Posts belonging to Category Santa Rita Hills

The annual Turkey Bowl was a smashing success with the expected outcomes. The food was totally fab and the wine lineup was longer than a Herman Cain explanation. We could not get through all of the choices. Such was not the case Saturday night when the Trojans-Bruins “rivalry” game was gratefully buffered by a Riesling extravaganza hosted at Papa Fred’s Shack and “sommed” by Kris B. The Bruins – who have won 6 games – were limp as a Santa Margarita Soave, while the Rieslings gave a Trojan-inspired performance. (more…)

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…)

Mr. and Mrs. tBoW have been touring Spain for the past couple weeks. As tBoW prepares the reports we offer a welltimed mop up from recent tastings. The best wine out of Malibu gets challenged with seafood stir fry, a very good Carneros Bordeaux blend, and an old Super Second Bordeaux. And even more! (more…)

Words rarely uttered among the wine cogniscenti passed the lips of the tBoW team. This Beaujolais is not ready. A Beaujolais not ready to be consumed right now? The phraseology version of an oxymoron is…? Don’t know. We do know that snow will fall in Santa Monica, Lady Gaga will wear ballerina flats, and the Tea Party will certify our President is 100% American before we hear “this Beauj ain’t ready stuff” again.

Jerry Lewis made a film in 1960 “Visit To a Small Planet” where one of the actors kept repeating “there ain’t no sech animal”. He was referring to aliens. Jerry played the nebbishy harmless nice guy alien. I wouldn’t look for it. “Divorce American Style” or “How to Murder Your Wife” – those are worth looking for on NetFlix.

If you can find among the following wines the ones we favor you will have completed a successful and rewarding hunt.

2009 Clos de la Roilette Vielles Vignes $23: After finding the last 3 bottles in LA Dotor√© found the last case in the country in Connecticut during the Great Winter Storm of 2010. The producer is notorious for putting his beloved race horse on the label after the appellation committee in Beaujolais ruled his property was outside the Cru region of Fleurie. His response was kiss my grits. He makes one of the most sought after non-Cru wines in the Beaujolais and certainly the best in or near Fleurie. Dotor√© reasoned if the rest of the vintage was so darn good, and Dubouef could make better than good wines in 2009 then the top producers should be phenomenal. On the hunt like Sherlock Holmes, tBow himself filling the role of Watson, Dotor√© tracked all domestic shipments finding the last one not sold out on the Least Coast. We have tasted. New tBoW tasting team member Peewee declared what was in her shapely goblet was swamp water. A mineral dagger stuck in her chest. Dotor√© brought over his bottle, open 24 hours, poured her another dose. Much better. Somehow tBoW received a “bad bottle”. Peewee nailed it. Without contemplating the provenance of “bad bottles” suffice it to say this wine is gorgeous, sumptious, full bodies (for Beaujolais) and fulfills its promise. It can easily go a couple years and more. It will never get that far. 13%

2006 South Pinot Noir $15: “It’s from Tasmania. I think you’ll like it”. That’s all tBoW needs to hear from preferred wine vendor Steve Goldun of Palate Wine Merchant. Strong Pinot flavors. Black cherry. Balanced. Very nice wine. The bottle IGTY has been looking for all his life. Gotta love the price. 13.5%

2002 Paul Lato Duende Gold Coast Vineyard Pinot Noir $30:¬† We crowned this wine the best in Santa Rita Hills only three years ago. Today the wine remains attractive and exotic showing strawberries and marzipan. It’s good but not great. Santa Rita fruit is just too ripe and alcohol levels tend to overwhelm the fruit. Can’t find this wine. Not even Paul has it. 14.3%

2009 Domaine Cheysson Chiroubles $15: Terrific Gamay fruit. Rich; not Pinot Noir. Gold medal somewhere. Solid drink with chicken and mac cheese. We is stone. Immaculate. “Are you kiddin’ me?” says Dick Vitale. If Cheysson had a basketball team it would easily be a 4 seed in the tourney. Another hUge winner from the 2009 vintage. Grab it if you see it. 12.5%

It was 72 degrees in LA yesterday. Summer is just around the corner. Spring is here. Try something new in your RnR catalog. Anthony Gomes…lot of country and even more rock n roll.

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…)