If I hadn’t moved to Washington, I may not have discovered WA wines. Holy crap! there is some good juice up here. Mid summer, our days are two hours longer than Napa. OK then winter is two hours shorter but who cares the vines are dormant. My collection is about to take a hit. It is what it is. Drink up. yeah 😉

Syrah’s have been my favorite. Bordeaux style blends are my passion these days 🙂

greetings all, its has been a while so I thought I would drop in. Had a fantastic Châteauneuf-du-Pape the other day with an amazing meal to go with it.

Appetizers were roasted garlic and herb Bree stuffed mushrooms, Prosciutto wrapped asparagus, heirloom tomatoes with balsamic and rosemary olive oil, Entree was filet Mignon with a mushroom reduction, dessert was creme brulee with chocolate and vanilla ice cream with raspberries and blueberries with mint chocolate.

He was my hero since the early days. I remember running my Apple IIe with a phone coupling modem that ran, maybe 300 bpm in those days.

A true pioneer and “down to earth” guy.

RIP

I have a void each evening that for some reason I can not fulfill. I have searched to no avail.

I need help.

Any ideas?

I’m trying to figure out why I asked that question? ^^^

I’m really going out on a limb by attending a wine festival in Salisbury, MD with my son to try some Maryland wines. I have read they are improving so we’ll see. Based on previous tastings, they could only get better since they were absolutely horrid.

I will report back with my notes and any worth trying.

Cheers!

They make wine in Maryland?? How about that? 😉
Yes, do report back. Cheers!

Good choice John. La Nerthe is often good qpr

thank you again for the Vieux Lisa. It will be consumed on some special occasion.

Unbelievable! I am sooo jealous! Let’s hear more about the stellar wines (and pinot in Calistoga).

Wow.. surprised to hear that free tastings are a thing of the past here… Ummm.. I blame it on expensive real estate.

So not only did you taste, spit, and drive.. you actually took notes. Impressive!

Old conservative folks that ahore change ?
Dudes uncomfortalbel to leava a good place.
Lonely souls lost?
Just hanging around untill the next good wine thing comes up?

Truly amazing huh? And one would think the only thing us Marylanders are known for is Chesapeake Bay Blue Crabs but they are finally making “quaffable” wines. None that you want to take to a fellow Vayniac’s house for a nice elegant dinner, but one you could take to a barbecue for “Show-and-Tell” or “Jeopardy” trying to guess what wine you brought to the occasion. Here’s an interesting article that printed last week in the Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/maryland-wines-ready-for-their-close-ups/2011/10/04/gIQAQZhrcL_story.html

Here’s a link to the winefest that my son and I attended on Saturday. Gorgeous day, a little windy but much better than the torrential rains we have experienced the past month. http://www.autumnwinefestival.org/

Located in Salisbury, MD on the Eastern Shore known for being the home of Perdue chicken I must say the place was packed, especially “younger” folk. Being a “mature gentleman” I must say that wine festivals are as much fun checking out the fillies as much as the wine. I will say one thing that really, really bothers me at the majority of wine festivals. It is people who treat these events as their personal wine tasting. There should be signs when you enter: “Get your taste then back off!” Bunch of inconsiderate drunks loitering around the front yapping and not once did anyone sniffy-sniff! 😉

Other than your typical East Coast varietals like Seyval Blanc and Chambourcin (I do not like) there were a few Pinot Grigios (Boordy) and Chardonnays that were not too bad. http://www.boordy.com/products/landmark-series

I would give them low 80 scores but honestly, any MD wines in the 80s is something of a miracle given the state of the wine industry in MD for the past 20 years. They are improving I must say. Here are two reds (the most difficult wine to produce in MD and for years in VA) that I found impressive. I actually bought the Slack Cab Franc which won a Gold Medal at the MD Governors Cup. Take that for what it’s worth. 😉

http://www.slackwine.com/cabfranc2010.html

And this one was worthy of a shoutout. Love the same and label.
http://www.knobhallwinery.com/jealous-mistress

I doubt anyone can find these but if you ever stumble across these at your local wine shop, stash one of these in your brown paper bag and try it in the dark. You may well be surprised.

Cheers!

Oh come off it (I know you said that tongue in cheek)! There’s wine in all 50 including Maryland.
And MD is capable of great wine. The problem MD has is A. terrible liquor laws and B. The same problem other states have; Without the name recognition of California, Oregon, etc. and with those liquor laws it’s hard to get the capital to make great wine and when you do make great wine, it costs a bit more for the quality than say CA.

That being said, the only MD wine I’ll really brag about is Black Ankle. I used to sell/recommend that all the time to guests without telling them it was from MD. After they told me how much they loved it, I’d tell them I was glad to hear it and that it was from MD. I loved watching their jaws drop.
Truth is most MD wineries are still going for the cheap easy semi-sweet stuff. But the potential to make great wine is certainly there.

Aaah.. Carneros! Okay, that makes sense. 🙂 Very interesting about Chateau Montelena Chards…I have yet to visit but will get there soon. Ha! Yes.. age can change you indeed!

This was my first MD winefest in . . . over 15 years. I was invited by my son so how could I pass it up? I was pleasantly surprised by the quality but you’re right, sugarfied, sweet crap I don’t like.

I’m having a glass of the Slack rose right now. Of course, I’m in an empty house in a dark office with Mozart playing in the background but hey, it’s not bad.

Cheers

I was given a bottle of 1991 Torrontes today from the La Rioja region of Argentina. (In truth I asked for it).
I’m actually kind of psyched to try it, believe it or not. I was surprised to see that there was a varietally labelled bottle of torrontes back then, especially one that was exported to the U.S.
You’d think there weren’t too many talking about that grape 20 years ago.

This bottle of wine has got me wondering about torrontes now. As far as when it was first bottled under the name torrontes and when it was first being exported to other countries, specifically the U.S.

I haven’t been able to find anything to answer those questions among my books or online.
If any of you guys or gals know, I’d love to hear about it.

Hahahahaha! Loved your 2 cents, Dom. Great review below, too! Thanks for sharing.. Oh.. and I loved the label, “Jealous Mistress”. I would buy it. 😉

We love the social scene! 🙂

A R/T airfare to the East Coast could be had for cheaper? So I propose we have an Old-Timers Vayniac (I’m speaking for myself) dinner/wine tasting at a venue to be determine later.

Sounds like you had a great trip. I’m excited and happy for you. I may be prejudice but I do believe we are very fortunate to live in such a great country.

On a political note, great news today to hear of Gaddafi. He was responsible for the murder of a friend’s wife in the Lockerbie disaster. I don’t like to celebrate anyone’s demise but this one hit home.

Cheers all

Gluttons for punishment
Diehards
Captain always go down with the ship
Never give up
Keep the faith

And a multitude of more though I must admit I fall under the “Lonely Souls Lost” category and damn proud of it. 😉

We had a great time, Anders. Thank YOU! Come visit anytime. Your pictures were beautiful (Like Dan said below)! You’ve seen more of Napa than I have.. and I live pretty close. How embarrassing is that? 🙂

I think i got better pictures to blow-up.

Doing well Dominus. Hope all is well with you and everyone else too. I feel really bad for you with the Colts this year.