Spring Far Niente Shipment Arrives - Life is Good!

The shipment included a 2003 Far Niente Estate Bottled Cave Collection Cabernet Sauvignon (Oh Yeah!), a 2008 Nickle & Nickle Suscol Ranch Merlot, a 2008 Nickel & Nickel Ponzo Vineyard Zinfandel and a 2009 EnRoute Pinot Noir.   Four bottles all red, I am a happy camper.

Well I just couldn't wait, so I cracked open the Pinot Noir over dinner last night with Meredith and tonight i am enjoying it again as i write this post.  The EnRoute Vineyard is a new edition to Far Niente up in the Russian River Valley.   Most good California Pinot Noirs will come from the cooler climates like this valley or along the sonoma coastal areas.   This Pinot is aged in oak for 11 months and has a very bold Pinot flavor; very few light notes here.    If i didn't know what i was drinking on this one, I might even guess it was a Merlot.    Maybe the heavy oak flavor gives is that bigger body, but it is definitely not a textbook Pinot.     No earthy aftertaste at all.

Now I cant wait to try the Cab, but it will have to be a special occasion for sure.

Marasco treats to an Itallian Dinner and a little Itallian wine education

April 5th, 2011 - Mike Marasco has a love for Italian Cuisine and Italian wine.    He has spent many weeks over the past few years in Italy in culinary schools learning about the finer points of the Italian culture.   He hosted dinner this week at Lombardi's new Tuscan Steakhouse, La Fiorentina, in Uptown, for the MPM Group; the Lummus', Mikeskas', Peschels' and McBees'.   He ordered some great appetizers and had some suggestions for main course which included the risotto, the ahi tuna and of course the osso bu co.

Italian wines are not my expertise, but Mike really took the lead.   He ordered a few great wines, including a 2007 Banfi Cum Laude, an Italian Blend which includes Cabernet, Merlot, Sangiovese and Syrah from Montalcino.   It was a great wine, very similar to other blended wines but much more subtle than a California blend, with less fruit and just a hint of oak.   You could really taste the dark, intense Sangiovese and Syrah grapes.  I never order Italian wines...   not because i don't like them, but because there are always so many American and French wines that I like that I just never get around to it.    I am so glad Mike took us for a tour of some of these wines.  

Thanks again Marasco!   Let's do it again soon.

It's Spring - Let's Go Antiquing! (grumble, grumble)

April 2nd, 2011 - Meredith talked me into joining her for a few days of antique shopping and a date weekend in Round Top, just East of Austin.   I have to say, we had a great time; it was a real taste of America.   Just imagine a scenario where every citizen, vendor, expert and hillbilly in a 3 town radius in the middle of Texas decides to set up a tent and display every piece of furniture, nick knack and yard art they can find.  It is quite an amazing scene really.   The vendors, which are a cross between professional garage salers and  Gypsies are negotiating and mingling with everything from vacationers to big city antique dealers and interior decorators.  All in all, the outdoor experience, food and fun was a must see.

We stayed just down the road at the Hyatt Lost Pines in Bastrop.   Had a Great dinner back at the hotel at Stories Restaurant Saturday night which included crab salad appetizer, red snapper and rack of lamb.    Our table was delayed a bit, so the gracious host delivered a complimentary glass of champagne.   We both loved it and I was surprised when I inspected the bottle; a Spanish Champagne.    Segura Viudas Brut Reserva from Pendedes, Spain.  Not sure how much they normally charge for the bottle, but I have found it locally for just under $15.   I will take this opportunity to mention, for those of you that don't know much about champagne, "Brut or Ultra Brut" is another way of saying "Dry".   Sometimes you might see "Sec or maybe Demi Sec" which basically means sweet.

We split a bottle of 2008 King Estate Pinot Noir, from Oregon.   It was a real reasonable buy (suggested retail $29) and we enjoyed it.     King is a family owned "Organic" winery in Eugene, Oregon, which is about 20 years old.  Our waitress for the evening was great, but ruined the surprise and mentioned strawberry...   she was right on.  This wine was rich with strawberry, other berries and chocolate.    This was a really nice Pinot for the money; we appreciate the suggestion!

By the way, we each only had one glass, and there was more than half of the bottle left.    We corked the bottle and took the bottle home, which in most places is perfectly legal and acceptable; so don't leave it behind. 

Trip to St. Louis - Bar at Ruth's Chris

In St. Louis tonight on Business.   Staying at the Hyatt Regency at the Arch and there is a Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in the lobby, so I ventured down for an early dinner at the bar.  This is a really special restaurant; the atmosphere is very hip and the views of the St. Louis Arch are amazing as you are literally seated at the base of the massive structure.   I was greeted by the bartender, Katy, who took great care of me.   I looked over the wine list and settled on a 2007 Faust Cabernet for my dinner.   Faust is a Napa Wine made by winemaker Agustin Huneeus, who is best known for creating Quintessa, one of my most favorites.    I was introduced to Qunitessa back in 2002 by my good friend Mike Edwards, from Lubbock Texas.  


The Steak was perfect.   And after talking to Katy about wine all night she insisted that we try some of the other wines.  She said she would pour me some tastings and suggested I try a 2008 Murrieta's Well - The Spur Mertiage.   I looked this wine up after dinner and was really surprised that it is under $20 in the store.   It was great.   A really well balanced blend with a lot of body, even following the earlier Cab.  P.J. is the beverage manager in the restaurant and before we were done her was in on the fun.    He poured me a taste of the 2008 Argyle Reserve Pinot Noir from Willamette Valley, where some of the great Pinots are born.    I have had the 2007 non-reserve from Argyle and was not expecting great things, but it was pretty good.   Not too earthy and well balanced.   Although i have to admit, it is hard to taste a pinot noir after the Faust Cab.

Bottom line is that this Ruth's Chris Steakhouse here at the Arch is great; great atmosphere, great food and really, really great staff.    It was great hanging out tonight.

Dinner with Sr. and Clay

Neighborhood Services Tavern on Henderson on a Wednesday night...     Nothing like a good family boy get together.   Couple of cocktails and clay ordered the 2008 Patz and Hall Pinot Noir to go with our dinner.   $60 on the menu and $40 in the store...  Great choice, must run in the family!     NHS has a pretty simple wine menu but there are some great reasonable choices on the list.   We split the crab dip and asparagus apps, awesome; and we had the crab cake sandwich specials by recommendation, which were good but a bit underwhelming.    The Pinot was a perfect match with the dinner and as a restaurant to store value - an A+.    Patz and Hall Pinot Noir...    never a bad choice - Great pick Clay!

Las Vegas for work? Yep!

MARCH 8th: I was in Las Vegas this week for some continuing education and networking with some of my retirement plan brethren. When you are in this city for work you realize how many other people are in this city for work... it's amazing!

I headed out to dinner Monday night with my good friends Steve Silverman, his work associate Andrew Oliphant and my good buddy Cody Lummus.  Steve chose Nero's Steakhouse at Caesar's Palace. We sat down and had a little discussion about wines and we quickly agreed on picking a nice red wine to accompany the steaks. First up was a 2007 Groth Cabernet Sauvignon ($120), man how can you go wrong with a Groth? Steve had mentioned that he had the pleasure of trying a Silver Oak Napa Cab a few months prior and he wanted me to pick something similar, yet with a friendlier price tag. Groth is a favorite of mine because it is a nice oaky cab like the Silver Oak, yet not as strong, and it is a real smooth mid tannic wine to me. it was a hit for sure.

Next up was a Meritage, a 2007 Justin Isosceles. ($135, in Vegas dollars that's like 20 bucks). This wine is about $75 in the store so I thought it was a pretty good value considering they had a $12 wine on the menu for $70... Gotta love Vegas. Well the wine was good, had firm oak notes with hint of cinnamon and coffee. Everyone commented how different this wine was as compared to the first wine. I always try to pick a different second wine, why not try something else, right? This wine scored 90 Points by International Wine Cellar.

So remember next time your out, try to pick a wine that is close to its store value.   It is hard to always know, but often if you buy a little more expensive wine the price will be closer to what you would have paid in the store.

Remember Camille's favorite quote, "Life's too short to drink cheap wine!"

Paul's Birthday at Eddie V's

Last night Meredith and I met our friends Melanie and Paul and Matt and Mandy at Eddie V's on Oak Lawn to celebrate Paul's Birthday.    This was my first time there.    First impression was great as we were greeted by a friendly hostess and escorted directly to our table.    Our waiter was excellent and made some great recommendations, including an eclectic calamari and some wonderful cold crab claws.

Our first wine selection was a 2007 Nickle and Nickle's Vogt Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. ($168)  Big wine, that is this wine in a nutshell.  It was full of fruit and had that distinct California Cab Oak smell and taste which I love.  A little pricey, but you will find this wine from about $80 to $100 in the wine store.  This is a 90+ scorer on almost every guide.

Bottle two was one of my favorites and i think now it is one of Paul and Matt's favorites.    The 2007 Palmeyer Jayson ($120) is a Bordeaux blend by Jayson Palmeyer.    This was a real hit at the table, but you need to understand that this wine never disappoints.   This was a smooth wine with plenty of complex flavors of black cherry, berry and chocolate.   This wine spent 18 months on new French oak and it shows it.

There was a lot of conversation about this wine from around the table.  We had a long discussion about Meritage and Bordeaux blended wines.  Matt asked an awesome question... he made the comment that he likes blended wines. He wanted to know if wine experts view blended wines as inferior to pure varietals.    I told him that this is purely in the eye of the beholder, but I would suggest the most wine geeks view blended wines as some of the best wines (the French do for sure) as the winemaker is free to make the best wine possible from a variety of sources.   There is an argument to the contrary, but the point I want to make is that don't get trapped into buying a grape -  Cab, Merlot, Chardonnay or whatever.   If you are focusing on the Cabernet section of the wine menu you might be missing some great options.   Next time ask the sommelier to suggest a great blended wine.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAUL!!