Should you ever meet Robert Haggstrom Church - owner of Church Estate Vineyards – you will be struck by how plain folk he seems to be. After a couple hours sipping wine and lunching on his terrace, checking out his spectacular wine cellar, and listening to his views about making wine, quotes by Hunter S. Thompson start coming to mind.

“When the going gets weird, the weird turn PRO”

“Buy the ticket, take the ride”. (more…)

Some of the better wines tasted recently. Ain’t summer grand?

2007 Bera Canelli Moscato d’Asti $15 (?): A Louis/Dressner Selection which almost always bodes well. This bottle was left over from summer 2009 in tBoW’s cellar and from 2008 on the store shelf! In other words, a Moscato d’Asti ain’t supposed to go past its release summer and here we have one two seasons over the limit. At three years old it was showing plenty of flavors of peaches and ripe pear juice. Light weight, delicate spritz and at this alcohol level don’t we have to get the current release? Delicious. 5% (more…)

The Masters was exceptionally dramatic this year. Many years it can be a total bust. But the return of Tiger to the Tour to face a resurgent and mature Phil Mickelson promised to deliver a worthwhile show. Adding the most fun player on Tour – Anthony Kim – and the promise was more than fulfilled. (more…)

[ed. everything RIGHT with the Super Bowl in one image]

For the third year in a row the Super Bowl presented a pretty good football game that managed to outshine the wine selections. We usually expect the wine selections for a Super Bowl to be slightly more entertaining than the game. The whole mishpokhe surrounding the game is far too familiar to expect anything other than an ordinary game, ordinary food and and ordinary wine menu. Mrs. IGTY made sure the cioppino was exceptional and Mr. IGTY did his best to make sure we opened some big hitters. Dotoré ensured swift justice prevailed. [ed. everything WRONG with the Super Bowl in one image] (more…)

[ed. always an enlightening treat when featured field reporter Mouse tells a story about an evening circling the globe without leaving his chair]
On a cold Connecticut evening, ten people gathered to seek the Pinot. No longer elusive, as it was in the 1980s, this once fickle grape makes good wine in many places. In fact, this was our goal, to go around the globe with Pinot Noir, the most feminine and enticing of all wine.
I mean, really, if you had one wine to drink, what would it be? [ed. PINOT PINOT PINOT...NOIR]
Our target areas were two Burgundian Cotes, California, Oregon, New Zealand, Chile, Australia and South Africa. Missing, in earnest, was Austria, a country whose reds are vastly underappreciated here. But that’s for another day. (more…)

The ocean of wine and the lineup in it keeps getting bigger. We choose wines like we would choose waves; certain size, as close to perfect conditions as we can presume. What wines will be in the tBoW lineup for 2010? [ed. the surfing lineup is all those people in the water here at Topanga point trying to catch the same wave] With seemingly limitless options we contemplate the wine lineup for the coming year. Keep it simple – good values, great and interesting wines, selecting carefully from the best of the best. Based on the first pours in January we can forecast that Winter through early Spring will feature French white wines and more Malibu discoveries. We can live with that. The local vintners of the Bu continue to defy expectations and definitely have our attention. Here then are several recent turns of the corkscrew. (more…)

Me I want a hoola hoop! The holidays are coming and going in a blur this year (thankfully). 2009 has been tortuous for most of us given the ubiquitous economic “recovery”. Tanks Gott the recession is over according to Bernanke and Supreme Blowhard Larry Kudlow!! This does not mean we cannot enjoy being with friends and family while we resist the urge to purchase items that demonstrate our supreme affection for members of both groups [ed. how tender]. However, rest assured the occasion for gathering is always going to be enhanced if the host pours some decent wines. We certainly found this to be the case in the Christmas week and will probably find the same truth to hold for the New Year. The usual gatherings at Casa tBoW featured most of the blog blowhards and they were clamoring for wine wine and more wine. Please excuse the fuzz tones on photos. Here is what got pulled. We hope your holiday party was equally filled with family, good friends, the Singing Chipmunks, and, if not good value, at least good wines. (more…)

Holidays are here. tBoW is getting ready for a big Xmas day party. Touring local wineries today. Here is my holiday bling collection courtesy of a Downtown LA vendor. Have to make a shopping stop there next week. Here are the wines bringing holiday cheer.
2005 Fitou Bel Armant Chateau Champ des Souers $15: This may be the third time tBoW has reviewed this wonderful little Languedoc/Corbieres wine from Beck Wasserman. Toffee nose, soft, vanilla, fruity. Balanced well. Blends Grenache, Carignan and Mourvèdre. Just very pleasant and completely enjoyable. 13.5% (more…)

Thanksgiving is an extravaganza to be indulged at every age. The day is all about indulgence in your favorite activities. AMC has all the Godfather movies. There are college hoops, college football and the pros. A buncha abundanza. Many folks will make some effort to re-enact or recognize the “first” Thanksgiving. There will be plenty of political talk at the table. Some adult may look at everyone and suggest everyone say what are they thankful for today. Should that happen here is how tBoW will reply [ed. it did, he did]. (more…)

As summer dissolves into the hottest week of the season, the wine menu starts to get just a little sketchy. As if the sky was whispering “dude – you’ve lost your focus” any and everything seems to show up on the table. At the back end of a strong streak that began with clear focus (Moscati, Rosé and Beaujolais) and inspired adventure (the Riesling tasting) we are closing up shop on a wailing summer with a potpourri of ennitingoze; a grab bag of inspired picks, accidental finds, and other strenj items. (more…)