The last wine glass of wine before the Cold hit.

It's amazing how suddenly a cold will set in, and, in the case of a few nights ago, I felt it suddenly manifest in my body as a scratchy throat. After a glass of Do Ferreiro Albarino 2006, I noticed that I definitely would be contending with a cold, so instead of wine for the next few days it would be water, rose hip tea with ginger and honey, and more water.

A very good glass of wine, though! A benchmark albarino producer, Do Ferreiro makes gutsy wine with more smokey granite minerality than any other albarino I have tasted. Its minerality truly does bring to mind the riesling to which it is supposedly related. There is also lots of cool, crisp fruit with a tinge of lemongrass and just the slightest hint of lychee. This is serious albarino. I look forward to trying more '06 albarinos, especially Lusco - which has always been a favorite in years past. If the quality of the Do Ferreiro is any indication, though, it could be facing some stiff competition.

Things I learned recently about Brettanomyces and Kraftwerk

The bacteria Brettanomyces, aka bret, is used in the process of making geuze - a sour belgian beer which forms the basis for lambics (beer made with fruit). My first exposure to a true geuze was a few months ago and I loved it; there was a super tangy aspect, as well as a satisfying, meaty savor. It brought to mind some flavors that Burgundy sometimes shows. Brett, by the way, can be thought of as the fish sauce of winemaking. Nasty to think of it on its own, but in the right amount (it is a naturally occurring bacteria in many wineries) it adds a certain degree of umami to wine. Though I am not sure that brett is something which can be easily adjusted. I don't encounter brett too often in New World wines, though, on occasion I certainly have. Maybe as the 'American palate' evolves more people will demand different flavors, more akin to European wines, and it will be common practice to allow bret to flourish in vats and barrels? Not that this would necessarily be a good thing....


And about Kraftwerk, I learned that a few of their songs were featured in Master of the Flying Guillotine. The film also has a song from Neu! and Tangerine Dream. That right there is pretty cool.

Robert Kelly at the Oakland Coliseum

Now usually I don't do this but...let's hit you off with a little concert review.

I'll keep this one short as I don't wish to devote too much web ink to someone as fucked up as Mr. Kelly. I will say, though, that seeing an R. Kelly concert at the Oakland Coliseum is truly a great opportunity to observe one of the more overrated pop performers of our times amongst his legions of fans. Can anyone out there defend this man's recent musical efforts? Yes, 'That's that,' 'Ignition,' 'Fiesta,' and others are catchy singles, and the man has a knack for producing hit songs. However you can't help but sense that R. Kelly is a singer and musician of some ability, who has chosen the surefire route to success, via nasty lyrics, simple melodies, and frivolous hooks. As for R. Kelly's live performance, there was way too much reliance on shout-outs from colleagues, a montage of the singer's old music videos, and multiple set changes.

I feel bad for anyone who payed face value for these tickets. Which reminds me, thanks to Mateo and Scott for hooking up this ticket for free. I had fun checking out part of opener Keisha Cole's terrific set (great backing band, too) and, at times anyway, enjoyed the on-stage antics of Robert Sylvester Kelly.

Two from the 70's: 1970 Beychevelle and 1976 Friedrich Baumann Niersteiner Pettenthal Riesling-Silvaner Auslese

Tasting these wines were my tasting highlights at work last week. Then again, as we are in the season these were basically the only wines we tasted at work. The
'70 beych - good acidity and fairly lively red fruit, with a decidedly foresty note. Not compelling, but honest Bdx in a pretty good spot for drinking. If you got it, drink it up, I say. The 1976 Friedrich Baumann Niersteiner Pettenthal Riesling-Silvaner Auslese was an odd bird. Old Rheinhessen, burnt sugar and banana flavors, with an almost peaty smokiness to it. Somewhere between peat smoke and pinotage band-aid flavors. Sounds good, huh? Returning to this wine after a few days, the smoke had dissipated and the fruit was a bit fresher, more enticing, more intense and lively. Not bad.

One of my favorite scenes ever.

I've posted a 'Rockers' scene before, but this is really the scene that does it for me. It's a great inside look at Harry J's studio, with Jack Ruby producing a Kiddus I session. Players like Robbie Shakespeare (bass), Ranchie McLean (guitar) and others are shown doing their thing. Then it cuts to protagonist Leroy 'horsemouth' Wallace convincing Jack Ruby to let him sell his records in area shops. After that you see a factory pressing and stamping 45's. Classic, classic, scene. I can't thank my friend Jon (and by extension the assorted UMASS hippies who were into this movie) enough for introducing me to Rockers.

Terroir - natural wine bar

Last night a co-worker and friend who is also in the retail wine business went with me to a terrific new wine bar named Terroir. The place looks great - worn poured concrete floors, single bottle facings displayed on wooden shelves, several well-spaced wooden tables, and a small temperature controlled cellar adjacent to the bar where the vast majority of bottles are stored. There are a dozen wines served by the glass or 1/2 carafe, and about 150 bottles in the store that you can purchase and open with a $12 corkage fee.

The selection is small in terms of number of bottles, but offers many interesting choices, all of which are either organically or biodynamically cultivated. Not surprisingly, the selection currently focuses on French regions such as the Loire, Rhone, Languedoc-Roussillon and Burgundy. Guillaume, who buys the wine for Terroir, was saying that he will be bringing in lots of Beaujolais soon as well. Italy is a distant second in terms of representation, with producers like Roagna, Gulfi, Radikon (for which they are currently featuring several wines from different vintages) and Paolo Bea on the shelves. Not much in the way of Spanish, German, Austrian and domestic wines for now. But given the breadth of terrific selections from France, there is no lack of choices. We ended up starting with one of the few German or Austrian wines on the shelf, an '05 George Breuer Riesling Charme. It was tasty as always, with delicious, ripe '05 fruit and the typical Breuer creaminess on the mid palate. Good, basic riesling trocken from this producer, though it will be much better in 3-5 years. Our next wine was the 2006 Tue-Bouef Cheverny Rouge, which I was told consists of Gamay, Grolleau and Pineau d'aunis (though I am not convinced, I am now reading elsewhere that the wine is Pinot Noir and Gamay?) This wine was a blast. Some gamay earth on the nose, and bright, red berry fruit on the palate. Anyone who wants to taste what all the excitement is about with regards to French country wines should just try the Tue-Bouef Cheverny Rouge. If you don't get it after that, then I don't know what to tell you.

I really want Terroir to succeed. Their selection shows a commitment to quality wine, and to educating customers on the merits of naturally made wines. If you live in the SF area, or plan on visiting, check out Terroir. It's on Folsom between 8th and 9th streets.

wild style.

DJing, breaking, graffiti.

Whoever can name at least 3 of the folks in this scene, as well as who sampled the lead-in and lead-out songs, gets much props.