Posts belonging to Category Spain



the Glass Jar Looks Back on 2019 and Foresees 2020: from Mindless to Winedless

The Glass Jar has returned to The Best of Wines bearing words of wisdom learned from the past while also casting an eye to 2020. For this we are grateful. Amen. Let us read..

ancient winemaker with fuzzy revus

modern winemaker seeking comeback

GJ: When is it a good time to take a break from the blog? This a trick question. People often live in states of uncertainty demonstrating little remains constant in life. Except the blog. For years now, the Glass Jar has considered the blog to be somewhat of a second tier Thanksgiving relative. Maybe I am not always in touch with the blog as much as I should be and perhaps I struggle to understand everything the blog says but I will always know the blog is there. I mean would you rather be talking about your life plans with some dull relative or would you rather be in the company of the greatest wine blog ever to exist? The choice is yours. So make it wisely and don’t look back. 

The Glass Jar has been making a lot of phone calls lately as he is spending this chapter of my life in a “sales type” role. [ed. he is selling stuff on cold calls]. My employer will not be named to protect its questionable reputation. The Director of Sales asked a co-worker why he wanted the job. He responded he was driven to leave a prior job of great intensity. He wanted to simplify his life by doing something mindless. He got the job. The Sales Director fired this go-getter. Last month the Sales Manager was fired.

I did make some friends, for example a man who taught me some basic archery. He got fired. My other friend has not been fired and is one of the better salesmen at the company. But he has kept a box under his desk for years for when the day comes.

Darwinism in cubicles? The Glass Jar walks in the building with no fear as he learned a tender lesson in his pizza employment [ed. read about giving back to the pizza here]. He has bounced back through unimaginable hardships.

So what is my word for 2020? You may have guessed: Mindlessness. The word captures giving time and energy towards an endeavor that doesn’t really mean anything. Those in search of mindlessness will likely find some form of it nearer than realized. Which leaves me wondering…is wine mindless? Is there no point regarding wines celebrated by blogs such as The Best of Wines? Or is there a truer meaning in wine which must be discovered?

I remember in my younger years, watching people sit around tables sipping wine and talking about the flavors. I remember wondering if there was really a point to this. It seemed pretty mindless but the drinkers enjoyed it. Maybe mindlessness is an excuse to enjoy life. Why else would salespeople putt golf balls on the rug? Is wine mindless or not? Why not be a little mindless? Word for 2020 – Winedless!!

bombast sells in politix!

tBoW: Oh my. The Glass Jar uncovers yet another corner of cognitive dissonance; an experience omnipresent in life. Mindlessness runs the gamut from the current President and his moronic cabinet, to the endless news cycle which runs the idiocy like a broken bicycle, to annual wine holiday catalogs for the oenologically challenged. Wallys Wine used to be a terrific wine shop in West Los Angeles. tBoW found purpose every time in the Westwood Boulevard store owned by Steve Wallace and managed by Gary Fishman. Steve had been buying great wines for so long his backroom was littered with bottles. Wallys backroom was like the storerooms with Euro antiquities purchased mindlessly by Charles Foster Kane [ed. cue Citizen Kane]. It was well known in the 40s that the controversial movie was inspired by the ultra wealthy protagonist newspaper publisher Charles Foster Kane who was William Randolph Hearst. tBoW’s purpose was to locate and capture the fab bottles lost to time In Wally’s backroom. tBow even placed his own son as curator of Wally’s backroom.

Steve Wallace sold out at least a decade ago. Wally’s today is a mindless wine store that caters to mindless “wine collectors.” WINEDLESSNESS applies! The holiday catalog is a monument to mindlessness. tBoW was so appaled wth the tastelessness of the premier post sale catalog we featured it here.

Is the Glass Jar presaging the greatest events of 2020…the national and key state elections? Stay tuned. And pop a great Cava sparkler during the holidays…something like Raventos i Blanc Blanc de Blancs U20 at ~$20: YUMMY JUMMY NUMMY NUM NUMS! Cava sparkler perfectly balanced, good weight golden apples sez Mrs tBoW. We could say poor mans Krug but that would be quite a stretch. Or would it? Great backstory here worth reading how this Penedes winery stepped it up champagne style in 2012. Sold to tBoW by Katie of Desert Wine Shop [ed. now there’s a surprise.]

HAPPY NEW YEAR.

 

Chilled Bubbly is Perfect for Summer…Let’s Drink Some Real Soon!!

THE DARK LORD FINDS HIMSELF IN A LIME-LIKE POOL; DUNHILL IN A TOOTHY DEATH GRIP

When Did the Rules Change For Sparkling Wines?!? Is this some New Wine Gonzo?

Normally a post touting summer chilled sparkling wine would feature Prosecco; that frothy sweet little wine with low alcohol [ed. under 10%], tastes like peaches and mixes with anything. Guzzle an ice-chilled bottle, height of summer seated at a restaurant courtyard in Sevilla getting ready to tour the cathedral with its impoverished tesoro room. Today? Champagne style cava. Pink sparklers from Bordeaux. And a U20 sweepstakes runner from Mendocino? Man…that’s the way you do it. Money for nothin’…bubbles for free.

Things seem to have changed. We tasted three sparkling wines recently that suggest a sparkler trend with which we are not familiar. We are hardly the first to say this BBBUUUTTT Cava sparklers have come a long way! In fact the old rules that governed the commission of sparkling wines have been upended; notice we MUST NOT say champagne as that it is a total winespeak faux pas. Try any of the following without fear.

Sharffenberger Brut Rose Excellence “Suggested retail $26” but can be found for half that at World Market. Non-vintage approximately half and half Chard and Pinot Noir from the Anderson Valley. Muscular. Top heavy. Very pleasing. Could suck this down all day at…maybe…a wedding? Great news! Buy it at World Market at half price!

Calvet Cremant de Bordeaux Brut Rose 2015 U20 at $17 or less, almost 100% Cab Franc. Come on. That’s impressive. I guess the old rules are officially thrown out. Balanced, Seductive. On the red side of pink. Tougher to find than a collusion conviction.

Raventos i Blanc Blanc de Blancs U20 at ~$20: YUMMY JUMMY NUMMY NUM NUMS! Cava sparkler perfectly balanced, good weight golden apples sez Mrs tBoW. We could say poor mans Krug but that would be quite a stretch. Or would it? Great backstory here worth reading how this Penedes winery stepped it up champagne style in 2012. Sold to tBoW by Katie of Desert Wine Shop [ed. now there’s a surprise.]

Hunter S. Thompson is an iconic symbol of the Baby Boomers. He blew his brains out.  People do that when facing mortality. Just sayin’ [ed. so did Anthony Bourdain]. Thompson (and Bourdain) was not old enough to do that. He did practice excessive habits which certainly contributed to his impulse control. And he loved guns. We have two videos about the Dark Lord. He merits that. Look at this embedded video about his unimaginable daily intake of substances. Then open the vid below in which “kindred” authors and film people reference Thompson’s works. Ask yourself this. Was this any way to live?

Murder, Spies, the News Cycle and Tasting Wines

We understand many people drink wine to avoid the news cycle. Not tBoW. We find tasting wine complements the disorder of politics.

We share our definitive guide to recent White House literature so our readers can decide which of these worthy books will go best with their choice of wines. [ed. tBoW uses “news cycle” but he means the President. We would prefer to avoid being cyber-bombed by the Russians.] Each book will be turned into a movie so you could also wait a bissel.

The White House reality show is not really funny [ed. Mr. Story: Oh no.] For now. In fact it is chilling…like a nice bottle of sparkling wine on a summer evening [ed. Mr. Story: A copper cube in a cryostat at zero kelvin is more scientifically accurate.] Things will definitely get very ugly shortly. The US and our allies continue to be undermined from across the Volga. Democratic European countries are under assault by right wing fascist nationalists – Marine Lepin – and eastern bloc neo-Nazis in Bulgaria.

tBoW has read a handful of books about the “hybrid war” that helped elect the Big Cheeto. This “hybrid war” continues to undermine democratic nations who have long been friends and allies. Russian money, loyalists and hackers lead the charge under Putin and his Oligarchs.

The Plot to Destroy Democracy by Malcolm Nance, published June 2018 is a freaking espionage dissertation. The message is Putin has deployed cyberwarfare and limited on-the-ground warfare to disrupt NATO, the EU and US elections. This blended attack – arms, tanks and Facebook – caught most Western political groups with their pants down. tBoW recommends an extra dry martini made with Sardinian Wild Vodka [ed. tBoW says shake 75 times] in order to properly process Nance who worked as a code breaker for the US Navy. Message? We are losing. Putin is winning. Trump and crew are Russian assets[ed. Mr. Story: We must consider diversifying our assets and launch a new blog for this growing market- The Best of Vodkas.]

Fear by Robert Woodward, early 2018. Superbly documented and sourced (although very few sources are named) to reveal how chaotic is the White House and it’s main occupant. We learned what is a “deep source.” Of course when the only two people in the room are Trump and Bannon it is pretty easy to guess who told Bob what went on. Message? Trump is a liar. That’s a repeated quote from Woodward and his “deep sources.” Read Woodward with a crisp Rosaro Negroamero Rosé from Puglia.

Putin’s Labyrinth by Steve Levine, published 2008. Absolutely chilling. The murder of former KG/FSBB officer Litvinenko who turned against Vlad P. He was poisoned in London – Litvinenko was – with some radioactive drops by a former FSB colleague. Painful death. Russian spies prefer using radioactive poison. Use your imagination why. Message? Putin and the FSB are ruthless killers. Try a mojito with Club Havana 3 y.o. “ron”.

Red Notice by Bill Broward, published 2009. Obviously written by a “helping pro” in the “thriller” style. Bottom line: Broward figured he could make billions in Russia when the Soviet Union fell apart in the early 90s. Broward bought “citizens’ shares” of industries that were no longer publicly owned. The Putin-led oligarchs ran Broward out of town. Broward’s Russian lawyer Magnitsky stayed, was tortured and murdered. Broward lobbied for the Magnitsky Act which impounded billions of oligarch money stashed in Western banks. The White House is working tirelessly to dismantle the Magnitsky Act and free billions of locked down Oligarch cash. Message: Capitalism cuts many ways. A zesty briny Albariño from Rías Baixas will give you strength. Finish the bottle.

The Apprentice by Greg Miller, published 2018. If Woodward is all about Bannon, Tillerson and “the 2017 Oval Office gang” then Miller is all about Flynn, Carter Page, Papadopoulis, Manafort, Assange and Roger Stone. Miller is the WaPo beat writer on cyber warfare. He details how the Russian hackgroup, the Internet Research Agency, worked Facebook, Yahoo, Google and hundreds of online “news houses” to whip the alt-right and radical left into a frenzy. Trump won with fewer votes than Romney who lost. Message: Cyber warfare rules, these guys are all “assets.” Woodland Hills Wine Company has a $16 Prosecco Loredan Gasparini Asolo Superiore that will keep you turning pages and shaking your head.

Malcolm Nance explains how hybrid warfare works.

Tahoe 2018: World Class Fishin’ & Winein’

Lake Tahoe is a World Class Winter AND Summer Resort


Crystal clear view from Tahoe City on North Shore to Heavenly Valley Ski Resort on South Shore Eleven Miles Across the lake

Young people live and ski around the lake all Winter. When they are ready for babies they come for a couple weeks in the summer. When you are no longer crazy enough to race down a mountain for the pure thrill you come back in the summer. Sleeping in is the aim. The thrill comes when you can sleep again at 3:00 while enjoying the Alpine view.

For excitement tBoW gets up at 6:15 with the sun and drives down the Truckee River on the road to Reno. The trick is to catch some trout waiting for breakfast as the sun comes up. This rainbow fought like an Attorney General trying to stay in office. However, a few hours later he was helping feed the needy just rising at 8:30 [tBoW not Sessions].

Once the word got out tBoW caught a couple fish the early morning meditative moments were replaced with family ‘n friends time. No problem. Everybody wants to go fishin! The next day with PeeWee on the river with me a 15 foot rubber raft floated by on the opposite bank. It was Lewis & Clark in the 21st century. Three men in their 30s, two tossing fly lines in every 5 seconds, while one guy in the middle handled the fast flow and the large rocks with two oars and his scraggly beard. A 19th century mirage outfitted by Patagonia. Fantastic. Video posted below.

tBoW made sure dinner on the cabin deck or in one Tahoe’s fine restaurants was paired with wines worth attention.

We brought two bottles of Tablas Creek that had been in the cellar since release. TC is our first favorite vineyard winery in California. There is no question they have the vision and the dedication to execute that. For the record we would like to embarrass our favorite domestic winemaker – who sources all his juice – once again with this link. Back to TC and aging “big reds.” You may find the story to be familiar.

2009 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel: For many years the Esprit line was the winery’s top end red. This is the FIRST TC top-end red we have opened that was ready to drink. We have opened earlier vintages of Esprit before a decade had passed and found them to be “challenging.” Toffee flavors, soft, knitted well (wine snob speak). Delicious with Halibut and veggies on the deck. It was remarkable.

2007 Tablas Creek Panoplie: Two years older than the Esprit, one of the earliest Panoplie line that succeeded the Esprit [maybe Jason Haas will see this and tell us the thinking behind going one step higher]. Not so good. A bit firm, not well knitted (more wine snob speak), I did not finish my glass. I had risotto with veggies and some shellfish. Just not ready.

We opened the Panoplie at Garwoods in Carnelian Bay. This restaurant has long been known for having the best site for dining on the North Shore and the worst food. No longer. The birthday dinner and the company were outstanding. We addressed the Panoplie fail by ordering the Scharfenburger Rose sparkler. Perfect.

Why do wine-os wait so long to pull the corks on their most reputed – even cherished – wines? One reason is because the wines are not ready. The only way to know if a wine is ready is to take your best guess and pull that cork! Figure a wine built for aging should be ready after a decade but sometimes not! So we play with the region – Burgs (Pinot Noir) should not need as much time as Bordeaux (Cabernet). This is much to simple. We know our wines. There must be other factors. Bring out those bottles you are holding onto for emotional reasons. Take a stab at mystery.

Other wines and dines worth mentioning…

2008 Beronia Rioja: We ordered this off the list at one of two very good restaurants we visited. Soule Domaine is located where Kings Beach hits state line in a very quaint log cabin built by Charlie Chaplin [good story]. We brought our own red – following – however we did find this delightful Rioja on the list; the “last” bottle in the bin. The wine list had very interesting selections. At $53 this seemed like a good value. Sam the host knew the label and showed restrained excitement. The waiter encouraged us by offering to waive corkage if we order the Beronia off their list. Everyone was happy and the Slovenian cork was pulled next!

2015 Burja Reddo ~$35 Hi Time Wine in Costa Mesa. The gal who “found” the wine in Slovenian thought it was the best offered. She could not describe even tho’ she tasted in Slovenia. Do you know where is Slovenia? OK. How about the Vipava Valley. Here is the winery website. Time for our local wine snob shop Woodland Hills Wine Company to host a regional tasting! This wine was very fruity with enough acid to keep the flab out. Very berry somewhere between cran- and boysen-. Buy it again? Not likely.

Watch these guys fling their fly lines lashing the river to give up her stubborn trout. Not bad for taking it from 60 yards away with a cell phone. Thanks to YoungUn PeeWee.

Politix Alert! tBoW Sees Red Wine Collusion

the Glass Jar takes a closer look at the “news cycle” and finds a deeply personal POV


As James Comey swept the news cycle with reflections on his encounters with President Trump and his termination from the FBI, he gave the world many images for our time. One of these images had Trump alone with the former FBI Director asking for loyalty which illustrated the “mob boss” style of leadership Comey has articulated. Another image depicted Comey staring at the news informing him of his firing and leaving him in shock.

Yet another image depicted by Comey may have deeper meaning than one may initially suspect and that involves him drinking red wine from a paper cup. We typically make the effort to ensure our wine remains in a clear wine glass although the glass itself will not likely affect the taste yet during such a low moment one may feel such trivial details do not matter in the larger scheme of things.

Comey’s description of himself drinking wine in a cup resembles a scene from the 2004 film Sideways [ed. the movie is a favored tBoW device for illustrating obtuse points, most recently the fact that Paul Giamatti and Paul Lato doppelgang each other].

In Sideways Miles helplessly watched his best friend get married while meeting his ex-wife’s new husband. Trying to maintain his cool when talking to the woman who broke his heart, she informs him of the baby she will soon have with her new husband. Suddenly, he realizes the woman who meant so much to him will start a family leaving him as insignificant to her as ever. Given his hectic and paranoid nature, Miles reaches a low moment where nothing seems to matter under a cloud of utter misery. After the wedding, he sits down at a fast-food restaurant and drinks his coveted 1961 Cheval Blanc in a paper cup just like the one Comey prefers! Miles frequently mentions this bottle throughout the film and how he’s saving it for a special moment. His despair sends the message that there’s no point in waiting for such a moment or even a wine glass.

The choice between a wine glass and a cup seems insignificant, especially when we are with loved ones. Who needs a wine glass? The moment feels comfortable and any worries about propriety stay out of the room. The wine glass is a symbol of a relaxed social endeavor. When we feel alone and are facing the currents of hopelessness, what’s the difference between wine in a glass or in a cup?

As a natural born New Englander who has never been known to my friends as an avid hugger, I am not one to say “hug a stranger” or any of that bullshit. Sometimes people just want some space and a hug feels like almost too much at once. I would say don’t give somebody a hug if you see them crying and do not give somebody a hug if they want to be alone. In fact, don’t hug strangers ever. I don’t know who came up with that phrase or what they were on. There is one exception.

Should you ever encounter somebody drinking wine from a cup, give them a hug. People cry and people feel down from time to time but a person drinking wine from a cup is telling the universe that he needs all the help he can get. Go give that person the biggest fu**ing hug you’ve ever given.

[ed. Glass Jar hits another high point in the culture of tasting wine. On a 100 point scale I would give this report a solid 99!]

Here are some wines we quickly tasted after reading the Glass Jar’s thoughtful message.

2015 Vena Cava Rose ~$20 if you buy it at the estate. We expected it would come in 2nd – a close second – to the Casa Magoni. But we were wrong. More acidic and darker red color made us recall the deep red rose wines from Sevilla. Lovely. Wish we had more. Avenatti would like this wine.

Casa Mongoni Rose ~$20 made by the most renowned winemaker in the Guadalupe Valley. More fleshy which means for tBoW more soft than he prefers. However, just about perfect for Mrs. tBoW. April Ryan – WH correspondent who is a sweetheart with a nasty bite if you cross her – would agree.

2005 Lopez de Herredia Bosconia $35 Call this one of the most dependable wines of breed and elegance out there. Rioja blend of Tempranillo, Tinto Fino, Tinta Roriz, Garnacha, Graciano, and Mazuelo. 12.5% alcohol. At 14 years age (believe me an oversight) this is just perfect. Lopez does wait like eight years to release these wines so it was only forgotten in the cellar for a few years.

We are a bit past May 5 but better late than never for Cinco de Mayo!!