boobly in zee zummer zo nize

October doesn’t rhyme. Here in sunny SoCal days cool off with daily highs in the 80s. You have to take a jacket if dining in Culver City, the cultural capitol of West LA. The A-Frame is the hot spot. A little bit of Portland right here in LA.

Roy Choi takes over a custom built Der Wienerschnitzel in an A frame building. Food comes out in small plates rat-a-tat-tat just like with his food truck. And the wine list is good enough. We ordered the same rose reviewed reicheer last week! UCLAns and Westside millenials packed the bar. With each 30 minutes the looks got hookier. Youth. Thanks to Kevin Eats blog where we got the foto.

Most importantly, baseball playoffs c’est arrivé. tBoW loves championship baseball. The postseason really makes the regular season look more boring than we already know it is. Very much like wines rated on the 100 point scale and wines that simply taste great. The ocean of Parkerized wines hardly makes an impact. But the emergence of unique fetishes like “natural wines” or wines from Mt. Etna or the small towns north of Barolo and Barbaresco… this is championship wine imbibing.

Fine wines we have been tasting are listed below.

2010 Romeo del Castello Etna Rosso Allegracore $23: Old World Cab wine from Mt Etna showed volcanic ash on the perimeter of the mouth, translucent robe, balanced, dignified composure. So Euro. Had this next to unnamed [ed. that would be mean] local Cabernet Sauvignon grown and made in the ‘Bu. The new World/Old World comps are obvious. The New World Cab was only five years old with plenty of fruit and sour overtones. Function of the inexperienced winemaker? Fruit is good enough to make decent wine. Needs a better winemaker. This Old World wine from Mt Etna contineus a string of wonderful wines from the Sicilian volcano. 14%

2013 Clos Roche Blanche Touraine $20: Old vine Sauvignon Blanc from a vineyard under control of the same family since the late 19th century. Small quantities made with miniscule intervention [ed. dat wooden be natch’l now woodid?]. The winemakers are chemists come to wine. How scientists look at terroir: “Using herbicide forces the vines’ roots to the surface, in which they can effectively grow in the 8 to 10 centimeters of fertile soil that you find anywhere in the world. This isn’t terroir. To get to the terroir you need to go deeper.” Rare bottles nearly extinguished brought back to life with care and dedication… spotty leafed newt? Compromise-driven Republican lawmaker? Water responsible farmers in Central Valley? Turf lawns in Beverly Hills? Maybe not that rare. Grassy hints, yellow gold color as in not pale, firm body. Could play wide receiver for Trojans. 13%

2010 Montebro Priorat Crianza $17: By the glass at Peddlers Wine Bistro, local wine bar and dining spot which always pours something unexpected. Like this juicy, light to middle weight Spanish red. U20 winner. 13%

More good news. Jen Carter has relocated to Topanga’s Canyon Bistro. The wine list already shows her fresh approach to value and curiously wonderful wine selections. The food and the setting have always been worth a trip. So goodbye Saddle Peak, hello Canyon B!

“it’s booming” said the lifeguard

2010 Giulo Grasso Ca’ del Bao Langhe Nebbiolo $23 (Wallys): Langhe on the label usually signifies wine made from traditional Piemonte regions not in Barolo or Barbaresco. It can also signify younger vines. This bottle came from Liquid which is an outlaw itself in wine retail, and a tBoW secret wine spot. Researching this bottle turned up a lovely website with some down home family tidbits about the Grasso family, a cross-winemaking family marriage,and a book I have to check out. Organic growing methods, natural yeasts… all by tradition. This wine is a bit rugged, lean and muscular. It is too young to open unless you aerate mightily. All the good flavors we love in Nebbiolo are there: cherries, exotic earthy, high toned… but not ready. 13.5%

Iceman Angry Orchard Hard Cider $16 (Whole Wallet): 16 oz bottle from Quebec. That equates to a $30 wine. Sweeter than the yummy Virginia hard cider which we WILL BE ORDERING in about 45 days when the heat yields to Autumn in LA; i.e., the 80s. After visiting the website I am certain we would prefer the Strawman bottling. 10%

2011 Spungola Bellaria Pignoletto Emilia Alberto Tedeschi $18: Pretty sure Dotoré picked this up at Domaine LA, his favorite secret wine store. White wine made by an obscure dude toling on his own with an indigenous obscure grape – Pignoletto – with a great name that sounds like a kind of pedicure. tBoW tasted oily, kind of lean. We like that but perhaps it was the atmosphere – adult party. Not impressive. However, you may disagree. We took this from a website.

Cathy Breton se naturel

NV Breton Vouvray Brut “La Dilettante” $20 (K&L says they have it): Sparkling Chenin Blanc from the Loire. Yeasty, sophisticated, grapefruit rind, acidic. Loved it. Big hit with those holding glasses. Made by natural wine organic gorgeous (in photo) winemaker Catherine Breton. Committed to the natural movement! At $19.99 a U20 buy. 12%

catch the twichen groove doods… COWABUNGA!!

Wine offers hit tBoW’s cellphone like a Spring cloudburst. The deluge of text messages got more strange with each entry. This was actually a good thing as the best tastings are often born of spontaneity and hasty planning, last minute conversations, a profound absence of planning. Add digital communiques. Stir the right blend of fluids and foods, friends of both genders and multi-generational, into a very satisfying brew.

Think of the following texts as the cosmic dust from which a universe of epicurian hip hop spontaneous good times emerge.

Sandy beach?

Ten years old?

Impending doom???

The first offer of what to bring is never the best offer. However, it must grab one’s attention. Commerical encroachment on a failing commercial enterprise stirs the reolutionary zeal. Bring it!

A strange Loire red wine you say.

Strenj is good…especially in wine.

[ed. I think you mean with not in wine. Strenj is never good in wine. Correct?]

tBoW is sold. Must see what is this strenj wine all about.

Hold the presses!

That’s a lot of information.

Did he text Orange Rieslings that could explode?

Interesting… but no.

A third voice entered the text loop at the manic apogee.

“I love a blind Pinot.

And a deaf Nebbiolo.

Not too crazy about a lame Cabernet.”

This wine stayed home.

How were the wines?

The H. Billiot Reserve Brut Reserve Grand Cru Champagne $48 12% was fresh and refreshing. Has a severe hand that is in harmony with the seductive. The perfect entry to a long mid Spring evening.

There were two white wines from the same producer, different vintages: the 2011 and 2005 Luneau-Papin 2011 Muscadet “Vielles Vigne” $15 and $33, respectively. The tBoW palate for Muscadet will not be constrained. Muscadet is a lively bantamweight wine that packs some wallop. It won’t knock you out but it will let you know you are in the ring with something formidable. A “perfect” wine for almost any occasion? Note the gold medal. Cue French horns.

The endangered Portuguese and the strange Loire red wines pleased more sophisticated palates than those of tBoW and the hungry sycophants, young’uns and geezers. For the harshly biased taster, however, the red wines showed an ashen nose with nuances of ciggy butts and a hint of unfiltered Pall Malls. Not enough fruit, too much sand. However, the wines did fully deliver on the exotic and unusual scale. We love that.

All in all a completely disruptive evening with wonderfully engaging wines.

Now here is some very good advice.