Lucent Dossier

Super Tall Paul holding it down in the listening circle. It's almost a pointless post without some audio of Paul's crazy tracks and eukalele playing, but listen carefully enough- and you can almost hear it!

1899 Montrose and more

An absolutely stellar tasting with Ian Blackburn of Learn About Wine. We tasted: '86 Cheval Blanc, '83 Latour, '95 Margaux, '05 Calon Segur, '03 Calon Segur, '03 Montrose, '00 Calon Segur, '96 Montose, '94 Montrose, '90 Montrose, '89 Montrose, '82 Montrose, '70 Montrose, '59 Montrose, 1899 Montrose, and capped it all off with '95 Yquem.

So, for starters, '86 Cheval Blanc: The ethereal wine Miles (of the movie Sideways) held onto, and then finally drank out of a styrofoam cup with a burger- (N.B. His was a '61) It was what I'd expect of a right banker, but with the depth, balance and length of a Chevy. There's something about Cheval that marries the grace and light perfume of merlot with the stuffing of cab franc, and creates beauty.

'83 Latour- Is it blasphemy to say I didn't love it? Maybe just not showing that night. Too old to be in one of those famous lockedup Latour in between times, it just wasn't showing me the love.

'95 Margaux- I popped this bottle myself and didn't notice anything off, but later, in the glass, I got some TCA on the nose. It was a strange example, because it wasn't hideous, and even, still drinkable. Usually, for me, when a wine is corked, it's gone. I'm just not interested in drinking corked wines. This one though, it was only lightly funked. At the end of the evening, Ian and a few others tried out an experiment, we poured the wine into a pyrex bowl with some bunched up cling wrap, then tossed the plastic wrap, poured the wine back into a glass, et Voila, drinks just fine! The TCA notes were completly vanished, I couldn't detect it at all, and never would've called it corked in a tasting. The fruit however had been affected by the tca and wasn't showing, BUT, it transformed a corked wine into a drinkable one. Still, a neat trick.

Don't worry, I won't make drag you through all the tasting notes, just some highlights:

'05 Calon Segur- Yum. Buy it. what a great medium priced alternative. Great big fruit, lovely balance, this'll be a winner for the short term and the long haul. Most 05's are shutting down these days, ad going to sleep, but this Calon was rockin'

'03 Montrose- I was really looking to this one with excitement. I had tasted the '03 Montrose alongside the first growths and some other super second '03 Bordeauxs at a big tasting in NYC. I placed the Montrose #1. To me it was the wotn and the champ of champs. This night though, (3 years later) it's early sweet fruit had tamed and the structure won out. It's important to point out, that it was still a blockbuster, a giant of monumental proportions and will undoubtedly continue to be a legend. If anything, it was most interesting to me as a peek into the time capsule, a way to check in on it, and see how it's evolving. I'll have to check back in in a few years and see how she's doing.

'96 Montrose in some ways, my favorite of the evening. I'd remarked that more than any other, this wine was showing it's best potential. There were other wines that could be considered potentially better, and still others that may have shown better that night, but this particular night, the '96 was showing beautifully, it's fruit, structure, balance and purity were all there. It was at it's peak.

'90 Montrose- A Parker 100 pointer. I can see why- but I preferred the '89

'82 Montrose- right where it wanted to be. Beauty as an '82. it's amazing how wonderfully these '82's are still showing. The vintage that solidified Parker's rep, these are just beautiful. This 82 was no exception.

'70 Montrose- Had to look at the label twice. 1970. Really? As youthful as the '82, if not seemingly more so. The only other 70 I could compare it to, is a 70 Latour, and this Montrose killed it! This is why we collect Bordeaux...

1899 Montrose- Wasn't even sure what to expect. The oldest bottle of Red I'd had previously was a '62 Lafite. What can you expect from a 110 year old bottle anyway? The color changed in the glass as it was poured. as the oxygen hit it, the light red juice turned slightly brown in front of our eyes. Almost tea-like in character, nutty, light, velvet, it was almost more of a texture than a taste. In some ways, I wish we'd tasted the 1899 first, but it was lovely to have at the end. But not quite- cause then we had:

95 Y'quem- Boy is this stuff magical... This wasn't even a great Yquem for me. I didn't find it as usually complex and otherworldly as some of the others I've had, but even still, it's just amazing. Crazy weird tropical fruits, lilting finish. Some neat stuff.

Sunset over LA from the Griffith Observatory

Tiki Dan

Seriously in need of better ways to spend my time? Undoubtedly. However, this is still important, I have unlocked the mystery of the totem that has haunted me for years, much the way the Easter Island Heads have provoked the curiosity of the masses for years- Across the street from me, someone, chainsawed this face into a palm tree. It has been revealed that the artist is none other than Tiki Dan, a now deceased genius who was in serious trouble with the LAPD for his flagrant disregard for law in his quest for beauty. Apparently there are many, however disappearing, evidences of his time on this planet all over LA power poles and palm trees.

Almost jumped

So okay, yeah, the image belies more than actually happened, but maybe not more than COULD have happened, thanks to none other than yours truly, savior of the evening. Basically, it went down like this, the Saints murdered the Pats, and we saw it all go down at our local watering hole in Los Feliz, Ye Olde Rustic, one hell of a spot, might I add. Anyhoo, we walked out and after meeting up with another friend buying smokes, I noticed there was a guy following closely, playing music out of an ipod speaker, following just a bit too closely. Perhaps native New Yorker, perhaps just me, I dropped back a bit to chat up this guy who seemed just a bit too close. Somewhere in me, I felt the guy was impinging, didn't quite know why yet, but enough to make me engage him in conversation, ala, you're awful close to us, I see ya, what's yer deal chief? So he and I spoke a bit, dropped back from my two friends, when I noticed his head nods and looks seemed to be to his buddy who was on the far side of the street. As we approached the corner and his friend sped up to make the light and cross over, I called back my buddies and said, "Hey come back here". They did, I told them to come with me quickly across the street, which they did, and they went into another wine bar. The guys had met up, come back across the street, down the block towards and past us, and then into a parking lot to reconvene. That's when I knew I was right. My buddies were in the bar still, but I made a point, to nod and say what's up as the guys backtracked a third time to walk past and away- The old, I see ya pal, maybe next time, glance.
So far LA's been a breeze, not so much as a worry. That one though, I know in my soul, was a two man set up. Bad guys 0, us, well I guess we don't really get points, but we didn't get mugged, so I call it a win...

Bigsby Palm Pedal

So Justin added this Bigsby Palm pedal to his guitar. It's both a b bender and a g bender. Basicaly, the strings run through that contraption and when he pushes on it with his palm, it tightens the strings and raises the pitch.

SWAT team

So, I was out walking the dog yesterday when I heard a loud pop from the building across the street. The couple in front of me, hands full of groceries, stopped and looked at the building. What was that, the lady asked her guy. I don't know, he said. Kinda sounded like a gun shot, I said. Then bang another, and a few seconds later, another. Let's go, he grabbed his girl, they ran across the street towards the building, out of the fire line I suppose, and down the street. A few blocks down I came across two cops walking quickly up the street, talking on their radios. I told them about the possible gunshots I heard, and from where, and they asked me to come up the block with them. In under three minutes, the entire North East District SWAT team was there and there were officers cordoning off Vermont Avenue. Snipers with M16's, tactical shot guns, and body armor were slowly making their way up the block. Turns out, there was some construction work going on with nail guns that fire .22 caliber charges. Good to know the response time is so good though...

Celebrity Look-a-likes

A pissed off Brandy, and Conan the Barbarian. Coincidence? I think not...

Last Night

My Wednesday Night was more fun than yours.

This is a Norman Rockwell Painting entitled: Time to go home

Gettin our tuxes

Me and Jammer, getting monkey suited.

Vegas

No this is NOT me, and no, I did NOT gain a lot of weight. Thanks, assholes.

Brooklyn

The Manhattan Skyline in the background, out over Downtown Brooklyn.

New York, New York

Back in NYC, and more importantly, Brooklyn. A couple images...
My Man Brisk, with a slick Burner 75 feet up, The Empire State Building as seen between the Legs of the Manhattan Bridge, and the Empire State Building reflected off some other building by Bryant Park.

Walking the Brooklyn Bridge

When I turned 21, I turned to my dad and asked him if I was old enough to tell him about some of the stupid shit I'd done without him getting all upset. He said, "Sure, lay it on me." So I proudly told him I climbed to the top of the Brooklyn Bridge (by walking up along the main cables) He calmly looked at me for a moment and then said, "Oh yeah? You too?"

Aberdabers done got hitched!

My little sis got married! Couldn't be happier. It's funny, I never really thought I'd care so much about weddings and stuff like that, but it was really beautiful and wonderful, and her husband is such a great guy, it was really a special day. Photographs courtesy my buddy Cal Crary:
CalCrary.com And that's my mom in the last one.

Oh Janet

What would Mr. Roper say? Dear, Dear, Janet got busted for a DUI... We gotta do something about these crazy laws, our brightest stars are being dragged through the muck. Oh, the humanity...

Joy and Pain

This is incredible. It's unbelievably perfect. It should, in fact, be the actual video. Is there a better expression? I think not.

Click Here.

Ghostbusters

Not kidding. Look at this. And we wonder why California is going bankrupt...

Erika Drinking Mint Tea

Bigfoot Lodge

Drinks and Music at the Bigfoot Lodge after the Larner Tasting. Never had a Bacontini before? Then head off to the Bigfoot Lodge. You can get yerself a martini with Bacobits and other spices of life on the rim. And if you need some redneck noise.... well then boys and girls, you've come to the right place.

Larner Vineyard tasting at Palate

This blog is quickly turning into the Palate Fan Club page. I love that place. Yesterday, Steve set up a tasting of some of the wineries that make Larner Vineyard wines. Took my friends Eric and Kumi for some kickass syrah and Grenache. And then Kumi did a rose flight.

Dinner at Little Door, Drinks at Rivera

Dinner first at Little Door: Cute, great atmosphere, awesome service, lovely food. But UNBELIEVEABLY expensive. Their wine list was, I hate to criticize someone else's list, but downright offensive.
http://www.thelittledoor.com/tldwinebar.html
They want $1,056 for a magnum of '99 Prieur Lichine! 750ml are currently available between $40 and $90, and it's a questionable vintage! WTF? BUT, if people pay it, then god bless 'em. The food was wonderful. I had a duck breast and leg confit that was delicious. Final verdict: would I go back? In a minute, but only if someone else were paying.

But then, onto Rivera, the new hotspot in downtown LA.
http://www.riverarestaurant.com/
We only stopped in for drinks, but got a chance to take a quick spin, and a look at the wall of Tequilla. I'll be back tomorrow for dinner.

Late Night Burg Tasting at Palate

So dinner at Palate with three different Arcadian Pinots evolved into an 05 Seguin Chambolle Musigny and Gevrey Chambertin cage match. We all spilled out the back of the Wine Shop for the Gevrey portion, and AH, what a Gevrey it was.... The Gevrey dominated. In fact, it even gave the Chambolle a wedgie.

Beautiful moon over LA

The Steady Evolution of Noir

Getting there....