Posts belonging to Category Napa

It must be the end of the first quarter in the new decade. Expectations for change are high. The White House has found its cojones and set a new tone for in-your-face confrontation. Whatever, it seems like it is time to clear the deck on several items of marginal interest for which discriminating palates have grown exceedingly tired and for whom or which time has run out. Hold on to your Pinot balloon bowl. We’re going head hunting. (more…)

It can get pretty strange around this town. And the place where LA is most bizarre is a Lakers game. Blend Us Weekly with In Style with Enquirer and read the super rag in a celebrity cemetery. tBoW attended the only Lakers game he will attend this season. Kloe Kardashian sat 10 feet from Frank Robinson. That’s right. The only MVP in both leagues and arguably the greatest pound for pound baseball player of all time; a Henri Jayer Cros Parantoux of an athlete. 10 feet from a Dubouef Nouveau Beaujolais. Guess who got the most attention. Not that Frank did not have visitors and folks begging for a photo. At the end of game (more ordinary like a Central Valley Merlot) the bored courtside photographers, who had been shooting the action non-stop, all turned at once and took their paparazzi shots of Lamar Odom’s newly betrothed. One fan close to tBoW’s age sitting nearby asked for Frank to stop and pose for his cell phone cam. Frank obliged. After all, the man won the Triple Crown the year he was traded to the Orioles and once hit back to back grand slams. (more…)

Being an SC football fan is a lot like loving Barolo and Burgundy. You hope every year will bring a championship banner but it just cannot be. Just like with Burgundy, we never really understand why every bottle labeled Chambertin is not championship quality. And, like USC football, there is always a year that just does not measure up to the highest expectations of the only team in this cow town that has a chance of realizing high expectations. Like 1995 in the Cotes de Beaune and Piemonte…nnhhh. Those Toe-jams just about broke Mrs. tBoW’s Cardinal & Gold spirit!
Thank goodness there is always The Bird. Thanksgiving approaches and we have to start thinking about wines to serve. Let’s be honest. I’m talkin’ Dotoré honest. The tension is between serving the lumpen good wine while simultaneously matching a wine to the demands of an over-the-top meal. It’s like wine calculus! This day of celebration demands some great wines. We have the time to enjoy but we cannot throw pearls before turkeys. Or can we? [ed. how 'bout Ducks or Huskies]. It is the season of giving. Pour a decent Pinot Noir – Willamette or Cotes de Nuits – then follow it with an older Barolo. (more…)

They played Rebel Rebel on Monday Night Football as the broadcast went to a break.Came back from break with Bawwitdabaw. Too late to get tBoW interested in MNF again. Better than Bocephus…now if Kid Rock handled the intro… (more…)

Everybody knows fine wines are supposed to change over time. The wine’s aging process is, for many oenophiles, an essential component of what constitutes “fine wine”. However, as long as we are getting anthropomorphic about it, how about some zoology; what about a wine that, over time, changes like a chameleon? Schizophrenic does not fit the wine tBoW has known and documented over enough years – reviewed below by Dotoré – to understand that when Dotoré says the wine is “strenj” he writes with authority. Keeping with the theme tBoW covers a couple other wines recently tasted that are unusual. We like unusual but we also know a Dr. Evil concoction when we taste one. (more…)

With Spring and Summer comes wine festival season. With so many many to choose from tBoW presents two festivals worth your consideration. How is a wine festival like a golf tournament? If you like golf you must go to a tour event at least once, see the pros hit the ball, make tricky putts, eat a hot dog. If you like wine then you should probably attend an event where the wineries are pouring their best stuff, you can attend an exclusive dinner in a winery, and talk to the winemaker over sips. [ed. photos show the Pipestone corner of paradise, the 10 acre vineyard and the wonderful owners/winemakers/farmers Jeff and Flo] (more…)

Just because the economy is in the tank does not mean we cannot enjoy fine wine. Huddling with pals amidst the economic collapse can prove a good tonic. You just have to know how to balance the U20s with the O50s. Here is our plan for finding a way to balance U20 selections with O50 [ed. over $50] indulgences. Purge your cellar and scour the sales bins at local high end retailers for the O50s. Hit the Kirkland bins for the U20s. Pressure your wine pal into playing the piano (no please OK). Now you can create some spice and verve for a special event like Valentines Day at the home of a dear pals. We had our own little V Day massacre with IGTY’s [ed. igottatellya] Williams Selyem collection showing how it all gets done. (more…)

Dotoré reached deep into his double double cooler (wider and deeper) and came up with some real beauties for celebrating the holidays. Your humble blog-host reports on the premium treats along with a couple other not-so-shabby year-ending tastes. (more…)

The Holidays are over. Everyone breathe a big sigh. Eleven months before the intense commercialization begins again. Dotoré already senses the approach of a long summer. The best thing about the Holidays for a wine aficionado is the chance to taste stuff that would otherwise go unnoticed, even avoided. There are always surprises. Here were a few of the last we encountered. (more…)

News Flash – before you get started tBoW wishes to acknowledge the first two newsworthy events for the new year in thebestofwines world. The January issues of Gourmet and Los Angeles magazines each feature a tBoW fave. Gourmet covers all things consumable that are Italian. They make a point of including a photo and kind words about the efforts of Napa’s most under-rated winemaker Jim Moore and his l’Uvaggio di Giacomo label to produce memorable California wines from Italian varietals. The Jan 09 issue of Los Angeles magazine picks tBoW hero Palate Food + Wine as the #1 restaurant in LA. LA mag gave Palate a curiously arms-length review in August 08 as though withholding final judgment. Glad to read the reviewer made up his mind. [ed. we knew it soon as we walked through the doors in June] Unlike Los Angeles mag, Gourmet does not post open links to its content so you will have to pick up a copy. (more…)