Merry Christmas

My Christmas present to myself... to be opened at a later date.

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!!! Peace and love to you all. :)

Pepper bomb (ugh!)

Casa Silva 2005 Carmenere from the Colchagua Valley.
I bought this from one of our competitors for $12 since we were out of Carmenere at our store (and I like Carmenere). We recently began to carry this (same price), so I thought I would give it a try.

On the nose... Black pepper and green bell peppers. If you haven't tried it before... Carmenere tastes similar to Cabernet Sauvignon (except not as tannic) and Merlot. Carmenere was one of the six grapes used in making Bordeaux by the French until the 1860s when phylloxera became rampant and affected the Carmenere vines quite badly. After that, Carmenere was cast out of France (many thought it to be extinct) and was exiled to Chile (where it was thought to be Merlot for over a century, until 1994 when DNA evidence proved otherwise). But just like Donna Summer sang, "I Will Survive!"... the grape is back and better than ever.

When it's done right...it's great.. you get focused cherry flavor, some smoke, and tons of mocha. When Carmenere is picked too early, you get the vegetal aspects... such as bell pepper. I tasted tons of black pepper, too, which just overwhelmed all the other fruit. Sad.

Oh well!


To make up for it, I tasted the 2005 Hiedler Gruner Veltliner "Thal" a lovely aromatic white from Austria with great body resembling gewurztraminer and riesling. Pineapple and peaches on the nose. Good stuff! :)

Best Pizza Wine, Ever.

Tried the Finca Villacreces 2003, Ribera del Duero, Spain (Tempranillo blend: 86% Tempranillo, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Merlot. ) 14% alcohol... paired with... Pizza Hut pizza... (yeah, I know), but it was Thin Crust, and the toppings were: Pepperoni, Mushroom, and Jalapeno.

Could the Villacreces stand up to it?... Hell yeah!

Blueberries on the nose...

In fact, it was like little men with leather gloves were stuffing blueberries up my nose. LOTS and lots of blueberries. $29.99 was the damage. Small price to pay.

BEST PIZZA WINE, EVER!!!!!!! Hands down.... Is all I can say.

Powerful, yet SMOOTH.

Mouthfeel: This dark-purple concoction was all about the berry, and enchanting my mouth. It is delicious. What a discovery!
I love this wine, and plan on getting more of it.

Pedigree: Finca Villacreces is on great real estate. Right next door to Vega Sicilia. Not too shabby. If you are into Parker, the 2004 Villacreces got a 95. The year 2003 was not rated, but I think it's the bomb.

Food art

Really wonderful stuff (click the picture to see more pictures).

http://legnangel.livejournal.com/564026.html

Napa? Sonoma?

Who would win in a fight? Napa or Sonoma? (Wellll... Napa would probably win... IMHO), but Sonoma would put up a good fight. Point is, it's really not necessary to choose one over the other. Napa/Sonoma are both gorgeous places, full of great people who love to make great wine and we are the lucky beneficiaries of their labors.
Here are pics with blogger compadres Neil and Scott during my last trip to Napoma/Sonapa.

Coming soon... Napa!!

This is an ancient intro to Falcon Crest (a spin-off of Dynasty). The home they used in the footage is actually Spring Mountain Vineyard in St. Helena (Napa Valley). When I first visited Napa as an adult (just a little over a year ago), I thought of that music.

Below is even more footage of Sping Mountain Vineyard, courtesy of Conan O'Brien. I will be visiting Napa and Sonoma again in a few days. Looking forward to it!!!

Trade Tasting 10/1/07

What better way to start the month than with a trade tasting! Here's how today went... I was at my 401k job, and it was about 1:00pm when the lights went out, all across the building. We were in the dark for a couple of hours, and watched as SDG&E tried to fix the line... apparently they would have to shut down Pacific Coast Highway for them to fix it. So, I left work by 3:30pm today. Nice! It just so happened that the staff at HiTime was invited to a trade tasting hosted by Southern Wine & Spirits, American Wine Distributors and Pacific Wines, held at the Hyatt Regency in Irvine. Great timing! If it hadn't been for the power outage, I would not have had the time to go at all. The event started at 4pm and I was there by 4:30. As I entered the ballroom, I tried to supress my smile, because I was grinning from ear to ear.... a kid in a candy store. Im limiting my notes here since I'm tired and it's almost 1am! :)
I was spitting (most of the time). Here's what I tried ...

2006 Pierre Boniface Apremont (wonderful, light fruit. a beautiful wine!)
Champagne Jean Laurent Blanc de Noirs NV
Chandon Chardonnay Sparkling NV
Chandon Pinot Noir Sparkling NV
Moet & Chandon White Star NV
Veuve Clicquot Rose NV
Chandon Etoile Brut
Moet & Chandon Imperial Nectar NV (wonderful!)
2004 Cheval Des Andes (incredible, a big new world Bordeaux blend)
2004 Casa Lapostolle Clos Apalta (swallowed that one)
*Gosset Brut Excellence NV (swallowed) (one of my favorites)
1998 Gosset Celebris
1999 Gosset Grande Millesime
Gosset Grande Reserve Brut NV
Gosset Grande Rose NV
Yellowtail Sparkling NV (Chuck from Bevmo, (one of our competitor stores) urged me to taste this, which only goes to show that friends don't let friends drink Yellowtail)
Freixenet Carta Nevada Brut NV
Segura Viudas Heredad Brut Reserva NV
2006 Vionta Albarino (first time trying Albarino... Great!)
2005 Bigi Orvieto
2005 Bigi Est! Est! Est! (never had Est! Est! Est! before, so I thought I'd give it a try... tasted like Windex)
2005 Simonnet Febvre Chablis
De Venoge Cordon Bleu NV
2006 Canaletto Pinot Grigio (light and fruity)
2003 Canaletto Montepulciano
2005 Villa Cafaggio Chianti Classico
2004 Villa Cafaggio Chianti Classico Riserva (silky and smooth)
*2001 Villa Cafaggio San Martino (favorite!)
2003 Villalta Amarone
2006 Emmolo Sauvignon Blanc
2006 Emmolo Syrah Rose
2005 Torres Sangre de Toro (tried this out of curiousity)
2005 Paraiso Chardonnay Santa Lucia Highlands
2005 Paraiso Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands (awesome! I sell this at our store all the time and it remains wonderful and a great value)
2005 Paraiso Pinot Noir West Terrace
2005 Paraiso Riesling Santa Lucia Highlands
2003 Paraiso Syrah Santa Lucia Highlands
2003 Pine Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Stags Leap District
2004 Pine Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville
2004 Sebastiani Secolo
2004 Sebastiani Cherryblock Cabernet Sauvignon
2004 Whitehall Lane Napa Merlot
2004 Whitehall Lane Cabernet Sauvignon (glass closure!)
2004 Whitehall Lane Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (glass closure)
2006 B.R. Cohn Chardonnay Carneros
2004 B.R. Cohn Merlot Sonoma Valley
2004 B.R. Cohn Estate Olive Hill Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma Valley (YUM!)
2005 B.R. Cohn Silver Label Cabernet Sauvignon
2004 Charles Krug Cabernet Sauvignon Napa
2004 Trimbach Pinot Blanc
2004 Trimbach Riesling
2004 Trimbach Gewurztraminer (LOVED IT)
2005 A by Acacia Chardonnay
2005 A by Acacia Pinot Noir
2005 A by Acacia Carneros Pinot Noir
2006 Jurtschitsch Gruve
2006 Jurtschitsch Gruner Veltliner Steinhaus
2006 Jurtschitsch Gruner Veltliner Dechant
2006 Jurtschitsch Riesling ZOB Urgestein
2006 Jurtschitsch Gruner Veltliner Scentk (ALL of the Jurtschitsch wines were wonderful)
2004 Nittnaus Gruner Veltliner Premium Eiswein
2005 Martin & Weyrich Moscato Allegro (delightful!)

There were still plenty that I didn't hit. Not bad for a Monday and definitely a good start to the month.