Posts belonging to Category Sauvignon Blanc



From the Depths of Despair…Wine Delivers Solace…One Case at a Time.

Sure. Things are grim.

Exclusive Preview of Svengoolie Parody From MAD #4!.

Look. We believe in – and practice – wine therapy.

Every freaking day…well, mostly evenings.

Good news is The Desert Wine Shop in Rancho Mirage is owned by enlightened people whose palates match that of tBoW and many of our readers almost eerily. tBoW called up Kate and asked her to put together then ship a mixed case of her most fabulous and inexpensive [ed. just say c-h-e-a-p] wines. Fact is we have been reading her tasting lineups pre-corona  [ed. of course shut down for now] and she pops corks on some very very very interesting wines. The case arrived within 24 hours [ed. $23 shipping].

Mrs. tBoW has all mail on 24 hour quarantine. So next day at 6:00 [ed. PM] we pulled the cork on the…

2016 Thierry Lurton Chateau Camarac 12.5% $11.66. Blend of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc…from Entre-Deaux-Mers. Full disclosure…tBoW not a fan of Sauv Blanc grape. Grassy California styles ruined that. But Semillon? Has there ever been a bad one made? Me thinks not. And this was superb. Blended like siblings who love each other. Need more of this for summertime when covid19 has been sent packing…or at least until such a time as it returns. No? Unlikely? Unable to wait on this. Interesting note from producer on back label: “to be kept 1 to 4 years.” So we are at the end of the winemaker’s recommended cycle. We are prudent and attentive with all warnings. We keep socially distant. We stay inside unless we drive around in our hermetically sealed vehicle. Only host or attend virtual wine tastings.

Other wines in the case include a Savoie Gamay Rose @ $9.86; Parallele 45 Cotes du Rhone Blanc [ed. nice, esp since not fond of red CdR wines] @ $12.56; Aveleda Vinho Verde @ $9.86…and eight more wines that will be covered during this horrific pandemic now gratefully tempered with a splendid case of vin from DWS.

Pour a glass and read the following tale of life among Millenials featuring ironic irony and admirable, if normal, work habits penned by the Glass Jar. The name of the current employer of the Glass Jar will remain unknown to protect it’s questionable nature and unnecessary existence [ed. a few more wine reviews shall follow]..

All Wade ever did was walk around the building.

Wades work history is peppered with rapid departures. He was once fired from a job he took knowing in his own mind the job was mindless. Wade was later fired. Curiously, the executives flew over to the office to fire the woman who fired Mr. Mindless. Mr. Mindless had a buddy from his neighborhood who he worked with. His buddy has since been fired. 

Wade was known for walking around the building. He did little work and commonly strolled around parts of the building he had nothing to do with. He was told by his supervisor that he was taking too many walks. On that day, he took a walk. Wade did last a solid seven months before he was told it was him time to join the Hall of Fame of people fired from this beautiful company.

About a month after Wade’s last walk out of the building, this COVID-19 situation had all employees working from home. [ed. ironic eh?] We were told to get the things we needed and head on home. Meetings were virtual. Working in pajamas was normal. Taking long breaks in-between emails became normal. When you take away supervisors and cubicles, it is amazing how little work one can do from home. With all the walking around I was doing on the clock, I realized this pandemic is turning us all into Wade! If only Wade could just stay employed by Morons Incorporated, he would be getting paid to walk around whichever building he wanted.

A message of hope to kids, one day you can be paid to sit around and watch TV and don’t let anybody stop you from believing in yourself. 

Now we are going to provide you with the best coronavirus wines. Wines to make you reflect on all the nothing you accomplish when working out of the bath tub.

Thank you GJ. I feel like Svengoolie sans the makeup. Classic “culture crossed with tacky would-be humor.” Perfect for the shut-in season. Here is teh extar wine review.

2017 Gachot-Monot Cote de Nuits-Villages $30ish. [ed. I lifted this right off a website. Helps the memory.]This is a special cuvee which comes from a plot of the same name “Les Chaillots” in old Burgundian French which means ‘Les Cailloux’ (the Pebbles) which exactly describes this plot where the soil is very stony with natural drainage. The soil produces complex wines which are expressed in fruity notes of cherry, blackberry & forest floor. Would tBoW say Complex? Nah. Ripe and juicy? Yes. Cherry and blackberry? Cherry. Forest floor? Not a hint “tanks gott.” Not even meaty unless you are thinking kangaroo jerky, crikey. This wine is delicious and a Burgunday bargain. Almost certian it was a Desert Wine purchase.

Thanks to the Glass Jar for his contirbution to vin literatur. Since we are all locked up and shut in with nothing better to do than let our minds wander we encourage you to share your views on life and wine. Here is the greatest songwriter of a generation.

Once Upon A Time In La Jolla…


He may not be your cup ‘o tea. Maybe the violence and r-u-d-e language offends you. The brutality of Reservoir Dogs. He worked in a video shop for years. It boiled his brain. He gave Travolta and Sam Jackson careers. Guess I should say he “helped” give them careers. Not that tBoW will see JT at a Scienctology Center or SJ on the golf course.

Tarantino…extends the legacies of DePalma, Cronenberg, Scorcese, Coppola. Throw in Leone, Kurosawa (the Kill Bills), and Peckinpah (Reservoir Dogs). tBoW knows there are others. He watches Noir Alley. He knows. However, these are the ones who make movies he considers “must watch” whenever one of these films is encountered while aimlessly trolling thru the cable channels. Why not use a flix vendor? Too much F&B. Besides tBoW can watch this multitude of films from the select few directors who know how to make a great movie…over and over and over.

Tarantino’s new film Once Upon A Time In Hollywood will be in a move house July 26. Very strong chance tBoW will drag Mrs. tBoW along to see it in Cinemascope. She may decline. In fact, I predict she will decline. More corn for me.

We had a memorable 36 hours in La Jolla recently. Instead of Tarantino we had Brother Zev and Sister Katharine [soon-to-bees if ya get muh drift] directing the food consumables like masters. I learned the secret to cooking fish and meat and veggies. Make a bag of blended sauce and immerse food in the bag for hours. Also important to buy great stuff people like to consume over a fire pit or stove top. This includes funnel and esp king ‘shrooms. Hello Farmers Market.

While the meals were aww-sum the wines were outtasight [ed. “gonna hear that throwback often in Hollywood”? ya think?]!! Let’s get through this. Mr. and Mrs. tBoW brought a four pack of completely unrelated wines except that each was a W-I-N-N-E-R in its own genre. Does Tarantino have a genre? He may be a genre.


Y’Quem defines a genre: dessert wines from Bordeaux and everywhere else. The 1983 Y’Quem was one of the greatest from the tBoW cellar. It is the greatest of all Bordeaux dessert wines…throw in Hungarian multi putanyos.

Zev’s Stack O’ Spices

wine diamonds

Try this sometime. Drive two and half hours to a destination to stay with in-laws you really like. Open the wine of the year – a wine anyone who knows anything about wine knows this is the Tarantino masterpiece – anyway open that bottle within 10 minutes of arrival. That is how you get the party started. Did not slug it down. Coulda. Took a couple hours to finish it off. Had to break to recover from the “immensity” of being in the presence of the greatest [ed. I swear I would not be in awe of Tarantino if we were in the same space at the same time. Shit. I been in the same club with Nick Cage; twice in 30 years!].

That foto of the Y’Quem back shows the tartrate crystals the wine threw. Even this residue was delicate and perfectly balanced.

Here is what the cognos had to say: graham crackers, maple, charred honey. Medium light weight. You thought it might be thick and dense? Niuh. Leaner than the fat Rieussec with more weight than a slender Suidiraut.

Cognos on scene included Katharine and Zev, Broki and Marma. Don’t worry. We made sure there was enough to feed the many [ed. is that Biggie brah??].

Zev is a master chef. He L-O-V-E-S to prepare food. Apparently, Katharine only dates chefs. [ed. she owes me – as in all of US – a blog post]. Check out his travel stack o’ spices he brought from Brooklyn.

The plan was to pull the cork on the other wines before Zev and Katharine were ready to serve. Thinking the Big Cab might be tight we pulled that one next. Turns out Big Ed really is fond of Big Cabs from Napa. Once we pulled the cork Ed was short a hand. He could have used three. “I love a big napa cab.” Gotta say this one was pretty good. Ten years in the cellar. Of course tBoW didn’t buy it. Some of the spillover from wine blogging in Napa.

reliable dependable

After ten years in zee cooler the wine was tasty and mellowed. Still had power and flavor. Showing like Pacquiao at 40. Enough to win and put on a really good show. The wine never made it to the meal.

When the meal was ready to be served we turned to the most reliable wine we know; Uvaggio Radix. Of course, any of Jim Moore’s wines are beyond friendly. Uvaggio wines are always; like a pal you can always hang with or turn 18 holes with.

OK. Let’s get to the fun stuff. Which wines express the nature of which Tarantino films. The choices are Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill (1 or 2) and From Dusk til Dawn (he wrote and starred; tell me anyway stoopid).

1983 Y’Quem and Pulp Fiction. Will never get better than this. Fortunately we habba one more in da cellar so maybe Big Q has one in his, too. A spectacle with twists at every turn. Immensely entertaining. Unforgettable.

2009 Merus and Kill Bill 1. Surprising. Very nice. Tasting better than expected…of a genre (BigNapaCab) perfectly nailed. Can go back to it. For such a stylized copycat movie it just keeps getting better each time we sample.

2012 Uvaggio Radix and From Dusk Til Dawn. What’s not to like? So esay to watch. Sure we know every scene like we know Jim Moore will deliver easy to drink stylish wine with every label. tBoW can watch D2D anytime just to see Salma Hayak at her sexiest and Juliette Lewis at her unpredictably waif-iest.

Who else thinks of this shit? Hitchcock? Peckinpah?Tarantino.

 

Est arrivé Fall mais oui poo poo? Vive le bezbol!!

boobly in zee zummer zo nize

boobly in zee zummer zo nize

October brings seasonal changes everywhere except California and Florida. The autumn leaves turn colors. The days dwindle down. September. November.

October doesn’t rhyme. Here in sunny SoCal days cool off with daily highs in the 80s. You have to take a jacket if dining in Culver City, the cultural capitol of West LA. The A-Frame is the hot spot. A little bit of Portland right here in LA.

Roy Choi takes over a custom built Der Wienerschnitzel in an A frame building. Food comes out in small plates rat-a-tat-tat just like with his food truck. And the wine list is good enough. We ordered the same rose reviewed reicheer last week! UCLAns and Westside millenials packed the bar. With each 30 minutes the looks got hookier. Youth. A-frameWEBThanks to Kevin Eats blog where we got the foto.

Most importantly, baseball playoffs c’est arrivé. tBoW loves championship baseball. The postseason really makes the regular season look more boring than we already know it is. Very much like wines rated on the 100 point scale and wines that simply taste great. The ocean of Parkerized wines hardly makes an impact. But the emergence of unique fetishes like “natural wines” or wines from Mt. Etna or the small towns north of Barolo and Barbaresco… this is championship wine imbibing.

Fine wines we have been tasting are listed below.

allegracore11WEB 2010 Romeo del Castello Etna Rosso Allegracore $23: Old World Cab wine from Mt Etna showed volcanic ash on the perimeter of the mouth, translucent robe, balanced, dignified composure. So Euro. Had this next to unnamed [ed. that would be mean] local Cabernet Sauvignon grown and made in the ‘Bu. The new World/Old World comps are obvious. The New World Cab was only five years old with plenty of fruit and sour overtones. Function of the inexperienced winemaker? Fruit is good enough to make decent wine. Needs a better winemaker. This Old World wine from Mt Etna contineus a string of wonderful wines from the Sicilian volcano. 14%

touraine13WEB2013 Clos Roche Blanche Touraine $20: Old vine Sauvignon Blanc from a vineyard under control of the same family since the late 19th century. Small quantities made with miniscule intervention [ed. dat wooden be natch’l now woodid?]. The winemakers are chemists come to wine. How scientists look at terroir: “Using herbicide forces the vines’ roots to the surface, in which they can effectively grow in the 8 to 10 centimeters of fertile soil that you find anywhere in the world. This isn’t terroir. To get to the terroir you need to go deeper.” Rare bottles nearly extinguished brought back to life with care and dedication… spotty leafed newt? Compromise-driven Republican lawmaker? Water responsible farmers in Central Valley? Turf lawns in Beverly Hills? Maybe not that rare. Grassy hints, yellow gold color as in not pale, firm body. Could play wide receiver for Trojans. 13%

montebro-crianza10WEB2010 Montebro Priorat Crianza $17: By the glass at Peddlers Wine Bistro, local wine bar and dining spot which always pours something unexpected. Like this juicy, light to middle weight Spanish red. U20 winner. 13%

More good news. Jen Carter has relocated to Topanga’s Canyon Bistro. The wine list already shows her fresh approach to value and curiously wonderful wine selections. The food and the setting have always been worth a trip. So goodbye Saddle Peak, hello Canyon B!

Napa Trip and Golf Wines

if I drank Cab it would be Regusci

I never drink Cab but if I did it would be Regusci…stay thirsty

It may surprise the reader that Napa and golf attract similar wine hounds. Napa is the Land O’ Cab and many goffers we know do love a big rich Cabernet or Cab blend. tBoW was on assignment for Elegant Living magazine in Napa a few weeks ago; a trip followed by another plunge into hedonistic darkness a couple weeks later in a four day country club tournament. Next stop: the sanitarium.

The Napa trip included a spectacular site on top of Spring Mountain [ed. that would be Barnett Vineyards], a super collectible site also on top of Spring Mountain [ed. that would Pride Mountain Vineyards], a new hot shot R’n’R winery off Silverado Trail [ed. that would be Cliff Lede, look for the magazine], and an oldest of the old guard wineries that is undergoing a much anticipated transformation [ed. that would be Charles Krug]. There were others however I may save for a future post. In the meantime, should you find yourself in Napa I highly recommend a stop at any of the aforementioned.

The Goff Tournament was another matter. If Napa is decadent then the golf tourney is indulgent to a fault. Three days of official competition and one extra day of a warm up round added up to 81 holes in a row. Two days in matching knickers and plus fours. Add to that about 10 stogies and numerous life-giving Bloody Marys (call out your vodka) and you have a floating 12 Step program waiting to happen. It might have ended somewhat poorly if my partner and I had not backed into the Champions Derby by the logo on our balls only to lose by a quarter inch in a chip off. All this goff talk may only make sense to the goffers among tBoW readers.

Stacy Clark

Krug windfall!

What everyone will understand is that we were handed a bundle of cash for reasons we could not comprehend. And we’re going back next year just for aggravation’s sake!

Here is what we learned in Napa…about white wines! Sorry. You already know about the red wines from these houses and if you don’t you can find them written up by adoring Parker/Suckling wannabes everywhere.

Charles Krug Winery is the oldest in the Napa Valley. Peter and Robert Mondavi had the most famous Napa family spat in the last 100 years out of which Robert became world famous and Peter lived in a house on his 150 year old estate making good old Napa Cab that very few people cared about. NOT ANY MORE! The sons (brothers who get along) are building a monster new storage facility with a giant window in the adjacent tasting room where we normals can sip the new Krug blends made by super-winemaker Stacey Clark. While watching the magnificent casks that will probably be stacked 10 high! Stacy Clark was the winemaker at Pine Ridge for 30 years. I think all our readers know that the tBoW tasting team is not wild about Cab blends unless they come from Bolgheri. This does not take anything away from the absolute truth that the best Cabernet is grown in Napa. Stacy Clarke is also a superb winemaker. If this was golf someone would say “nice rescue.” While at Pine Ridge she oversaw their fantastic white wine blend of Chenin Blanc and Viognier. Krug-2011SBWEBAt $14 it was and is a steal. We tasted her first wine for Krug and it shows the same style and pedigree as the super U20 Pine Ridge white.

2012 Charles Krug Sauvignon Blanc $14: Wine made form estate fruit. Floral nose with pears and bright flavors. Super acid spine and tones of pear fruit. The non-alcohol version would be a terrific breakfast drink! The 2011 is still on the shelves at Total Yawn but they are supposed to call me soon as the 2012 arrives. Buy it. 13%

Pride_ViognierCROPWEBPride Mountain Vineyard Mistelle de Viognier $40: Pride probably makes THE BEST VALUE collectible wines in Napa. People just love these red mountain wines. tBoW is not qualified to judge them. However, this white beauty is impressive. It has so much fruit and acid it came off like a dessert wine. But it ain’t. It is a just another crazy ripe mountain white. They make it as free run juice meaning there is no time on the less to get color or tannins. It is not late harvest but you may be fooled into thinking it is. Yummy. 14.1%

Mamie and Monica werkinit!

Mamie and Monica werkinit!

2011 Regusci Mary’s Cuvee Carneros Chardonnay $36 (at the winery not available anywhere else): This is one of our must stop wineries in Napa. The place which is a so-called ghost winery is too cool with all the rock and the 19th century legend over the arch. Te ladies behind the long tasting bar are usually tons o’ fun [ed. Monica and Mamie to the right]. Unlike many counterparts or neighbors Regusci does not make many labels. They make a big Napa Cab of course. Notes say “if I drank Cab it would be Regusci.” They also farm properties for many other labels. Check the website. We did not see this wine coming. Mamie or Monica said “white burgundy” and we thought “sure it is. Every Chard in Napa has Burgundian character.” But this has no malolactic fermentation and spends 5 years in neutral oak. It is Burgundian. Bought it. Now if only they used a different shipper I would be tasting it this Saturday. Only 252 cases. 14.2%

Isosceles08WEB2008 Justin Isosceles Reserve $250: Here is the red wine provided by The Ranch Bishop as our team shot its way into the finals while three-putting and hitting balls OB. We have always recognized Justin makes the ebst Cabernet blend in Paso Robles. In fact, we have openly wondered how they tricked it up to remove the green bell pepper character often found in Paso Cabs. We still don’t know their secret. We do know this wine is delicious. Poured into a plastic cup on a fairway one can still pick up the lovely seductive nose waiting to hit. Balance is perfect, Tannins not in the forefront at 5 years. Whatever tobacco pollution might have overwhelmed a lesser red was handily seduced by this wine. 14.3%

The Napa settings were stupendously spectacular. Justin is in the NW corner of what we consider the loveliest wine country in California. Have a great Memorial Day holiday drinking whatever wine you like.

Carl played by Bill Murray comes up with a good idea about course maintenance.

“Erster” Tasting at the Water Grill: Slurp, Sip, Sexitup

oyster_sexyWEBOysters are sexy.How could Georgia O’Keefe miss the inspiration? Orchids and oysters. We get it. Amy Reily makes a living writing about sexy foods and oysters are at or near the top of her list [ed. Amy blows away the competition in the sexy food and wine grouping]. I found myself in splendid company thick and tasty as a miyagi oyster. The event was the 19th Annual Pacific Coast Oyster Wine Competition sponsored by Taylor Fish Farms in Washington. The gig is more than just promoting the consumption of oysters. It is also about pairing oysters with domestic white wines. Jon Rowley is the architect of this two decade long “competition.” Longevity is a strong marker for interest but not always for quality which is best evaluated with a hands-on evidence based participation observation. This tasting hit both marks.

oyster lovers??

oyster lovers??

We arrived at the Water Grill in downtown Los Angeles at 3:00 sharp, chose a solitary table with 20 empty glasses, and waited for the glitterati to arrive. No disappointments there. Mary Sue Miliken – highly respected cute-as-a-button and sweeeter-than-honey LA food entrepreneur – sat down in an adjacent booth. LA food critic Jonathan Gold sat a few tables across. Apologies in advance for anyone not mentioned. The A-list food writers and job creators was fun. However, for tBoW the matching exercise was quite serious.

Jon officially opened the tasting with a quote from A Moveable Feast which is a collection of unpublished essays published posthumously. In one of the essays he describes chowing down on oysters, slowly, carefully, noting each nuance. For Hemingway the experience is, of course, transcendent. The urge to wonder what further stimulation awaits when pairing the slimy critters with wine seems obvious, no?

We are not strangers to oysters. In fact we love them. Acme Oyster in Nawlins is a must stop when in town. No trip to Seattle is complete without multi-raw dining. We once ate 5 dozen on a beach in Colombia… with another couple. So this was bound to be a treat.

A method was advanced. Chew the oyster first filling mouth with sea-borne flavors. Oysters are no more all alike than are acidic white wines that keep them company. Here come the platters. The first flight of glasses get three-finger fills. Generous. Sniffing before sipping is discouraged. No problem. tBoW powered through each flight directly, chewing and tasting his wine through all 20 wines. In fact, the kumamoto ersters were so delicious we polished off another half dozen for good measure. Forget about Honey Boo Boo. Oyster Boy below knows how to take down a slimy delight then pick thru the detritus for bits n’ pieces.

The kumamoto oyster is briny with a starchy texture and flavor. Each wine was bagged and tagged with a unique letter. Part of the deal is to see how well my oyster & wine palate matches with the other judges. The winning wines are announced but not in ranked order which is certainly the right decision given there is really no quantifiable argument. The only competition that truly matters is how many judges matched winning wines. A return invite could hinge on this outcome.

The tasting takes place in three cities – LA, SF and Seattle. Scores from all three tastings are combined. One LA judge and two San Fran judges matched 8 of the 10 winners. Jon Rowley points out no one has ever matched all 10. I gotta think 8 is pretty dang good. tBoW matched 3 of the top 10 wines which was the lowest matches among the judges. Gratefully, there were two others on the LA judging panel with similarly idiosyncratic palates. I found one pairing elicited a dry gin martini. Four of the top 10 wines were among my lowest ranked. Winning varietals included Sauvignon Blanc (6), Chenin Blanc (2), one Pinot Gris and one Riesling. Wineries represented California, Washington and Oregon.

All I know is this. After all the chewing and coating my mouth, then sipping on wines and spitting, and not taking one single sniff ever, I was left with a profound hunger for sourdough bread. Apparently this is something akin to how the Irish consume oysters. I will stand on Irish tradition any day except when it comes to religion. And Amy Reily walking away in heels should be available on video.

This was a wonderful affair which I hope to repeat. There are a couple oyster bars in LA that I plan to visit including L&E Oyster Bar in Sliverlake and Blue Plate in Santa Monica. The L&E GM was the 8-match dude in our group. It was all over much too soon.

Could be another match for oysters is Blue öyster Cult. Goes with slurpin’ n’ sex, no?