Posts belonging to Category Merlot

Waikiki is Bourbon Street meets the Vegas Strip. People come to the Hawaiian islands and stay a week or longer in Waikiki. Same crew that buys all their wine from BevMO. Then there are other people who fly right past Oahu on their way to Maui, Kauai or the Big Island and stay in a destination resort. They include those who only buy wines rated 90 points or higher. There is more to wine and more to Oahu [ed. and more to the outer islands; g'head and be obnoxious].

After 5 days of rain and grey skies on the north shore of Kauai – and buying wine in the new Princeville Wine Market – we were ready to wash Hanalei right out of our hair. Fortunately, we had set aside three nights and three and a half days in Honolulu because we like the city and the island. It is much more cosmo than Dancing with the Stars. (more…)

God I hate the Super Bowl. Then a miracle occurs! There are SO MANY low points to the game. Ray Lewis’ canned postgame comments. The super entertaining halftime show. But when the commentators had to ad lib for 34 minutes as the crowd sat in darkness… divine justice. (more…)

We do not commonly think of wine tied to horror. The truth is, sometimes wines and the wine industry can lead to some pretty awful circumstances. Halloween passed this week. Kids in costumes came by the house. We attended a Hallow-Wine party where the good shit was downstairs on a table in front of two guys older than tBoW. Those grim details follow these true life stories. Read our three recounts of vinous venality where red is more than the color of wine. (more…)

SCENE: Cedars Sinai ER. Curtain drawn on small space. Even smaller well dressed man stirs awake strapped to gurney.

Nurse…coldly precise: Doctor the patient is coming around. tBoW…confused: Where am I? Why can’t I move? MD…calmly: Please relax sir. The police brought you here. You were mumbling about marmamaya, razzbeanies. tBoW…gasping: I was with Leonardo Raspini of Ornellaia! We were scarfing down a white truffle pasta. Nurse…chest swelling: Doctor his blood pressure is ramping up! MD…excited: 40 units nembutal stat! And bring me that brown bag he brought!

While hundreds of locals were waiting to crowd into a Marriott banquet hall so legions of waiters could pour wine after wine after wine into goblet upon goblet upon goblet…tBoW was lunching with the agronomo and general manager for Orenellaia at Madeo [ed. LA's finest Italian restaurant since Il Giardino shut its doors] talking dirt and sipping wines from Italy’s top producer of Bordeaux blends. (more…)

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. (more…)