Steel Pulse

Another early 80's gem! Steel Pulse - the best live reggae band ever?

S. Tyrol Confections and Friulian Wine Tasting Notes

Strap on your seatbelts, readers, because Loacker Quadratini bite size chocolate wafers are prodigious! Crisp textured and full of cocoa goodness, not only are they a tour de force in confectionery, but they belong in any wafer fan's collection. Buy them by the case!

Alright, enough of the WA inspired madness (though I have quite enjoyed these wafers today). Some quick tasting notes on a few recently tasted Friulian wines:

2005 Marco Felluga Molamatta - This is a blend of tocai friulano, ribolla, and pinot bianco. Rich, fleshy, appley scents lead to a surprisingly pretty and floral palate, that is also unsurprisingly rich and viscous. So it's a balancing act, well executed.

2003 Foradori Teroldego Rotaliano - Another balanced wine. Classic pomegranate and cranberry fruit, decent tannin structure and surprising freshness.

2002 Foradori Granato - Surprise of all surprises: the barrique aged 'bigger brother' is not as fun and tasty. In all fairness though, this bottle did seem kind of closed. I had this wine about a year and nine months ago at a trade tasting and it was a lot more expressive. Sorta big, intensely fruited and Priorat-ish, but expressive and not without interest.

In other barrique aged disappointments of late, the 2005 Vietti Barbera 'Scarrone' is just too much for me, much too much. Am I crazy here? Other folks who tasted the wine alongside me seemed to love it. Much better: 2003 Aldo Conterno Barbera d'Alba Conca Tre Pile. Brighter, more focused fruit and building inner mouth florality add up to tastier wine, IMHO.

Goodbye East Coast, Hello again San Francisco

Vacation's over and back to work it is. Hopefully an afternoon plus this evening will be enough time to shake the dreaded ragweed pollen from my system. Man that stuff is potent.

Might get to see these guys tomorrow night at Slim's, if I can find a ticket. That would be terrific. We'll see....

Last night I re-visited an '02 Riesling which I haven't drunk in quite some time. The 2002 Dr. MF Richter Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett was pretty good. Very spicy, smokey, hearty apple flavors. And 8.5% alcohol. Not my favorite vineyard site in the Mosel, but still a tasty enough bottle from a decent producer. I've got one more bottle left which I'll probably drink in another year as I don't think the wine is improving much more.

Leavin' New York City Blues

Whenever I go to New York, usually about 3 times a year, I inevitably find it depressing to leave. There is no other city that even approaches New York's (and New Yorkers') energy, style, and pure urban sense of joie de vivre. Also, when I go to New York it is to visit people who I care lot about, and whom I do not see nearly often enough. A few nights of catching up is never enough.

So I boarded the Amtrak Northeast Regional heading towards Baltimore, ate my last New York Bagel and tried to ignore the moisture welling up in my eyes. I read a copy of Paste Magazine and thought that I would listen to The Arcade Fire to cheer myself up....

Once in Baltimore, with a few hours to spare before dinner and Yom Kippur services, I drove to pick up a few things from the pharmacy and listened to a bit of the new Animal Collective album Strawberry Jam on the way there. A fitting choice as the band shares my suburban Baltimore upbringing. The first jam, Peacebone, with its arppegiating, repetitive melody, was bouncy, and just a little grating. Track 2 was better. By the third song, which starts out all rock and then steadies itself into a more mellow house music type of groove, I was really enjoying the record. AC's latest effort is not striking me as an immediate favorite like 'Feels,' but it does not come across as a tough listen in the way that 'Here Comes the Indian' was.

An easy fast to all the fasters out there.

Peace.

Home cooked food and Geek wines in NYC

I had some good food and fun wines with some folks last night at Chez Desor in the east village. Before dinner there was some epoisse and a tasty French blue cow's milk cheese (I forget which one). Didn't have any wine with the blue cheese (always a tricky thing unless you're drinking Auslese. Here were some of the wines (listed from favorite to least favorite):

2002 Mason Pierre Overnoy Poulsard - This wine was bottled by someone else, Emmanuel Houillon, which was noted prominently on the wine label - never seen that before. It was really cool wine though. Very light ruby color, with lots of animal and spicy notes on the nose and palate. It was delicious with Epoisse and then with a pork tenderloin. It opened up and revealed some more berry fruit over the course of a couple hours, though still retained a Mourvedre/Grenache type savor on the finish, which I found interesting. Very fun wine. Thank you, Chambers Street Wines, for the enthusiastic rec here.

1989 Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Reserva Blanco - I was very, very excited to taste this. It was a pretty, limpid yellow-golden color. Very tight at first, though it was open enough on the nose, with some soft citrus and nutty scents. Aromas became more intense and quince-like with some air. On the palate, the wine was very subtle, and soft, with some whispering citrus and classic american oak spice. With the epoisse the finish became very nutty, a keen observation from my buddy Chris. Delicious wine, but I'd really like to drink it in another five years.

1999 Guelbenzu Lautus - Guelbenzu is a winery in Navarra who makes some ok wine. They have never been my favorites. This wine is a Spanish style Bdx blend (Tempranillo, Cab, Merlot and a bit of Garnacha). It had some pleasant leafy and green notes from the Cab and Merlot components. Nothing spectacular here, but if you're into Bordeaux and if you see this wine for $40 or less (more than that would be pricey, methinks) then it might be worth a try.

2006 Fuente del Conde Rosado - Tempranillo Rose from Cigales. They did a good job of it this year. Bigger, richer, fruitier style of rose for you tavel fans. But it was still crisp and fresh enough to be a rose that I enjoyed drinking, even if the style lends it a bit of an anonymous character.

1998 Flora Springs Trilogy - Not to hate on CA meritage, but this Napa juice, even with bottle age, was just ok. It's not my thing, but it was well enough made to be tasty to fans of Napa Cab, I think.

2004 Dominio de Tares Bembibre - A real oak bomb. New French oak. It was very tough to taste the Mencia goodness through all this oak. The wine did not improve over the course of an hour and a half or so. I'd be curious to re-visit this wine in three years.

Afterwards I had a bit of single malt. Not a good way to fnish the evening, at least in terms of how I felt for part of the day today. Whether or not you are a single malt person, I would advise against drinking it after an evening of wine drinking.

The best Pizzeria in America?

Tonight I had yet another great meal at Two Amy's in Washington, DC. What makes this place one of the best casual Italian eateries in the country, and arguably the best pizzeria? I'm not quite sure. All I know is that the ingredients are all incredibly fresh, the space is simply and handsomely designed and has this incredibly authentic feel about it. Not surprisingly, 2 Amy's is always packed with a diverse group of diners who can't get enough. Tonight, over some delicious smoked mozzarella, sun-dried tomato, fried eggplant and toasted pine-nut pizza with my friend Emily, I realized that not only is 2 Amy's pizza on a much higher level than any other purveyor of thin crust, wood fire oven baked pizza, but they make other purported Neapolitan pizza specialists look foolish. In addition to the pizza, there is a wide variety of crostini, cured meats and pork (some of it, such as lardo, made in-house) sandwiches on delicious bread baked at the restaurant, and cheeses. The wine list only has wines from points south of Rome. It is chock-full of interesting varietal wines (it is Italy after all) by-the-glass including uva de Troia, pecorino, asprinio, four different Aglianico's . And none of these cost more than $9 for a generous glass; many are $7 and under. For any San Franciscans reading this, think A16, with better prices for wine and pizza that is much, much better. I encourage anyone who is in our nation's capital for a long enough time to eat a meal to go to 2 Amy's. It won't disappoint.

So now that I am properly nourished, I'm going to watch a little more of this Tupac thing on TV, read for a bit and get some sleep. Did anyone out there happen to see Kanye West on Jimmy Kimmel?? If you want to wear a t-shirt with a scarf, that's fine, but you ought to also have some really loud colored leg warmers, and be locking your fixed gear bike on your way into the coffee shop as well. And what's up with the four piece brass section and string quartet? Kanye has to be the single most over-rated performer and recording artist in hip-hop history. Tons of respect for dude as a producer, executive producer, and a seriously talented beatmaker - one of the most savvy and skillful in hip-hop's history. He may be self conscious and not afraid to admit it, but the self-confidence has simultaneously gone way overboard. Someone cut this guy off. I hope that his new record stops selling. Now.

50 years of 'catering to the prosperous carriage trade'

This press release is full of tasty nuggets about one of New York's (and America's) most famous wine merchants. Let's hope that the new location for this ever so innovative retailer does continues to be successful and does not 'gently head southward.' From the press release: "Patrons can take home a Methuselah of 1995 Dom Pérignon Champagne prominently displayed at US$14,950, but nearby, under an 'Our Picks' sign, they can also find a Cristalino nonvintage brut cava from Spain for US$7. 95." It appears as though New York's most famous merchant continues to head in the right direction....

Maybe I shouldn't hate too much, though. Recently I purchased a bottle of 1971 Jean Grivot VR (just village wine) that was part of a private collection and tagged with this merchant's label, and it was still showing well. Not life changing, but still a good amount of vibrancy and interest to it.

I look forward to exploring the bustling New York retail wine scene this coming week.