Tom Cruise Kills Oprah extended version

Too funny not to post. Enjoy.

Lupicia and my new obsession with fancy tea

To adopt the Thomas Jefferson quote on the back of all of Kermit Lynch's wines, "Caffeine is a necessity of life for me." I love dark chocolate as much for its flavor qualities as for its abilitiy to make me feel alert, energetic and clear headed. After a meal I do enjoy a well made espresso (which as you may know is not as easy to come by as one might think). Despite my enjoyment of caffeine, I have never been a regular coffee drinker. The flavors of the roasted coffee bean can be rather harsh, especially in the morning when I need caffeine the most. And the quality and abundance of the coffee caffeine buzz is just too intense for me. Call me a wimp, but coffee is just too much for me, the caffeine equivalent of a big, medium+ toast oaky Napa Cabernet. Yes, I know that there are nuances of flavors to be found in different types of beans, but I have not fully explored them for the reasons mentioned above. Right now, and I would think for the foreseeable future, it's all about TEA.

Lupicia is a Japanese based retailer of fine teas. They've got a wide variety - over 400 types to be exact - so there is plenty to explore. Here are a few current favorites:

Seiran no Homare Gyokuru Green Tea

Also labeled as 'Pine breeze,' this Japanese green tea has a beautiful, soft, avocado green color. There are aromas of damp earth and baked sweet potatoes. It is similarly earthy on the attack, with a short period of not much flavor after swallowing giving way to a very clean, lengthy fresh grass flavored finish. The tea is complex yet subtle, and really quite thought provoking and invigorating. This is tea to rejuvenate the spirits and get your mind right for the day ahead.

Lupicia First Flush Darjeeling Tea

Here is a tea that shows more clean and high-toned floral notes on the nose. It is an amber colored tea, with refreshing citric tones and a touch of astringency on the finish. Drinking this brew in the morning turns my grog into blog. It makes me want to do stuff, gently but firmly urges me to have a productive day.

Look for more posts on tea in the future.

From Cousin to Radikon - natural wines for the complete wine geek

I've enjoyed some very tasty natural wines in the past few days, most of them courtesy of Jenny and Francois - a couple specializing in importing natural wines from France. There have been a couple of, uh, challenging wines along the way, which serves as a reminder that natural wine does not always equal delicious, tasty wine. Nevertheless, I would maintain that your odds of getting a natural wine that is tasty, reasonably priced, lively and full of individual character are still favorable. Certainly better than getting an interesting bottle of wine from Napa. Or Sonoma. Or Pauillac. Or winning your March madness pool at work.

Sebastien Riffault Sancerre 'Akmenine' 2006

Produced from SB grown in primarily limestone based soils, this wine goes through full
malo and does not convince me that this is the way to go in Sancerre. Where's the fruit? 'Akmenine' is Lithuanian for pieces of rock - Sebastien's wife is Lithuanian. My family on my father's side is also Lithuanian so I really want to like these Sancerres more than I do.

Sebastien Riffault Sancerre 'Skevendra' 2004

Though this wine shows better than the '06, it is still lacking in brightness and fruit. Does the oak rob this wine of liveliness, or the malolactic, or both?

Audrey et Christian Binner Gewurztraminer Kaesserkopf2004

I'm usually not into Gewurz as a varietal wine. Too alcoholic and spicy. Though I do like the lighter German and Alto Adige renditions. This had very ripe red grapefruit flavors as well as the rosey, turkish delight thing going on. Not bad for Alsace gewurz.

Olivier Cousin Gamay 2005

Very rich gamay, this was more than merely bright red fruits and earth; it finished with a savory nutty note. Maybe a bit bretty, but I can deal with that.

Olivier Cousin Anjou Pur Breton 2004

Fun wine. I do not know exactly what the grape compostion is though. Cab franc maybe? I don't know. It was similar to the above but with a fresher, more vivid fruit character. A bit darker fruit. Livelier acidity. A wine that's easy to gulp down, but whose mid-term ageability and flavor intensity might make you think twice about doing so.

Oliver Cousin 'Le Cousin Rouge' Grolleau 2005

Produced from old vine Grolleau in Anjou, this is a serious wine that demands an hour decant. It is intense, dark fruited, and seriously structured. Though it also manages to have good acidity and pure, natural flavors as well. More brooding than the Pur Breton, but very possibly longer lived as well.

2002 Radikon Ribolla (500ml)

Saving the best for last here. This is produced from 100% Ribolla, with a very extended period of skin contact. So the wine is a beautiful pomegranate hue, a bit lighter in color though. Very complex, fascinating nose - my friend mentioned musky rose varietals (as opposed to more conventional pink roses). There are mixed dried fruits, smoke, baking spices, roasted chestnuts, wet stones. On the palate this wine is immediately intense, with juicy red currants, cherry, and yellow stone fruit skins. At times it reminded me of Kriek lambic with that intense, spicy cherry quality. Acidity was very high, nervy, but completely in balance. So fucking good!!! Pardon my language, I just learned that I really enjoy Radikon and this was my first Radikon experience, so apologies for the self-indulgence. Whereas my first Gravner (a neighbor and similarly minded Friulian vintner) experience was equally enlightening, the wine just wasn't as much fun to drink. I'd be curious to try it again now that two years have passed. If anyone out there wants to put together a horizontal of Gravner, Radikon and assorted disciples' wines, I would definitely be game.

Del Tha Funkee Homosapien - Mistadobalina (Video Version)

Mr. Dobalina Mr. Bob Dobalina....

Bay Area hip-hop here!

BUY MY MUSIC, DAMMIT!

In my first four and a half months of blogging, I have abstained from this sort of self-promo. But now it's high time for some shameless self promotion.

For the better part of the aughties I have played with a group called JohnStone. We play reggae. Not dancehall, not reggae influenced rock, but good old reggae, slightly updated and tweaked for modern times. We're a great crew of likable, hard working folks slaving away at the 9 to 5 and doing music in most of our free time. That's worth supporting, right? This past September we released our 3rd album - you can listen to several tracks (full length, none of that :30 bullshit) on our website. If you're so inclined, you can buy stuff on itunes or CD Baby. As did Bartles, James and many others before me, I thank you for your support.

And now back to our usual blog program.

good TAURASI is a great value at $40

Though I love Campanian wines, I have had minimal experience with the intensely flavored, long lived Aglianico based wines of Taurasi. These wines are not
inexpensive, but if the quality of the wine I tried today is any indicator, they are still very reasonably priced. In the wide world of wine, we who sell the stuff are often as guilty as our customers (if not more so) of assigning arbitrary levels of value to certain regions or categories of wines. For example: "That's a great entry level Barolo, and a real value at $30." Or, "I would never pay $50 for a wine from Sicily." Fact is, a $30 Barolo at best will show a bit of typicity and that's about it - I'd rather buy a good bottle of langhe nebbiolo and arneis for my $30. And if a $50 bottle of wine from Sicily or southern Italy is every bit worth the price, then why hate? Appreciate.

And did I ever appreciate the bottle of 2000 Contrade di Taurasi I tasted today. Amongst a solid Italian line-up, including such gems as 2004 Bruno Rocca Barbaresco, it stood tall and was my favorite of the 25 strong row of Italians lined up on the tasting bar. The combination of truly intense black fruits, combined with decent acidity and a strong mineral backbone, made me taste a few times, and re-visit the wine for a palate refresher - with the same satisfaction and shaking of my head as the first taste.

Bottle Shock - Hollywood's next wine movie.

I can't help but post this trailer to the much anticipated (by some in the wine industry, anyway) Bottle Shock, which is loosely based on the 1976 Paris tasting. I still have Alan Rickman's performance with Johnny Dep in Sweeney Todd fresh in my mind. He's a good actor, and along with Bill Pullman might be the only quality performance of this movie. Bottle Shock, in theaters March 2008.