Posts belonging to Category Northern Italy

The weather has been fussier than a sommelier looking at a bottle of Two Buck Chuck a customer brought in. 90 degrees this week; 60 the next. Perfect Spring weather in the mid-70s last week then drizzling today. Late Spring should be when you put together Ros√©s and bright acidic fun White wines for the long hot summer haul just around the corner. But no. Make the most of every day. This is the perfect time to clear out the wine reviews that have not been transferred to the blogosphere. The odd lot wines for an odd lot late Spring include some pink wines from late last summer to get us all in the mood. (more…)

Dotor√© and tBoW were pondering the pop hit F*CK YOU by Cee Lo Green. What used to be called a “catchy” pop beat comes right outta the 60s. Soul era visual signals are all over the video. The lyrics show Tin Pan Alley chops: “I picture the fool that falls in love with you; (oh shit she’s a gold digger).” The obvious hook is the expletive once unspeakable in polite company, now suitable for tweeners’ iPods. But, how does this all stack up to the¬†lyricist of our generation, Bob Dylan? After all, Mr. Zimmerman wrote lots of f*ck yous in his day. They were just hidden behind layers of imagery and required some interpretation. You know something’s going on but you don’t what it is… (more…)

Castro St. Decoration Winner

When Mrs. tBoW has to travel she prefers to bring along tBoW. Nice for me. Fortunately, she often travels to The City, Baghdad by the Bay, aka San Francisco. What a great town. When we lived here way back when, it was really more of a cow town. Had a Cow Palace and was filled with young folks trying to loosen their grip on life. City was already filled with adults who lost their grip long before us. Nice people called that colorful. What I am trying to say it sure is fun up here. There is always a new generation of young folks looking for a break and a lot of good times. You can drive all over the city in minutes so there are plenty of choices for where you’d like to get in trouble. Think of it like shopping in the Imagination Bazaar. If you are going to rent a car make sure it is tiny. Solves almost all your parking conundra. (more…)

It is the best week of the best season – the first week in August in the summertime – so sez Dotor√©. Ev kerse, this is also his birthday. An excellent reason to crack some special wines. He requests Baroli. After all, we are sitting on some oldsters and we really should check on their longevity. We did. You get to sit in. (more…)

Some of the better wines tasted recently. Ain’t summer grand?

2007 Bera Canelli Moscato d’Asti $15 (?): A Louis/Dressner Selection which almost always bodes well. This bottle was left over from summer 2009 in tBoW’s cellar and from 2008 on the store shelf! In other words, a Moscato d’Asti ain’t supposed to go past its release summer and here we have one two seasons over the limit. At three years old it was showing plenty of flavors of peaches and ripe pear juice. Light weight, delicate spritz and at this alcohol level don’t we have to get the current release? Delicious. 5% (more…)