EAST COAST PALATE

    I got home yesterday with a yearning for steak, so I uncorked this 2009 Charles Krug Cabernet Sauvignon, and went to pick up some filet mignon.  Twenty minutes later, my first whiff and sip had me salivating at the thought of this rich, muscular Cab married up with a tender morsel of meat.
    The Krug winery is the first in the Napa valley, established back in 1861.  The Mondavi family aquired the property in the 1940's and soon some of the best Bordeau blends to come out of California were being made here.
    This wine has aromas that are restrained at first but later the black currant and cherry emerge, commingled with a stoney, granite coolness.  The tannins have a firm grip, but aren't astringent at all.  There is tremendous value in this bottle.  Next time I think I'll try it with a ribeye...
For $17 this Napa Cab should be in every Cab-lover's cellar! 

This wine overdelivers for what I paid.  Its full mouthfeel and firm tannins give the impression that it is way more than just a cheap bottle of Vin de Pays from the south of France.  There are wonderful berry aromas, hints of smoke and tar, and an overall drinkability that makes me want a case of this for everyday table wine.  Found this on sale at the Georgetown Safeway for $7!  Rediculous!  I will start sampling some of the Cotes du Rhone category from this producer and see if it creates a similar wow factor.

If the Mayan calendar is right, we'd better start popping corks...

This product of Santa Barbara, CA gets a C- from my tastebuds.  It has synthetic cotton candy, playdoh, pot pourri aerosol aromas that are an immediate turn off.  The wine is light, drinkable, not sweet or syrupy.  But I find it lacking depth or dimension, a touch astringent, and all-in-all I just couldn't get excited by it.    
Even for a wine with a price tag around $15, I'm going to pass on this.  My intrigue with areas in California like Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Valley, and Paso Robles continues to grow, however, and I plan on sipping more and more domestic wines to see what great wines I can discover.

I may or may not have bought this bottle because of the Templar knight on the label... That said, what is inside the glass is nothing less than delicious.

There is a richness to the palate, a smokiness to the scent, and a long lingering finish that makes this Vacqeyras a memorable wine.  I talk all the time about balance between fruity elements and tannic structure.  This is a perfect example of where the vignerons have taken great grapes and let a beautiful wine emerge from them.

This blend of Grenache and Syrah was found on the racks of the county liquor store in Cloverly, MD.  It'll run you about $18. 

    If you are going to holiday parties and want to bring a bottle that impresses the pants off your epicurian friends, look no further!  This bottle was $16 and is worth every cent!
   Knowing that '07 was a strong, hot vintage throughout the Rhone valley in general, I grabbed this bottle from a Montgomery County beer/wine/liquor store just because I haven't had many Lirac wines.
   Lirac is a town, and AOC (now AOP), just across the river from the famous Appellation Châteauneuf-du-Pape.  For some Wiki-definitions, follow the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lirac_AOC.   
    The intense heat in that part of the southern Rhone allows the grapes to attain a ripeness that creates a blend of body and fruitiness in the wines of the region.  This particular Grenache-based wine I find muscular, but not overly tannic.  Its red cherry and tar aromas are accompanied by subtle smells reminiscent of soy sauce and teriyaki, making me think that the allstar pairing of the year would be a glass of this sumptuous wine and a platefull of bulgogi...
    Which makes me think... What would YOU serve with Korean barbeque??

A few days ago I disembarked from a massive Airbus A380, and was back in the familiar gridlock of afternoon traffic on the beltway.  But Friday night out with some friends solidified my happiness of having returned from another winery internship.  I am stoked to be back and in love with D.C. once again.

Happy hour Sapporos and fries with truffle oil and parmesan at Mie n Yu (www.mienyu.com) was a great way to start off down in Georgetown.  Then I headed over to St. Ex (www.saint-ex.com) to meet my friend Tania for a pre-dinner aperetif.  Estadio was packed so we decided to let the restaurant gods guide us to whatever happened to turn up next, and a few blocks up 14th, we came to Cork wine bar (www.corkdc.com) where a bottle of '09 Juan Gil Monastrell (Spain, Jumilla DOC) and some deliciously crafted small plates helped us keep warm beside their heaters outside...

Later we headed over to Dupont to share a bottle of '05 Millbrandt Merlot with a few other friends.  This Columbia Valley wine has the chocolate and dark plum that great Washington State merlots are known for.  Elegant, full-bodied, and with a fantastic sense of balance between fruit and tannins, it accompanied our cheese plate perfectly, in particular complimenting the creamy texture of the Brillian Savarin.  Anyone who wants to have a great time in a relaxed, unpretentious wine bar, head to Veritas (www.veritasdc.com) and if dancing and drunken revelry is what you're after following a bottle or two, just head to the Russia House for a Moscow Mule!

After 10 weeks in a medieval village in the French Rhône-Alpes, where the average age of the 450 is about 65 years old, I am so excited to get back into happy hours, Maryland in the fall, the electricity in the air on U St. and in Adams Morgan, even the low-lit whisky and craft beer atmosphere of the Quarry House in Silver Spring... It feels great to be home!

So after my time spent making Pinot Noir at Villa Maria, I hit the road with my friend Iñigo, a fellow traveller that I met while walking on the Camino de Santiago in 2009. 

We found the freshness of New Zealand's produce and seafood to be reason enough to make our own dinners in the Backpacker's where we stayed.  Apart from saving some cash that can otherwise be spent on beer and wine, making dinner in a communal kitchen was a great way to get to know other people on the road.

The local beverages above are Speights, the beer of the south island, and a Peter Yealands 2010 Sauvignon Blanc.   The beer was my favorite mainstream brew down there, and it wasn't expensive.  The Yealands SB, also available here in the States, is zesty, citrus driven, with classic grassy notes that epitomize Marlborough Savvy.   It is a great white wine for the fare seen above, too:  Cabbage, carrot, avacado, and mesclun salad; grilled salmon in garlic butter; and green-lipped Havilock mussels.  This picture will always make me nostalgic.... and hungry! 

Anyway, if you see Yealands wines, or Villa Maria wines for that matter, you can trust that they offer good product for a reasonable price.  The Yealands Pinot Noir was one of the first Marlborough reds I had that made me stop, sip again and again, and think, "New Zealand's got it."  And they do.  From picturesque landscapes, to wacky wildlife, this country is a traveller's dreamland.  Their local flavors don't fall short at all, either.

Well, with this trip done, it's off to the next adventure:  The Rhone Valley!

So these things may be unrelated... maybe not. 
With the recent seismic shaking in the south island (Christchurch is just south of the Marlborough region by a couple hours drive), I've started thinking how Mother Nature can wreck anything she wants, any time she wants.  As a Marylander I really have no experience with earthquakes, and I hope to never get too familiar with these savage phenomena.  If I end up in Cali for wine work, though, I'll likely feel more than a few tremors.
The disaster in New Zealand also made me recall the Chilean quakes of last year.  This stuff had a huge impact on shipping and storage of wine for some facilities.  I wonder how the wineries of Marlborough and the Otago valley are coping. 
We are all at Nature's mercy, especially when our livelyhood is a product of the earth.  And now, a kick-ass Washington state Merlot:

Northstar 2006 Merlot...
If you want to taste wine that validates the hype about WA, look no further.  Without paying the price you would for a bottle of Leonetti, you get the solid structure, the plum, black fruit and mocha, the velvet tannins, and that deliciously lasting finish.  Great with steak, but also a good wine for pairing with chocolate and fresh blackberries.

Well my days of sales-rep work came to a close about a week ago.  In two weeks I board a Cali-bound jet for a few days of friends, hiking, and hopefully a winery tour or two.  After which I'll go further west, to New Zealand's south island.  Cellar work awaits!  It feels good to know that I'm back in a production job, but I know that my stint in sales will prove to be a crucial learning experience....
Villa Maria is my destination.  Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc will be the focus of my life down under.  And a month to hike, bungee jump, snowboard et cetera will be the final reward in June.
Tasting notes and travel entries will hopefully find their way here without 7-month vanishing acts between....