Food and Wine Are Made for Each Other

I'm not generally a fan of posts about pairings (especially when they focus on what wines to pair with some cultural phenomenon a la American Idol contestants). But lately I have had a series of great meals that were intensely enhanced by the wine selection. Since I often taste wines either at a designated tasting, or in a neutral environment for the blog I've been struck by how important the relationship between wine and food is. I'm mentioning below a few food and wine pairings that have made me happy recently, with the hope that you will suggest a few of your own. After all, the whole point of having great wine is to enhance a particular experience (or be an experience on it's own). Here are mine, please share yours in the comments:

- at Local: Mission Eatery in San Francisco I had chicken liver mousse, corn chowder with dungeness crab, and grilled squid with Lioco Indica (carignane, and petite sirah). The restraint in the Lioco made your mouth water for more of the fresh, local flavors of Local.

- at Radhika's Modern Indian Bistro in South Pasadena we ate Chicken Tikka Masala (spicy) with Trimbach Riesling from Alsace. Much to our delight the acid of the wine cut through the heat from the curry and made everyone at the table smile.

- at Urban Tavern in San Francisco, braised beef short ribs and Qupe Central Coast Syrah 2008. Awesome melting richness in the ribs met a earthy, but fruity balance in the syrah that made the whole experience delicious.

What food/wine combinations have you had recently that just made you happy to be enjoying the experience?

Who Doesn't Love a Monastrell from Jumilla?

The story: When you think of 'cult' wines you generally think of big Napa Valley cabernets that come out of the gate at over $100, and while delicious and often impeccably created they are often purchased out of prestige as much as quality. But there also tends to be a whole lesser known market of inexpensive bargain wines that gain a devoted following. I am often less than surprised to discover that one of these wines is from Spain. Spain is consistently turning out delicious wines that are widely available and cost well under $20.

While regions like Rioja and Xerez have strong traditions that dictate how wine is to be grown and made, many lesser know regions of Spain (Campo de Borja, Jumilla, and Yecla for example) have more freedom to experiment, and are producing bold wines that beautifully straddle the Old World and New World stylings. A visit to a wine shop with a nice Spanish section will result in some great finds, at a great price point.

The wine: One such wine is the Juan Gill Monastrell 2007, made by Bodegas Hijos de Juan Gil in Jumilla. Made from 100% monastrell (Iknow you know this, but this is just the Spanish word for mourvèdre) this is a nice ruby red wine, aged in all French oak for 12 months. The nose was a bit tight at first but opened into an addicting bouquet of red raspberries, mint, eucalyptus, hints of cedar, and Asian spices. The wine was medium bodied with plenty of berries, a touch of licorice, and quite a bit of spice through the middle. It rounded itself out beautifully with a bit of cherried minerality, framed by big tannins and nice acidity.

The score: This wine was very good, and at $12-$14 is a wine that teeters on a real bargain. It will drink well for a couple of more years, and deserves a score of 3.5/5.

Unti Vineyards: Natural Wines from Dry Creek

It's Natural Wine Week in San Francisco, and while natural wine may have a slightly blurry definition it should not stop you from seeking out some great natural wines for your drinking this week. I recently became aware of a small winery in Dry Creek Valley that does everything in their power to let Mother Nature do the work in their winemaking, staying away from commercial yeasts, acid enhancement, and fining. They certainly employ control over the fermentation process and keep an eye on extraction but do so with careful consideration in punch down and skin contact rather than through the addition of outside chemicals. They also use blending to correct wines deficiencies and are quite minimalistic in their application of oak.

So what does this produce? In my experience this produced very food friendly, and expressive wines. I thank that many sommeliers must agree because I am seeing their wines on more and more lists throughout the City.

On a recent trip to visit Unti I had the chance to taste through their lineup. Pouring in a fairly non-descript room off of Dry Creek Road, the tasting room is by appointment only (although same day appointments are usually availalble). The tasting room staff was very knowledgeable, laid back, and obviously excited about their company producing all estate wines in the most natural method that they can. A couple of highlights from the tasting include:

The 2009 Rose - 77% mourvedre and 23% grenache winemaker Sebastian Pochon is quite adamant about making this wine from grapes grown specifically for this wine. Many domestic roses are made by draining juice off of the grapes early when they are picked for their regular red wine which can mean the grapes were picked at too high of brix for a perfectly acidic, dry, complex rose. This is a VERY popular bottle of wine, and is nearly sold out after being released for only 2.5 months. Bone dry, and expressively floral and minerally this is a true Provencial style rose.

The 2008 Segromigno - 92% sangiovese with a influencing splash of 8% montepulciano I took one drink of this wine and thought it might be the perfect domestic Italian dinner wine. It has enough of a New World style that it comes across as fruity and playful, is not overwhelmingly complicated, and gets a nice deep kick from the montepulciano. This is a very approachable wine now, and I wouldn't say it is one to cellar, but it is a nice domestic sangiovese for the $24 price tag.

The 2007 Zinfandel seems to be getting a lot of attention lately (media, scores, etc.) It is Unti's most fruit forward of the lineup, and is possibly starting to sit back a bit now. This allows the wine to display its rather intense concentration, but also some great acidity from a splash of Barbera that was added for this very purpose. Tasted after a some stops in Dry Creek Valley for a callibration to the classics zinfandels of the area, this one joins right in and yet maintains the structured stamp of an Unti wine.

I have mentioned the 2005 Syrah Benchlands before, and it continued to be one of my favorites. In general Unti was a great place to be further exposed to those that are trying to make their wines naturally (not that other wine is thusly 'unnatural'). It displayed a sense of elegance, restraint, and true expression of the terroir throughout the lineup. I highly encourage you to seek a couple of these wines out, plan on drinking them with food, and understand what a light touch and thoughtful blending can do.

Tasting British Columbia

The story: I am an ethnocentric American who suffers from the entirely too common perception that British Columbia is basically Seattle with rounder vowels. I know very little about the culture, commerce, agriculture, and politics of our Northern neighbors, and have generally considered it a beautiful extension of the Pacific Northwest. This unfortunately has extended into my wine experience. Despite the pretty vocal contingent of BC wine tweet-ohs, I have remained oblivious.

No longer. As Alanis Morisette and The Barenaked Ladies made their way into my heart in the 90's, I will allow Okanagan Valley to capture my attention and possibly mirror said rock stars ironic appeal. In this case the lack of expectation on what B.C. wine can deliver is entirely due to my ignorance.

The Okanagan Valley is a dry high-dessert valley that stretches north from the Washington State border for over 150 miles. While very far north (duh) the Valley has a number of microclimates that support a large variety of wine styles, and a mind boggling number of varietals. Producing everything from Alsace styled riesling, to fruit forward syrah, quality wine is being made in large quantities in British Columbia.

The wine: The 2008 Cedar Creek Riesling, is a dry example of riesling. It pours a straw yellow and offers a simple but pleasant nose of citrus and a touch of petrol. The mouth is quite tart up front, reminiscent of lemon pith with a briny minerality. The palette spreads out as it washes through ending with hints of pineapple and guava but remaining impecabbly dry, crisp, and focused. The finish is a bit slately and mouthwateringly acidic.

The verdict: This is a nice introduction to a quality BC wine. Going in with the incorrect assumption that all BC wines were going to be cold-climate wines I expected to enjoy this riesling, and while I was wrong about the climate diversity in the Okanagan Valley I was correct about the qualities of the wine. The wine was correct, delicious, and if it lacked anything it was a sense of complexity. The wine paired very well with a spicy Chicken Tikka Masala, and can be scored a 3/5.

The wine retails for $18 CAN.

This wine was received as a media sample.

Quickest Ways to Sound Old-School

No one likes to be the new kid on the block (original boy band obviously excluded). The Vino File being an acknowledged late comer to the wine blog scene I have been keen to learn the ropes and move quickly from newbie to established. I am just now getting to the point where I see new wine blogs starting to creep up behind me, and I have a few words of wisdom for quickly sounding like you've been at this a long time:




1) Call it juice. Not every time but now and then refer the wine as juice.

2) Always when mentioning chardonnay remind readers that you don't like butter or oak.

3) Remember, any noun can become an adjective by adding 'ed' (i.e. mushroomed, cigared, funked)

4) Regret that you are scoring, but score away.

5) Remind everyone around you that you are not a wine snob, you are down to earth. It is better to say this right before you explain why Beaujolais Nouveau is really only acceptable if you recognize it for its frivolous, and less than serious drinkability.

6) All fruits have taste characteristics directly related to their color or what type of bush they are grown on. Thus blue and bramble are much more focused descriptors than they may appear.

Please jump in here at any time.


By the way, I am the first to be guilty of using all of these things, and will probably include some of them in tomorrow's post. After all, nobody influences a culture completely from the outside, and honestly the people in around the wine culture have been truly amazing people, quirks, idiosyncrasies, homogeneous tendencies, and all.

Impressions of Washington: Syrah

It has been nearly two months since I visited Washington State on the WBC or Bust tour and the Wine Blogger's Conference. In the time since I have posted my experiences with riesling, cabernet franc, semillon, and merlot. This leaves two big grapes for me to cover, and today's topic is the syrah of Washington.

Syrah has not had a particularly long history in Washington. The first block was planted in only 1986 by Mike Sauer, owner of the Red Willow Vineyard and David Lake MW, who believed syrah could be successfully grown and vinified in Washington. In fact, that first planting was the source of the Betz wine below. Bob Betz himself was instrumental in showing the rest of Washington, and the world, that syrah was a very viable option for the region.

The syrahs I found in Washington shared many of the upsides and downsides of the other big red wines. There were examples that were overripe and flabby, and several that had too much wood influence. However, when they were on they were perfectly structured, had great acidity, and beautiful dark berry flavors layered with earth, smoke, and leather. In other words there were some outstanding Washington syrahs. I would have to say that syrah, while an acknowledged favorite, was the stand out surprise for me in Washington. My favorites include:

Des Voigne Cellars 2007 Montreux - 100% syrah from 4 different vineyards, this wine gave smokey vanilla on the nose, and big blackberry and black pepper across the palette. It was a big wine but had enough structure to hold together and drink oh so smooth. Only 184 cases were produced of this wine, but it is available from the winery for $30.

Smasne Cellars Block 3 Syrah 2007 - Co-fermented with viognier (in true Northern Rhone fashion) this is a bottle of syrah good enough that superstar winemaker/consultant Robert Smasne has his own name on it. (He is the consulting winemaker for over 20 WA wineries) Tasted in a lineup of smashing syrahs this one stood out, and really has great aromatics from the viognier co-fermentation. It is available from the winery for $35.

Skylite Cellars 2005 Syrah - Tasted in a vertical it was the one with a bit of age that stood out. The tertiary flavors are playing well with the fruit at this point, and it has softened into a great texture. Some prefered the younger 2007 that was also poured, but for my $32 this is the year to drink now.

Distefano 2004 Santa Maria - A syrah forward Rhone blend, also blended with viognier, this wine had more dark cherry flavors, and a coffee finish with a bit of dusty dried fruit. Really nice for the price at $27.99.

Doyenne 2007 Aix - 61% syrah, 35% cabernet sauvignon, and 4% mourvedre this wine features outstanding earthy elements, coupled with delicious blackberry. The cabernet seems to give this wine a very structured feel, and this is one I would let sit for a couple of years. Doyenne is the Rhone focused arm of DeLille cellars, and the Aix is available from the winery for $34.

But the star of the week is Betz Family Winery 2008 Syrah La Cote Patriarche - 100% syrah, this wine is young, and powerful. To be released in October of this year, if you have an allocation you would be crazy to miss this wine. It is earthy, leathery, full of fruit, and has so much structure it is almost overwhelming. Put this one in the cellar, the 50% new French oak will integrate, the tannins will relax (yup big tannins for a syrah), and you will have an absolutely amazing bottle of wine. This wine is expected to be released at $55.

Rumors abounded around the Wine Blogger's Conference on other great syrahs, particularly from Walla Walla. Several bloggers have commented on K Vintners, Amavi Cellars, and Rotie Cellars. I think the point is that Washington can do syrah, and do it well. Whether you seek out one of the mentioned bottles above (for my palette all are worth their price), or find whatever is available for you locally, if you like a little smoke, a little earth, or a little black pepper with your fruit then you should try Washington syrah.

Highlights from the Rhone Rangers tasting

The Rhone Rangers, America's non-profit organization for advancing the production and enjoyment of Rhone grapes in America, hosted a tasting in L.A. this past weekend. The tasting was for any member wineries, and aimed at trade and consumers who are interested in Rhone grapes. That would be me, and should be you if you know what is good for you.

There are 22 Rhone Ranger grapes, which does include Petite Sirah (I can imagine the debate on that one), and while not all grapes were represented about 35 wineries did show up. Due to L.A.'s proximity, and the success of Rhones in the area, the tasting was heavy on Central Coast and Paso Robles wines, but a smattering of North Coast, Washington, and even Cliff Creek Cellars from Southern Oregon helped round out the show.

I came across lots of familiar favorites, as I have visited Paso several times this year, but also a few new surprises. If you are interested in learning about the joys of Rhones (these wines inspire rabid devotion by many) and want some direction in wines to seek out, here are my highlights from the tasting:

Anglim 2007 Mourvedre Hastings Ranch Vineyard - I sound like a broken record on this one, but I just love the dark fruit, coffeed earth, and white pepper. $32 from the winery.

Cliff Creek Cellars 2005 Syrah - This is not a hot weather California syrah. More restrained and medium bodied, a nice contrast at a nice price. $30 from the winery.

Curtis 2009 Heritage Blanc - A blend of viognier, roussanne, and this year some marsanne I liked 2008 a lot, and 2009 lives up. $18 from the winery

Curtis 2006 Grenache 'The Crossroads' - Berry flavors that are lush enough to make you worry they will go soft, but snap towards the end with some great acidity and structure. $25 from the winery.

Derby Wine Estates 2006 Syrah - Nice fruit, with a good bit of black pepper and spice. $26 from the winery.

Epiphany 2007 Revelation Red Blend - This wine made by Eli Parker of Fess Parker heritage, is a syrah forward blend with grenache and petite sirah. Most of the fruit comes from Camp Four Vineyard. This wine was beautifully ripe with berry flavors but structured well, and completely delicious. $35 from the winery.

Justin 2008 Savant Red Blend - Another syrah blend, from another well respected Paso Robles producer. Savant is blended with Justin's better known Bordeaux varietals cabernet sauvignon, and malbec. It is sold out at the winery but available elsewhere for around $36.

Katin 2007 Syrah, Michaud Vineyard, Chalone - One of 3 syrahs from an awesome project highlighting the grape from various locations along the West Coast. This one is the warm climate (not hot) version from Monterrey County. I am going to write about the project as a whole, but this wine is worth a purchase just to get a sense of how great the Katin syrahs are. You will have to call the winery to inquire as it is very low production, available at $45.

Koehler 2008 Viognier - A very peachy but delicious version of this ubiquitous Central Coast white Rhone, available for only $18.

Qupe 2008 Roussanne Bien Nacido Hillside Estate - Absolutely rich expression of roussanne with amazing complexity and minerality. My favorite white wine of the day, available at $30.

Qupe 2006 Syrah Bien Nacido Hillside Estate - Look, Qupe winemaker Bob Lindquist has essentially perfected the art of crafting New World syrahs that express both great fruit and great earth, spice, and savory flavors. This one for only $30 is outstanding.

Qupe 2008 'Sonnie's' Syrah Sawyer Lindquist Vineyard - A new release coming out of a new vineyard for Qupe this syrah displays the cooler fruit from the Edna Valley, and does it justice. Earthy and complex, and worth the $35 price tag.

Tablas Creek 2008 'Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc' White Blend - Rich and citrusy, this is a very bright Roussanne, Grenache Blanc, and Picpoul Blanc blend that is incredibly delicious and complex. Fruity, minerally, spicy, and savory this wine is available from the winery for $40.

Tercero 2007 'Cuvee Christie' Red Blend - Syrah, grenache, and mourvedre from winemaker Larry Schaffer offers red fruit and spice with noticeable structure. The quality of this wine among the peers in the room make its $28 price tag quite a value.

Tercero 2007 Mourvedre Camp 4 Vineyard - Another wine out of the Fess Parker Camp 4 vineyard, this was a earthy, dark and intriguing mourvedre. This was the wine that made me very interested in exploring more of Tercero's wines next time I am in Los Olivos. This wine is also $28.

Unti Vineyards 2006 Syrah Benchland Dry Creek Valley - Lets hear it for a Sonoma example of cooler climate syrah, with smoked meats playing throughout the dark berry fruit flavors. Available from the winery for $35.

Alright, 16 wines might seem like an unrealistic recommendation. But I did try to narrow it down from 160. Also, you should know that these are stand outs from what I was able to taste, a wine's absence from this list does NOT mean I did not like it, I may not have tasted it.

These suggestions will give you a stellar idea of what these American Rhones can be. At the very least expose yourself to Rhones, they will become a welcome part of your wine experience.

The Old Place (and too many parentheticals)

I don't really review restaurants, although I probably have about as much business doing so as I do reviewing wine. However a stumble the other afternoon necessitates a recommendation, and it has little to do with wine (sort of).

D and I went to the beach for the afternoon, something I don't always like to do. Something about the 'scene' at the beach in L.A. is just not my favorite. I grew up visiting the Oregon coast and prefer the blustery weather, small crowds (if any), and beautiful rocky views, just me. But I agreed that a few hours in the sun would make for a fun afternoon if we could drive up through Malibu canyon on the way home and check out the rumored wine scene. The Malibu area is home to over 40 wineries (mostly very small) and yet most Angelenos have no idea.

The drive up out of Malibu through the canyon is really beautiful, and the scenery would shock most haters (those of you who say things like Smell-A, or Hell-A, you know who you are). We stopped at Cornell Winery which is almost all the way up to Aguora. Funny thing is, it isn't really a winery. It is more of a tasting room for local wines, with a few vineyards planted out back that aren't really producing. However, this was a nice surprise as it allowed us to be exposed to Malibu wines in general (maybe more of a surprise, than a nice surprise). We tasted through several Malibu wines, including Cielo Farms, Mailbu Valley Vineyards, and Colcanyon Estates. I gotta say, I was not overwhelmed by the wine but it was interesting to see what Malibu was doing. And the setting and people at Cornell were great, very willing to talk 'Malibu' wines, and very realistic about what you can and can not find in this region.

So why do I even bring this stop up on the blog? Because the tasting room experience was coupled with a stop at the very funky The Old Place restaurant right next door was such a unique L.A. experience I want people to give it a shot. The Old Place is a small, dark, old west saloon inspired place that makes you forget your near the big dirty city, and offers some great food and wine. While only a few miles off the 101, this is the kind of restaurant where you sit on a bench with everyone else, and the bar tender chats you up and offers a carrot out of her garden down the road (yellow carrots, not orange). You then are asked if you want to taste through a few of the by the glass offerings until you find something you like. The wine list includes Malibu wines, but also other California options to round it out. This is the type of place where you can order homemade mac and cheese that will drip with butter and gruyere, or a big bucket of steamed clams. For our afternoon snack we received two beautiful lobster tails accompanied with local sage and browned butter (just something the fish guy had in stock that morning.) I don't know how to describe how comfortable, familiar, dressed down and delicious this place comes across. It is just the right food, done by the right people, in the right place.

If you live in L.A. or ever come to L.A. for business or pleasure you should do the Malibu wine trail. Maybe don't do it expecting to find amazing wine that is just undiscovered, but do it for the absolutely unique experience, and certainly make Cornell and The Old Place one of your stops.

The Night I Lost My Palette

I recently heard of a newly produced film, El Camino del Vino, that chronicles the tale of a famous sommelier who loses his palette. It is of course a fictious premise around which an artistic story of human fraility can be woven, but an interesting story none the less. Thing is, it happened to me once. It lasted for about two hours and it kind of freaked me out. It was a beautiful night in Walla Walla, and I was headed out into the town with some great new friends from the Wine Blogger's Conference. Sure we had tasted dozens of wines that day, and certainly I had been spitting.

Talking on and on about things that would make non-wine enthusiasts yawn or mutter phrases under their breath with the word 'geeks' littered throughout, we entered the first tasting room. I walked up to the young lady pouring the Amavi Cellars Les Collines Syrah 2007. We tasted, we spat, and my friends gushed over the red fruit and sagey goodness. I though, hmmm, I must not have swirled it hard enough because it tasted like metallic dust. Taste number two was the same. I wasn't sure what was up, but thought I might have some brownie residue on my tongue or something. What is wrong with me? I hoped that it wasn't something the beautiful wines of Sleight of Hands Cellars couldn't cure, but it was the same.

I was starting to get pissed. A whole world of awesome wine open to us for the next several hours and I literally can't taste anything. Psychosomatic? Who knows, but a real experience? Certainly.

I walked back to the Marcus Whitman hotel, frutstrated, and slightly concerned. Spread out on the table in the lobby where all of the remaining wines from the earlier white wine speed tasting rounds offered at the conference. I had an idea. I would nurse my palette back from the brink with an expressive, fruity, soft couple of swishes from the Mollydooker Violinist Verdelho. Uh oh, lemon water. Now if you know this wine you know that it has amazing fruit characteristics. I went upstairs to my room thinking that possibly I'm just weak. Maybe I suck at tasting multiple wines. Maybe I'm catching a horrible cold that has no other side effects. I don't know.

Thank God the room was too depressing to sit in. I sat for about a half an hour organizing the hundreds of business cards I'd collected, and realized I just couldn't do it. If I couldn't enjoy the wines, I ought to at least enjoy the winos. I needed to be out there. I got up with determination, grabbed my The One red glass from Andrea Robinson, and walked briskly back out into the night. I ended up stopping in the first room I came to, Skylite Cellars, and spent the next hour tasting through their lineup, finding joy in the lushness of the fruit, the spiciness of the malbec, and meatiness of their syrah. It was the 2006 Skylite Reserve that truly pulled me back from the brink.

So it was back. I can't explain where it went, it hasn't happened before, or since. Have you ever temporarily lost your palette? Any known explanations about what may have happened?

A Couple of Oregon Whites

Hey kids, have you been drinking your white wine? It's not just for summer any more! The more I explore and experience wine the more white wine I drink. I'll admit it, I would have been embarassed to order a sauvignon blanc at an after work happy hour event a mere two years ago. Now I realize that I just know something that all those gin and tonic drinkers over there don't know. I can't verbalize exactly what it is that I know, but I feel superior none the less.

I believe there is so much diversity in white wines you could spend years just appreciating the differences between chardonnay, viognier, albarino, torrontes, semillon, well you know the list. So I'm excited to find new white wines that I like and can recommend.

I've talked about Oregon pinot noir on this site several times. I even declared Willamette Valley Vineyards 2008 Founder's Reserve Pinot Noir to be the outright winner of the #PinotNoir twitter tasting smackdown recently. But I haven't talked about any white wines from Oregon. That changes now:

Willamette Valley Vineyard 2008 Pinot Gris - This pale straw colored wine gives off lemon citrus and pear in the nose. Mingling in the aromas is also a bit of cotton candy sweetness and a touch of white flower petals. The wine tastes of dry citrus and pineapple, with more floral and mineral notes across the middle and a crisp pear finish. Consumed both alone and with food, this is a nice food wine, with a taste profile that offers just enough complexity to keep it interesting. A very respectable wine at $15. Score: 3/5


Willamette Valley Vineyard 2008 Riesling - If you read me you know I'm a sucker for riesling, and this one does not disappoint. Rated as medium sweet on the International Riesling Foundation taste profile scale, this pale yellow wine with a slight green tinge offers up apple, peach, and something that distinctly reminds me of the apricot/pineapple preserves my grandma used to make for me as a kid. There is a touch of wet stone and flint going on as well, which is a riesling trait that I can not get enough of. Drinking the wine I got ripe pineapple up front, a tantalizing bit of minerally citrus across the mid-palette, and an orange juice and limey finish with bright acidity. This wine was hands down delicious, it was sweet but not cloying, acidic but not sharp. This might be one of my best buys of the year, at only $12 from the winery (even less elsewhere) I think this wine is amazing. Score: 4/5

So I used to be embarassed to drink much white wine, and I probably used to be embarassed to suggest a wine that is slightly sweet, but now I know better. These wines will bring joy to those who sit back and partake.

These wines were received as media samples, with the intent to review.

Context Is Everything (Or At Least Relevant)

D and I shared a bottle of wine in front of some really mindless shows on Animal Planet the other night, and while a very relaxing night it got me thinking about context. First, just because two things are successful in their own context does not mean that the combination of those two things will be exponentially successful. This is a common mistake that people in business or creative development make which have resulted in amazing failures like Crystal Pepsi, the XFL, and Harley Davidson perfume. I know, who doesn't like purity, cola, cheerleaders, football, motorcycles, and smelling nice? Context matters people. What got me thinking along this line was some brilliant producers creative meeting in which they stated 'Shows about little people are popular, and animal rescue shows are popular. How about a show about little people who rescue animals?' And somehow this got green lighted all the way along a creative team, all making big bucks I'm sure, and ended up on my t.v. I like little people shows, and I love rescue dogs (I'm sitting with one now) but there is no compelling context to put them together.

This leads me to the wine we were drinking. It was a wine that D and I had tasted before, and I have even given a fairly high score here on this site. When I had tasted/rated the wine it was at the end of a long day of tasting (I was totally sober, that is NOT what I'm saying and I will never rate a wine when I am not). As we drank through the bottle this particular evening however I noticed a few things that I was not thrilled about. The wine was a little bit hot, and had a little too much oak influence for me (lots of oak spice and coffee on the end). I realized that while I still really like the wine, and would still recommend it, I might have given it a slightly lower score if I had originally encountered it in this particular context.

All of this to say that when reading other people's reviews of wine it is important to always understand that you can't tell the entire context in which these wines were tasted. This wine, on a tired palette, offered lots of fruit, lots of flavor, and really stood out. I also have no idea how long the bottle in the tasting room had been open. Under different circumstances, in a different setting, I had a different experience with the wine. My tasting notes were very consistent from taste to taste, but there were things I noticed in one context that I did not see in the first. This highlighted to me, in a very concrete way, why a consumer must always remember to take wine ratings as a general guideline, and drink what you like, when you like it.