Posts belonging to Category Mendocino

Dotoré can finally exhale. The summer has arrived. Even though the official Summer Equinox is June 21 ’round these parts shit is here already. Temps in 90s, hot tub running, goff any day we like. It is time to pay serious attention to bright whites, cool reds and pink ladies. (more…)

One thing we like to do over the holidays is Cellar Cleaning. We pulled some wines that had been on the shelf long enough to finally come off the shelf. Since we delay keeping notes until after we pull the corks we really are not sure when and where we acquired the wines. Most of the time we know we expect to be pleased so that is enough prep to get things started. So let’s get started. It’s a New Year and a whole new b’ak/tun. (more…)

[ed. Ever have a memory about something you lost that you just cannot let go of? I finally found this H-A-U-N-TING post I wrote almost 2 years ago. I remembered the dude. Love this foto!]

If there is one truth in wine it is that every vintage must be sold. The most common storyline trotted out to meet this goal is vintage of the century or decade. You never see vintage of the epoch or vintage of the era. The 2008 vintage might be more aptly described as the vintage that ends an era; the era of silly prices and sillier wine talk. (more…)

It was just so perfect. Everything aligned like things had been planned. Summer evening temps were in the low 80s. A tasting crew of 10 was ready to guzzle, I mean sip. The lineup included pre-tasting palate warmups with a Provencal Rosé, a California Pinot Grigio and two Gascogne white wines. The blind tasting of premium Pinot Noirs immediately preceded the meal. The wines were all outstanding sending the tasters back to the table buzzing. Summer dinners like this one make LA live-able. Here is the down low. (more…)

“This is Shotgun Tom Kelly” said the vintage KRTH 101 announcer as he loaded the Rascals “Lonely Too Long” into the queue. Shotgun followed that with Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrel and tBoW was smiling wide as he climbed his favorite bike trail – Dirt Mulholland.

Listening to radio programming from the 60s/70s cuts two ways like all nostalgia reminding us how old we are and how certain music can make us young again. Shotgun has that radio voice – full throat, between bass and treble, a “hip” knowing and cheery tone. What’s it got to do with wine?

If you do not have an aerator you should get one because it shares many qualities with the radio and 60s or 70s rock music and DJ styles. The aerator takes years off wines that are too young to be properly enjoyed [ed. or does it add several years?]. While we can enjoy wine when it is young, many wines do improve with age. The aerator makes that happen right away. BOOM! We tasted several wines recently that illustrate the benefit. Actually, we went crazy with the aerator! (more…)