Posts belonging to Category Santa Ynez

Freud may have invented the id but it takes a Bird and the holidays to throw the id into a higher gear. Basic wine needs and basic family desires were in full run last Thursday. Tribal members gathered around the flame. Drink began to flow soon as guests arrived. “Noshing tasties” were served to the brethren and it was all ssssoooo ggggooooooddd. Thanksgiving is everyone’s favorite holiday for all the right reasons. Traditions. Laughs. Loving. Bowl games. Family arguments. It is a day that celebrates thanks, generosity and indulgence. Just like wine the season can be a mixed bag. The holidays get longer every year. With T-day in the bag that’s one down and two to go. (more…)

Being Scrooge-like is fun a for awhile. With so many tasters [ed. he means Dotore & IGTY] taking it over the top, a backlash stance seems inevitable. We were at risk of going over the humbug cliff! With encouragement and cooperation from both sides of the cama Christmas Day can once again be the day for pals and family, eating tamales and ham and busting corks. (more…)

Even though it was 86 in LA today the Summer of 2012 is definitely over. I’m wearing long sleeves here fercyrinoutloud! Turkey Day is right around the corner. We have been preparing by getting our taste buds in shape for the food and wine extravaganza. Thanksgiving is the great consumption holiday because we get to bring together the volunteer army of foods and wines. It’s like we’re going to fight the bloody British at Nantucket [ed. Cornwall idiot. Lancaster?]. We have been sampling an array of big flavored wines like those bottles that will dress up the table on Thursday Nov 22. This is not a day for delicate elegant wines. The day calls for the Crimson Tide O-line in a bottle. Big beefsters. Push your palate around like a puppy. If the wines you go with can show some style so much the better. You are almost always obliged to bring a few foils – you know, P-L-O-N-K decoys for the relatives who always leave half glasses laying about. We always save up the best decoys throughout the year. Forget your guilt. It is a fact of life. Like paying taxes. Remember to give thanks. (more…)

Wine goes best with a meal. The role of wine as part of a meal is not to simply complement the food preparations. That would be dull. I am looking for a wine that enhances the meal; increases the experience; brings a rush to the event. When this happens wine is at its best because it drives both sensory and intellectual regions of the brain [ed. see brain map below to identify food regions in the brain]. (more…)

If we want to have a good time dining out we really only ask for three things: great food that is well prepared and somewhat exotic, smart and helpful wait staff, and a fair corkage policy. Saddle Peak Lodge is tucked in one of those pocket canyons behind Calabasas on the backside of Malibu. Driving there is even fun. Sunsets can be quite spectacular as can early mornings too, when the Pacific fog has filled the deepest recesses. (more…)