Carolyn Tillie

Big, fluffy vine - I'll be showing the suckering next week! Lots and lots of clusters that are flowering: So I'll show you more of the odd day-to-day workings... Here, we are soaking various different lots of potential corks in Skyy Vodka. After a few days, they'll be able to look at the perosity to see which will be the best cork for bottling this year:

Can you describe the dressing? That is what would determine the wine... The Nicoise salad I make has a dressing based with chopped capers, so I tend to pair it with a Petit Chablis -- possibly a Sauvignon Blanc if the wine itself is not too acidic.

Not a vague question at all! Here are a few recommendations: Tale of Two Valleys: Wine, Wealth, and the Battle for the Good Life in Napa and Sonoma Napa - The Story of an American Eden by James Conaway Haven't read, but know of: Fruit of the Vine: Two Hundred Years of Winemaking in Cal Wine Country: A History of Napa Valley: The Early Years 1838-1920 Bottled Poetry: Napa Winemaking from Prohibition to the Modern Era edited to fix links.

[DAMN] I also missed it! [/DAMN] Which begs my question -- in the previous episode, there was a big build-up to the Chowderhead interviewing the potentially new hotty chef... Did he resurface or was that just eye-candy foreplay that never went any further?

Doesn't seem to be scheduled in the San Francisco Bay area at all. It's dead, Jim. Wrong - here in Napa it is showing at 9:00 p.m. Saturday night on our NBC affiliate.

Count me in as a Pocky fan as well... I tend towards the Chocolate-related Pockys, but occasionally enjoy the Green Tea ones just 'cuz they are so bloody weird! Maybe the next eGullet Literary Smackdown could be "An Ode to Pocky" or something...

There is a caveat to those Organization websites... Not all the wineries within that appellation belong to the organization so they aren't necessarily on the website. In the case of the Silverado Trail page, Robert Sinskey was the one that jumped out at me as being missing. This whole thing has become rather fascinating for me as just last evening, here at Ladera, a bunch of wineries got together to discuss starting a Howell Mountain Appellation Winery & Growers Guild. Don't know if it is going to fly or not, but looking at other organizations' sites (Silverado, Oakville, Carneros, etc...) one quickly picks up on the politics within the valley and who plays the games and who doesn't....

Completely new concept for me -- could someone give me an idea of dishes that might be served? Sample menu? Anything would be appreciated....

With due respect in return, I think singling out Ferrer with a BLECH is a little harsh considering ALL of these major sparkling wine houses in the valley really are the same tourist traps and offer extremely similar wines. I'm not sure what your bias is, but I would put Domaine Carneros, Domaine Chandon, and Mumm all in the same category. When I was at Mumm last Friday, I had to wade through two full tour buses that were unloading and loading. As well, I nearly gagged on their awful Blanc de Blancs and Brut - only the special bottlings were decent as is the case at Ferrer. However, my recommendations were based on the views, staff, tasting rooms, and whether or not they had some decent sparkling wine. They are all decent enough places to take out of towners. Tourist-wise you are indeed correct - all of the main producers are relatively the same. Only The bias I have is entirely due to the quality of their product in that vs. the others mentioned, GF is the only one that gives me a headache and a hangover. The others do not. With the exception of their 1995 Carneros Cuvée and their 1987 Late-Disgorged ETS, the rest of their wines taste akin to Korbel and Freixnet to me. Besides Schramsburg, the other exceptional California producer of sparking is J - their '97 Vintage Brut was amazing.

Very extensive tour with warm, friendly people. Definitely off the beat-n-track (way up in Calistoga) and consistently fabulous sparklings. With all due respect to rdaily on Gloria Ferrer: BLECH. Yea, it is on the main highway, if coming in from the City, but like Viansa, GF is a major tourist trap with mediocre wines. Also, if you DO decide upon Mumm and the Silverado Trail, stop at Robert Sinsky for great Pinot Noir...

I often bring visiting guests to either Domaine Carneros or Domaine Chandon. While I prefer Carneros' sparkling to Chandon's both have "first visitor" appeal. Also, both are relatively inexpensive. THE California Sparkling place to go is Schramsburg - but they charge $25 each. Kinda pricey, but really great wine.

you need to go to the Rajun Cajun in Hermosa Beach. Stephen, the owner is from Layfayette and really knows his stuff....i have been going there for years...Best red beans and rice on the planet....oh yea, think I will go there for lunch today! It is kinda funny that Hermosa has no less than FOUR Cajun restaurants... Cafe Boogaloo 1238 Hermosa Avenue (310) 318-2324 Dakota Cafe 316 Pier Avenue (310) 374-6577 New Orleans Cajun & Creole Cuisine 140 Pier Ave. (310) 372-8970 Ragin Cajun Cafe 422 Pier Ave (310) 376-7878

Fascinating. The Patina Group of restaurants makes what they call a French 75 but use cognac instead of gin. Instead of a flute, they serve it in a martini glass, also dipped in sugar. I always loved it...

As someone who is extremely interested in religions, would you explain all this to me, a mere gentile? I'm intrigued by the topic, but most of the discussion makes no sense and I'd like to understand... Thanks!

Any idea why this is? Here is an interest online article, Halves At It, by David Marglin - his thoughts might explain it...

Hmmmmm... very interesting discussion. I gotta admit, I've never considered looking at pH whatsoever. Residual sugar, on the other hand, is something I peruse just to assure that the Gewurtzs I drink are more Alsatian in style than a dessert wine. Got to investigate this more, me thinks.

Nope - actually we are doing really great, having already gotten our requisite 40 to 46 inches this last winter (which filled the reservoir). Apparently the valley floor only gets about 36 inches of rain but because we are on the mountain, we do okay. We have the drip irrigation system in place, but won't need to start using it until the heat sets in - probably another month or so. Oddly, it is very foggy and cool this morning, which makes for our mountain fruit to be so concentrated and rich in flavor.

VERASION: Color change; the moment color appears in the grapes. It also signals a shift in the development of the grape, which now begins the long process of ripening. Basically, it is the point where the grapes have reached the size they are going to get to and begin to produce juice...

Again, hard to tell that there's a lot of change - but we'll be suckering in the next week or so and verasion is not far behind!

That's the one! I'm so thankful they are showing it with sub-titles here. I wasn't sure how old it was but had a relatively contemporary look so knew it wasn't that old. I'm pretty jazzed about it, being somewhat of a Japan-o-phile... I'm even go to have a small dinner party for the next showing here in three weeks. I'll be experimenting my Okonomiyaki as well as a standard Sukiyaki which I can create pretty confidentally. Arigato!

Here in Northern California, there are a number of foreign television channels that offer a variety of bizarre shows. Searching through the evening's offerings, curiousity peaked at *something* entitled "My Little Chef" which had nothing more to its description than, "Drama." What I stumbled on was Episode 5 of an apparently on-going drama about a number of people involved in the restaurant industry. In this episide, Woman Executive wonders why her Ex-Partner has opened a much smaller restaurant after leaving her and asks His Old Partner to go and find out why. In a twisted and convulated fashion, we learn that Ex-Partner is struggling in his new business because the suppliers won't deliver ingredients. Old Partner arrives as the evening's one and only customer. The Head Chef is a young, beautiful woman who interviews the customers to be able to prepare "the perfect dish" for each person. While other characters are introduced and the plot develops, the Chef prepares a meal where the courses are individually photographed and displayed a la Iron Chef style (complete with dramatic music). By the end of this hour-long play, we see the mending of broken relationships and the development of new ones (Woman Executive is actuallly long-lost mother to burgeoning Chef!). The next installment is being shown at 8:00 p.m. on June 12th on KTSF (Channel 8 for me). Do you folks in Japan get this? It is reminiscent to me of when I discovered Iron Chef on this same channel - over 8 years ago and before it ever was heard of on The Food Network. I'm terribly excited to have a TV show to look forward to now that Iron Chef sucks and Frasier is gone...

This was my immediate thought... I don't know of any wineries that particiapated, but then again, I don't have any buddies at Sebastiani, Gallo, or Almaden...

That was my thought exactly - Caspian Cuisine in Santa Monica makes a fabulous borscht that would be worthy of photographing...

Reserving judgement until the final list is published.... Who knows what was being tasted REALLY?

I'm a huge tempura fan -- growing up, my mom would tempura eggplant as an appetizer. For years, I didn't know what French Fries were... I especially like the yams and sweet potatoes as well and have marveled at the occasional restaurant that do less-seen vegetables like peas and asparagus and mushrooms. Leaves are great too. When I do seaweed, I cut it into 3-inch strips but I only batter half of it. The whole strip is fried, but there is a nice contrast to having half of it battered. Variety is the key...