Summer Ends? College Football Season Begins!!

What does college football have to do with tasting wine? Nothing actually. And summer is not really over. The GOP may be finished. Around here the season burns into October. Love that as it means many more dinners outside are in the works. The BIG NEWS is that USC begins it march to a new national championship. Trojan haters [ed. Garrett knew] will necessarily suffer as the inevitable gets underway. Matt Barkley will win the Heisman which will replace the Reggie Bush trophy sadly taken away from us under a cloud of controversy. Boo hoo. Before I engage with another controversy – the GOP convention – let’s turn to the point of this blog…wine and dining.

#1 tBoW fan Adri turned us onto a very cool wine blog that focuses on Southern Italian wines. We are certain more readers will want to check it out. Prose like this…

“…the salty whites of the west coast of Sicily, where the wind and almost African sun have dehydrated sea water for so long that the soil itself is salty, producing whites that make your mouth gush with saliva, first sip. They’re refreshing, immediate and go with seafood in ways that few other wines do”

…and the incredible photo – please take a look – tells me we need to try more of these. Our favorite source for off-the-map Italian wines is 55 Degree Wines in Atwater Village. Expect to be paying a visit. And if you love Italian food, wine and cooking you will love Adri’s blog The Front Burner.

In the meantime here is one from the Costco odds and ends selection.

2005 Château de Peyremorin Haut Medoc $15: This wine was distributed widely throughout most big box stores from Costco to Total Wine. By the way, Total Wine has successfully launched its worldwide domination program. The stores are everywhere and people keep telling me about a new “Great Wines” store in their neighborhood I must visit. Usually turns out to be Total Wine…which Dotoré insists is a Total Yawn. This wine is marketed as a Gold Medal winner from the 2008 Concours des Grands Vins de France: 10,000 entries and 2,000 tasters in “500 panels of 4 tasters.” Each tasting pod includes two local experts for the region and two outsiders. The process is blinded. Scores are collected and summarized. Odds on winning a gold medal are approximately 5%. Sounds a bit much doesn’t it? So how was this wine? The blend is Cabernet Sauvignon 90% ; Merlot 10% 10 months in oak. We detected bret [ed. the fungus amonugus] on the nose. Dark blood red color with some brick at the edge. Slight licorice aroma. Masculine flavors with some graphite if you get my drift. Old World all the way. Claret character that the New World cannot produce…and does not care to. In the end, forgettable. When it comes to Cab we still prefer only Napa. 12.5%

Excuse me while I run out. I got a game to catch!