Perrin & Fils "Les Sinards" Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2005

Can't remember how much this was--I think around 25$ or so--as it's been sitting in my cellar for about 2 years. Anyways, apparently this wine uses some of the young vines from Beaucastel and then blends them with some other parcels. Mainly Grenache, but there are some other grapes in here as well. Initially on opening, lots of olive. Then there are glimmers of lavender, mint, cherry, vanilla, cassis, earth and a dozen other things. Nicely balanced, with a very nice finish. Sarah is not too big a fan of this wine--way too bretty for her taste. In her words, "It smells like...poop!" Not too surprising from what I hear about Beaucastel, I guess. Just Google "Beaucastel Brett," and you'll get a whole bunch of shit (haha) that comes up. Anyways, I didn't find this to be as bretty as she did, although women do tend to have more sensitive noses than men...or so I hear. I still liked this wine, although not nearly as much as I thought I would. After the initial bout of olive-ness (it was extremely Kalamatish), it wasn't nearly as interesting or enticing as I thought it would be, although the flavors kept shifting and developing, never really settling on any one particular spectrum for too long. B/B+

Lastly, I'd like to extend a big, hearty, "fuck you" to the Redondo Beach police department. You know that a city really doesn't have anything better to be doing when they ticket a bicycle for rolling through an intersection at a low speed (ie under 5 mph). Give me a break. How can ticketing a bicyclist be the number one priority for law enforcement on a Saturday morning? Must be nice to live in such a safe city. However, I'd like to point out that the bike path is overrun by inattentive pedestrians and their inattentive children, but you aren't ticketing them--because apparently it's LA County jurisdiction and not Redondo Beach. It's perhaps amusingly ironic that the beach-adjacent bike path in Redondo Beach is an area where the Redondo Beach police won't ticket pedestrians using said clearly marked "bike path" for walking purposes, creating a dangerous situation for bikers (as well as pedestrians), and forcing them onto the more public streets. Why is it that bike riders are essentially second class citizens? The area where we are SUPPOSED to ride is overun with inattentive pedestrians, and the areas where we end up riding because of said law-breaking scofflaw pedestrians, are inhabited by inattentive drivers. And then of course, we get the ticket? WTF? Seriously? There were no cars, or pedestrians for that matter, coming (and I happen to have a clear, unobstructed view of the intersection). Becuase it was 10 AM in a residential area on Saturday. For crying out loud, cars are a more imminent danger to the general populace than a bicycle in a residential area. I'll be fighting this ticket, which amusingly, will end up decreasing the amount of revenue that you generate by giving out ticky-tack bullshit tickets to bike riders. Come on Redondo Beach, grow up and stop being such a pathetic city.

Pier "Asnas" Langhe Rosso 2007

Hey Russell--Sarah tells me you read this thing?? WTF? I'm surprised it doesn't put you to sleep...anyways, next time you and Marc come out here, we'll drink some good wine--whatever you want--and I'll cook you guys dinner. 

Picked this up for 29$ off of Garagiste. The whole reason that I picked this wine up is that this is where the Dante Scaglione, formerly the enologist for Giacosa, went off too after he quit Giacosa. This wine is a blend of Nebbiolo, Barbera, and Petit Verdot. For the life of me, I don't know why  there is Petit Verdot in this wine. I guess this is the modern influence of guys like Gaja in Piedmont? Who knows, I am by no means an expert...

I don't normally pay any attention to color whatsoever, but this wine is quite a bit darker red than your typical nebbiolo based wine, probably from the Barbera and the Petit Verdot. Anyways, this wine has a killer nose--strawberry, lots of spices, cherry, roses, earth, a smidgeon of chocolate, and eventually licorice. I'd even go so far as to say that initially, this wine smelled a lot like apple-cinnamon oatmeal. Well balanced cherry flavors with accents of oak lead into a somewhat tannic finish. I really liked the nose on this wine--really complex. Overall, a pretty good package, if perhaps a bit spendy for a Langhe Rosso (afterall, you can get decent Barolo and Barbaresco for less than this). I've got a couple more bottles of this; it will be interesting to see how they evolve. B/B+

Kirkland Signature Columbia Valley Merlot 2008

9$. This is Costco's private label, which they increasingly have been releasing wines under. I've yet to have a Kirkland Signature wine that I thought was a total dud (although I've stayed away from some of them that I figured were more likely to suck--California Pinot, anyone?). Of course, that makes sense, because by some accounts, Costco is the largest seller of wine in the United States. Furthermore, their whole corporate ethos is basically about giving consumers a great deal. Polished, slick and new-world in style, with an oaky nose, thick texture, and notes of cherries, chocolate, tobacco, and vanilla. This wine is exactly what I expect from a new world merlot. Verging on the edge of over-extraction, and a lot of oak. However, there is a lot of fruit and tannnin to balance the whole package. For 9$, I think you could do a whole lot worse. This is real wine, at an attractive price, and although it's not my style, I can't knock it. B- 

Pio Cesare Barbera d'Alba 2007

We had this with Sarah's parents at dinner tonight. 45$ off the list. Berries and vanilla, along with enough acidity to complement food. Modern styling, old world charm. B

Chateau Laroque Saint-Emilion Grand Cru 2000 & 2005

I picked up both of these wines at Costco for 25$ each. Not really sure why they were both there--I would imagine that someone wanted to get rid of some inventory or something. They're gone now--I only saw them one time. Anyways, I thought it would be interesting to have the two of them side by side. That's what we did last night. Sarah's parents are here, and while Sarah and her Mom got their eyebrows done in Beverly Hills, Sarah's Dad and I went to the Beverly Hills Cheese store, which fucking rules. You might pay less for cheese elsewhere, but they probably don't have the selection or the quality. We chose 4 cheeses--a really salty farmhouse taleggio, a hard goat's milk cheese from the French Basque region, a Hempkase (there's an umlaut in there somewhere's) cheese with Hemp seeds from Switzerland, and our favorite, a Basajo Sheep's milk blue cheese from the Veneto, aged in passito malvasia grapes. (Seriously, the Basajo is out of this world good--fruity, super stinky, and creamy.) We also picked up some saucisson sec and some wild boar salame. This whole board we created, along with some bread from Le Pain Quotidien, was arguably a landmine for wine. What was going to go with taleggio probably wasn't going to go with the blue cheese and vice versa. (As an aside, wine/cheese pairing successfully is what I would call a "difficult task," fraught with peril.) Anyways, thank god that I made a rack of lamb (I know, I know, I'm really boring--it's just so easy and good), along with some broccoli rabe that had a lot of garlic and chili. Onto the wine...

The 00 was obviously a little bit older and was more reserved than the 05. It had aromas of earth, pipe tobacco, iron, and cherry fruit, backed by a fleshy (although not tannic) frame and mouthfeel. In contrast, the 05 was way more tannic, as well as fruity, and took a couple of hours to mellow out. It was leaning a little more towards the blackberry side of things, and also had an earthy, iron streak. This was a fun exercise, although neither Sarah or myself were blown away with the wines, even though they are both solid. It would be interesting to follow the evolution of the 05 to see if it eventually becomes more like the 00 in terms of mouthfeel, texture, and secondary aromas. If I had to pick one of these wines (and there are really only subtle differences for the most part), at this point, I prefer the 00. It's a more complete package, and it's a satisfying wine to drink--a good middle ground of fruit and secondary characteristics, and good balance. I give it the slight edge. However, Sarah's parents liked the 05 more, I'm guessing because it was fruitier and a little bit more in your face. For me, 00 B, 05 B-.

Lastly, for lunch yesterday before our eyebrow and cheese escapade, we went to Pizzeria Mozza and ate a bunch of stuff--poached baby artichokes with ricotta crostini, romanesque broccoli with vinegar and chile, white anchovy, tomato, and chili pizza, taleggio with mushroom pizza, and the meatlover's pizza. We also shared some gelati--olive oil (awesome), greek yogurt (different and tangy--delicious), and stracciatella (which is Sarah's favorite). Mozza is quite good--every time I go there, I am impressed. And all four of us ate there for 100$. A bargain.  

Bodegas Bilainas Rioja Viña Zaco 2006

Picked this wine up at Costco 10$. Although clearly a riper, more modern style (as opposed to traditional Rioja), this is pretty good for 10$. It goes without saying that this particular wine could, to a certain degree, just as easily come off as a Petite Sirah, or Syrah, or a Napa Merlot or some other fucking thing. Such is the modern wine world. I don't know that it's bad--after all, this is solidly made wine, but it is disappointing to me in the same way that a Foster Farms chicken is. Sure, that chicken satisfies a lot of folks and is inexpensive, but I have to tell you something--a chicken from the Farmer's Market or one of the pasture-raised Bronze chickens tastes incomparably better. Not to be disingenuous, but it must have something to do with a chicken being a chicken, and not some hyper-steroidal piece of protein. The bronze chicken will cost you around 12$, which is admittedly more expensive upfront. However, you get bigger legs, smaller breasts, the giblets, a tastier piece of meat, and a chicken that lived like a chicken, not a prisoner at Gitmo. Although people may take umbrage with this statement, that Foster Farms chicken is probably more expensive in the long run--just like a lot of industrial food. Poor dietary habits and obesity costs America (meaning you, me and everyone else) a lot of money each year. Every time I see some land whale running around with a cheeseburger, KFC, or whatever else, I get pissed because I end up subsidizing their craptastic habits. (Fuck you, land whales.) These costs are not reflected in the cost of subsidized corn and cheap meat that everyone is inexplicably eating. Anyways, I must be a hypocrite because I drank this wine, redolent of blackberries, smoke, cinnamon, and earth, with a fleshy frame but ample acidity, and enjoyed it. No chickens died to make this wine (er...well I'm pretty sure at least), but there is no denying that this is the vinous equivalent of a Foster Farms chicken. Despite my reservations, this is solid. B/B+ 

Saint-Jean Cotes du Rhone 2007

 

Picked this up at Costco for $7.89. Fruit forward and definitely showing the ripeness of 2007. Ripe plums, blueberries, blackberries and lavender. Shows a little bit of creaminess in the mid-palate, and then goes off into an earthy finish. For under 8$, this is a great deal. However, it's not really the style of Cotes du Rhone that I like. This is frankly not nearly as enjoyable to me as the lighter, more acidic, and more peppery Cotes du Rhones. B- As an aside, I picked up the Chateuaneuf du Pape from them for 25$--ripe at 15%--and will review that too.