Carolyn Tillie

Well, you can hardly judge Napa by last year's weather. We started having 80° temperatures on Valentine's Day and it hardly let up afterwards. It got hot and stayed hot through harvest. The wineries are hardly shut down. Some (us included) shut down between Christmas Eve and New Year's but the rest with retail tasting rooms are almost always open. Also, Valentine's Day is a bigggg tourist time here in Napa, even though it can be chilly. Regarding outdoor activities like golf -- it is a total crap shoot. In previous years there has been plenty of rain but that is when I used to love to visit. The tasting rooms tend to be more people-accessible as many don't like to be on the roads when it rains (I personally don't care). Also, if you get a good Inn or B&B with a nice fireplace, the fact that it is chilly won't matter. It is terribly cold right now. We are having 25° nights, waking up to frost on the ground. My vineyard manager assured me it is going to snow up here on the mountain this year (we are at elevation 1500). Bottom line -- obviously can't guarantee anything so I say, "why wait?" Come on into Napa in February and drop me a PM if you do. I'll be here on the mountain and you are more than welcome to visit.

Some folks will give a restaurant the benefit of a the doubt -- if they had a bad experience the first time, it could have been an off night for the chef, the servers, or perhaps the consumer him/herself was just out of sorts. Going back to a restaurant a second time could prove enlightening and one could discover that a real gem exists that would have otherwise been dismissed.

Tung Lai Shun Tung Lai Shun Tung Lai Shun Ommmmmm........

BTW, being the movie nitpicker that I am... there was one minor blooper I'd like to mention. When Jack and Miles walked out of one of the first wineries, Jack is carrying two cases of wine. He is shown carrying them up by his chest and easily loads them into his trunk. There just ain't no way, my friends, lest he be Ahhhrnold. A case of wine weighs at least 36 pounds. Some weigh up to 50 pounds. That would mean he is hefting over 70 pounds up around his midsection. IF a guy can lift two cases at once, he would have to hold them down by his groin AND struggle to get them both to a car at one time.

Excellent description. Better Adult Kool-Aid than Arbor Mist...

Marie-Louise is right on the money. If you can't get Chez Panisse reservations, consider Rockridge BART exit. Besides some lovely restaurants, there is a great local market, wine bar, and just a wonderful neighborhood for wandering. As it is a Monday night, you might want to check to see if Pearl is open (some restaurants aren't open on Mondays). Recently, in the 'where do locals eat' thread, some have sadly explained that the nearby Grasshopper has gone down the hill, which is quite sad. I also recently ate at Tachibana, barely a block off the BART station. Quite decent Japanese food with a really expansive menu (sushi, yakitori, noodles, you name it....) And eating near the airport? Not if you value your health and your stomach....

On the bright side, I know a lot of wine geeks without VinoTemps, so don't hold that against anyone . ← Oh, no worries. I consider myself well on the way to wanting to be the ultimate über wine geek and it'll be years before I buy a VinoTemp (preferring to spend my cold, hard-earned cash on the wine itself!)

I think I've figured something out -- BN is a GREAT wine for folks who are; A) trying to get introduced to wine in general, B) trying to segue from having only drunk white wine into trying some reds, or C) eating a turkey sandwich. I went to a friend's house where the sandwiches were being served. They are newbies to wine and had a bottle of BN open. The sandwiches where flavorful and relatively moist, but the light, fruity, and accessibility of the BN was a nice accompaniment to the sandwich. I think it would be a fine picnic wine except that (as many have indicated previously in the thread), drinking the wine young is imperative and picnic weather may not be around for several months for a lot of folks...

Great points, George. I questioned the value of the whole Mother scene -- the guy has a reasonably decent job as a teacher in San Diego (a 40k a year job give-or-take) and he lives in a dump of an apartment. Excluding the fact that his entire wine collection is on the floor of a small closet (what? no VinoTemp???), what was the plot reason behind the mother visit and theft of money? It really wasn't necessary to either the character development or film (except, perhaps, to show how lame he was in only bringing her flowers and ducking out early the next morning - theft aside). Also very true about the bucket dump... A true wine geek, no matter how emotionally or personally destitute, would never stoop to consuming from a dump bucket. The scene in Napa that got the biggest laughs was when, driving down the road, Miles explains how California chardonnays are over oaked with too much secondary ML fermentation... We ALL know that is true, eh?

First, do you have the special, straight-sided pan? Thick-walled, flat bottom, and necessary. I very THINLY slice my potato of choice on a mandoline into rounds. Wash and dry (they must be dry). Clarify tons and tons of butter. Dip each slice into the clarified butter and start laying flat, in concentric circles, slightly overlapping. Fill the dish with rows of potatoes and inbetween each row, brush more butter. Cover the dish and start on the stove top. When you feel it getting a bit warm, put into a hot oven for 15 or 20 minutes. Take out and flip cake over. return to oven until brown on other side. Remove from oven and drain any excess butter. Serve. It should be beautiful and golden brown (so taking care to lay out the slices evenly is mandatory). Obviously, the amount of time needed in the oven and the temperature varies. I tend to cook it in a very hot oven -- around 400 degress. Part of the difficulty is finding the pan that is absolutely flat. Even a slight curve and the potatoes can curl up on themselves. Let us know how you do!

Just got back from a post-Turkey Day showing. My sister and bro-in-law have been dragging my Dad to all sorts of flicks the past few days -- Alexander (which he hated) and National Treasure which only slightly amused him. So we all went and my Dad, who is no where near a wine geek laughed and enjoyed himself immensely. Yeah, we saw it in Napa so a LOT of the inside wine jokes were only getting laughed at by other folks in the theatre (probably ITB), but then we all laughed at the biggie funny scenes. Very, very enjoyable. Mild trivia -- One of Virginia Madsen's early flicks was Electric Dreams with Lenny Van Dolen. His character (with whom she ultimately falls in slove) is also named Miles...

How terribly sad to hear this -- I only discovered it during the summer and I was dining alone, hoping to bring friends back as I was entranced by the ambience. I hear there is an oyster house down the street (name completely escapes me) that is fabulous, doing the sorts of things that Grasshopper was doing. Hest, being in the neighborhood, do you know which one I'm refering to? It is on a corner by the Bart station, across the street from the markets...

For years I was in the Pinot/Gewrtz category -- setting out both white and red glasses and opening both. I hadn't given it much thought this year as those joining us are not huge imbibers and will drink whatever we give them. Maybe Shawn and I will open something special for ourselves to drink on the side, when no one is looking! Aw, heck, the boss just walked in with our 2000 Lone Canyon Cabernet as a Thanksgiving wine gift.... This is a wine I would normally drink with a huge piece of grilled red meat and will probably opt to sit on it for a few years instead of opening now.

Really Nice is correct in that the kits' aromas are chemical based. That is why I recommend buying essential oils (the expensive kind!) from better New Age or holistic shops. REAL essential oils are not chemical based. A good definition is here: http://www.aromaweb.com/articles/whatare.asp

That is a perfectly stunning website -- Foie Gras with Unagi is right up my alley! Looks as though I'll have to get there before the holidays. Thanks, Randall!

Don't feel bad, Alex. A few years ago, when Shawn asked me what I wanted for a holiday gift, I told him a white truffle. When we looked into the price, Shawn suggested I take up cocaine instead -- it was far cheaper!

Gosh - I never realized these were Southern in nature here in the states. As a devoted Anglophile, I will make them as part of a British High Tea. My favorites: (kinda like Melissa's) Smoked Salmon, Cream Cheese, and Dill (different than scallions) Watercress and Butter Cucumber Potted Shrimp (butter mashed with shrimp, mace, ginger, a bit of cayenne, S&P) Ritz Special Egg (from the Ritz Carlton - made with capers) Deviled Ham Alice B. Toklas Sandwiches (kinda hard to describe - saute some mushrooms in butter and beat into a paste. Season with cayenne and mix with butter. Now and then, Alice would add scrambled eggs or parmesan cheese) Thinking about the south -- my Dad would INSIST on a sandwich with Pimiento Cheese! Hmmmmm... time for tea!

Ozumo is very good, though it can get quite pricey depending on what you order. I find the non-sushi more interesting personally. They also have a very good sake list, most of which can be ordered by the glass. For Southern California board members, it looks like they will be opening another location in Newport Beach soon. ← Thanks, Malik! Can you tell me what sort of non-sushi items they might have that is a bit different? I'm used to the standard teriyaki this or that but I'm curious if they go to the extent of serving those mushroom-custard cups (sorry, I don't know the Japanese name)? Maybe even Sukiyaki with raw egg? Also, have you ever eaten at Grasshopper? That was one place that impressed me with their sake list and I'd like to experiment more with various sakes...

DCMark - don't buy it. From the looks of it, you get nine (9) vials of essential oils (which, by the way, is how sommeliers train their nose). A really good way to do this yourself, spend less money, and have more fun doing it, is to start collecting the essences yourself and make your own kit. For starters, you probably already have a bunch in your kitchen (vanilla, cinnamon, different herbs, etc). Then you could go to your local semi-holistic grocery store (Whole Foods would be good for this) and buy other essential oils like cherry, musk, oak, etc... You can even rip apart a cigarette (yes, tobacco is a viable wine characterist) and have some bits of leather. The really expensive kits like these have over 400 scents that wine snobs use to train their nose. Start with the biggies and don't worry about the more obscure scents. Then, the game that you play with yourself is this: Open some bottles that have been put into brown paper bags (start with four or six). Pour a glass of each. Open your vial of Essence of Cherry (always a good one to start with if you are tasting cabernet). Smell the essence to familiarize your nose with concentrated cherry smell. Then smell each wine to see which has the most cherry. Jot down in front of each wines if you detected cherry. Then do it with vanilla, some tobacco, some mint, some other herbs, etc.... This is all done before you even begin tasting! Then go into tasting and continue jotting down your impressions. Do this often enough and before you know it, you won't need the essencial oil to heighten your senses to what is in the wine. Does that help?

Yep, there are two movies out now dealing with wine. Sideways and Mondovino. Get her take here. I'm still waiting for Sideways to show up at the cute, renovated Sonoma theatre but may have to <gulp> go and see it here in Napa (crappy, old theatre that NEEDS renovation). Mondovino is the one that holds more interest for me but I guess that won't be around for another few weeks.

Welcome aboard Fuchsia! I really enjoyed your presentations at the WoF conference last weekend -- fabulous to have you here! BTW, if anyone wants to try insects in Los Angeles, go to Typhoon, 3221 Donald Douglas Loop South, Santa Monica, CA 90405-3213, Phone: (310) 390-6565. Their insects include: Here's a picture of their crickets and their white worms.

When I was living in San Diego (20 years ag), there was an odd little hamlet called Alpine. Back then, Alpine had nothing BUT Basque restaurants. I have no idea if they are still there and apparently from a bit of research, the bulk of them are now in Bakersfield. Did the entire Californian Basque community move?

It sounds a bit like Harira, the soup you have for ramadan in Morocco. I forgot about that one, that is good. (I think it is usually made with lamb bones...) ← Interesting -- I did a quick search on Harira and found meaty versions with saffron and vegetarian versions with turmeric. I guess the one I found IS similar and I never knew it (I love having religious-based cuisine...)

Where do you live? Besides the Ferry Building which Melkor mentioned, the Pasta Shop in Berkeley has a great selection as well. They also carry imported truffles. Edited to add that when I was at 99 Ranch last weekend, they not only had some great Asian mushrooms (maitake, shiitake, and woodear) as well as chanterelles. Really inexpensive!

Welcome aboard, Randall! Great suggestions -- now I'm intrigued by Ozuma and will have to check it out (loving Japanese food probably more than any other cuisine!). I also completely concur with the Zuni suggestion for Sundays. Squeat Mungry introduced Shawn and I to Zuni on a Sunday and having driven past it on other times, don't think I'll ever go anytime other than a Sunday afternoon. I was there last Sunday and there was something on the menu akin to Bread Soup to die for. And a special Pine Nut Tart that was complete perfection! (A crust ALMOST as good as Ludja's!)