Posts belonging to Category Mendocino

“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.

wine technology

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…)

her LEGEND is bigger than any wine

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…)

Desert Kings

Somebody else is always getting married in Las Vegas. As good a reason as any to visit this forsaken cultural desert in a desert. There used to be two primary distractions in Vegas: gambling, aka gaming, and S-E-X. From a distance we observed that both industries are still alive and thriving. We could have used more distance at the poker table where we learned our game is more rusty than the Minnow on Gilligans Island. In fact, I channeled the doofus deck hand for hours as sharper minds ran roughshod over my pathetic attempts at winning hands. No matter. Once Internet poker is legal again I will be able to play at a table with similarly unskilled altacockers. (more…)

these are NOT potatoes

The Holidays (that would be with a capital H) are well known among wine snobs as the TCNY Wheel of Fortune. Thanksgiving Christmas and New Year -TCNY -provide sufficient justification to fall off whatever wagon you have been on and slop around in puddle after puddle of wine and other imbibations. We fancy a martinus in the supporting role.

Thanksgiving is the seasonal kickoff…we still think of Halloween as more carnal ritual than sophisticated “tasting of the grape” [ed. stole that from Ruxin, so sue me]. This year was especially pleasing as frequent tBoW contributor The Large stepped up to the plate and contributed mightily to an almost uniform U20 lineup. (more…)

Not Napa or Sonoma or Paso or LA-proximate Santa Rita Hills. MENDOCINO’S Anderson Valley my frengs is the top wine country destination in the Golden State offering a look back in time at what used to be the norm everywhere. Forget the limos, the tasting palaces and the $40 tasting fees. Keep the superb dining experiences, some world class and great value wines, and the friendliest tasting rooms you may never have experienced or in the case of one old timer [ed. no brag just fact!] you believed were long gone…although they may be coming back. (more…)