Icarus strikes again

Oh this, it's just my flying suit. How cool is this? I imagine coming to some vaguely foreign, but still immediately homey, locale, where just as I put down my worn leather suitcases, my wildly eccentric, genius-inventor uncle, comes soaring over a ridge in this thing, crashing into a pile of hay right next to the barn. "Oh hey, glad you made it, help me out of this thing will you? Gotta do some work on the rear stabilizers."

2005 Drouhin Burgundy Tasting (and Bacon and Cheddar Crickets)

So we started off with '02 Vero (by Veronique Drouhin) Fantastic year for White Burg, but I just don't think it was really made to put down and age. It was interesting, but a bit disjointed and awkward. Honestly, we may have been asking a bit much from a Vero; had it been a straight Drouhin, it might have been a different issue, but the Vero was made to drink young. Then onto the 05 Meursault, very nice, bright fruit, good structure, but really just a stepping stone to the 05 Puligny-Montrachet, which was a delight. Again, another very fine wine, but hey, the whole point is these are just village wines, but they were tasty and could probably rival some premier crus from other vintages.
Then onto the reds. '05 Savigny-Les-Baunes, Volnay, and Gevrey Chambertin. The Savigny was killer for what it was, the Volnay was drinking well, and the Gevrey... Damn, I think it was rocking. I wish I had a case to put down and see where it will be in ten years. Then, a 96 Savigny Les Beaunes P. Cru, and a 96 Beaunes-Greves P. Cru. The SLB was a bit stinky and funky, it blew off with air, but came back again and lingered, and the Beaunes-Greves was the wine of the night, really nice marriage of fruit and complexity, silky tannins. Good show.


In another tasting of sorts, a refusal to eat a Bacon and Cheddar flavored Cricket. That's right- Brandy Brosius eats bugs.

Yuk!

Someone stole my Hubcap

So my friend says to me the other day, "Somebody stole one of my hub caps." (Absence of hubcap pictured here)
"Oh yeah?", I replied. "Think it was the same guy that ripped off your side guard strip, started to peel off the back one, ripped off your antenna, and scratched the hell out of your front hubcap? 'Cause I hear Jetta POS hubcaps are trading at a premium these days."

Wednesday Night Burgundy Meeting

Nah, just kidding, this is Domaine Carneros where we went last week. The tasting was at XIV, a Michael Mina Joint on Sunset. But the Domaine made for a cooler picture so I put it in.


Gros Frere et Soeur Vosne Rominee, and Mongeard-Mugneret Nuits St. Georges. I think the Mongeard- Mugneret was my Burgundy of the night. The Gros was, well, gros. And I mean that in the French. It was big. Big and dark. Hugely dark, syrah like dark, what's-going-on-here-how-can-this-possibly-be-Burgundy-dark. It was one of those, "Huh?" moments. Not that I like to give scores anyway, but if I did, I wouldn't give one for this wine. I couldn't. I don't know what's going on. (As if that's stopped me before)
Then there was the Mongeard-Mugneret. This Nuits St. Georges was my Burg o' the tasting, by not the best wine there. Do you follow? Can't say I blame you. It had it's fruit up front, making it over the wall of the early tannins, and it's earth was there too, rounding out it's complexity. Nice mid-palate, more than decent finish. Interesting to play with. But was it love? Sadly, no.
And then, there was the Groffier Bourgogne. Now, this was fun. Like when your date shows up in sneakers, and you don't know for sure what you're going to do that night, but there's a good chance it just might involve hopping some fences. Light, sweet, nice little pucker. A doll. And a cheap date.


Some 06 Bordeaux as well: Le Tertre Roteboeuf, yeah, ok. It was nice, but not showing me much. I'm not one of those expert winetasters with a crystal ball, who starts palm reading the juice. It's there or it isn't, and for me, didn't get much. Sorry, buh-bye. My favorite was the 06 Roc de Cambes. I've liked their stuff lately. I feel like you could pick them out of a line up with a telltale chocolate nose. Like you just caught a six year old sticking their entire head in the cookie jar. What? Who, me? Good stuff.

Quick trip to Sonoma

Yup. The legendary 03 Pegau Da Capo. 100+ Points from parker, $795.


So we stopped of at the Sojourn tasting room to meet Craig. When the Burgundy flag is flying, (that crest under the Sojourn sign), it means the Burgundy tasting is in effect. If you've got a Grand Cru Burgundy you're willing to pop, you're welcome to come on in.

We had: 93 Gros Frere et Souer Grands Echezeaux, 97 Drouhin Grands Echezeaux, a Magnum of 06 Mugnier Nuits St. Georges Clos de la Marchale, 03 Raphet Clos de la Roche, 97 Moillard Corton Clos du Roi, 96 De L'Arlot Nuits St. Georges Clos de Forest St. Georges, and of course, although a Rhone, the 03 Pegau da Capo. Wine of the night: 97 Drouhin Grands Ech.

As an added bonus we got to taste through the 07 Sojurn Pinots and two cabs the Howell and Spring Mountain. 07 is shaping up to be an extraordinary year for Cali pinot, with just about every 07 pinot I've tried from Santa Rita to Carneros being some of each producers best, with the possible exception of 04. The undeniable winner of the Sojourn Pinots was the 07 Sangiocomo, but the baseline 07 Sonoma Coast was rocking too. Hopefully Craig will make it down to LA soon to do a tasting at Noir.