Posts belonging to Category Petit Verdot

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…)

Gather your bottles of wine, your trays of scalloped green beans, and the all-grown-up cousins. Turkey Day is upon us. Let’s all be together cracking jokes, talking about old times, and checking out the young ‘uns and their “sig Os.” Tell stories, think about those who are no longer here. As Grandma used to say, “eat something!” As we like to say “Drink Something!” Everyone have a great time. (more…)

Collectible kosher wines? The thought boggles the mind. How could inky purple Manischewitz syrup with a shelf life of 20 minutes get a Parker rating? Next you’ll tell me there are “growth” Bordeaux, as in those classified in 1855, that obey Talmudic law. Every year there are more customers than there are wines for those lucky labels classified under the five levels of Bordeaux Growths: wines such as Château Léoville-Poyferré a 2nd Growth St. Julien; or Château Malartic-Lagravière an unclassified yet coveted Graves; Château Pontet-Canet a 5th Growth Pauillac; and Château Le Crock a Crus Bourgeois Pauillac. Oh yes. Each one of those highly coveted labels has a kosher “edition.” N’kidding. (more…)

Forget the vertical and the varietal. Show me what ya got. Bring out your best and pull the cork. Tasting wine old school. Line em up and suck em down. The tBoW tasting team assembled at Hollywood classic restaurant Marino on Melrose between Highland and Vine. This is always a treat. You want old school this is it from the Rat Pack to Cardinal Mahoney. Owner Mario is beyond accommodating. Marino is cozy with a handful of wall booths and tables. Stem service is perfect. And the food is very well prepared. Perfect site for our sexy sexy wines.

We pulled corks on a 2006 Napa Cabernet, a 2005 Anderson Valley Pinot Noir and a 1996 Barolo. We dispensed with the stuffiness that is part of becoming total wine snobs; Pinot Noir only, 10 years old only, $50 plus only, etc. We had three excellent wines of three different varietals in front of us, each in its own differently sized glass so the tippler can return to the right stem without too much mental stumbling, and each representing a distinct region with no attention paid to wine age. Having the 16 year old Barolo would seem risky. Our expectations were unsteady. At a decade older would it hold up? Like LA Legend Angelyne has held up? See photo evidence to the effect. Here are the wine outcomes. (more…)

Poker players like to say “I’d rather be lucky than good.” Is this just another way of saying you do something often enough you’re bound to fall into something good sometime? Vince Neil and his band were very very lucky. They made superb RnR and at some point Vince made a wine. We have not tasted it. But we do have a motley assortment of other wine odds and ends. [ed. Dude that would have been cool tasting the Cr√ºe wine. I thought you knew people.] (more…)