Bombdog

See ya Saturday Morning Gordo!

Heirloom varieties at the Farmer's Market, picked that morning! We always make BLT's with the first ones purchased.

Craig, check out www.castlerockwinery.com for tons of info. Joe Briggs is the consulting winemaker. He's been making great small lot wines of his own for several years now. The buyer for Oakville Grocery told me that they are buying some small amounts from VERY good vineyards and blending. Places like Olivet and Rochioli. I have also heard some rumors that not everyone is pleased with their prices. Big surprise.

Great review Carrie....reading it made me feel like I was there! Oh, wait a minute....never mind. Just a small addition. For a restaurant on only it's 5th night of service, and certainly the busiest thus far, our entire party remarked at how the staff seemed to operate so smooth. Pilar told us that her staff was a combination of old friends and long time staff from other adventures. She said they all worked together well, and it definitely showed.

Beat me to it. We do alot of seafood, all year long and I can't really think of much we do to it other than some olive oil, maybe a bit of garlic and a sprinkle of fresh herbs. My grill surface is cast iron and all I do is use that wire brush from the paint department at Home Depot, after the pre heat and before applying the food.

You just need to phone them. They'll give you a return authorization and send you a new one. Mine broke about a month ago and I just got a NIB via UPS yesterday.

I'm wondering how much the citrus had to do with that, if it was involved.

So let me see if I got this right. It sounds like your house guest was busy slamming Sacramento and Biba's got in the way. I suppose we could even interpret the comment as a back handed compliment. That's too bad. I've always had a good meal there, with attentive service I actually had the pleasure of dining with Biba a few years ago and found her to be charming.

I don't count carbs either! I DO count the days until my next meal of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and cream gravy though!

Green bean casserole with those french onion things from a can..... Oh, and watermelon. It's not that I don't want it, but I am terribly allergic to it. Just the aroma of watermelon makes me want to loose the last bit of green bean casserole still in my stomach. Try growing up in the midwest with THAT around your neck! I think it scarred me. Who can I sue?

I know, I know INTRUDER But since my K9 is a female (Barbie), let me live long enough to say that this thread is the best read on eGullet.... and some of the food combo's aren't too bad either

I did this once too....with a Henckles paring knife. My EX, who thought I was waaaaay to anal about my knifes thought it was funny. She laughed a second time when I opened an ice pick on Christmas Day. Did I mention she was my EX?

I actually happened upon that recipe nearly 10 years ago. I can't even begin to recall the exact ingredients. However, over the years I have used a recipe similar to the one you are trying with satifactory results (for me at least). The only glaring differences I see between the way you and I do it is that I use ALOT of cumin and don't use pineapple juice. I split the whole bird down the back and marinate for up to 8 hours then grill SLOWLY until the bird is falling apart and crispy outside.

Indeed, that is very true. If you drive around Napa Valley you will notice that the vineyard fans used for frost protection are located on the valley floor and in areas where cooler air will pool. Back when I was in school a friend and I did a project where we designed a vineyard with trees that would redirect the cold air around a vineyard floor.

Thanks for the kind words folks. As an aside....vineyard managers all over the valley are holding their breath at this moment. Our fabulous weather of a few weeks ago has turned on us here. We are expecting thundershowers and possibly hail over the next couple of days. To make matters worse the forecasters are predicting sub 32 degree temperatures Sunday and Monday night. That would be a very bad thing, as freezing will ruin the crop. It was near freezing when I got up at 5 this morning and you could hear the vineyard fans all over. There will be a few sleepless nights coming up for those folks.

Thanks Carolyn for being so gracious and asking me to chime in. I'll try not to embarrass you (or myself for that matter) Now I'll see if I can answer some of these questions. (digging back to my General Vit textbook) It is possible for a rootstock to reject a field graft. However, field grafters here in the valley do a good job. It is a craft near art form and some of the guys are artists. Essentially, you can graft any variety to any rootstock. There are many limitations, and as such only a few rootstock's are used. (see below) I'm not sure about an answer to the 'pure' question. I suppose only a Merlot grown on a Merlot rootstock would be a pure Merlot. However, as you'll read below in the explanation of phylloxera, that would be a bad idea in North America. Therefore, a Merlot scion grafted to a rootstock which is resistant to phylloxera and chosen for the specific vineyard conditions would produce a much better grape than a pure vine. I think the soil disease your are referring to is phylloxera, which is not a soil disease at all, but a tiny nematode which feeds off the roots of a vine. There really is no 'cure' for phylloxera, as it is native to North America. There have been some attempts to eliminate vineyard soil of the nematode, but to my knowledge none have been successful, and are very expensive propositions. Instead, the common answer is to graft a varietal scion (type of wine grape) to a rootstock that is 'resistant' to phylloxera. Most rootstock used today are hybrids of the original 3 Carolyn mentioned. Besides resistance to phylloxera, rootstock's are selected for a variety of other reasons having to do with the varietal of grape to be grown, and the soil and conditions of the vineyard. If a vineyard is found to be infected with phylloxera the only 'cure' is to remove the vines and replant with resistant rootstock. There are other diseases common to wine grape growing, but good vineyard management practices can pretty much keep the damage to a minimum. I don't know of anyone in the valley who would leave a vineyard fallow. The economics of starting a vineyard are such that a grower pretty much needs to have the vineyard producing grapes as soon as possible, and for as long a time as possible. Once again, good vineyard practices, such as sustainable agriculture, keep the vineyard soil in good condition to produce year after year. Whew! I hope that's not too long winded and answers the questions.

CJ I used to work in the shop and as a tour guide for Napa Valley Bike Tours. http://www.napavalleybiketours.com/ They offer a full range of set tours, in Napa and Sonoma and will customize a tour for you if you give them time. They also rent some good equipment. John is a great guy and will take good care of you. I highly recommend him.

Here, here, Maybelline.... And thanks AB for your input... Can you make it a point to do the same for all the posts here....your style makes for some damned good reading...you should think about writing a book.

This sounds like something I get called to for my dog to work!

But it is attorney-speak.... and you do it so well!

FG, your attorney-nish is showing. I doubt I've ever used the term 'indicia' except when writing a search warrant!

Jeez, I'm feeling inadequate here. I always thought cats were the 'other white meat'.

Tanya, are you serious? Hell, I'll have you buy my wine and ship it to me!

I think I see a Good Eats segment here....Alton milking all those different animals and then explaining the nutritional content of each.

That's what I need. The last two good timers I've had have ended up in a pasta pot. I resorted to the cheap Ecko timers also. I figure if I'm gonna par boil them I'll keep the expense down.