Posts belonging to Category Barolo

UH HOW HOW HOW HOW. Here are the reviews for red wines from the Fourth. From Northern Italy to Beaujolais’ venerable Marcel Lapierre. There’s more. We have a review of an incredible Flamenco troupe playing in LA that you MUST SEE [ed. he rarely says that about wines]. Arte y Pureza is the inspired vision of Ethan Margolis and Company and we watched them conjure their feverish magic, melding dance with the traditional Gypsy music of Southern Spain. FLAMENCO!! Even when wines are this riveting…they are NOT this riveting! But then dance is fleeting…as is wine in most cases…so you need something EXTRA. Arte y Pureza has it. (more…)

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…)

Burgundy Gran Cru

Harmony and beauty. Pinot Noir is to vinifera what monks are to the institutional church [ed. Holy Bordeaux?]. Alone, isolated, ascetic, monastic. No wonder Pinot Noir can become something divine as wine. My basic expectations from Pinot Noir wine include delicate balance even if “delicate” runs the gamut from Natalie Portman to Dita von Teese; tender fruit like a butterfly lighting on a flower in Spring (choices here include strawberry, cherry, beets and stinky-poo forest floor); and on infrequent occasions mystery and magic like the “subject” experiences in the 1950s LSD video tripping for the first time. (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…)

Before we get started with the new year let us reflect on the wine trends of 2009. [ed. New Year view from Malibu coast Jan 2 2010]
Mega trend #1: the rise of terroir in the USA. All of a sudden pockets of winemakers have discovered the meaning of wine that reflects a region instead of a style. First on this list are the small lot Willamette Valley producers of Pinot Noir and other vinifera. If you want to see and taste the best of these wineries and the general movement to smaller and better you should consider attending the 2010 Portland Indie Wine Fest (sometime in May). (more…)