David94928

If the next customer crowds me I turn 2/3 away from them and anchor myself to the check writing stand. I won't budge an inch until I've gotten the receipt and even then I may take my time leaving the check-out stand. Another thing is the practice of setting up a floor display in the aisle that barely fits two carts side-by-side as it is. Now, only one cart can get by at a time.

I recently had some 2006 Rochioli Sauv Blanc. Yummm!!! Nice citrus lemon and lime zest, good crisp acidity and a nice chalky Bordeaux Blanc style minerality. It was very refreshing on a hot afternoon last week. David

From the three discriptions the "Shiraful Cab" seems to have the best chance of either being better with age, or at least not completely falling apart with age. The description indicates the wine seems to have a balance in its elements - alcohol, acid, tannin, fruit. The "Serious Syrah" needs to be throttled back a bit on ripe fruit and a better acid/pH level. The tannins may subside someday, but what is left will likely be like an very overripe piece of fruit. The "Zuper Zin" needs to go to the spinning cone to lower its alcohol level. Not that I believe that's always a good choice, but if it's hot it's way too alcoholic for the other elements of the wine. The brick red color (what vintage is this?) might be from a very high pH (like 3.9-4.0) so it's likely to need more acidity. Just my thoughts.... David

2002 Rosemount Estate GSM Grenache-Syrah-Mourvedre McLaren Vale 53% Grenache 41% Syrah 6% Mourvedre Fairly dark in color - very deep red Aromas of dark cherries, some crushed raspberry, brown sugar, just a hint of mint/eucalyptus - not overly complex. Soft in the mouth...flavors of raspberry liqueur, not much else. Just a little bit of heat from the 14.5% alcohol in the finish. Nothing too exciting but it will do for tonight. Got this at Trader Joes about a year ago for about $6.99

In Healdsburg it's Willi's Seafood and Raw Bar. Some of the most tender calamari I've ever eaten. Everything on the menu is tapas style so you can try a number of different items in one visit. David in Sonoma Wine Country

While that is what we've all come to believe, here's an article that suggests it may not always be true. http://www.winebusiness.com/ReferenceLibra...fm?dataId=42346 David in Sonoma Wine Country

Before we move on to "B" here's..... Albarino According to Wikipedia: "Albariño ("ahl-bar-EEN-yoh" – Galician) or Alvarinho ("ahl-vah-REE-nyoh" – Portuguese) is a variety of white wine grape grown in Galicia (northwest Spain) and northern Portugal, where it is used to make varietal white wines. International wines made from this varietal are most notably from the Rías Baixas DO. It is also common in the Vinho Verde region of Portugal, but it is only authorized to be growned in Monção. In other locations such as Ribeiro, Lima, Braga or Valdeorras it is often mixed with other grapes such as Loureiro, Caiño, Arinto or Treixadura to produce blended wines. Such blends were common throughout Galicia too until about 1985; when the Rías Baixas DO was established on an experimental basis in 1986, Albariño began to emerge as a varietal, both locally and internationally. Its recent emergence as a varietal led the wines to be "crafted for the palates of Europe, America and beyond and for wine drinkers who wanted clean flavors and rich, ripe fruit" and led to wines completely different from those produced across the river in Portuga. The grape is famed for its distinctive aroma, very similar to that of Viognier, suggesting apricot and peach. The wine produced is unusually light, and generally high in acidity. Its thick skins and large number of pips can cause residual bitterness. Its vines are also notoriously difficult to ripen, even in the hot summers of the peninsula, though this is often due to over-crowding of vines by the winemakers." Pazo Senorans Albarino 2004 Rias Baixas $16.99 Medium yellow...almost Chardonnay like in intensity of color. Light citrus aromas that land on both lemon and lime notes. Nice sense of minerality and good acidity. The aromas start to open in the glass after about five minutes moving to a more floral, peach like character. In the mouth nice viscosity framed by brisk acidity. The favors are centered around the same citrus theme as the aromas. Stony minerality adds an almost Bordeaux Blanc like character. Nice long, refreshing finish. It will interesting to see how this wine develops over the next few years. I discovered Albarino at a small tapas restaurant in Sacramento, CA about three years ago. I find these wines to be a great addition to Sauvignon Blanc and German Riesling as a white wine with food. Served with a salad Carpese first course before a main course of London Broil and roasted new potatos. David in Sonoma County

It was reproted on June 23rd that Murphy-Goode had agreed to be purchased by Kendall-Jackson to be part of the Jackson Family Farms portfolio. K-J buys the label and inventory. They winery facility will be leased back to Jackson Family Farms and the Murphy family's vineyards will continue to supply the grapes. http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs.dl...1036/BUSINESS01 David

I think Rachel Ray has that one covered for the whole network. David

I love the idea of starting with a rose. And I'll look for the Hanna as well. I've spoken to 2 or 3 distributors in Austin and know that I can get those. The ones from New Mexico and even Washington are difficult. kcd ← The Hanna Cab Franc is likely available directly from the winery only since the production is around 200 cases. David

Hanna Winery http://www.hannawinery.com makes a wonderful Cab Franc from their Bismark Ranch Vineyard up on the Sonoma Co. side of Mt. Veeder. Very rich with none of the herbal, green pepper character that some Napa and Sonoma Cab Francs have. The web site shows the 2000 vintage for sale but you can get the 2001 which is from a much better year. David

Frankly, speaking only for myself and no one else, I've never drunk any cat's pee, either. (Although I like Villa Maria so much that it makes me think I ought to try.) ← Hmmmm, while I can recall many instances of people reporting a NZ SB smelling like cat pee, I can't think of anyone reporting it "tastes" like cat pee. David

I was interested in trying these Bordeaux blends until I saw the $50 price tag. I don't even want to spend $50 on "new" automobile parts! David

Their inhouse distribution companies are 'Three Loose Screws' and 'The Other Guys.' Has anyone seen / tried the new wines? What do you think of the marketing? ← This Sebastiani is, of course, Don Sebastiani and Sons not "the" Sebastiani winery in Sonoma. Don, brother of Sam Sebastiani, became president of Sebastiani in 1986 when Sam was fired by the family. Don left the family business in 2001 to form Don Seabastiani and Sons with his sons August and Donnie. They started with the Smoking Loon and Pepperwood Grove labels. Now they've branched out into even more humorous labels with the Three Loose Screws. Their first release of Screw Kappa Napa 2002 Napa Cabernet was very good for the price (about $11.99 at BevMo). The Mia's Playground 2003 Dry Creek Zin is supposed to also be very good for its price. Most of the wines seem to garner mid 80's scores from the wine magazines. Their target audience seems to be the millenial generation (and to an extent Gen X) which enjoys the somewhat sarcastic humor the TLS are providing in their labels and marketing. Being a big proponent of the use of humor in marketing, I really like what they're doing. As long as they can continue to put decent wine into the bottle for the price. David in Sonoma Co.

Red wine pigments are red at a pH of 3-4 (the pH range of wine) but turn almost black when they reach a neutral pH of more like 7. When mixed with a fair amount of water the pigments might look slightly bluish. If you've ever seen the hands of a winemaker during the harvest, they can be so black it looks like the person's been working on a car. This is because the pH of human skin is about 7 or neutral and the grape/wine color pigments turn from red to black. It's just the natural chemistry of wine and nothing to worry about. David

The Farmhouse Restaurant and Inn is nearby (about 10-15 minutes) and excellent. 7871 River Road Forestville , CA 95436 Telephone: 707-887-3300 David

Are ordinary Americans ready for all that data? Do we care? Wine Industry Suffers 'Curse of Orson Welles' ← My take on labels is that the more corporate wineries are being no more informative than they have been in the past. If by "dumbing down" you mean saying less about the wine and trying to spin a sense of a fun lifestyle instead, then yes they are. But in their defense they are attempting to appeal to an audience who couldn't (for the most part) give a rats #@* about the hardcore particulars of a wine. They just want it to taste good to them. Even many knowledgeable wine consumers won't know what a pH of a wine is and what it means as far as the taste of the wine goes. Only real wine geeks and winemakers have a real clue. I AM a wine geek and former winemaker so I DO want to know the facts - as many as I can glean from whatever source. I work in a tasting room of an Alexander Valley winery so I am constantly educating visitors about the wines I pour for them. But that said, there are many people I pour for who just want to taste the wine and aren't that interested in the particulars. We have a selection of limited production wines from the Sonoma side of Mt. Veeder that -as would be expected - have a real sense of terroir in their intense flavors. But unless the person has had other wines from Mt. Veeder or understands what differences there is in a mountain vineyard and the wines from it, I have to educate them in those differences with my photos, samples of the volcanic soils, and quick lecture on why mountain vineyards are different. That can't be fit onto a wine label. So I say that there is no way to create one wine label for every wine drinker. The best you can probably do is know your target audience and "try" to create a label that will best appeal to their interest in wine. David

Two weeks ago - Uncooked pasta sauce with garlic, basil, parmesan chopped up in a food processor and then chunks of fresh mozzarella added. When it hits the pasta the mozzarella semi-melts. Last week - tomato slices, fresh mozzarella slices and sliced basil w/ EVOO and lemon juice. This week - gazpacho - although the flavor of the tomatos may have been muddied by using a commercial tomato juice + water for the broth The coming week - still thinking about it. David

Industry sources, however, claim that during the past two years, women are buying more wine than men. Oh well, I think it's an idea that is going to going to go over well. Now if they would just come out with a Red Chardonnay, we could get more women to drink red wine! ← Rebel I don't know how long you've been a part of the wine industry but I have been associated with it for most of 30 years. In the early 80's several of the large producers (not Gallo) starting making "light wines" with 1/3 fewer calories. At the 1983 Monterey Wine Festival they even had a panel discusion of these wines. During the lunch I attended that day the guest speaker was Louis P. Martini who offered that "...if I want 1/3 fewer calories I just drink 1/3 less wine!" The lunch crowd roared with approval. And, of course, we've revisited that scenario in the last few years with "low carb" wines. David

While I don't have any ideas on quick and easy meals for you I might have something to recommend that will allow you to get around both inside and outside. Last March my wife dislocated her ankle and broke both bones in her leg just above the ankle. She did't have the upper body strength to get around on crutches so her mobility and freedom were severly limited. We heard about a device called a Roll-A-Bout that you rest your injured leg on and, while walking on the good leg, roll along on the imjured leg. We were able to find a retail outlet only 90 minutes away from us and we bought a good used one. It wasn't cheap - about $400 - but worth every penny in the end. It gave my wife almost 100% of her freedom that she wouldn't have had otherwise. Here's a link to the Roll-A-Bout website: http://www.roll-a-bout.com/ Good luck with the meals. David

You're correct that Hanna produced a small amount (150 cases) of a 2001 Petite Verdot from their Bismark Ranch Vineyard on top of Mt. Veeder. The wine has a small amount (approx. 8%) Merlot blended into it to flesh out the overall mouthfeel. I work for Hanna in the Alexander Valley tasting room and we do have a small amount still available for sale there. In most years, because the PV block is so small, the wine goes into both the Bismark Ranch Cab Sauv. and the Bismark Ranch Noir, the proprietary Bordeaux blend. In 2001 the winery produced both a varietal PV and about 150 cases of a varietal Malbec. Both Murphy-Goode's PV and Styker Sonoma's PV (Alexander Valley neighbors of Hanna) source their fruit from the old Louis Martini Monte Rosso Vyd down the mountain from Bismark Ranch. David

They actually tested four Barolos priced from $11 to $40 and in the end found that their food tasters were very happy with the dish made with an $11 Barolo from Trader Joe's. To me that falls within my guidelines for how much I'll spend on wine for cooking. David

Last year we bought a 8 3/4 qt red round d.o. on eBay for $142 including shipping. It's great when I want to do a double size batch of jambalaya or a large batch of soup. Then a few months ago I aquired a 5 3/4 qt. red round d.o. from Marshalls for $99.99. Works great for the smaller sizes of the above foods as well as for braising a medium size pot roast. David

I second the recipe for "New York cheesecake" from Cook's Illustrated, I've wowed a lot of people with that one. They also have a recipe for Lemon cheesecake which uses a lemon curd topping. Sort of lemon pie meets cheescake. Very yummy. David