, that may be the kicker. That would be pretty sweet. The rest of it, not so much.

My day yesterday was good in a mid-30's white-guy way. But by the time it was over (10ish pm) I was spent and took my ass to sleep. There was no same day composition to be done. So here it is a day later.

After spending the late morning/early afternoon in the pool with Max, we packed up the car and cruised south to Carlsbad. Really, "Today Was a Good Day" could be a theme song for every evening spent with the Jansens. Last night was no exception.

I'd rank the evening this way:

1. Company:

Grade: A+

2. Entertainment:

Jack's moves are cute now, and I'm cool with him grovin' next to Keira, but I can see I'm gonna have to keep my eye on him in about 9 years.


3. Food: Great spread with cheese, humus, "gourmet burgers," corn-on-the-cob, apple pie, ice cream, you get the picture. The burgers were from Sprouts. I opted for the teriyaki/swiss, and everyone else had the bacon/cheddar. Both were really tasty.

Grade: A-


4. White Wine:

J. Lohr 2010 Bay Mist Riesling ($9.99)

I was instructed to bring a white and a red, so I decided to double dip from our Paso stash. We piked up 3 of these rieslings from J. Lohr and I wish I'd grabbed more. I'm typically unimpressed with California Riesling, but this is super solid. Not too sweet. Just an easy to drink, crisp, clean and tasty summertime white.

Grade: B
Beth's Grade: B
Jansens, what say you? 


Tom also opened a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc not named Kim Crawford. I've had it before and have been very impressed each time. Sorry, I forgot to get a pic or bother to write down the name. A little help, please!


5. Red Wine:

Coming in 6th place was certainly not for lack of effort. We moved from white to red as the grill got hot. Tom cracked this first:

Domaine Serene Evenstad Reserve 2007 Pinot Noir ($35ish +)
95 Points Wine Enthusiast 


Either we had an off bottle or that Wine Spectator guy's full of crap. This was one of those occasions where nobody said much, good or bad, about what they thought. After a half glass or so we all kind of voiced the same thoughts; it was just ok. Not horrible, but there was nothing about it that suggested this bottle was anything special. Throw in the rating and the price tag, and I think it's safe to say it didn't deliver.

It had ok flavor, nothing that wowed me, but just had nothing on the finish. I kept hoping it'd get better, but it just didn't

Grade: C-
Beth's Grade:C


Next up:

ZC Red Zenaida Cellars ($20) Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Petite Syrah Blend


I had high hopes for this bottle. I really liked it when Beth and I tasted it there last month. It had a really nice nose, smelled just like Paso wines do. It had a nice earthy, dark berry flavor at first, but then just like the Pinot and Bodemeister, failed to finish. I'm still a believer in Zenaida, but this was a bit of a disappointment.

Grade: C
Beth's Grade:C+

This was the final wine of the night. I think Tom had had enough of disappoint, and went a sure thing. He had picked up the last 2 bottles of Barrel 27 at Total Wine, and last weekend sent a pic saying it was worth every penny of the $15 price tag.

Funny thing is, while looking up the winery for a pic of the label and going to the Barrel 27 website, I realized we considered visiting there last month in Paso. Strange how the best mission statement ever seemed like it was a nice way of saying, "We make cheap tasting wine," while we were on the winetrail, and so fitting while sitting in my comfy chair in my living room.



We work. We work hard to make good wine. You work. You work hard and need good wine. You might have money, but maybe you’re like us. We make Barrel 27 wines for people like us. If you work, and we mean work hard, and you need to drink good wine, and still make your mortgage payments, car payments, kid payments and pet payments, we’re here for you. Our goal is to make wine that works hard at helping hard working America relax for a minute, take a load off, and remove the nose from the grindstone for a while. We hope you enjoy them.


Bummer. I wish we'd visited. This was a really nice bottle. Great flavor, superb long, yet smooth finish. Just good stuff.

Grade: B+




Despite a few less than stellar bottles with dinner, I got to say, yesterday was a good day.

Kinda Like Philip Seymour Hoffman

I don't know exactly why I say I don't like him. Maybe it's his look? The dorky, pompous role he always plays? That he uses Seymour in his name? For whatever reason, I'm not a huge fan, yet I respect his work and can't really think of a movie I didn't like with him in it or didn't like because he was in it. The guy's intriguing. Deep. Just not my favorite.

My college roommate, Ted, said he hated Kiefer Sutherland for no good reason. Ted's a good guy who hates an actor he's never met, so I don't feel guilty for not liking Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Sonoma Cuvee 2008 Pinot Noir ($17.99)

Why I thought of this actor while drinking this wine, I'm not sure. But I did. Maybe it was because it was interesting, complex and deep, yet didn't finish particularly well. Maybe because that bottle had fancy font and goes by the name "Cuvee."

On the Pinot aisle of Total Wine last week with Meiomi in my hand, I did my patented, "If I love this, what else might I like in the same price range?" The wine rep immediately pointed to this and said, "It has the same cherry cola features, just not quite as big." Although I prefer big pinots, that's pretty much what I was looking for.

The bottle lived up to its description. There was a lingering thought of, "I should've just got the Meiomi," going on, but overall, an interesting bottle that I didn't love. But I didn't hate it either. One of those, can't go wrong but could go righter, types. Like 'ol Seymour here.

Grade: C+
Beth's Grade: B- 




In other consumption news, I had my first Austrian.

Winzer Krems Gruner ($9.99)

Conveniently located next to the German (Riesling) section, I saw a tag hanging off of the price tag suggesting that this was a good introduction to white Austrian wines (no pressure, just the future of me buying anything from your country ever again).

This wine was really cool and different. It had a little sparkle, but I wouldn't ever confuse it with champagne. It was a little dry, a tad tart/citrus flavor and a really smooth finish. Not like anything  I've ever had. A nice summertime poolside white.

Unlike Greece (gross) and Italy (white this time, reds been dead to me for awhile), whose single bottle sample will eliminate any other purchases from their borders, Austria is alive and well and will be further explored.

Grade: B
Beth's Grade: B

Drums Please!

I'm going to do a little research to see how the Groundhog Day creator got that thing official, then see how I can go about making the 1st Sunday of May, Summertime Day. Not that today should be the 1st day of summer or anything, but something like, "if Jason is sipping Crios poolside before 3 pm," or if "Jason briefly loses himself to "Toes" because there is, 'not a worry in the world, life is good today,' then summer is 2 weeks away. Or something.

The Crios incident was more out of necessity for last night's poor decision to go back to margaritas after switching away from them to beer earlier in the day. Amateur move on my part. I know better.

Anyway, Crios goes back a ways, and continues to be an awesome summertime white under $10. Find it at Total Wine and thank me later.

Later in the evening, things got awesome. Tom made up my mind last night of which Paso wine to crack tonight, when last night's text came through saying, "That zin u got is killer." That wine he referenced was a Minassian-Young, 2010 Zin. I didn't get a bottle of that for myself, but I did get:

Just pure Paso deliciousness.

Perhaps a bigger wine would have paired better with the filets I grilled, but you won't hear a complaint from this backyard. That was a damn fine bottle of wine. 

In the tasting room, the 09 Zin seemed a little sweet and it showed through a tad in this bottle. But the balance from the grenache and mourvedre combo made this something special. 

Grade: A, then A-, then back to A
Beth's Grade: A

Pardon me for going a little Jack Handy, but why can't all asparagus be that skinny? Does anyone actually prefer it to be oak tree stump-like? Not me.

Anyway, Happy Summertime Day to all and to all a goodnight.

Loose Ends and What Nots

See that there? That's a bottle I don't recommend any of you buy. Even at $4.79. But I'm drinking, well, sipping it tonight.

Here's my mini-delima: Beth's at a girl's bookclub gathering and I'm home. That's not the problem, kids are sleeping soundly, and I'm enjoying listening to Beastie Boy's, Paul's Botique (RIP MCA). But I'm out of cheap bottles of wine. This was the last of 'em. I could crack something nicer, but it's after 9 and I'm not likely to finish it tonight or get after it tomorrow with tomorrow being Cinco de Mayo and all. I could tap into one of the Paso purchases, but that would go over worse than me moving on with season 2 of Breaking Bad by myself.

WWJD?

Grade: D+

While I'm at it, I picked this up unintentionally:

It's a sweet red wine from Washington ($8.99). Not something I could drink often, but in the same way I enjoy a Gwertziminer on occasion, I could sip this on a summer afternoon. I'll get it again.

Grade: C

Also:

I liked this quite a bit. So did everyone at the table. I had this with pasta, meatballs and Marie's sauce. I'll get this again too (7.99).

Grade: B