The Wine Commonsewer™

2003 Rosemount GSM

Gentle Readers,

Gracing our pages today is the Kosmik Kid, a good friend whose name is etched upon the short list of true connoisseurs. And without further adieu................

The wine shop was having a tasting of Rosemount wines and although that label is not my favorite I never pass up a free taste.

Turns out that the guy had a super Rhone-style wine that I had never seen before, called GSM (Grenache-Syrah-Mourvedre). It ended up on our dinner table, paired with a flank steak (London Broil) that was liberally coated with a zinfandel spice rub also procured from the wine shop.

Flank steak is a great cut, lean but incredibly juicy if cooked no more than medium rare on the barbie or broiled in our new stainless steel programmable oven. 

For an accompaniment, I quartered several red-skinned potatoes and mixed them with about a half stick of butter, thinly sliced.  I covered the potatoes with about a half cup of chopped fresh dill, added salt and pepper, and popped them into the oven to roast at 450F just prior to starting the steak.  This produces an excellent side dish; the herb caramelizes in the butter, which brings out its natural sweetness and is awesome with good parsley or rosemary, too.  In the meantime I steamed about 3/4 lb of fresh green beans and tossed the beans with toasted almond slivers.  Dessert was a small fruit tart (berries, kiwi, pear).

At $27.00 US, the wine was a steal. All 3 grapes are distinctly there, and they hit the palate in rapid succession, something like the time I floored my buddy's GTO back in '66 and thrilled to those 3 deuces kicking in one after another.

The 2003 vintage is one of those rare young wines that gets better with every sip.  Probably can age very well for 6-8 years, but why wait when it's perfect now.

The Kosmik Kid

Tennis With Milton

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

Over at TCS Daily, Ralph Bennett recaps a long-ago tennis match with the late Milton Friedman.

That night, as I lay in bed, I thought back to how adroitly this spindly-legged "egghead" had controlled that tennis match. He had carefully gauged my strengths and weaknesses, yes, but that was only part of it. He was completely at peace with his own strengths and weaknesses and he had a seamless confidence born of being so honest about himself.

As Always,

TWC

Tip of the glass to Del Mar Dave

Luck of the Draw

Gentle Readers,

PintofStout commented that.......

...In all of our feasting and thankfulness, which the Wine Commonsewer writes quite eloquently about, let’s not forget that at least some part of our good fortunes can be attributed to chance and luck...

I appreciate the kind words and he's right, it is an accident of fate that none of us is on the mandatory Ethiopian diet or struggling down some bomb-cratered road in Iraq in a desperate effort to keep our families and meager belongings in one piece.

I had more to say about that but I suppose that the tryptophan conspired with the Villa Antinori Toscana and so I leave you with a Thanksgiving sunset from Tucson.

As Ever,

The Wine Commonsewer

Smart Blondes & Other Fantasty Creatures

Good Morning Gentle Readers:

From a conversation with my Renaissance Girl the other day.........

House Blond: Daddy, can you be beautiful and smart?

TWC: Of course.

House Blond: Why do all the shows and movies make the beautiful girls dumb?

Didn't see that coming.

TWC: For the same reason TV shows seem to pattern male characters after guys like the mostly Bewitched Darrin or Homer Simpson, dorky and inept.

Wait. I dunno, maybe it's funny.

As Ever,

TWC

Grading California Education

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

Looks like TWC may have to stop insulting people by asking them if they were educated in Californicate public schools. According to the latest information from my better half, California public schools have made tremendous strides in putting together a curriculum that actually focuses on education. I'm still skeptical but she's still the expert on the subject and she says....

Much has changed in the past decade in terms of curriculum in California schools. Democrats, allied with Republicans in the Legislature, required the state board of education in 1995 to ensure that instructional materials in math and reading teach systematic, explicit phonics, spelling and basic computational skills.

Whole thing here.

The local rag, the Riverside Press Enterprise, put together a special Sunday feature called Grading Education and asked a panel of experts to comment on various aspects of education here in the Golden State.

In his contribution, Lance Izumi outlines some of the same-same complaints that make rational people crazy.

.....in an effort to be inclusive of women and racial minorities, the textbook lavishes attention on people of relatively minor consequence, like the woman who established the first tennis court......... The biography of Hawaiian Queen Liliuokalani in American Nation is longer than the bio of Abraham Lincoln.

Overall Grade: Still a lousy C overall. With a solid D + in public school finance and not much better marks for teaching poor kids. 

For ten grand plus per kid we ought to see straight A's.

We Report. You Decipher.

As Ever,

TWC

Thanksgiving as a Celebration of Life

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

Thanksgiving is a magnificent, uniquely American celebration of the harvest. Ah yes, a Day of Thanksgiving is also celebrated in a few other countries and cultures, but unlike most of our traditions, its origins are here.

Thanksgiving began as a spontaneous celebration and continued as such, predating our modern preoccupation with government decrees as to when celebrations may occur. You will celebrate Labor Day, it will happen when we say it does, and it will be a three-day weekend. Note to plebes: pack the motorhome, throw a suitcase of Bud into the ice chest, load the Jetskiis, and go forth to snarl the highways like a cholesterol clogged artery in need of bypass surgery—good grief.

Life is short, fleeting, yet it is the ultimate human value. Back in the day, Chuck Davis gave me a pysch-shop button portraying a surrealistic flower in white against a background of bile green. Printed on it was an admonition to Celebrate Life. As hideously ugly as it was, implicit in those words is the basic tenet of Thanksgiving. A simplicity, a celebration of life.

Unlike its hectic Christmas cousin, Thanksgiving is about breaking bread and sharing wine with one’s family and friends. It is about the appreciation for the rewards of our efforts, the blessings of family, and the steadfastness of true friendship. For many, it is a time of spiritual uplift and a special time to be thankful to God for the blessings He has bestowed over the foregoing year.

Sometime during the festivities, find a moment for yourself. Maybe at half time. Maybe after dessert. Pour some wine or a cup of coffee. Take a stroll by yourself. Enjoy the solitude of introspection. Think about where you came from and how you got where you are.

Over the years it is likely that you have had a profound and lasting impact on the lives of more people than you might have imagined. Often, the reverse is true as well. And your being is the happy result of those processes.

On a somewhat different note I also want to express my personal appreciation for a life that has evolved in completely unforeseen directions and in altogether pleasant ways. In more ways than you would suppose I have been blessed.

I am perpetually grateful that my clients have made it possible for me to earn a living in a most agreeable way.  And to all those others, Gentle Readers, friends, and family, thank you for your friendship, your love, and your quiet kindness.

From my home to yours, may your Thanksgiving be exactly as you would have it to be.

As Ever,

The Wine Commonsewer

Thank God Salma Is Still With Us

Gentle Readers,

NoStar inspired this reprise of a post that appeared a year ago with his comments on Milton Friedman.........

Definitely, Milton Friedman (along with Rand, Heinlein, the Hayeks; Salma and Friedrich, and Von Mises) affected the way I look at the world.

Thank God, at least Salma is still with us.

From December of 2005

I tagged this onto another post on Friday and then it turned into a clumsy update and now a couple of wiseguys emailed and wanted to know if Salma Hayek was related to Frederich Hayek, and so we have a new post instead.

Courtesy of Liberty Fund and IHS, Mrs TWC is being pampered with an all-expense-paid weekend in Washington DC where she and about a score of others will spend the weekend kicking around the ideas of Frederich Hayek, author of The Fatal Conceit and The Road to Serfdom. I know, it's a tough break, but she's dedicated.

Salma Hayek? Is there a connection to Frederich Hayek?

Probably not, but one can never tell. "Hayek" is a Czech name, Hájek. Since F.A. Hayek was Austrian, it is not at all surprising that he might have a Czech, or Bohemian, name, since Bohemia was long part of the Hapsburg domains of Austria. With Salma, we have something else. She was born in Mexico. It is reported that her father was Lebanese and her mother Spanish. There is a name in Arabic that could be rendered "Hayek," H.â'ik ("Weaver"), so perhaps that is it. Now, there are many German, even Bohemian, immigrants to Mexico. There is even a "Bohemia" beer made in Mexico. The existence of Mexican Czech Hayeks is thus to be expected. Such an origin of Salma's name would not be surprising, but apparently the explanation is her Lebanese connection instead.

tip of the glass to Friesian.com for the genealogy lesson.

The Salma Hayek v Frederich Hayek scorecard is here.

The Reader's Digest condensed version of The Road to Serfdom can be downloaded in .PDF format here.

A 60th anniversary edition of The Road to Serfdom is available at Laissez Faire Books.

This is an interesting version of The Road to Serfdom that was originally published as a booklet by General Motors (Thought Starter Series) and it also appeared in Look Magazine (there's a blast from the past).  Frankly, TWC is surprised because I thought those guys at GM were always centrist-leaning supporters of big government's control of the economy through trade restrictions, regulations, and corporate welfare schemes. GM does Hayek. Go Figure.

tip of the glass to the Mises Institute for putting the booklet online.

As Ever,

The Wine Commonsewer

Farewell Milton Friedman

Gentle Readers,

Milton Friedman left this world last night. There isn't a whole lot to say that won't be said or hasn't been said already so I'll leave it at this: It is entirely possible that during the last hundred years no man has done more for the cause of liberty than Milton Friedman.

I was fortunate enough to see him in Cabo a few months ago. Yes, just see. I mean, what do you say to Milton Friedman? I felt intrusive enough just taking his picture.

A big tip of the glass and Godspeed.

Milton Friedman bio here.

Cato's podcast honoring Milton Friedman (MP3)

1995 Reason interview

A 2005 Reason interview, with Nick Gillespie, on his legacy of fighting for school choice

His most recent Reason interview, with Brian Doherty, as part of a roundtable on the Federal Reserve

Jacob Sullum's celebration of Friedman's 90th birthday

As Ever,

TWC

2001 Beringer Knights Valley Cabernet

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

Beringer is one of my favorites. Even prohibition couldn't put the winery under the table, so to speak. Mrs TWC and I still have the empty bottle of 1980 Beringer Knights Valley that we enjoyed with dinner the night of our engagement, which now auctions for $75.00 or so.

Beringer is another big corporate winery that defies the logic and consistently puts out a good product. Never mind that the capital is generated by that ghastly White Zin. Yes, part of Beringer's success is connected to the prodigious quantities of White Zin it sells year after year. Doubtless the Cabs and Chards we enjoy from Beringer are all the better as a result of the capital investment that sales of White Zin provide.

The 2001 Knights Valley is a pretty good wine although it is not a stellar performer. Given a choice, TWC wouldn't hesitate to swap it out for the less expensive 2003 St Francis Cabernet, also a Sonoma cab.

This is a dry, somewhat full bodied wine more in the style of Bordeaux than Sonoma. It does well with a lot of air. Let it breath for a while and you'll find the smokey, leathery, mild aromas and tastes with some minerals on the back side (the finish).

If you are after big fruit, it isn't here, you'll have to go with Beringer's 2002 instead. At $17.00-$25.00 US, I wouldn't knock myself out to find the 2001 either, because, simply put, there are a number of other really good wines at comparable prices. That's not to say this is a lousy wine because that would be a gross injustice. To paraphrase myself, I've had better wine for less money and worse wine for more money. In the wine market, the correlation between cost and quality isn't always as apparent as you would suspect.

Eminently drinkable now, the 2001 probably isn't going to get better in your cellar. Serve it with something interesting like spicy roast pork and broccoli salad.

As Ever,

The Wine Commonsewer

tip of the glass to Cookin' With Cyndi for the Broccoli Salad recipe

Broccoli Salad

Salad:
2 crowns fresh broccoli, cut in bite-sized pieces
1/2 c shredded cheddar cheese
1 c seedless red grapes, sliced in half
1/4 c raisins
1/3 c diced purple onion
1/3 c pine nuts
1/3 c real bacon bits (4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled)

Dressing:
1/2 c mayonnaise
1/4 c sugar or Splenda
1 T cider vinegar

Mix all salad ingredients in a large bowl. Mix dressing ingredients and toss with salad.

2003 St Francis Cabernet

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

Go buy some of this and put it away. It's great now but it is likely to improve with a little time in the cellar. Pretty sure that Parker parted with a 90 for this great big red wine that's loaded with lots of black fruit. It's a smidge of delight mixed with a little oak, a little cedar, and a touch of vanilla. It took a while but TWC finally realized that the long finish is dominated by black cherry on the back side of this delightful wine. Black cherry. Mmmmmm.

TWC is partial to St Francis for a number of reasons. The short list is topped by the kid's godfather, who introduced TWC to the winery's benchmark Merlot. Hogan should be happy. I didn't use their in that sentence, thereby avoiding the problem of singular and plural mixation like this: who introduced TWC to their Merlot. Henderson will likewise be happy that it's 14.4% incohol (I am not under the alfluence on incohol, dammit). Secondarily, St Francis, which is owned by Kobrand, dispenses with the notion that only smaller, boutique wineries can make good wine.

Over the course of time, St Francis Cab has sometimes been the poor step sister to its Merlot, but not this time.

And here's why I'm the Commonsewer. Plain talk. This is a good wine. Simple as that. Buy it. Enjoy it. Put some away (I cellared a six pack). Throw a filet on the grill and for $15.00-$22.00 US you can impress that sweet blond chick in apartment 2B. Unless she's a vegan, in which case even the great cheese won't help.

As Ever,

TWC