Revenge of the Merlot

We kicked it off with a tasting panel of 7 winemakers and Merlot gurus: Jeff Bundshu of Gundlach Bundshu, Chris Millard of Newton, Russ Weis of Silverado, Chris Phelps of Swanson, Alex Guarachi of TGIC, Christopher Huber of Cakebread, and Joe Cicero of Matanzas Creek.
It's crazy to think that such a prominent grape as Merlot would warrant an entire event to re-educate the public, but I'm glad it gave me a chance to taste through some bitchin' Merlot. So what was the general opinion?
Seems the going theory is a kind of perfect storm of wine marketing. Merlot had garnered a huge following in the 80's and 90's, leading everyone to throw their hat into the merlot ring. What resulted was a sea of inexpensive, less than cared for, overgrown, under nuanced, Merlot. Add to that the perfect timing of Miles chiming in that if any body orders Merlot he's leaving and that he's not drinking any fucking Merlot, and the US economy in general taking a bath, and it spells trouble for Merlot.
Not necessarily says the panel.. what this really means, is a thinning of the herd. A drop off of the lesser Merlot, leaving the right players in the game. Good in the long run, they say, since Merlot is here to stay. And hot damn, is it ever. I'd love to do a Folger's switch in steak houses across the country. I'd like to blind all these ardent Cab Sauv lover's on a cab and a merlot and see which they'd prefer...


Gearing up for the trade tasting just before the people arrived.


The start of the after party, with Richard Blade spinning.

And it was good...

Attempt number two in recent history to actually get to understand that strange room where food is prepared. Sort of a variation on a theme this time. Same dry rub, but this time, pork tenderloin instead of lamb. Worked quite well. Used the important bounce technique I learned from grillmaster Jeff Gordley, whereby the meat is firmly grasped with tongs and bounced slightly, to assess it's internal temperature by rigidity. And then, since I don't even remotely trust myself, the use of ye olde meat thermometer.
BUT, it was successful, AND, paired with a 2006 Gundlach Bunschu Merlot, which was fucking killer. I'll get around to posting pictures and notes from the LearnAboutWine "Revenge of the Merlot" tasting, and especially the Press Panel, but for the time being, I'm just enjoying one of my favorites and a great dinner...

Art walk (Finally)

Church of Art, this guy is a lot of fun and a great performance to check out..


Motherboards and ginko leaves..


The Atrium


Very, very disturbing work from "Let's Play Dead" This is the least of it... It's not often I worry about posting stuff here, but some of this is just plain unnerving. That's the point I suppose, but wow...

Inexpensive French Wine Tasting And Farmer's Markets

A tasting of French producers looking for importers into the US... Started off with some lovely 07 white burgs, moved into some good loire whites including a Tressalier, which I'd never had before. It was similar to sauvignon, but with more minerality, maybe something like a cross between, Muscadet and Sauvignon.


Then, some of my favorites of the day. Domaine de Clairac. A rose of grenache and cinsaut, I believe, unlike any I've ever had before. It was like a rose petal and raspberry leaf infused tea. AND, the vigneron, Deborah Knowland, insists on aging it nearly a year longer than most roses. I'm going to totally paraphrase, but she said something approximately similar to:
Most makers of rose seem to believe it must be fresh, that it must be sold and consumed right away. But I disagree. I think, for my style, these wines need to develop, to take on their own characteristics that make them so unique.
After tasting her beautiful Rose, and two Marsanne, and an alicante bouche, I'd have to agree with her stylistic choices. She's clearly setting out to create her own style, that, while not untraditional, is a clear departure from many of the overpowered, tannic monsters the world seems to be demanding.
It's unfortunately overdone and trite to bring gender politics into this, so maybe that's exactly why I'm drawn to make the allusion- These are feminine wines. Endearingly, alluringly, and undoubtedly, feminine wines. Even the reds are made as if they were white wines. The Allicante Bouche grape, one of the few with actually red flesh, will make a red wine, even if pressed and treated as a white. This allows for a delicate, soft and subtle red, even at home in a sushi restaurant. Deborah's wines are beautiful, but unfortunately, none of these wines are currently available in the US, unless anyone feels like becoming an importer... Let me know, I've got a short list of producers that need representation.


So, after winding down with some Alsatian Gevurtztraminer Vendage Tardive, we headed off to the Thursday Farmer's Market at Yamashiro, a giant Sotoshu-looking series of buildings up in the hills overlooking Hollywood. What a great location for short rib, cod, pulled pork tacos and you guessed it, more wine tasting.


The flight was ok. I shoulda just gone with my gut and bought a bottle of the Edward Sellers. But hey, no complaints...

experimental dinner last night...

So, I'm quite definitely NOT a cook. Not yet, anyhow. I'd love to get better at developing recipes, and kicking ass in the kitchen, and hopefully, it's a skill I'll develop. As for now, though, I've got some progress to make. Tonight, it was my turn to make dinner. I was going to do a Pork tenderloin with pomegranate sauce, BUT, when I got to Whole Foods, they were all out, so instead, I got some Lamb Top Round and decided to try and wing it. Found another recipe, and seeing as I was lacking on a couple of ingredients, changed it up a bit...
Started off with a dry rub of cinnamon, some Searingly hot cayenne pepper Erika had picked up from some spice market, salt and pepper, flash seared the Lamb and then broiled it, and served it with a pesto yogurt sauce I grated some ginger root into. In all truth, the lamb was over done, BUT, the hot and sweet dry rub, cooled by the gingerpestoyogurt sauce was rockin'!
Then, for wine, I'd picked up an inexpensive 07 Rasteau Cotes du Rhone Villages that wasn't quite doing it for me, BUT I had a 1/4 bottle of Larner vineyard Grenache and Syrah, that on it's own was too overblown, but, when blended with the Rasteau to make my deux mondes cuvee, it was really interesting, juicy and complex, yet balanced, and a great combo for the lamb.
Some victories, some defeats, some new lessons, and now I feel like I'm ready to try some new challenges...

Whoo Boy!

Oh, how much do I love this kind of stuff? Heard about a tasting of a Movia sparkling wine from my friend and blogger Whitney, check out her blog, Brunelloshavemorefun Here is a video of opening this Puro (A sparkling which was never disgorged in the production process, so all the lees (Dead Yeast Cells) are still in the bottle) So you do this, when opening it...
I LIVE for this kind of geeky stuff!

Barbara's at the Brewery

One of my favorite places to go in LA when you've got some bottles to pop, and Even better when you don't! My friend Molly texted to say she'd have some open bottles and did we feel like heading over to Barbara's to drink and get some food. Always a treat, but extraordinarily so, when Eric, el jeffe, is sitting at your table with you, and willing to take a run through Barbara's serious, and oh so super friendly priced for wine lovers list. Barbara is a true oenophile and has stocked her cellar with beautiful bottles for years. The thing is, her love, outweighs demand at what is a great bbq and beer joint. What ends up happening, is that if you know where to look, you can find, no, I'm not kidding you, a 1996 Maison Joseph Drouhin Volnay Clos des Chenes Premier Cru for $44! That's right, you heard me, 96 drouhin p-cru for $44! Granted, not every bottle is there (sorry folks, those Jayer-Gilles are long gone) but with a little bit of hunting skill, you can find some real treasures. Get on down for the art walk coming up soon, and ask for the wine list, but give 'em time to search....