QOTD: Another Paul Auster book, Moon Palace.

Interesting response to the costco wine…a shame I have none near me.

The show is getting better all the time, keep up the fresh perspective. QOTD “Mildred Pierce” from selected stories by James M.Cain along with everything by Raymond Chandler (check out “Farewell My Lovely”). For casual reading it’s Mad magazines’, “The Mad War on Bush”.

The show is getting better all the time, keep up the fresh perspective. QOTD “Mildred Pierce” from selected stories by James M.Cain along with everything by Raymond Chandler (check out “Farewell My Lovely”). For casual reading it’s Mad magazines’, “The Mad War on Bush”.

QOTD: “Judgement of Paris” – GREAT wine book

QOTD: “The Anatomy of Melancholy”.

QOTD: “Dreadnaught – Britain, Germany, and the coming of the Great War”

I’ve been missing good wine as of late. What to do….

Never would have thought the Costco brand would be any good. I should be more open-minded. Their first store is practically in my backyard.

QOTD: Endgame by Derrick Jensen is my main read. That one is taking a while, and when I get sick of scaring myself silly I go to some fiction. Right now, I’m in the middle of Moscow to the End of the Line by Erofeev.

GV, interesting rundown on Kirkland wines. Another interesting costco value is Cameron Hughes wines. http://www.chwine.com/ When I see a pallet of their stuff at Costco, I always grab a few bottles. Just FYI, although I’m sure you’ve heard of them.

What am I reading? Mostly stuff online, but when in meatspace, I read WIRED, WINE SPECTATOR, sometimes other wine mags (Wine & Spirits, Food & Wine), and I have a stack of books that are still packed up from when I moved houses a few months ago. No, not all wine books. 🙂 But some are.

QOTD: Watchmen by Alan Moore.

QOTD: Porn 😉

Yo Gary. Just a friendly reminder to please answer my email if you get a chance – That question on Australian Shiraz’s is killing me! Here it is, reprinted:

I’ve had several bad experiences lately with highly-rated Aussie fruit bombs that have been sickly sweet – even syrupy, without supporting acidity or tannins. This is distressing to me, because I fell in love with wine in the first place because of ’04 Barrel Monkeys Shiraz (McLaren Vale), which was a RP90 “fruit bomb.” The ’05 Marquis Philips Shiraz, ’05 Kiss Chasey Shiraz, and ’06 Mollydooker The Maitre D’ Cabernet, all were undrinkable to me because of sickening sugar content.

However, no reviewer of any of these wines mentioned sweetness. I don’t think I’m hypersensitive to sugar, because Barrel Monkeys, to my palate, tasted only vanishingly sweet, and the residual sugar was 1.1%, well above the tasting threshold of .2% (the average “dry wine” according to Alexis Lichine). I’m worried now, and a little gun-shy, because 2/3 of the Aussie wines I’ve bought have been undrinkable, and I don’t know how to avoid such wines in the future. Any helpful advice? Did you notice high residual sugar when you tasted the ’06 Maitre d’? Do some people find residual sugar desirable in Aussie fruit bombs?

Incidentally, I found a Chilean Cab – ’05 Cousino Macul Antiguas Reservas – to be too sweet also (though less than the Aussie’s). To my taste, one of the most beautiful things about red wines is the taste of fruit without sweetness. If I want sweet, I could drink grape juice! If this isn’t the common opinion, do you have any guidelines as to which regions tend to make sweeter wines? Is there is a secret reviewers’ code word for sweet wines that I should watch out for?

QOTD: Profitable menu planning
(test tomorrow) 🙁

GV sorry to hear about the Lamb vomit!

QOTD: Light at the Edge of the World – Wade Davis

Stupid-ass Sam’s club doesnt do booze, at least in RI. QOTD: Light Years, by James Salter

QOTD: To my great shame, the only things non work related that I have read recently are Car and Driver and Automobile magazines…….:(

Costco can surprise. Bought some 2001 Val di Suga Tenimenti Angelini (one of my favorite bruns). it’s still young, but awesome with a little decant action. most places in LA- $60. costco $40 bargain BONES.
have always wondered about their brands. thanks for an excellent show.

QOTD: finishing “the Crime Writer” by Gregg Hurwitz;
starting Robert B Parker’s new “Spenser” novel “Now and Then” (read every Spenser novel written to date)

Costco can surprise. Bought some 2001 Val di Suga Tenimenti Angelini (one of my favorite bruns). it’s still young, but awesome with a little decant action. most places in LA- $60. costco $40 bargain BONES.
have always wondered about their brands. thanks for an excellent show.

QOTD: finishing “the Crime Writer” by Gregg Hurwitz;
starting Robert B Parker’s new “Spenser” novel “Now and Then” (read every Spenser novel written to date)

QOTD: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Desiring God by John Piper

We buy wines at Costco but have never tried the Kirkland brand. We’ll do so. Thanks for the tip.

QOTD: I have a hold on the new Spenser novel, just checked out a Judith Evanovich mystery for light reading, and am reading Adventures on the Wine Route – Kermit Lynch, and The Power of Movies -Colin McGinn.

QOTD: Cloudsplitter By Russell Banks

The Red Wine Diet by Roger Corder. Interesting book on the latest research on the health benefits of wine.

I’ve purchased wine from Costco, just not the Kirkland brand. Maybe I’ll spring for the Alexander Valley Cab if I see it on my next trip.
QOTD: Currently reading Windows on the World Complete Wine Course: 2007 Edition by Kevin Zraly and Emperors of Chocolate by Joel Brenner

QOTD: A Very Good Year (a year in the production life of a Ferrari-Carano Fume Blanc).

Gary, we had similar views on the CdP. I thought it showed potetial to get better, but agree that $20 on an experiment is a little pazzzzzzzzy. http://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=372120

I purchase quite a bit of wine from Costco so its nice to see their brand do well.

QOTD: Catholicism and Fundalmentalism by Karl Keating

QOTD: “The Dangerous Book for Boys”