The Wine Commonsewer

Henry Hazlitt on the Housing Crisis (in 1946)

Government-guaranteed home mortgages, especially when a negligible down payment or no down payment whatever is required, inevitably mean more bad loans than otherwise. They force the general taxpayer to subsidize the bad risks and to defray the losses. They encourage people to "buy" houses that they cannot really afford. They tend eventually to bring about an oversupply of houses as compared with other things. They temporarily overstimulate building, raise the cost of building for everybody (including the buyers of the homes with the guaranteed mortgages), and may mislead the building industry into an eventually costly overexpansion. In brief, in they long run they do not increase overall national production but encourage malinvestment

Henry Hazlitt was an economist who wrote Economics in One Lesson, one of the most popular economics texts ever published.

Tucson Sunrise

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

Sunrise Saturday morning just before my morning constitutional that involved wrestling 200 pounds of dog. Had to wear leather gloves because it's like driving a wagon train.

Blackie is like walking a bull. The aptly named host dog, Bear, weighs over 100 lbs. Ordinarily, the TWC dogs (Blackie and Daisy) are used to running free while I trek out to the ridge, beyond which, the orange trees used to grow. They're pretty good on a leash but still like driving a team of Clydesdales, and they really want to chase rabbits.

As Always,

TWC

2005 Coho Cabernet Sauvignon (SummitVine Ranch)

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

2005 was a very good year for California Cabernet Sauvignon and the Coho is a very good Cabernet. Though I'd expect a bit more from a fifty dollar wine, the Coho offers promise for those with the patience to wait for it to mature a few years in the cellar. This wine will definitely drink better in five years.

I'm not sure if Coho wines are organic or not, but those guys certainly imply as much.....

.....the salmon embodies an innate wisdom so essential to understanding ourselves and our environment. As stewards of the land, winemakers must strive to sustain our habitat and the species that share it. And like the salmon we need the steadfast will to keep going no matter how difficult the journey.

Swim against the flow.
Lightning glimpsed through water;
Sustain the species!

The wine is deep garnet in the glass, bone dry and complex on the palate with black cherry, blackberry, cedar, and a long earthy finish.

 

SummitVine Ranch, Calistoga

Serve this wine with herb crusted prime rib or New York Steak grilled medium rare.

Winemakers Notes:

This wine comes from SummitVine Ranch Vineyard, located at 1800 feet elevation in the Diamond Mountain District. Its northwest hillside exposure provides plenty of hang-time, and the long, sunny days slowly ripen the grapes to perfection. It is very dark and rich, with intense black cherry and black olive aromas and layers of velvety currant, black cherry and blackberry fruit in the mouth. Stunning and remarkably elegant, with a dense core of fleshy, black fruit and nuances of mocha, cedar and spice, immaculately balanced with toasty oak leading to a long and complex finish and firm, integrated tannins.

As Ever,

TWC

 

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Can't Reach the Grapes Without a Step Stool

TWC's Niece Abigail & Her Dog Bear

Bear recently hired on as a Bearista at the Starbucks on E Broadway in Tucson. Stop in and say hello.

As Ever,

TWC

The Thanksgiving Sermon

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

Ambrose Bierce defined turkey as follows.....

A large bird whose flesh, when eaten on certain religious anniversaries, has the peculiar property of attesting piety and gratitude.

To be sure, roast turkey (or Kahlua pig, tamales, canned ham with pineapple and maraschinos, or Grandma's cranberry salad) is absolutely central to this uniquely American celebration of piety and gratitude. 

But the lavish meal, symbolizing the harvest, the change of season, and the reward of labor well spent, is just one component of this unpretentious day. It is also incumbent upon us, as we gather with family and friends to break bread and share wine, to give thanks for the many blessings we have enjoyed.

On this day of thanksgiving, we would also do well to remember that billions suffer oppression, violence, and poverty. Few have heard of Thomas Jefferson's vision for a free people. Most are immersed in cultures where concepts of liberty, tolerance, and freedom have little meaning. It is a mere accident of birth that finds us at the Thanksgiving table table consuming more calories in one meal than the average Ethiopian does in two months.

And for those who don't feel especially blessed this Thanksgiving consider that.....

The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts.  No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving.

On a personal note, I am especially grateful to my clients because I earn my living in an agreeable way. I am grateful, also, to friends and family for your friendship, your love, and your kindness. And to you, Gentle Readers, who take time out of your busy day to drop by the website every so often. Thank you.

From Casa de las Rocas Grandes, may your Thanksgiving be filled with good wine, good food, good company and a couple of Kodak moments.

Salud!

As Always,

The Wine Commonsewer

The Thanksgiving Divorce

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

An old man in Phoenix rings up his son in New York two days before Thanksgiving and says.....

I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; forty-five years of misery is enough.

The son screams.....

Pop, what are you talking about?

In an agitated voice the father says......

We can't stand the sight of each other any longer. We're sick of each other, and I'm sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in Chicago and tell her.

Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone.....

Like heck they're getting divorced, I'll take care of this!

She calls Phoenix immediately, and screams at her father.....

You are NOT getting divorced. Don't do a single thing until I get there. I'm calling my brother back, and we'll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don't do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?

She slams the phone down and the old man turns to his wife and says.....

Okay, Dear, they're coming for Thanksgiving and paying their own way.

As Always,

TWC

Tip of the glass to Angela H

She's A Brick.....House

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

Most Gentle Readers with a few miles on the clock know what a Brick House is. Dimes to donuts, many also recall the archaic phrase from which it was derived.....She's built like a brick sh**house (shaddup, this *is* a family chanel here.). This, my friends is a *rock* sh**house*. 

The rock .... house is located along the Great Southern Overland Stage Route, the first road to Southern California from anywhere. If memory serves, Wyatt Earp drove stage coaches on this road in the employ of Phineas Banning in the days before his tenure at Dodge City. Wyatt was good. He  didn't need anyone to ride shotgun.

This rock house serves no particular purpose for the modern day traveler as there is nothing here but cholla, tarantulas, and snakes. Sadly, no reflectorized sign indicates that one might consider making a rest stop here for a smoke and, well.....

Bonus:

Yes, Disco is dead, except it isn't, it's morphed into something altogether more 21st Century and yet it still sucks. Come on, don't cancel your subscription.  

As Ever,

TWC

Turkey Rap

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

No tricks, no gimmicks, these guys claim to do this with just their voices.

Can't see the video? Look here.

As Always,

TWC

Tip of the glass to Jon J in Hawaii

Harriet Beecher Stowe on Thanksgiving

The king and high priest of all the festivals was the autumn Thanksgiving. When the apples were all gathered and the cider was all made, and the yellow pumpkins were rolled in from many a hill in billows of gold, and the corn was husked, and the labors of the season were done, and the warm, late days of Indian Summer came in, dreamy, and calm, and still, with just enough frost to crisp the ground of a morning, but with warm traces of benignant, sunny hours at noon, there came over the community a sort of genial repose of spirit - a sense of something accomplished.

2007 Tormenta Cabernet Sauvignon

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

Miguel Torres winery is mega. It ain't WEC. It ain't Gallo, it isn't even Robert Mondavi, but moving that direction, with a resolution to the problem of family succession that plagued Mondavi and Gallo both.  Nobody wanted to retire and, well, you know how those Italian boys are. At Torres, the family members face mandatory retirement at 65. The CEO? 70, tops.

Torres is a Spanish winery dating back at least four generations and was the first foreign winery to set up shop in the Central Valley of Chile in 1979. Today they account for about 1% of Chilean wine exports. Torres is big on au natural and the Tormenta is fashioned from organically grown grapes which are IMO certified.  That's something akin to an Underwriters Laboratory cert for farmers and is less susceptible to political pressure and outright manipulation than either the EU designation or the USDA's. 

But is the organic wine worth drinking? Short answer is: yes. In the glass it's the color of expensive rubies and bone dry. It is 100% Cabernet and is more in keeping with the stylings of Bordeaux than the big fruit forward offerings of California.

Pretty good for under ten bucks American.

Winemaker's notes:

Ruby red with fiery glints. Exquisite varietal aroma on a rich base of leather and licorice. With typically silky tannins on the palate and an elegant finish.

Review of 2006 Tormenta here.

As Ever,

TWC