The Wine Commonsewer™

Happy Birthday to Moi Happy New Year to You

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

I thought I'd write something profound, or moving, or novel, or entertaining, but I don't think I have the inspiration or can summon a match to the New Year's Eve sermon from 2008. Take a look if you'd like, especially if your curious as to why TWC doesn't drink whiskey.

TWC was born on a chilly Monday night in the Advent hospital in Loma Linda.

Yeah, you've heard of it and if you get bit by a rattlesnake, that's where you want to get treated. They're pretty good with proton therapy for cancer treatment as well.

Interestingly enough, the federales won't accept the hospital's Certificate of Live Birth even though the official county records show the wrong birth date.

Life Magazine published a special New Year's Eve issue the year that TWC was born and I've got an original copy of the magazine.

Time has slipped on and Japanese girls long ago traded their parasols and kimonos for Levis and laptops and our cover girl is in her seventies. Don't remind me.

Lastly, I want to thank everyone for all the good wishes. Friends and Gentle Readers, I appreciate your kind words. May the blessings of the New Year find their way to your home.

I'll leave you with a thought from Charles Lamb.....

No one ever regarded the First of January with indifference.  It is that from which all date their time, and count upon what is left.  It is the nativity of our common Adam.

Salud!

As Always,

The Wine Commonsewer

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

I thought I'd write something profound, or moving, or novel, or entertaining, but I don't think I have the inspiration or can summon a match to the New Year's Eve sermon from 2008. Take a look if you'd like, especially if your curious as to why TWC doesn't drink whiskey.

TWC was born on a chilly Monday night in the Advent hospital in Loma Linda.

Yeah, you've heard of it and if you get bit by a rattlesnake, that's where you want to get treated. They're pretty good with proton therapy for cancer treatment as well.

Interestingly enough, the federales won't accept the hospital's Certificate of Live Birth even though the official county records show the wrong birth date.

Life Magazine published a special New Year's Eve issue the year that TWC was born and I've got an original copy of the magazine.

Time has slipped on and Japanese girls long ago traded their parasols and kimonos for Levis and laptops and our cover girl is in her seventies. Don't remind me.

Lastly, I want to thank everyone for all the good wishes. Friends and Gentle Readers, I appreciate your kind words. May the blessings of the New Year find their way to your home.

I'll leave you with a thought from Charles Lamb.....

No one ever regarded the First of January with indifference.  It is that from which all date their time, and count upon what is left.  It is the nativity of our common Adam.

Salud!

As Always,

The Wine Commonsewer

Three Wines For New Years Eve

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

These are, by no means, the only picks of the litter (so to speak) but they are very good wines that are likely to be available today to anyone with access to a decent wine shop.

Duckhorn Pinot Noir

Thanks to the generosity of our host (and his wine savvy best friend) I was fortunate enough to have sampled a couple of glasses of this at a Christmas party recently. Duckhorn rarely disappoints and the 2007 vintage of this Pinot is quite good.

Wine Enthusiast liked it 90 points and had this to say.....

A lovely, polished wine.......Dry and silky, it has alluring flavors of cherries, cola, mocha and spices.

St Francis Merlot

Some vintages are better than others but in my experience the St Francis is a consistently good yardstick with which to measure Merlot. It is a Merlot that even Miles could like.

I reviewed some here. 

2005 or 2006 Beringer Knights Valley Cabernet

The Knights Valley had a few off years in the early part of the zeros (that's some kind of dumb sounding way of saying the first few years of the decade). The 2005 was outstanding and I reviewed it here.

I enjoyed some 2006 at McCormick and Schmick in El Segundo with good friends who were laid over in LA. Final destination, Kahului International Airport (Maui, yes, I hate him too). 

McCormick and Schmick is generally a good choice. Except that this time we were seated at a table for four that was borrowed from nearby Richmond Street Elementary School. Being a party of six, only one of which was actually in grade school, we were a bit cozier than anticipated. The waitress, er, ah, server didn't come to the party until half past the meal, which is forgivable, but it bugs when the pre-game stuff like water, bread, and drinks just sort of dribbles to the table.

Oh, here's your wine. Who wants to taste? Ooops! I'll send Octavio with water. Oh, sorry. No butter? I'll get it. Bread? Oh, to go with the butter. Everybody's done with the first round of drinks? Well, I'll get your beer now, Ma'am. Really? You wanted the French Onion soup and the Coke right now? Oh, that's right, your son is in the throes of a debilitating migraine headache and needs food, caffeine, and something to wash the Motrin down with.

She pours the 2006 Beringer Knights Valley and life made an absolute You Turn. It was excellent and would prove to be the high point of my meal.

Wine Enthusiast offered up a well deserved 91 points for this rich, creamy, inky wine that exhibits aromas of plum and leather. You'll find flavors of blackberry and blueberry with velvet tannins and a long finish. 

I'd tasted the 2005 Knights Valley with a client at the Rusty Pelican on the water in Newport Beach a few weeks prior and it was very good. The 2006 turns out to be better. Beringer is definitely back on track with the Knights Valley Cabernet.

Course it was sixty bucks on the wine list at McCormick and Schmuck, an unconscionable 300% plus markup on a wine that can be had for twenty bucks ($18.92 at Sam's Club) anywhere in the Southland.

I'd pair this Cabernet with a good steak and I'm betting yours will be better than mine was. Sure, go ahead and ask, Gentle Reader, who orders steak at a seafood place? That would be moi, and I've enjoyed many a great turf dinner at the McCormick & Schmick in Irvine, so I was quite taken aback that any chef would allow something this ghastly to leave the kitchen. Worse? It wasn't even the cut I ordered.

That said, avoiding this McCormick & Schmick this New Years Eve is a priority. Other than that, celebrate life, my friends.

A glass to your health!

As Ever,

TWC

Hamilton Mabie on the Coming New Year

New Year's eve is like every other night; there is no pause in the march of the universe, no breathless moment of silence among created things that the passage of another twelve months may be noted; and yet no man has quite the same thoughts this evening that come with the coming of darkness on other nights. 

Mikey on Camping

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

So first we had a house full of the relatives (see: Four Christmases) and then we had the boy cousins for a day of so. My six year old Italian Boy nephew likes sleeping on the sofa next to the fire (just like The Boy and the House Blond do). His commentary?

This is what I like about camping!

As Ever,

TWC

2007 Fog Crest Pinot Noir (Laguna West)

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

TWC is pretty picky about Pinot Noir and I find most of them to be overpriced and over-rated. I blame Sideways, a movie that could have easily gone horribly wrong, but didn't. Sideways spawned a backlash against Merlot that was somewhat undeserved. Come to think of it, though, the universally insipid, watery, house Merlot got what it deserved. The flip of that is that we've been treated to a host of insipid, watery Pinots that, in addition to being suck, are pricey. 

The Fog Crest isn't inexpensive, you'll find it between $30.00 and $40.00 US and it is a pretty good Pinot Noir. That may seem decidedly underwhelming, but consider this Gentle Reader: it is rare, indeed, for TWC to enjoy a Pinot Noir.

One important note: the Fog Crest needs some breathing time. It definitely begins to open up after the second glass. You may wish to decant this wine (I see No Star  in the back row nodding in agreement). Actually, go ahead and decant this wine and then come back to it in a half hour. Your patience will be handsomely rewarded.

Fog Crest Vineyard is family-owned. Prior to 1998 the land was primarily apple orchards and hops. The soil here is reputed to be ideal for Pinot, and accordingly three and a half acres are devoted to Pinot Noir. The Laguna West Pinot is sourced from an adjacent vineyard with similar characteristics.

Winemaker's Notes:

Nose: Incense and perfume carry aromas of violets, allspice and wild berries creating a wonderful aromatic profile framed by subtle toast character.

Flavors: The initial taste reveals Bing cherry and dark plum flavors supported by ripe soft tannins. Quintessential to the house style, the wine has great structure from natural acidity that sends flavors of dark fruit and cola to a lingering finish.

As Evoir,

TWC

James Lileks on Christmas Passed

I’m never happy to see Christmas pass; it makes all the decorations and holiday gear suddenly seem sad and out of date. It shouldn’t be so, as we are celebrating The Season, and that lasts beyond The Day, right? But we all know better. Santa is a symbol of hope and delight on Dec. 23rd; on the 26th he’s heaped in clearance bins. Even his most fervent constituency, children, has moved on.

Lighting the Yule Log

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

TWC is lighting the yule log this evening. It wasn't exactly hot this Christmas day, but it was warm enough that we couldn't do that this morning.

Traditionally, the yule log was the size of the General Sherman Redwood. After being hacked down by hand, it took a dozen men and a small boy to drag the log back to the great open hearth, where it was expected to keep the stone cottage warm for at least the Twelve Days of Christmastide.

Once laid on the hearth, the Yule Log was ignited using unburnt wood scraps from the previous year's Yule log, a custom that ensured the passing of good fortune from year to year and generation to generation.

We've simplified the tradition. We cut the trunk of the Christmas Tree into firewood and mulch the rest. Last year's Christmas Tree then becomes the basis for next year's Christmas Day fire.

We'll keep on with out tradition until the State of California bans wood burning fireplaces entirely.

As Ever,

TWC

Santa Done Made It To Town

Gentle Readers,

There is only one Christmas Song and there is only one Nat King Cole. First recorded in 1946, it is unquestionably the quintessential American Christmas song.

My friend Jay tells me that in New York City it was once very common on chilly winter days to smell the aroma of chestnuts roasting over open fires all across the city. While it is fading custom, one can still buy hot roasted chestnuts on the streets of the Big Apple during the holidays.

My kids left elaborately decorated cookies and a glass of milk for Santa. A couple of years back The House Blond left a glass of wine for Santa, but not this time. Something about bad influences and Santa preferring milk to a glass of the red.

The Boy expected that a Coke might be in order.

Apparently not.

Thought we were about going to have a Blew Christmas, but the winds have faded with the cold and Christmas Day promises a bit warmer weather.

Although it's been said. Many times. Many ways. Merry Christmas to you.

As Always,

The Wine Commonsewer

Gentle Readers,

There is only one Christmas Song and there is only one Nat King Cole. First recorded in 1946, it is unquestionably the quintessential American Christmas song.

My friend Jay tells me that in New York City it was once very common on chilly winter days to smell the aroma of chestnuts roasting over open fires all across the city. While it is fading custom, one can still buy hot roasted chestnuts on the streets of the Big Apple during the holidays.

My kids left elaborately decorated cookies and a glass of milk for Santa. A couple of years back The House Blond left a glass of wine for Santa, but not this time. Something about bad influences and Santa preferring milk to a glass of the red.

The Boy expected that a Coke might be in order.

Apparently not.

Thought we were about going to have a Blew Christmas, but the winds have faded with the cold and Christmas Day promises a bit warmer weather.

Although it's been said. Many times. Many ways. Merry Christmas to you.

As Always,

The Wine Commonsewer

Merry Christmas From The Fat Gray Cat

Chili Today, Hot Tamale

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

Well, maybe not hot tamale, but warmer tomorrow. The wind blew in Monday night like an express train. It battered the Casa until just a couple of hours ago. Got some rain out of the deal, too.

wind driven whitecaps on Lake Mathews this morning

Thought I had some other pithy stuff to say, but I guess not.

As Ever,

TWC