Raves, Rants, and Reflections

2011 Wines of the Year

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Daniels) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 07:02:11 PST

2011 was definitely my best year yet for wine. I learned tons and shared the experiences with many good people. This year's list mixes individual wines with truly memorable events.

Lunch with the Blachs - At the beginning of the year we had a lunch we enjoyed so much I posted about it on the bulletin boards (link). If you read it (recommended for the food if nothing else) you will certainly agree that it's worth making time for any meal cooked by Tom Blach.

1993 Clavelier-brosson Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts Vieilles Vignes Sunday, January 16, 2011 - Tom went back to the cellar, returning with a burgundy which truly sang. In addition to the light strawberries, there was a funk on the nose that made me a little nervous at first, but I grew to really like. The wine was in perfect balance, medium bodied, with good fruit, a trace of acidity, and a long finish. It seemed somehow more serious than most of the others and was my wine of the night. I was tempted to sneak out with the rest of the bottle, but my conscience overcame my baser urges.

2008 Rhys Pinot Noir Alpine Vineyard Sunday, January 16, 2011 - The terrine matched up well with the 2008 Rhys Pinot Noir, Alpine Vineyard. Burgundy-loving Kevin Harvey and his team high up in the Santa Cruz Mountains are clearly inspired by France's expression of this variety, making a leaner, more pure wine when compared to many of their California brethren. Despite its youth, this wine drank well, with mixed fruit nose, medium body, and a long pure finish. It was much more approachable than its 2007 counterpart enjoyed in November and more complex than the 2008 Rhys Alesia Sonoma Coast consumed the previous night. Tom and Richard discussed which Burgundy they could secretly substitute this for without getting called out. I believe they settled on a 5-10 year old Dujac.

Favorite Affordables - These two notes represent winemakers who make great wine at a more-than-reasonable price.

Mike Officer is both Emma's and my favorite winemaker in the world, largely because he makes fantastic, low-oaked wines, and he refuses to raise prices much, despite being immensely popular with a very long waiting list. We averaged drinking a bottle a week of his wine, Carlisle, in 2011, no other producer was even close. Needless to say, I buy all I can every time he sends out an offer. And then I find the few stores that he sells to and order more.

2007 Carlisle Zin, Papera Ranch - Wednesday, February 16, 2011 - Holy Cow! Drank this with pizza while watching Arsenal's come-from-behind win over Barcelona. Popped and poured. Very dark red. With time, a black/blue fruited nose with clove and olive. Less red fruit and briar than expected in a Zin. Very full bodied, massive viscosity. Still quite tight core. Tannic, good acidity, dark fruit, long. With time it showed more classical Zinfandel characteristics, but if just popped and poured, some would think Syrah. Fantastic now, but maybe even better in a year or two as the core unwinds. Decant or patience suggested. I have often proposed that Carlisle's SVD's were great because they were interesting riffs on a theme, not because they were inherently better than the Sonoma County Zinfandel. This wine proved that wrong. The best bottle of Zinfandel since 1997 Ravenswood Monte Rosso and Old Hill, and maybe the best Zin of my life. Fantastic. Alas, I only had the one. Note I bought an even dozen of the 2009, yay! (One already consumed too young, fantastic nose, but too primary)

The first rule of Fight Club is not to talk about Fight Club, right? Well I've now violated what should be the first rule of the Jouan Club. Henri Jouan is a small producer in Morey St Denis who has a very limited presence in the US and UK. His wines remind me a bit of the great Jacky Truchot and Rene Engel. In other words, old school. And they are available for a song compared to highly reputed makers. Emma and I have been pounding his wine at an unreasonable rate. Looking at Cellar Tracker, I see our consumption of his wine is second only to our consumption of Carlisle. Good company!

2008 Jouan Clos St Denis - Thursday, December 01, 2011 - Popped and poured with parents - Our first bottle of this wine. Medium ruby color. Complex nose of red fruit and forest floor with just a touch of sweat. Gorgeous. Medium bodied, good acidity, and amazing complexity for such a young wine. A long finish. My father has been a bit anti-Pinot lately, and seemed very surprised this was made from the same grape. I was glad it showed so well.

Piedmont - My love for Barbaresco and Barolo dominated last year's list, and despite my only listing one, we enjoyed several fantastic bottles this year.

One of the best winemakers in this region is Bruno Giacosa who uses some modern methods, but whose style is traditional and tremendously ageable. The very best Giacosas are labelled in red, rather than the his usual white label. This one earned its red-label. Sadly, I don't have any of this, but I am glad that Chae was able to share.

2000 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Riserva Asili - Tuesday, March 22, 2011 - Dinner with Nick and Chae at Picolo Sogno in Chicago. This came as a result of some bulletin board discussions. I brought a wine from the same winemaker, the same vintage, and an adjacent vineyard, the Rabaja, which I truly love. But the Asili raised the level a couple of notches. Slow-O'd all day. Ruby with a little bricking. A quintessential haunting nebb nose of roses, tar, mixed fruit, and mixed spices. So complex and beautiful, the nose was enough to carry the night. Medium bodied, silky tannins, good acidity, wonderful flavors that almost matched the nose. A long finish. This was everything that modern wines aren't, subtle and fine, rather than bold and brash. Amazing.

A few Chards - Hey look, white wine. On my list of wines of the year!?!

2008 Coches (Mersault, Mersault Rougeots, Puligny Montrachet Les Enseigneres) - If you were to ask who the greatest Chardonnay maker in the world is, many would reply Jean-Francois Coche. This year I got to try his wines for the first time. The first was with Ray Walker of Maison Ilan, at a restaurant in Burgundy. While watching him wolf down escargots, I tried the basic village Mersault Coche and thought it was great and unlike any other white burgundy or Chardonnay I've tried. I would guess that California Chardonnay makers who make a big buttery style are targeting Coche. And while his wines seem quite rich and oaked, they are distinct from the New World versions because they still retain excellent acidity. A few months later, Christopher Prain and I visited a restaurant in Paris famous for stocking Coche (link), and tried two single vineyard wines side-by-side. Both were a bit tight and far too young, but still enjoyable. I expected the more minerally one to be Puligny, and the the more round fruity one to be Mersault, but it wasn't so easy! As a matter of fact, it was just the opposite. Funnily, I think I preferred my first lowly Coche, perhaps it was a bit more ready to drink. Anyway, just to show no consistency whatsoever (see my wine of the year at the bottom of this long post), what I found so interesting about the Coche wines is that they have the hand of the winemaker written all over them. They have lots of oak and smokey spice, making a distinctive aroma that I believe many could detect blind. They were fun, but certainly beyond my budget.

2007 Mount Eden Vineyards Chardonnay Estate Bottled Santa Cruz Mountains - Wednesday, May 11, 2011 - I loved this wine because it shocked burgundy fans. It is far from your typical California, super-ripe, ultra-lush Chards. Served blind. A striking mix of opulent CA fruit and the minerality of a fine CdB. Excellent balance, medium body, medium finish. Most guessed Burgundy. Wine of the night.

Tasting Lunches - One of the advantages of living in London is the ability to attend some amazing wine tastings at fantastic restaurants.

1993 Faivelely Latricieres Chambertin and 1985 Alain Hudelot-Noellat Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Murgers - Dec 13 WIMPS - These are wines that I brought to two WIMPS wine events at the Ledbury, arguably the best restaurant in London. WIMPS are themed tastings, and folks bring really good wines to share. Why do I list these wines? Both were excellent examples of mature burgundy, that were very well received by the others. Nigel Plats Martin, who operates the Ledbury and a few other top restaurants, was at our table at the Christmas WIMPS and laughed, "Who'd of thought that the Nuits St Georges would have stood out in this group of wines?" It wasn't meant as a left-handed compliment, we just had a rocking good table including some prestigious labels. I've brought the occasional dud to a tasting, and bringing a winner made me feel good. So there.

Introduction to Rousseau

1999 Rousseau Charmes-Chambertin and 2000 Rousseau Clos St Jacques at Auberge du Pot d’Étain (link). September 3, 2011 - Christopher Prain and I enjoyed these side by side. Most people, including the Rousseaus, consider the CSJ the better wine, even though the Charmes is from Grand Cru terroir. Countering this was the fact that 1999 is the superior vintage, though 2000 might be more approachable at this age. So this was an interesting comparison. I really liked both, and understand why so many people love Rousseau. These wines are extremely well made, clean, with a tremendous silky texture. The Charmes was tighter, and much less generous on the nose to start. But it slowly revealed a lovely red-fruit and mineral nose. It was rather light-bodied, especially for a grand cru, but was silky, complex, and reasonably long. The CSJ was ebullient in its fruit and oak, both on the nose and palate. Much fuller bodied and easier to enjoy. And that is what did the trick for me. I preferred the subtlety of the Charmes, versus the obviousness imparted by the oak in its counterpart. The proprietor disagreed, far preferring the CSJ. In the end, I wonder how much of the CSJ's body and character comes from the oak, versus the underlying terroir. Regardless, I really liked both and picked up some 2009 of each for future comparisons.

Other Memorables - Here are a few more wines that were exceptional on their day:

1991 Heitz Cabernet, Martha's Vineyard - Tuesday, November 15, 2011 - At a local bistro with Dan, Jan, Joanna and Corey (who brought this wine). This my first bottle of one of the historically great vineyards of California, which was unfortunately grubbed up after the 1992 vintage due to phylloxera. It used to be surrounded by eucalyptus trees which imparted a minty note, or so I thought. Upon opening the mint was more than just a note; the wine screamed "I am liquid Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies!" Seriously, it took me a few minutes to find wine in that nose. With time the wine integrated, and was an excellent traditional cab, but man, that "mint note" never went away and had me giggling like a fool. Fun wine, and most importantly, memorable.

2005 Sine Qua Non Syrah Atlantis Fe2O3~1a, b & c - Emma was recently promoted, and this is the wine I chose to celebrate. Happy days! Friday, December 09, 2011 - Opened to celebrate Emma's promotion. Decanted for several hours, but even the initial tiny pour was fantastic. I loved our first bottle on release, and bought some more on the secondary market. Sadly, the next two were less interesting. The last was better, but I worried about a seeming over-ripeness. This bottle didn't have that fault. Dark, opaque purple. Strong, complex nose of ripe dark fruit, oak, and savory elements. Full bodied, and the taste matched the nose. Long and quite delicious. I didn't pick up on the pruney over-ripeness I worried about with the previous bottle. The wood was still present, but a little less obvious. I think this has come out of its shell and should continue to improve. Great wine for the hedonistically oriented.

Another Amazing Dinner

My runner-up wines came from another dinner with Tom Blach. I had read raves about the wines of Jacky Truchot on-line, but had never had one. He retired in 2005, and his wines have become scarce and skyrocketed in price since then. I inquired on the UK Wine Pages, explaining my interest and asking for ideas on how to get my hands on some. Somebody suggested I set-up an off-line (a face-to-face get together to share wines), and folks started generously volunteering to bring some. While trying to choose a location, Tom volunteered to cook a meal to match. His dishes included Jambon Persillée, carrottes rapees, celri-remoulade, parmentier of duck confit, petits pois a la francaise, piece de boeuf a la Bourguignonne, noodles with snail butter, cheese, and Peach Melba. It was terrific, and every bit as memorable as our first lunch. I didn't take notes on any single wine, but as a whole they impacted me strongly. The Truchot wines are the opposite of manufactured, not at all modern or super-concentrated. But each wine just felt right, telling the story of its vintage and its terroir. There were six of us drinking that night, and we basically killed ten bottles, including some from other traditional producers. It was truly an amazing meal with Tom, Sharada, Rupert, Michael, and Martin.

Wine of the Year - And now for my favorite wine of the year, I think the first non-Syrah since I've started tracking these things.

1999 Engel Clos Vougeot - Enjoyed at Caves Madeleine in Beaune. The proprietor, Lolo, never lacks for opinions. His greatest wine passion is understanding terroir, or enjoying wines that taste of where they're from; he really doesn't like seeing the hand of the winemaker. I like to let him choose wine for us, and he seemed rather excited to share this one.

Monday, September 05, 2011 - Rather light ruby color. Initial nose strongly funky, but with mixed fruit quickly, spices, and minerals coming out. The panoply of odors confused both of us, making Christopher wonder whether the wine might be off. But, it quickly settled down, and kept transforming through the afternoon. Medium bodied, slightly chunky tannins, quite a bit of barnyard, but not in a bad way, medium-long finish. This was a transformative wine for me and helped me hone in on one of my preferences. I prefer old-school burgs, even those that aren't 100% clean, to modern, extracted versions. I have happily been able to secure three more bottles of this wine, and look forward to sharing them.

My italicized wine notes are stored at Cellartracker, a fantastic on-line cellar tracking service. My username there is wineandgolover.

Last year's faves are here. It seems that burgs have gained a position of dominance in my current drinking. I wonder what next year will bring?

I've barely touched on my experiences with Ray Walker at Maison Ilan, or Kevin Harvey at Rhys, or even some great surprises like Crowley and Toulouse. So I guess I should fix that with future entries. But there you go, these were my wines of the year, and I'm already looking forward to 2012.

Denying Protests Using Terrorism Laws

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Daniels) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 12:50:52 PST

Protesters confronting the kettle at Parliament

This Saturday, I joined OccupyLSX's Rally For a Just Society and follow-up march. Despite the police attempting to block all access to the Houses of Parliament, the march went the long way round, and somehow a few dozen of us managed to gain access. After feeling vaguely satisfied about thwarting the police and passing by Parliament, I was amused to be stopped at the far end, and told we'd have to turn around. I seriously think our group would have happily walked on with a sense of mission accomplished, but the police prevented it. And then they started marching at us herding us back towards Parliament. Very odd.

I began filming the video below after the officer told us we were violating the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA2005), and explaining that any unauthorized demonstration was illegal and could result in us being fined or jailed. The organizers of the march claim that they had two separate authorizations for the demonstration filed over a week earlier, and it was therefore it was 100% legal. Whether that's accurate or not, I am saddened that a paragon of modern democracy would ban the exercise of said democracy through TERRORISM laws.

In the end several hundred more Occupiers arrived, were promptly kettled (confined by walls of police to prevent movement), stayed a few hours, and peacefully departed. There were a few arrests, but I witnessed no violence. Despite it being Guy Fawke's night, no explosives were used; it was just a peaceful protest against oligarchy.

I believe that preventing non-violent protests under the guise of anti-terrorism is pathetic and sad. Anyone disagree?

Do you use Twitter?

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Daniels) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 12:38:06 PST

Kettling at Parliament on Guy Fawke's Night

Do you use Twitter? If not, then you probably don't know that I marched with #OccupyLSX this weekend, and was even kettled (confined by walls of police to prevent movement) in front of Parliament.

I was able to easily tweet a few photos and thoughts due to the recent iPhone integration with Twitter. What did I photograph and say on Saturday? Follow @wineandgolover and look at my activity from Saturday to find out. :)

Send me an email if you'd like to join Twitter, but are getting frustrated with making it work. I'll try to help.

Occupy London Stock Exchange

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Daniels) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 04:47:28 PDT

Hi all, it's been a long time, sorry! My trivial posts have been replaced with infrequent tweets, and I haven't been motivated to post about travel, go, or wine. But, I suppose the events of yesterday are more substantial and worthy of a mention.

Yesterday, Emma and I joined up with Occupy London Stock Exchange (#OccupyLSX) Here are a few pics. (Also in slideshow format below)

The mainstream media is being extremely hard on the Occupy movement, finding a different excuse every day to bash them, from their appearance to their lack of a defined purpose. I agree that the movement is just in its infancy and is doing little more than expressing frustration anger, but I hope for more. The first step in accepting the movement is acknowledging that its frustration at the banks and governments is justified.

I will try to post more thoughts on this later. For now, please settle for some pics. The dude holding the camera in the above image asked me if my "poster" was ironic. Brits just don't believe Americans are capable of irony, I think. But those words first appeared on a poster in the early days of Occupy Wall Street, and they have kind of taken a life of their own. I was glad to contribute to the meme.

If I head back down there today I will post pics/updates via Twitter, the same as yesterday. You can see those at @wineandgolover. For more general coverage follow #OccupyLSX.

Alien Invasion?

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Daniels) — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 06:36:00 PDT

From Misc 2011

Is the mother ship about to break through the cloud layer? Nope, it's just a great Pacific sunset, from Moss Landing, south of Santa Cruz. I recently bought a new camera, a Canon S95, to replace our old Canon G10. I really like the camera for several reasons, not the least of which is its intelligence and vividness while in Auto mode. It usually does better than me, no matter how many settings I tweak.

Gareth Bale Animation

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Daniels) — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 08:47:18 PDT

(via Ze Frank's blog)

Yay, Thailand!

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Daniels) — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 21:39:58 PST

Our backyard

Emma and I have found our place at Railei Beach Club, and intend to stay for the duration of our trip. It's basically a series of rustic beach houses rented out by their owners. Looking out from our porch, I can vaguely see parts of four other houses, but the feeling is of glorious isolation. We are located a few hundred feet from the ocean in the back of the resort, which sounds inconvenient, but isn't at all. It makes for an even better back-yard view, as 700 meter cliffs tower over us.

We've made a point of having massages each day, and don't expect to change that trend until we do a day trip to snorkel or visit Koh Phi Phi. This seems to be the perfect place to come for a week or more of just chilling.

This last photo is what we left behind. I was trying to capture where water was leaking into a window, but I think it captured the mood of winter in the UK.

Truly missing London

I will try to post more photos later.

The First Place

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Daniels) — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 21:14:26 PST

Golf Carts at Centara

We first stayed at a resort named Centara which was truly gorgeous and isolated. The downside was that it was a little too resort-y for us. Food and drink were pricey, and if you waited until after breakfast to go to the pool or the beach, all the best beach chairs were "saved" with a towel. (Any guesses on which culture is to blame?)

I still don't understand why expensive hotels generally charge for internet access, and cheaper ones don't. It seems a worldwide phenomenon.

Anyway, there are only two ways out of Centara, long-tail boats, and a 15 minute hike up and down the monkey trail. While we enjoyed our brief stay at Centara, we took advantage of both points of egress.

I wonder how the Monkey Trail was named?

Monkeys with lasers

Quick Food Post

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Daniels) — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 20:39:34 PST

Truthfully we haven't done as well on Thai food this trip as last. Most everywhere seems to have adapted their menu for conservative tourists. In fact we've found an inverse relationship between price and quality. The best meal so far was at a four table shack called "Local Thai Food." We forgot to take pictures of that, but will remedy.

Here are two fun pics. The first is called Dragon Fruit, it's pretty impressive, isn't it? If anybody has a copy of The Windup Girl handy, we'd be interested to know if this is the fruit the main character discovers in the first chapter. Anyone?

Dragon Fruit in Thailand

The second image is of the local ketchup equivalent, courtesy of Heinz.

Another Good Commerical

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Daniels) — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 10:53:44 PST

And it's wine related!

tip of the hat to Dr. Vino's blog

Best Commercial Ever?

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Daniels) — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 09:11:03 PST

The worst thing about watching the Super Bowl in the UK is staying up past 3:00 in the morning if the game is good. The best thing is that you get ongoing insightful analysis instead of commercials. That said, I did go hunting for the best commercials this morning. Did any of you have a Super Bowl commercial you liked better than this one?

The View From Space

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Daniels) — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 02:34:24 PST

A while back I published a satellite image of the UK covered in snow. Here's NASA image of the monster storm currently slamming Chicago. You can see that it's several thousand miles long and pretty intense; impressive, most impressive! Thanks, NASA! (click to enlarge)

from: http://nnvl.noaa.gov/MediaDetail.php?MediaID=640&MediaTypeID=1

Feeling Your Pain, Chicago!

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Daniels) — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 03:22:15 PST

Formerly Red Squirrel (from Huffington Post)

They predict 15-23 inches of snow by the end. 60 MPH winds. Six to eight foot drifts. And somewhat unusually, lots of thunder. Wow.

For you those of you not from the Windy City, they can handle the snow. In all my school and university days there, I had exactly one snow day, and that was due to a deep freeze and the heat going down at my school. Chicago Public Schools just don't close. Yet, they are closed today.

One of the major highways, Lake Shore Drive is completely closed due to snow and 25 foot waves battering it off of Lake Michigan (yes, 25 foot waves on a lake). Many drivers are stuck there and have been instructed to stay in their car and turn the lights on to alert rescuers. All roads in Lake County are officially closed except to emergency vehicles. The highway system is not officially closed, but currently 100% un-drivable.

I was there for the 22 inch monster snowstorm in 1999, which was the worst I remember. (FTR, the office was open the next day, and those who were late were mocked mercilessly.) Due to the huge winds, this certainly looks worse than that. Maybe 1967 over again?

Anyway, good luck to my friends!

John Scalzi's Contest

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Daniels) — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 08:17:27 PST

illustration by Theo Black

John Scalzi, a science fiction author and blogger I am fond of, is having a fun contest to name one of his characters. Give it a shot. Mine is entry 572. If you do enter, please post the entry number in the comments.

Fun Art Challenge - One From Emma

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Daniels) — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 09:07:52 PST

This was taken at dawn at Yosemite at the end of November. Emma thinks "its fine" but I really dig it. I'll encourage Emma to go through iPhoto to find one of hers she likes better.

My Top Ten Wines of the Year

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Daniels) — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 10:36:56 PST

Dick and Sue loving SQN

2010 was another excellent year for wine in our household, as we continued to explore and learn. Here were my favorites, arranged by region. Not surprisingly, no Bordeaux made the list this year. I am surprised that no Rhones did either, though we had many excellent bottles.

Burgundy - I've enjoyed Burgundy over the years, but have never actively collected it or even really tried to understand it. This year, we consciously explored this famed region.

2006 Fourrier Gevrey Chambertin Vielles Vignes - This was a sort of epiphany wine. Early in the year I was part of a bulletin board discussion titled "I just don't get Burgundy." One of the posters wrote that we should buy this wine, and if we didn't like it, he'd send a check for the purchase amount. Wow, what confidence. So I bought it, and never requested a refund. It brought pleasure, but more importantly an understanding about how Burgundy differs from almost all new world pinots, mostly due to its crisp acidity.

2002 Lafarge Volnay Les Caillerets - Wine merchant and friend, Martin, took me out to lunch to continue my Burg education. He served three excellent, and decidedly different 2002's. I loved this one so much I bought the remaining five bottles. It had a lightness, purity, and beauty that represents Volnay very well. They quickly sourced more and released it at double the price so I'm guessing Martin was impressed also.

2002 Grivot Echezeaux - After I was lucky enough to try a different 2002 Grivot, I purchased a well-priced case of this, sight unseen. I brought it to a Burgundy off-line where it won concensus wine of the table, and even a well regarded author and Master of Wine, Jasper Morris, was generous with his praise. Kinda funny, I looked smart for my selection, but all the credit goes to Etienne Grivot.

I had many Burgundies from other vintages, but as you can tell, I love the 2002's. They are just old enough to start gaining complexity, but are still chock-full off fruit. Mmmmm!

Piedmont - Unlike Burgundy, I've loved Nebbiolo (the famed grape of Piedmont) for many years. In 2010 we also focused on this region, and its famed appellations Barolo and Barbaresco. We loved the wines so much that we included the region in our annual visit to Italy.

2000 Roberto Voerzio Barolo Cerequio - There is much debate and discussion amongst Nebbiolo lovers over whether the traditionalist or modern wine making styles are superior. Generally, I enjoy the traditionalists, but this wine demonstrated that modernists can triumph too. My usual gripe with the modernists is that I sometimes can't even tell I am drinking a Nebbiolo. Not so here, this wine was very much a Nebb with flowers and leather, but it also had a sweet dose of fruit. Fantastic.

2000 Giacosa Barbaresco Rabaja - A gentle mixed-fruit nose with hints of roses, tea, and fig. Medium bodied, but full flavored. Still plenty of tannins, but they are so velvety you have to look for them. A long finish. Only a little very fine sediment at the bottom of the bottle. This was a quintessential Barbaresco, and I'd recommend it to anyone who says, "I just don't get Nebbiolo."

1967 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva Monfortino - This was my first birth year wine and it was still very much alive. It was somewhat ethereal, with a wonderful bouquet and a long finish. Unfortunately, it was not handled gently enough prior to serving, and the incredibly fine sediment yielded a cloudy wine. If you are lucky enough to open a really old Barolo, I strongly recommend letting it stand upright for a few days, and very gently decanting just before serving.

2004 Vietti Barbera d'Asti La Crena - All my wine drinking life, I've thought Barbera was mediocre at best. I've never had one that excited me. On our trip to Piedmont this summer, we visited Lucca and Elena Currado at their estate. Although we sampled some great Barolos, the wines that surprised / thrilled us the most were their Barberas with a little age. Lucca loves Barbera and feels it gets disrespected compared to the more famous Nebbiolo. He was so pleased by our reaction that he gave us two aged bottles including this one. It was complex and delicious.

California - Despite our explorations of Burgundy and Piedmont, Emma and I drank more California wine than any other region in 2010. If you avoid the cult cabernets, you can find some fantastic wines at reasonable prices, such as Carlisle, Rhys, and Anthill Farms.

2007 Carlisle Cardiac Hill Syrah - This wine is the perfect marriage of new world fruit and power, with old-world balance and complexity. I bought ten bottles, and think it will continue to improve for at least five years, probably far longer. But I doubt we'll be able to keep our hands off them that long.

2006 Anthill Farms Pinot Noir Comptche Vineyard - We've loved a few bottles of Rhys this year, but my favorite new world Pinot Noir came from Anthill Farms. Funnily enough, a British retailer had a few bottles of this sitting around at its initial release price. Blind I would have thought it a premier cru Gevrey Chambertin. It had a wonderful sappy fruit and evolved in the glass.

Until now, I haven't ranked the wines in any way, but my Wine Of The Year is...

2006 Sine Qua Non Syrah "A Shot in the Dark" - Going to Passionfish in Pacific Grove on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving has recently become something of a family tradition. For the last three years we've had the recently released extended aged SQN's. This year's was one of the most profound wines I've ever had the pleasure to enjoy. Incredible balance, power, and complexity for such a young wine.

I am wineandgolover on cellartracker.com if, for some bizarre reason, you'd like to see more of my notes. If you'd like to research a wine, keep track of your wines, or record tasting notes, I strongly recommend this website.

Fun Art Challenge - A Half Second Before

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Daniels) — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 02:39:48 PST

On our last trip to California, we enjoyed watching waves smash on the rocks. I decided to get a nice close-up and found a dry spot near the action. This photo was taken a half second before the dry spot was dry no longer, and neither was I. Much to the amusement of everybody.

Fun Art Challenge - Kapoor in London

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Daniels) — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 08:20:29 PST

I took this photo of the Kapoor exhibit (four pieces) in Hyde Park in London. I've long admired the Bean in Chicago, and this is a worthy companion. Kinda tough to figure out the image though, eh? Well, at least it makes me look slimmer.

Fun Art Challenge - Tom's Timeless Photo

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Daniels) — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 02:49:52 PST

Tom and Bobby Drewes recently toured the southwest of France via its canals. He says,

As we were "locking through" along the Canal du Midi, we saw the locks keeper hard at work, while his dog was content to snooze between snacks offered by passing boaters. This scene has remained essentially unchanged for 300 years.

Great photo; that looks like the most content dog in the world. Thanks Tom!

Let The Bodies Hit The Floor - Parrot Edition

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Daniels) — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 13:52:24 PST

Watch the beginning of the first video, and then from around 0:45 - 1:15 to get a feel for it.

Then watch the second video.

Have a nice day.

Fun Art Challenge - Dick's Brazil Trip

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Daniels) — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 05:14:56 PST

Sue and Dick Daniels (aka Mom and Dad) recently visited Brazil to see some jaguars at the Pantenal. Dick submitted three photos, each with a different spin. The first nicely reflects (pun intended) his appreciation for impressionist art, and his desire to have his photography capture the world as Monet saw it. The second is supplied as a bit of social commentary. I am not sure how close he needed to get for the third, but I hope he was careful because I'm told those jaguars kill a few photographers each year. Thanks Dick!

River Sunset 1

Assange And The Powerful

Being Watched

Winter Storm Emergency

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Daniels) — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 04:57:02 PST

They are now predicting up to 25 centimeters of snow around London. Color me skeptical. Still, there is plenty of snow coming down to color the roofdeck white. Do you see all the buildings in the background? Yeah, me neither.

Fun Art Challenge - Pam's Paintings

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Daniels) — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 04:38:52 PST

Please enjoy these three paintings by Pam Badgzinski. She's continued with her whimsical, yet slightly dark approach. Pam is an artist and a teacher, whose work featured in the Last Fun Art Challenge. I like the flatter style of the early work, but I think the depth and gradation in the newer is terrific. Here's Pam's artist statement:

Animals and theatrical motifs allow me to explore different aspects of human relationships in my work with both gravity and levity. Many of my current paintings address the difficulties of loss, and the resulting tension, conflict and reinvention that our relationships must go through. Using a theatrical setting, my cast of animals experiences moments of absurdity and awkwardness, as well as tenderness and consolation. I am particularly drawn to the juxtaposition of love and loss, as well as the relationship of comedy and tragedy.

I've got one more submission lined up for this weekend, then I will bring the quality level down with some of mine. The only way to avoid this fate? Lurkers, please send me samples. Thanks Pam, and thanks all!

Fancy (2010), acrylic on canvas 36" x 30"

Curtains (2010), acrylic on canvas 24" x 30"a

Folly (2010), acrylic on canvas, 30" x 30"

Minor Updates

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Daniels) — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 04:38:19 PST

I have made a few updates to the blog.
1) Mobile - if you view the blog with a mobile browser, it should look something like this picture, which should aid in navigation.

2) Interesting Stuff - On the right side of the blog you will see a section called Interesting Stuff which will highlight web features that I particularly appreciated. Note some might be NSFW.

Ten Minutes Later

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Daniels) — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 03:52:03 PST

Ten minutes ago the sky was clear. Now this, and its getting more intense. And I still have to shop, sigh. Maybe it will be a white Christmas, after all?