NEO VINO

Smell the Cork!

2008-01-04T14:02:00.000-08:00

Well, now that I read this article from Slate Magazine that Ben sent me, I have to add on to the saying:

"Love French Wine. Hate French politics"

It's now:

"Love French Wine. Hate French politics. Laugh because we have better sommeliers."

Booyahhhh Jacques Chirac! Seriously, if you need good service USA-style and want to sip on some delicious West Coast Pinot, come on over. You can stay at my cousin Terry's house. He's got a sweet above ground pool and a fridge full of corn dogs.

Domaine Alar...ehhhhhhhhh!

2007-10-30T21:18:00.000-07:00

I tried the 2005 Domaine Alary Daniel Et Denis, Cairanne (Cotes Du Rhone) a few months ago and really liked it. It costs around $15 retail and drinks more like a $30-40 wine. What a deal. If you can find it, buy it up. I drank another bottle (with friends of course) tonight, and it was even better than I remembered. Soooo smoooth, settled acid and nice subtle fruit.

My only real concern is, why was the Fonz's "office" the men's bathroom?

My television debut

2007-09-23T20:48:00.000-07:00

As a young boy raising horses on my father's Shetland Pony stud ranch, I always dreamed of being on television. I'd ride around the farm in my chaps with my ascot fluttering to the side in the chilly night air, dreaming about being Matthew Burton's hilarious best friend on It's Your Move (probably the most under-appreciated show of all time next to "Freaks and Geeks").

Obviously it never happened. But I did make it on two episodes of the new Food Network show, Heavyweights. Check out "Chips Cash In" and "Big Chocolate". I miss those horses.

Thomas Jefferson and Unicycles...

2007-08-20T11:55:00.000-07:00

Last night I watched "The Cultivated Life: Thomas Jefferson and Wine" on PBS. Fascinating.

Did you know that, in addition to appointing Jefferson as Secretary of State, President George Washington made him the White House sommelier? Jefferson also acted as personal sommelier to Madison and Adams.

Earning $25,000 a year as President, Jefferson was known to spend the majority of his cash on importing wine and food from France. At the end of his 8 year term, he was in the red $10,000.

Jefferson was also known to have invented the unicycle as means to quickly and drunkenly ride through his vineyard picking grapes without damaging nearby vines. Okay, I made that one up.

Check it out..

Are you kidding me?

2007-08-05T13:09:00.000-07:00

I've had some bad luck lately...

I ate dinner the other night at Azzurro in Richmond
with my in laws, my incredibly pregnant and glowing
wife and newly pregnant and lovely friend, Laurie.
The food was painfully average for the price, and I
had the misfortune (fortune) of experiencing a new
low in wine service.

After telling me that he knew every wine on the list,
the waiter recommended the 2005 Robert Pecota
Sauvignon Blanc. Sounded good to me. So, he brings the
wine to the table a few minutes later and pours me a
glass. I glance at the label as he presents it, and it
looks overly sweaty. HMMMM. I swirl it a little, take in the
aroma and swallow. Warm. Not barely cold. Warm.

So, I passed it to my wife to make sure it wasn't
me. Look, I hate sending back wine. I hate the feeling
of the server going back in the kitchen and slagging
me. Chefs and dishwashers popping out to see who the
a-hole is who sent it back. And I know I shouldn't feel bad,
but I do.

Anyway, after I tell him it's not at the right
temperature, he says, "Yeah, I know, we've been having
some problems with our refrigerator." What?

But...you still served my table a warm bottle? Not knowing the
proper temp to serve a wine is kind-of understandable. But this
is unforgivable.

At the very least, the manager/owners should have pulled popular bottles and put them in buckets before dinner service. My mind is blown.

So, he brought over a bucket with ice, and we had to
wait until our entrees were served to drink it. By that
time, everyone was ready for red.

I'm not a picky guy. I just can't stomach warm white white. And I hate bad service. If I did something that ridiculous at my job, I wouldn't last long.

The Robert Pecota Sauvignon Blanc L'Artiste was nice though – a subtle lime, grapefruit, melon, green apple flavor; crisp, not too electric.

My face is going to explode!

2007-08-01T21:39:00.000-07:00

I've had a sinus infection for two weeks and haven't been drinking any wine. Feeling better finally and will be back on the bottle tomorrow.

The wine that saved my "anniversary" dinner

2007-07-10T21:41:00.000-07:00

Over the July 4th weekend, my brother and his wife, my mom and dad and Anya and I went out for a dinner at one of our favorite places in Virginia Beach, One Fish, Two Fish. That night, it should have been called, One Douche, Two Douche.

The service and meal was ridiculously bad (I'll spare you the details). And I haven't experienced "food-tude" from servers like in a long time.

The good news is that we had a great bottle of wine – Patricia Green 2005 Sauvignon Blanc. I know that Oregon is becoming known for it's Pinot Noir, but this wine was one of the best West Coast Sauvignon Blancs I've tasted. It reminded me of a well-balanced Sancerre, thankfully void of the trendy, overly electric New Zealand zing (that's fancy wine talk, yo).

Aroma: Green Apple, grapefruit, grass
Flavor: Green Apple, lime, smooth
Price: $17 retail

This is actually pretty good

2007-06-03T13:01:00.000-07:00

I was outside by the pool thirsty, sweating my arse off and didn't feel like a glass of white wine. So I went inside and grabbed a Coors Light. As I walked back by our herb garden, I pulled some cilantro and stuffed it in the bottle - not sure why. I've cooked with both together before, so I figured it might give the Coors a little more flavor. And it did. It was really good.

But to confirm my discovery, I had to test it on other people - without telling them of course. I handed out a few bottles and waited...Everyone really liked it.

There could have been many factors why, however:
The cilantro added a fresh and envigorating flavor.
It was 92 degrees and the beer was ice-cold.
The Amy Winehouse record was playing and people were feeling good.
And my Johnathan Taylor Thomas-like body was glistening in the sun, igniting lightening fast hormone synapses. For the girls. I think.

Seriously, try the cilantro in a light beer when you're not in the mood for wine. It gives it a really nice flavor.

A Legend in the Wine World

2007-05-22T20:51:00.000-07:00

It’s really cool to learn about the stories and folklore that surround certain wineries. Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio is one of those special wines.

The story goes: One day Jesus’ lesser known brother, Toby, was walking down the streets of Jerusalem when he came across a street merchant selling Bahamian hair braids. He was jealous of his brother’s long flowing hair, so he thought it would be the perfect thing to boost his self- confidence and attract the ladies.

The hair braider’s name was …. Christi, and she was born of a sheepherder and “modern” dance teacher. She was so excited about doing Toby’s hair that she severely over-tightened the braids.

When Toby showed up to meet Jesus and the gang at the local watering hole, he was laughed out of the club. So embarrassed, he returned to Christi’s street side salon and pelted her with gefilte fish until she cried tears of merlot.

Okay, I may be missing a few details, so here’s the real story as told by Alexis Lichine from Global Gourmet.

“When Lucifer fell from grace, he and his retinue landed with such a crash that the land beneath them collapsed, to form the Bay of Naples. Lucifer soon realized he was in the place nearest to his lost Paradise, so he populated the area of Naples with his demons. The result was that Naples became a citadel of wickedness. The Savior, looking down one day, grieved to see the terrestrial paradise so steeped in sin and He wept, His tear falling on Mount Vesuvius. From the tear a vine sprang up, and it multiplied into a vineyard.”

This wine was introduced to me by my father-in-law in Brooklyn 6 years ago. And every year on my birthday, he brings me a bottle.

It’s a fantastic Italian table wine for the price. Check it out.

Aroma:Fruity, a little smoke
Flavor:Plums, Pepper
Price:$20

If I knew then what I know now, I might have just gone to beauty school, started collecting ascots and wearing pinky toe rings. Damn it…

2007-05-14T21:30:00.000-07:00

I was sitting on my couch listening to the St. Vincent song, “Now Now” (she’s on tour with John Vanderslice at the moment). And I guess it put me in a real euphoric and sensitive mood because I caught myself using a phrase that’s historically reserved for guys named Giles.

I took a sip of Domaine Charvin’s 2004 “Le Poutet” and, without hesitation, I spurted out, “my God, this is lovely.”

As the praise sang out of my mouth, I froze solid. My wife, who already thinks I’m more “metro” than I need to be, heard me. So, I tried to shake it off with a couple of forced, muscle-tearing neck cracks and a fake yawn. As her laughter began to echo in the back of my head and the cold chills sprinted down my arms in slow motion, I did what any self-respecting man would do … I stood up as tall as I could, arched my back, balled my right fist and punched myself in the zipper as hard as I could.

I’ve been on a Southern Rhone tear for a while, and right as I began to feel like I needed a change, I tried this one. It blows me away that there are so many amazing wines in this region … and I haven’t even cracked the surface.

Try this wine … and don’t judge me.

Aroma: Perfect amount of earthiness, cherry, chocolate
Flavor: smooth, cherry, chocolate, hint of coffee
Price: $16-ish