And Now, Andy Rooney

And now, Andy Rooney:

Did-ya ever go to a festival or fair that had some vendor selling dips and sauces and had samples available on a cracker or one of those fancy long cracker sticks? Some sellers prefer toothpicks. But if I'm sampling without food as a dipper, I prefer using one of those plastic, small, white spoons.

Just sends a nicer message than something I use to pick meat out of my teeth while typing...

These ladies are at the Upton Chutney Chilli Festival sampling unsanitarily from large community bowls.

I certainly hope they took some Tums first. And I hope they don't blow a hole in their sheets later in the evening. 

My favorite thing to sample at an outdoor festival is barbecue sauce. I've found it's pretty hard to screw it up. Even the rather unattractive creations, like mustard-pineapple seemed decent enough on a Wheat Thin. 

I once ate so many mini bread sticks dunked in a variety of barbecue sauces that I felt obligated to buy an over priced bottle. 

It's still sitting on my pantry shelf. 

I think Riesling is similar to barbecue sauce. Some are little better than others. I can certainly tell a difference from one to the next.  But, really, it all tastes pretty good. 

Just this past week, my wife stocked up on a few familiar labels, like J Lohr and:

We even opened the 2011 version of an old favorite Saturday to go along with clams and linguini:

It was a fine meal. Though I found the Monchhof a bit too lively and syrupy.

She also stumbled upon this little gem at BevMo:

For under $8.00, I think we found our summer Riesling, and it's not even May! It was very soft, smooth, not too sweet with a kind honey finish. 

I'm really not sure why so many people try to sell their Riesling at higher prices. Probably to keep the riff-raf drinking something else. Like Charles Shaw. Or Boone's Farm. 

With barbecue sauce, I know I'm perfectly fine with never going for the Stubbs on the top shelf. Sweet Baby Ray's suites me just fine. 

I also know that when I retire, I'm going to pursue the safest job in America: a barbecue sauce flavored Riesling maker. 

Join us next week for another addition of "60 Minutes."

Hear Ye!

2011 Garnacha de Fuego Old Vines ($6.99) 
92 Points - Robert Parker

I cooled on this wine as I was not a fan of the '10. I picked up the 2011 a month ago and was really, really impressed. On my next Total Wine trip, I was disappointed to find they were sold out of the 2011. Thankfully, last week, Hi Times had plenty.

Just finished a bottle and gotta say, I dare any of you to find a better wine, not only under $7, but under $15, maybe $20. Pats on my own back for loving it before Parker validated my opinion.

Really nice dark fruit flavor and a super long spicy, racy finish. Wow. Real nice!

Seriously, at $6.99, stock up!

Grade: B+

The Man in Black

I had big plans, man. BIG plans. Here, take a listen to get ya in the mood: 

We decided Saturday was gonna be salmon night. Which was a deliberate move on my part to crack the bottle of:

Black Kite 2010 Pinot Noir Kite's Rest ($45) 

Note my awesome photo skillz. On the left, no flash; on the right, yep, flash. See the bird's eyes? Cool, huh?

But before we got to cracking (literally) this bottle, I decided to finish up this bottle that we started Thursday night.

Little Black Dress 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon ($7.99)

There was nothing special, or wrong for that matter, with this bottle. But because it had "Black" in the title, the lightbulb went off, and BAM, figured I had an idea for a 2nd post in a week. 

The song in my head quickly shifted from Johnny Cash's badassness to

Because when I went to pull off the foil, I did this:

Yikes! This was a first. Before I go bragging about my super powers which include the ability to pull apart glass, I must admit, a few months ago I was rearranging bottles in my super small wine fridge. and because this is a fat Pinot bottle, when I pulled out the bottle below it, this bottle tumbled out. Nothing cracked, nothing spilled so I thought I was in good shape. Fast forward to Saturday night and I rip off the top of the bottle. Coincidence? I didn't think so either. I really do have super powers. Add that to your list of things you like about me. 

So now we have a decision to make. Salmon's almost ready and I've only got one bottle in mind to pair with it. Based on the facts: it was a clean break, no glass anywhere, no wine spilled, and it's a really nice bottle of Pinot that I've wanted to open for a while, we made the responsible choice to go ahead and drink it. I put the little screen filter thing in the wine aerator just in case, but it was all for not. The wine was fine. Thankfully. 

It really was a fantastic, big berry Pinot. Definitely lived up to the hype. I probably would've enjoyed it even more if I weren't thinking every sip could be my last, but even under that pressure, I liked it a lot. 

Grade: A-

Spring Break 2013!

Well, not really that type of break this spring. That's disgusting.

More better, like this:

After a few days with the fellas on the Park City, UT slopes, Beth and I got away for a kid free day & night to sip some wine in Temecula.

Each trip south seems to make a better impression on me than the last. Perhaps going midweek helps? We were there on Tuesday and although we didn't have the place to ourselves, we didn't deal with too much traffic either. In talking with one pourer, I learned that Wilson Creek on a weekend will sell 2,000 people tastings at $25 a pop. Sort of the opposite of Paso.

We started on the far east end, at Chapin Family Vineyards. Pretty good stuff. Informative (overly?) pourer and cool tasting room.

Next, across the driveway to Doffo. We earned a chocolate bar for becoming new wine club members thanks to my in-laws for catering to our interests at Christmas. We liked just about everything we tried and look forward to plowing through our 6 bottle pickup.

Doffo

Our 3rd stop was South Coast Winery. This is a huge resort/spa looking place that runs its tasting room like a meat market. Well, that's not true as I've never experienced a meat market like this, but it's a huge room where you bring your pre-purchased tickets to the counter. The bartender, I mean pourer, probably said 5 words to us and poured stiff tastes of below average wine. We did enjoy the pretty patio enough during our cheese and salami bread break.

The post snack stop was probably my favorite tasting experience of the day. The very laid back environment and pourer of Palumbo was everything I enjoy about wine tasting. They don't advertise or allow party busses. Perfect. Unless I'm on a party bus on my next visit.

Our final winery stop was Miramonte. A very beautiful place where we beat the old folks flocking out of their tour bus to the tasting bar. Seeing two 70+ year old ladies arguing and wagging fingers in each others faces easily stole the show from the average wines we tried.

I wish I'd taken a pic of the old ladies. My bad. 

Loved our in town, downtown happy hour spot, Crush & Brew. They serve, you guessed it, local wines and local beers. Awesome ambience and good selection. We wanted to get back later in the night for the live singer/songwriter music showcase but didn't because we're old.

Dinner was tremendous. Thanks to Yelp, we found ourselves at Gourmet Italia. Rock solid food and eating experience. Our server looked like Petros Papidakus with a strong Italian accent.

I'm pretty sure the other server was Guido from Life is Beautiful.

Two servers working a crowded restaurant lengthened our stay but their humor and flair made for a great ending to an awesome mid-week getaway.

Oh, and Mo's Egg House was a fantastic way to start off Wednesday's ride home. Good stuff!

Cheers!

The Window

A long long time ago the Jansens came over to ring in the New Year a day late. The night was absolutely, 100% thread worthy but I drank WAY too much, even by my standards and was out of commission the next day. That's not usually too big a deal, but my family was coming in from AZ the following day, lots to get ready for. This too wouldn't be a big deal but my sister and I got really really sick (like stomach bug, not from drinking too much), and the thought of rethinking a night of mass wine consumption didn't sound too good. So, in hindsight, I should've cranked out a blogpost in that small time frame, hungover or not. I learned 3 things then.

A January 1st visit meant me not watching a down of the Rose Bowl or Orange Bowl for the first time since I was maybe 4, but instead did some of this

then this

This calls for the bubblay!
Yes, that's our next door neighbor's indoor pool.

We did the unusual usual app round

2 goat cheese spreads, prosciutto wrapped cantaloupe, Bass Lake 7 year aged cheddar that Tom smuggled back from Wisconsin, a black pepper asiago and an aged gouda with carmel & chocolate finish, both smuggled back from Bagliani's Italian market in Hammonton, NJ. Good stuff.

See, we're all really happy. It was delicious.

The grown ups chased it all down with this. It too was really good. 

We then entered the Pinot round. In a game time decision, I opted out of the Black Kite to try the 2011 Belle Glos Clark & Telephone next to the 2010 version.

The 2010 was the unanimous winner.

*Purpletooth is in no way suggesting that the 2010 Belle Gloss Clark & Telephone Pinot Noir is on or infused with performance enhancing drugs.

But it wasn't even close.

I'd rank the Pinot round like this
1. 2010 Belle Glos C&T: A+ (yeah, I went there. I love this wine)
2. 2011 Belle Glos C&T: A-
3. 2011 Meiomi: B+ (and at < $17. Huge value!!!)
4. 2009 Anaba Gap's Crown Vineyard: B-

Twas then onto dinner, which I have no food pictures of, just happy faces.

This proves we enjoyed a garlic & wine tri-tip with homemade mac n' cheese and a caprese salad that we washed down with 

Doffo 2010 Zinfandel

and

Baldacci 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon

Aside from not procrastinating special occasion blog posts, we (well, Tom and I) agree that we didn't really get to enjoy the final wines of the night. Thus, lesson #2, less wine next New Years Eve. Quality over quantity, not that there was a lack of quality...

Lesson #3, Beth's eggplant parm and wine are much more enjoyable going down than up. I haven't had a sip of vino in 2+ weeks. That's gotta be a record for me. I'm hoping to get back that loving feeling. Perhaps this post is a step in that direction. 

Happy belated New Year! 

Happy Christmas Eve!

Twis once again, the night before Christmas. In a few short hours my face will be stuffed with seafood and chased down with wine. I love tonight; shrimp, crab claws, Riesling, crab dip, Sauvignon Blanc, crab cakes, Chardonnay, scallops in pesto, Pinot, salmon, Shiraz, Cab, calamari stew... I love tonight, but I already said that. 

Nothing fancy on this post. Just wanted to wish you all the Merriest of Christmases. 

Drink well and be well. 

Cheers!

Ho Ho Ho-liday Wine

Tis the season for

and holiday parties. 

Here's my budget bottle bringing holiday guide for 2012.

The "We're only staying for a little bit, then we'll say we have to go because ________," category:

Happy Camper Cabernet Sauvignon ($6.99)

I debated buying this. It looked and sounded cheesy. After tasting it, I think this might be a more appropriate label:

Beth liked it, but I thought it burned going down and was dry. Perfect for not showing up empty handed but not having to part with a good bottle on people you wouldn't want to drink wine with anyway. Bring this to my house and your actions will speak volumes.

Grade: D

The, "I doubt anyone there will even be drinking wine, and if they do, they won't know the difference" category:

Third Wheel, Red Table Wine ($6.99)

I revisited this last week and I gotta say, still a fan. It's a jammy, smooth and very likable, and for under $7, it's borderline lovable. Bring this bottle to the party where you might be the only one drinking it or you might share it with the cougar who uses it to chase tequila shots.

Grade: Easy B

The, "I need a cheap bottle of white for the girls Christmas party," category:

Rock View 2011 Riesling ($5.99)

This is the white equivalent of Third Wheel. A very likable, semi-sweet, smooth drinking Riesling. I had this again on Thanksgiving side-by-side with the Monchhof, which sells for $15. I definitely liked the Monchhof better, but not $12 better. This is solid. 

Grade: B

The, "I'm excited to go to the party," category:

Oak Ridge 2009 "Ancient Vine Zinfandel ($9.99)

While browsing the Chandler, (I think) Arizona, Total Wine, I had an interesting conversation with the salesman and then later on the phone with Tom. The salesman was pushing the Oak Ridge Reserve ($24.99) and Tom mentioned how much of a load of crap "Reserves" are. I had to put the theory to test. I got both, brought the Reserve to dinner and opened the Ancient Vine (how old must they be to be "ancient?") on Thanksgiving. 

They weren't the same juice in different bottles, that's for sure. The Reserve was huge, very rasiney, port-ish. The Ancient Vine was the best wine I had on Thanksgiving. A great Zin, at any price, but lovely under $10. 

I opened another bottle a few days ago and the first glass, Beth described as "smokey" while I tasted bacon. Not real breakfast bacon, but bacon flavoring. The second glass was more normal. The next day, the last glass was even better. 

Grade: B+

The, "I need a nice bottle for the cool people's party," category:

Meiomi 2010 Pinot Noir ($17.97)

I really love everything about Belle Glos and what they do with their Pinots. Again, Belle Glos, made by The Wagner Family, also the makers of Caymus. Good stuff. 

Enjoy this raspberry bomb and soak in the compliments. Warning, the party host may think you're trying to steal their show. Just sayin'.

*Note, that 7 in the hundredths place only matters when trying to apply coupons or case discounts at Total Wine. No dice if the price doesn't end in a 9. 

Grade: B+

Hopefully I don't ruin any friendships by showing up to your party with anything less than Meiomi! 

Cheers!