Cantina di Gallura Vermentino di Gallura 'Canayli' 2005

Last night I cooked up some linguini with olive oil, raw garlic, crushed red peppers, walnuts, chopped parsley and and toasted bread crumbs (no pecorino or parmeggiano because of the cold) and enjoyed a few glasses of this Vermentino to accompany the dish. The pasta was solid, but the Vermentino was smoking! Ripe, red appley nose, with a soft, fleshy palate of apples and melon. Some bitter melon and iodide on the finish. The extra year in bottle really fleshes this wine out; the flavors are simultaneously vibrant and minerally, while maintaining a slightly viscous texture. Vermentino di Gallura D.O.C.G. is located in the northern part of Sardegna, and this particular example is the Cantina di Gallura’s top-of-the line, from the granitic canayli vineyard. This is a really interesting Italian white for $15 and change.

Obligatory Wire Post

For the few people out there who still don't know - I'm from Baltimore (And no, I'm not just saying that to be cool, or for street cred, per the hilarious 'stuff white people like' posting from yesterday). I have been playing some serious Wire catch-up of late, since I have never had HBO, tend to not watch much TV with friends who do have HBO, and am relatively new to the rent or burn onto DVD an HBO series phenomenon. What a brilliant show, though! Not having grown up in the projects, I can still tell you that the dialogue is authentic and the details very much on point. Some examples would include the lake trout sandwich, Stringer's conversation with his DC guy in the second season ('I hate go–go music anyway,' - a hilarious example of the Baltimore-DC rift, as in Bmore club music is popular, whereas in DC it's all about go-go), and the depiction of Locust Point as a gentrifying extension of Federal Hill. Of course this won't make sense unless you have spent some time in Baltimore, but if you have then you know what I'm talking about.

'The Wire' boasts some unbelievable character development. Most folks' favorite character would probably be Omar, the very openly gay stick-up man. His penchant for attractive, light skinned African American guys, loyalty to the double barrel shotty, and ability to rile anyone and everyone, from pushers to sleazy criminal lawyers, makes for one complex, entertaining character. Oh, indeed!

Everyone from Terry Gross, to Thurton Moore, to wine blogging stalwart Lyle Fass have been fawning over this show. If you've been under a rock and want to find out more, here's some more info on The Wire.

Doing Battle against The Cold

For the past week or so, every third person I have interacted with regularly either has had a fresh or lingering cold. So it is no surprise that I finally have succombed to the germs myself and have been fighting the good fight since Saturday morning. Surely the bachelor party schedule in Tahoe - what with the days skiing, nights drinking and carousing, and sleeping minimally - has aided the attack of the germs. But on day 3 of the cold I seem to have, at least temporarily, stopped the advance of the cold from itchy-scratchy sore throat phase to nasal congestion and discomfort phase. At the risk of sounding cocky, I have pushed the enemy back and am advancing towards their turf. Who knows, maybe I'll be cold-free by Wednesday?

Here's the current anti-cold regiment:

- LOTS of water, throughout the day (constantly drinking water)
- Tea 2-3 times a day (pick your favorite. Just NO MILK. Brew with fresh ginger)
- 3000mg minimum vitamin C a day
- NO DAIRY. Minimal processed foods.
- Meals with vegetables and lots of raw garlic, including:
- CABBAGE. I think I have eaten half a head a day. Three variations:
Chinese cabbage (olive oil, soy sauce, serrano or jalapenos, 4 minced cloves raw
garlic, ground black pepper.
Thai cabbage (olive oil, lime juice, fish sauce, serrano or jalapenos, garlic,
chopped peanuts or cashews, salt, sugar, cilantro)
Mexican cabbage (olive oil, lemon or lime juice, garlic, onion, cilantro, cumin,
cayenne, salt)

Yes, it's some homeopathic, hippie type shit. But I think it's working. To celebrate, I opened a bottle of Jo Landron's excellent 2006 Domaine de la Louvetrie Muscadet 'Amphibolite.' I am happy to report that my tastebuds are working pretty well - the wine tastes just as pure, snappy and delicious as I remember. Probably should stick to just 2 glasses though....

Back from Tahoe.

Slightly beaten down financially (bad cards) and physically (lots of attempted skiing down moguls), but no worse for the wear.

I apologize for a very light week of updates, and look forward to being back in the saddle this week. Look for some TN's for a bunch of CVNE, Dominio del Conte and Vina Real wines, some more of those good youtube clips, and who knows what else.

Happy Saturday night.

Todd Anderson's Ghost Horse

Last week, as I was tasting through a line-up of Napa Cabs, I came across a 2003 vintage of 2003 Anderson's Conn Valley Napa Cabernet Sauvignon. It's a pure tasting, balanced, not at all over-the-top Napa wine that was showing well. At $50 it's not cheap, but relative to all the new Napa products (not wines as they lack in any discernible wine flavor, but 'products,' because they do not lack for branding, PR and marketing plans).

So imagine my surpise when a co-worker showed me a website for Todd Anderson's super luxury cult wine, Ghost Horse. Basically, the bottles cost anywhere between $500 - $5000 each. The website brings to mind a US Marines TV commercial. I'll leave it at that and let you check out the 'ghost horse world' if you so desire

- Is Todd Anderson for real, or is this a satire on the cult wine phenomenon?
- Is Zac de la Rocha (and anyone else who co-wrote) getting royalties for the use of their recording on the website?
- Would Ghost Horse take down Harlan, Screaming Eagle, and the other heavyweights of Napa Cab Cultland?

Guided By Voices - I Am A Scientist

I post this for a few reasons:

1.) Bee Thousand is one of the great pop albums of the past 20 years
2.) My man David D was talking up the pending 1990's revival at work
3.) Earlier this evening I was checking out Pitchforkmedia's list of the top 100 albums of the '90's. [Disclaimer: I'm not a regular pitchfork reader. The website was left up on my computer and this piece looked interesting.]

Hope you enjoy some pop on a Monday morning.

Marc Tempe: 'Spiritual Godson' to Leonard Humbrecht

A few weeks ago our local rep for Roy Cloud's Vintage '59 brought in some delicious Alsace wines from Marc Tempe, whom Humbrecht refers to as his spiritual godson in the region. Well, the wines lived up to Mr. Humbrecht's billing. All of these were impressive, at times very mineral and textured, at other times just incredibly lively and fruity, like chomping on a handful of fresh grapes, so vivid and pure was the expression of fruit. All of these are produced biodynamically, with a minimum of added sulpur, and are generally fermented for longer periods of time; accordingly they are held back a year or so longer than the typical Alsace releases.

Though I apparently was in very brief note taking mood, the wines were killer.

2004 Pinot Gris Zellenberg

Bottled with a minimum of SO2; as a result the fruitiness is appealing and there is a touch of pettilance (spritz, if you must).

2004 Gewurztraminer Zellenberg

Ripe red grapefruit on the nose leads to a crisp, TASTY palate of gewurz. Not overly spicy or hot, which for an Alsatian version of this varietal is about all I can ask. If more gewurz were this fresh, delicious and full of balanced character I'd consider drinking more of it.

2002 Riesling Grafenreben

Fermentation lasted two years for this wine and took place in used Olivier Leflaive barrels. This wine is so textured and delicious - it brings to mind a vinous version of not-too-sweet lemon icing.

The Marc Tempe field blend (name? '05 vintage?)

1/3 each Pinot Gris, Gewurz and Riesling. Super fresh, lively and persistent. Fun.

1999 Gewurztraminer Mambourg SGN

I'm not an SGN guy. But this was impressive and I was glad to taste it. Super spicy, botrytized gewurz - buckwheat honey, cardamom and over ripe citrus were all there. Great wine, just not my cup.