Many thanks to wannabewino for this one. Cool no?
Try your own here. It’s a type collage of an RSS scan of your blog. You can make as many as you want.
Archive for July, 2008
Pat Maloney rocks my world
July 12, 2008The Negress is in Central Park at the Bon Jovi concert along with about 30,000 other people, and you wouldn’t be reading this if it weren’t for Pat Maloney. He got me a set by the sound board where I could file to Dying Media and be comfortable. He rocks my world since I could be hunched over on a bench by one of the softball backatops. That would be bad. I do want to go home and my back is killing me, but Bon Jovi is kind of fun and there is a breeze so it could be ever so much worse. Once home, I stayed up watching the Tour de France until 3 a.m. and drinking an undistinguished right bank St. Emilion Bordeaux and was unspeakably glad to be home.
Casual drinking
July 11, 2008The Negress owes the title of this post to her absolute favorite band from Western Canada, 54.40 You may remember some posts back a mention of my studies for my Advanced Certificate from WSET. Well, this week, thanks to makeups, I had two classes. Next week I have three. So much for a relaxing summer. On top of that, the brain trust at Dying Media decided that I would be the perfect person to lug my laptop to Central Park for the free Bon Jovi concert Saturday in conjunction with the baseball All-Star game festivities. As a serial killer on Law and Order once said, “Problems are just solutions in work clothes.” Maybe they could send Tony Robbins. I get to update continuously and review the show for the dead tree dance on Monday. Happy Happy joy joy. Anyway, when I haven’t been swishing and spitting, I’ve been delving into my cellar for some relief from the ongoing daze. First off was the 2007 Domaine CC Rose. This hails from Corey Creek Winery on the North Fork of Long Island, one of my favorite places. The wine is everything you might want in a rose — light, fruity, easily imbibed. Very light on the palate with some touches of strawberry. I’m saving the second bottle for when my cousins roll through on Sunday and will visualize it during the ozone alert scheduled during Bon Jovi fest.
My favorite burrito place went on hiatus for the Fourth of July, but they are back now and I have reconnected with the fajita goodness they often provide. Feeling a rare outburst of patriotism, I had to pair this burrito with a zinfandel. And not just any zinfandel.The 2005 Murphy Goode Estate Liar’s Dice zinfandel. What a rich knockout of a wine. It would probably smack most food in the mouth and not break a sweat, but the combination of guacamole, sour cream and peppery skirt steak gave the wine some serious dance partners. Initially, with the wine just out of the cave, I wasn’t getting much of anything on the nose, as though the wine was living up to its name by playing everything close to the vest. But a little air and warmth revealed some plummy notes and touch of green pepper. I polished off the rest of it while watching the sanitized version of “Con Air.” The wine was also a good fit for the movie and ignored all advice to put the bunny back in the box.
another rose at Corey Creek
Wine Blogging Wednesday #47 brought to you by letter “S”
July 2, 2008We love the babes who sponsored this month’s WBW inspired by Sesame Street. The babes at Grape Juice said to pick a wine involving the letter “S.” Well, prepare susurrations of sensation for the simply superb. OK, we’ll raise our voices but isn’t the alliteration cool? In our case, we had opened the 2006 Taste White from Bedell Cellars on the North Fork of Long Island. It’s a white blend with a percentage of sauvignon blanc, thus fulfilling the sponsorship requirement. This is a sensual summer wine with complexity, depth and endless surprises. Is it still around? Not sure since Bedell doesn’t make much of this blend and ups the snob factor by having a label done by Barbara Krueger. The price for this wine is about $25, and it’s worth every penny. My submission to wine club membership was sealed by this wine.
Granted, it’s not all about the packaging of course, but who doesn’t drink sometimes for the mystique and the memories. Songs like Public Image’s “Seattle” or Sparks’ “Tryouts for the Human Race” spilling out of the car stereo on my way back from knitting night with the girls (some off wine cos they’re pregnant; others just not interested) make me heady with anticipation. I’m drinking around the Web tonight and I don’t have to leave home.
The cold truth
July 2, 2008If you are a wine person/nut/geek/raver, you must read Eric Asimov sometime. His story today on cool red wines was a brilliant and you can read it here. I have shouted this from the rooftops whenever I am on a rooftop, and hope more people will realize that red can be cool all year round. I polished off a 2005 WillaKenzie Willamette Valley Pinot Noir that was an excellent example of a red wine that benefits from a little chilling. This was clasic Oregon Pinot Noir with a bearable lightness and agreeable fruit. I cellar everything at 55 degrees Farenheit so this had to warm in the glass a bit. Smashing wine.
However, even evangelist for the chill of the hunt revert to type every now and then. Last night I cracked a bottle of Bedell’s 2006 Taste White. It’s a blend off 44 percent Chardonnay, 27 percent Sauvignon Blanc, 16 percent Viognier, 8 percent Gewruztraminer and 5 percent Riesling. It also features artwork by Barbara Kruger on the label. Thanks to the usual weird liquor laws in these United States, it say this is a white table wine. i always assumed this was to distinguish it from a floor wine. You know, the high alcohol wines that you end up on the floor after drinking. Raise a glass on the U.S.’s birthday to more table and less floor.
