Pacific Northwest and More 09 Bordeaux

Day 1 We flew to Vancouver. Flying over the Canadian Rockies was quite a sight. From the Vancouver airport we took a bus that went on a ferry from Twassen(outside of Vancouver) to Swartz Bay (20KM from Victoria). First we had some doughnuts from Tim Horton  at the airport. Tim Horton's is big in Canada. The doughnuts were good.

After a 30 minute bus ride, the bus drove on the ferry. It was obviously a very large ferry. The ride was over 2 hours. The scenery during the second half was spectacular as the boat navigated between several of the Gulf Islands on to Vancouver Island. The geography in the area is fascinating; lots of islands, wilderness and water. Vancouver Island is over 300 miles long and there is not much development except for Victoria on the southern tip.

 We landed and the bus continued on to Victoria. Our hotel was easy walk from the bus station. The hotel was a very nice Marriott (Inner Harbor) and the room was about $200 per night.

Victoria is a fun city with a good blend of old and new and the inner harbor makes thing special. There  are boats, seaplanes, water taxis and restaurants. Victoria is a good walking city; it also appears to have a good bus system although we did not use it.

The first night we ate a the Flying Otter, a casual place on the Inner Harbor. The beer was good as we had Phillips, a local beer and the fish was fresh. We had a  halibut wrap and a halibut and avocado
sandwich. Phillips is one of the local beers and we had 3 different bottles.

Day 2 We decided to rent a car for the day. Butchart Gardens is the must see in the area.butchartgardens.com I was skeptical, a Levine tradition on famous sights,but my wife insisted. I then found a brochure touting British Columbia wineries. To my amazement there are over 20 wineries on Vancouver Island. Our day was set.

Right before the Gardens there was a sign for berries. We took a small detour and came to a farm where we bought blackberries. These were the most amazing tasting blackberries. A complex flavor that we had never tasted before.

 We went off to Butchart Gardens and it was pretty special. It was well organized at the entrance but not Disneylike. The Gardens have been developed a family for a long time and they change the plantings by the season. It is open all year round and the Christmas show is supposed to be awesome. They have huge greenhouses where they start all of the plants.

The pictures don't capture the true splendor.

We then found a few wineries. The first Church and Street has a large, modern, beautiful building. We tasted their wines and they were OK. Apparently the thing about BC wineries is that they grow most of the grapes in central BC and have wineries and tasting rooms on Vancouver Island for the tourists. The wineries try to make the big name grape wines but they are not the best. We generally enjoyed the whites - pinot gris, pinot blanc. However Church and State churchandstatewines.com seems to specialize in red wines. They were OK but the prices were very high. I can't see paying $35 for a Bordeaux blend from British Columbia when I can get a very good 09 Bordeaux for under $20. Wine economics do not make much sense to me. The restaurant kitchen at Church and State.

The next winery was de Vine Vineyards devinevineyards.ca. It was a beautiful winery on top of a hill with great views of Mt Baker in Washington. We tasted a number of wines and liked their whites. We bought a 2011 Pinot Blanc for $18. The whites are austere but have enough fruit to make them enjoyable.

We next made a stop at Victoria Spirits. victoriaspirits.comThey distill gin and vodka. It started as a winery but they found it a tough business so they switched. We toured the small distillery and tasted the products. The gin is expensive and probably is very good but I am no expert.

 

That night we ate at Canoe Brewpub  canoebrewpub.com along the river in Victoria. We ate outside and had a good time. The beer was good and the food nicely prepared.  It got cold sitting outside at night, around 50 degrees, but if was refreshing after the heat we have had in NJ this summer. The restaurant had a good chocolate cake with cherries for dessert which hit the spot.

 

 

Wines of the week

Chateau Meyney 2009 Bordeaux $33 I can't stop loving the 09 Bordeaux wines. This wine started slowly but it has a nice bouquet, good middle and great finish. Really enjoyed this wine. Drank it with an 09 Haut Bergey also from Bordeaux. The Haut Bergey had a great first sip but the finish was not as long as the Meyney. Both wines were excellent.

Recipe of the week

From Bon Appetit and adjusted by me. -- Preheat oven to 425.  .

• Cut up around 8-12 plums depending on size. Take out the pits and cut into 1/8 ths. add lemon juice, sugar to taste(around a 1/2 cup) and a teaspoon of cornstarch and mix with plums in a bowl.
•  Make a pie crust and roll it out to  a 12 inch circle. Place crust on parchment paper on a baking sheet.
• Pour plums on the middle of the pie crust leaving a 1-2 inch border.
• Fold the border over the edge of the plums and brush the border with a beaten egg. Sprinkle sugar over the egg wash.
• Bake in the oven. Start checking at 25 minutes. It should look nicely browned and the plums should be soft.
• Take out and let cool.

Enjoy the weekend. It is a great time of the year in the Northeast.

Labor Day Weekend; Pig Island; Tennis and Wine

Recent wines

Montgras Reserva 2010 Sauvignon Blanc $10 Really like this  wine. Great bargain if you can find it. Not a light wine but good fruit and structure.

Andrew Rich Prelude 2010 Pinot Noir -Tried a glass at a Thai restaurant in Ashland, Oregon. Good basic, Oregon Pinot Noir. About $20 per bottle.

Segura Viandas Reserva Cava- Dependable cava and a real bargain at $6.99.

Sterling Cabernet Sauvignon 1999 . I was lucky to get a case of this years ago. It is drinking wonderfully. I wish California would make wines like this today. $15

Archery Summit Vireton Pinot Noir Rose 2011 $20 - We loved this wine. Forget the color, it is full flavored good wine. Lots of fruit but nice balance.

Dubeouf 2010 Beaujolais Villages $9.00  A dependable wine. We love beaujolais and this was a good one.

Edna Valley 06 Syrah Another one of my bargains. I think its time is over. Did not like this bottle. Past bottles have been very good. I have one more bottle to test.
 American Syrahs are good values these days.

Chalone Pinot Noir Estate 2006  $8-- A crowd pleaser. Another one of my bargains and house fav. Great balance with nice fruit and spice.

Les Grands Marechaux 2009 $18 - This was my second bottle. I thought I liked the wine more but this second bottle has me thinking. I have a few more to try. A little grapey but it opened up after  a few minutes.

Le Volte 2009 Tenuta Dell'Ornellaia IGT- A delightful wine that is a blend of Merlot, Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon. Balanced and easy drinking. A crowd pleaser. $70 in a restaurant probably $25 in a store.

Spice Route Chakalaka 2009 $16 A great wine. I discovered this wine in the Cayman Islands. This was the first bottle that I have found in the US. A Rhone like blend of many grapes, it is balanced with nice fruit but not grapey like alot of Rhone wines.

Fattoria di Felsina Berardenga Chianti Classico Reserva 2006 Enjoyed this wine. It is tannic but it went well with pizza but it has more complexity going for it.

La Maialina Chianti Classico Reserva 2007 $16 This wine impressed at a tasting but I was not impressed with my first bottle at home. It drank better the second day which is not a ringing endorsement. I have more bottles to  try.

Louis Jadot Macon-Villages 2010 $11 Another very nice Chardonnay without too much oak. A good value for a Burgundy. I have not been impressed with Macon Villages wines over the past few years but this wine is a winner.

As you might notice from some of my comments there appears to be lots of bottle variation in wines. It maybe the wine or it could be my taste.



Pig Island
This Saturday, September 1, Governor's Island in NY is turned into Pig Island. A number of top chefs will be cooking 80 heritage pigs in all different styles. We are attending. pigisland.com I will let you how it was. One price for all afternoon of food and beer.

US Open Tennis
I attended the first day of the event. Aside from a little rain it was a fun time.Food prices are all over the place and typical for a sports event. However water at $3.75 a small bottle and Gatorade at $5 a bottle is a bit much for an outdoor summer event. Moet Chandon Champagne at $24 a  glass at number of Moet stands is cuckoo.

Chinatown, NY restaurant of the week -- nom wah Tea Parlor, 13 Doyers Street, NY 10013. We had assorted dim sum at very reasonable prices. The food was not greasy. The sweet and sour ribs were good. Not too much sauce and the ribs were breaded pork chops with the bone- in. Also had steamed shrimp with greens dumplings. nomwah.com

Found a fun German style beer hall in Jersey City. Zeppelin Hall Restaurant & Biergarten. http://www.zeppelinhall.com They have big outdoor and indoor spaces with a number of beers on tap. We had Spaten and HB Munich beers. One minor complaint, the mugs are plastic.

More on the Pacific NW in the next few posts. I am looking forward to lots of food, wine and sports this weekend. The tomatos are coming in nicely. Everyday I get a few more cherry tomatoes. Chinese eggplant is still doing well. Have a  great weekend.

Oregon Wines

Oregon Wineries

Returned from the Pacific Northwest last week. Had a great time. There are an amazing amount of wineries in British Columbia. In the next few weeks I will get into lots of information on the trip. We had good food and saw some impressive sights. Here are some notes on the Willamette Valley. It's Willamette, dammit.

We stayed 2 nights in the Willamette Valley wine country which is 40 miles outside Portland. BTW the traffic in the Portland area is terrible.
We stayed in Carlton, a small town with about 12 tasting rooms. We stayed in the Winery Lofts 119 West Main St, Carlton, which has some affiliation with Ken Wright who makes Ken Wright wines and Tyrus Evans wines. The lofts were across the street from the Ken Wright tasting rooms.

The first night we went to Mcminnsville. We wandered around town and found a tasting room for chocolates and a winery called Twelve. The tasting room was closed but the owner of Twelve twelvewine.com, Linda Lenyo, opened the door and when we told her we were from NJ, she let us in. She was also from NJ.We tasted her 08 Pinot Noir. It was $25 per bottle and was very good. We also tasted her 2007 reserve Pinot Noir 144. This was also very good. We bought a bottle of the 08. Parker and the Wine Spectator have both given good  ratings to the wine  She did not charge us for the tasting.

We ate at Nicks, nicksitaliancafe.com an Italian restaurant and ate in their back room. We had several small dishes. One dish, ribs roasted in their oven with salt and olive oil was great. We also had pizza which was very good. The crab lasagne was OK. We had the Stevenson Barrie 2008 Pinot Noir for about $50. It was good. The fruit wasn't as pronounced as I like it. We were beginning to understand Oregon Pinot Noirs. BTW 2008 was considered the vintage for Oregon Willamette Valley wines.

The next day we planned to spend all day tasting wine. We started at Anne Amie Vineyards anneamie.com. This winery surprised me. I had never heard of it but it produces a significant amount of wine. The winery was beautifully situated ( although most of the wineries we visited were located in very nice geographically located.

At Anne Amie, we tasted a number of wines. Tasting were $10 for a flight.  2011 Pinot Gris; 2011 Estate Dry Riesling; 2009 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir; 2009 Annahala Veneyard Pinot Noir , which was made with grapes from California; 2009 Amie Late Harvest Muller Thurgau Dessert wine; 2009 Prisme Pinot Noir Blanc. All of the wines were very good. Their style is balanced wines that were not fruit forward. This to me is the typical Willamette Valley style although we did find many different styles of wine in our tastings. We bought their 2010 Pinot Blanc $20, which we did not taste. However Pinot Blanc has more fruit than the Pinot Gris and we like Pinot Blancs.

Our next stop was Archery Summit archerysummit.com. This was another exquisite winery with prices to match the environment. We tasted a number of wines here.We tasted the 2010 Premier Cuvee Pinot Noir, 2011 Vireton Pinot Noir Rose, and several other Pinot Noirs. We found their style to be more California in that the wines were fruitier and had more alcohol than other Oregon wines. We like the 2010 more than the 09's.Their wines are very well rated and very expensive. The cheapest Pinot Noir was $48. We bought a bottle of the Rose for about $20.

Our next stop was  Sokol Blosser sokolblosser.com, which was close by. We had hoped to eat lunch here but the offerings were slim. We tasted their 2009 Dundee Hills Pinot Noir, 2009 Estate Cuvee Pinot Noir, 2010 Willamette Valley Pinot Gris, 2011 Rose of Pinot Noir, Evolution 15th edition, which is their blended white wine that is less expensive than their other wines. They also make a red Evolution.

We enjoyed their wines. Their 2009 Pinot Noir was more austere than the 09 Archery Summit. We really liked the 2009 Estate Cuvee at $60 a bottle. Despite the price I bought a bottle. I was on vacation! We did not like the Evolution wines.

A note on buying wines at the winery. It is usually a rip-off. Sometimes you can get very good deals like I received at the next winery Domain Drouhin but usually you can buy the wines much cheaper at good wine shop. Thus I usually stick to buying wines at the winery that are not available in stores.

We stopped at a small olive oil farm to get lunch.

My wife was somewhat annoyed because as I was brousing in their store a woman splattered olive oil all over my shorts and sneakers. I got a "sorry". The cheese and meat plate was fine.

The next winery that we visited was Domaine Drouhin domaineDrouhin.com. I had made an appointment to take their winery tour which include a tasting of their Oregon wines with their French wines. Drouhin is a top Burgundy negociant and make a number of excellent French wines. The tour was great. We heard their story of how they bought land in the Willamette Valley around 1985. They made their first wine in Oregon in 1988. The winemaker is Veronique Drouhin who also makes their wine in France.

We then toured the winemaking area and the wine storage area.

We then finished the tour at a table that was beautfully set. We tried a number of wines with some cheese. The wines were 2010 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir Rose $20; 2010 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir $40; 2008 Laurene Pinot Noir $65; 2010 Willamette Valley Chardonnay $30, 2009 Maison Joseph DrouhinVaudon Chablis Premier Cru (France) $35; 2009 Joseph Drouhin Savigny-Les - Beaune Clos Des Godeaux $48; 2001 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir $75.

The wines were excellent. We really enjoyed comparing the French and Oregon wines. I liked the Oregon wines a little more. The 09 Chablis, which is usually one of my favorites, was oakier and fruitier than I was expecting. The Oregon wines held up beautifully. 09 was a very good vintage in Burgundy.

The deal was that the tasting and tour was $25 per person. If we joined the club, the tasting were free and we received a 25% discount off all of the wines. This made the wine purchase very competitive with stores. They also can now ship to NJ which was a big plus. NJ recently changed its laws and not all wineries have their process set-up to ship to NJ. We bought 3 bottles of the 08 Laurene Pinot Noir, 3 bottles of the 2010 Pinot Noir; 3 bottles of the Rose and 3 bottles of the 2010 Chardonnay. They will ship the wines when the weather is cooler.

Everyone at the winery was great and our tour guides made things fun.

The last winery of the day was Ken Wright kenwright.com who also owns Tyrus Evans. The tasting room was across the street from our apartment. We tasted a number of wines here. Ken Wright is an iconic winemaker in the area. He sells his  wines as futures and then raises the prices each year. They are sold by the case although at the tasting room they will sell 6 at a time. 2011 futures are being sold at 6 bottles for $300 with a 2 6-pack minimum.  2008 6-packs are being sold at $350. He makes a number of single vineyard wines and gets very good reviews from the WA and WS.

We tried the 2010 Chardonnay; 4 single vineyard 2008 Pinot Noirs, Carter, McClone, Meredith Mitchell and Savoya; the 2010 generic Willamette Valley Pinot Noir; and some Tyrus Evans wines. The Tyrus Evans wines are made from sourced grapes from southern Washington and are blends of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syah, Cabernet Franc and Malbec.

The Ken Wright 08 are more California in style. Fruit forward, big wines. They are good wines but not wines that you want to drink frequently. However I have never had a full bottle of Ken Wright wine so it is hard to project a tasting to a bottle. The 2010 generic wine was more austere and more to my liking. In general, we warmed up the 2010 Pinot Noirs and really like the wines wherever we tasted them.

The Tyrus Evans wines were not my favorites. 2007 Ciel de Cheval Claret $37 was one wine. My palette was tired when I tried them and I was not prepared for Bordeaux styled wines in Oregon. However they were all quite expensive in the mid $30 range. For the price I would stick to the 09 Bordeaux.

To end the day we had dinner at the Painted Ladythepaintedladyrestaurant.com. I read somewhere that it was the best restaurant in the Portland area. It is a small house in Newberg, which is in wine country,. They have a price fixe menu. We ate outside and had a fun time.

The wine, Horsetail Pinot Noir was made by a small producer. The owners are related to the winemaker at Beaux Frere, the Oregon winery run by Robert Parker's brother in law and partially owned by Parker. The wine a 2010 vintage was excellent. Light, balanced with fruit and acid for all.

More on this meal in the next report.

Enjoy the end of summer. It can be a great time of the year. US Open tennis and football are on the horizon.

Pacific Northwest, Summer Market Bounty and Good Food

Pacific Northwest

Planning a trip to the Pacific Northwest in the next few weeks. Flying to Vancouver and going to Victoria, Seattle. Willamette Valley(Portland), Bend, Oregon and Ashland, Oregon. Looking forward to the trip. I have been trying to determine which wineries to visit during our time in the Willamette Valley. Possibilities -- Argyle, Domaine Drouhin, Ken Wright, Anam Cara, Domain Serene, Archery Summit, Sineann, Patricia Green -- Many wineries to consider. Any suggestions.

We have tried several Willamette Valley wines lately.

 Eyrie Pinot Gris 2010  $15 OK pinot Gris. Not enough fruit.
Adelshem 2010 Pinot Gris $15 Liked this wine alot. Good fruit and acid with nice bouquest
Anam Cara 2007 Nicolas Pinot Noir $22. Enjoyed this wine. Oregon Pinot Noirs tend to have more acid and less fruit than California Pinot Noirs. Nice wine.

Farmers market haul today -- Cauliflower, Paula Red apples, prune plums -- plum torte time, corn, escarole, shitake mushrooms, carrots, cippolini onions, wahoo from NJ waters, flounder, and leeks. Dinner tonight fried flounder, corn on the cob, sauteed escarole, steamed cauliflower, buffalo mozzarella with tomatoes from my garden and  carrots and toasted Italian bread. The Adelshem wine was excellent. Good acidity with nice fruit. Enjoyed it a great deal.

My friends came over for a crazy meal last week. Lobster and avocado salad, lamb kebobs, grilled vegetables, cheeses and wonderful wines. For dessert we had a vanilla cake with a chocolate ganache frosting. My wife had requested a chocolate cake with vanilla frosting but I got things reversed. The wines were awesome.

Prosecco riondo - Good basic prosecco. I am not a fan as I like Cava much more. OK. Slightly sweet.
Champagne Baron Dauvergne Brut Privilege $50 80% pinot noir and 20% chardonnay. Big wine with lots of flavor. Enjoyed.
1994 Podere Rocche dei Manzoni Barolo  Oldest Barolo I have ever tasted. It was very good. The fruit was still there and the wine drank wonderfully.
Acacia Lone Tree Vineyard Pinot Noir 2008 $50 Enjoyed this wine. Nice fruit.

Scottsdale, Arizona tip. Champagne bar Nar-Cisse http://narcisse.drgtools.com/ in the Scottsdale Quarter mall. Excellent Champagnes by the glass. They have happy hour most days and I had a decent Spanish brut rose cava Campo Viejo for $4 per glass. They also had a Chateau St Michelle sparkling wine that I tasted and was not impressed. Not sweet with good fruit flavor. I also had small plates of food for $3 per plate. The place has a nice bar and lots of comfy tables.

Other wines
Domaine Le Fay D'Homme muscadet sevre et maine sur lie $10  Nothing special, unbalanced white wine that I would not recommend.
Chalone 2008 Chardonnay Estate $20  One of my favorites. Oak nicely integrated with fruit.

Next stop the Pacific Northwest. Enjoy.

Summer Heat, NYC and Fireworks

NYC

It has been a hot few weeks around the country. Of course we chose to spend a few days in NYC in the middle of the heat wave.
Stayed at the NY Hilton at their Hilton Club time share facility. Everything was fine.We obtained a good deal because we agreed to listen to a a timeshare pitch.
We saw One Man, Two Guvnors on Broadway and were not impressed. In fact we can't figure what the critics liked. The star is personable and is funny when he improvises but overall it was not our kind of humor.

Ate dinner at Tertulia http://tertulianyc.com/ This is a small tapas restaurant in the West Village on 6th Ave near 5th street. We had ham croquettes, lamb breast with faro, roasted potatoes, and grilled mussels on toast mixed with stuff. The food was much creamier than expected. The croquettes were creamy inside, the potatoes had a creamy sauce over them and the faro was creamy.

 The wine list did not look inviting. They did not have a reasonable cava and did not appear to have any sherry. We settled on a Spanish beer on tap. The board listed the beer as $7 or $9. We received small maybe10 oz glasses of beer. The check showed $9 for a beer. When I checked  with the waitress, she informed that we had the large beer. Oh well. It is difficult to accept a meal when 3 small beers are $27, even in NYC.

The New Yorker highly recommends this place. I would not tell anyone to go there. No reason to go. We have been to Spain several times and have had great food all over the world. I am coming to the conclusion that "tapas" in the US is not what I want to eat. I am may be finished with tapas for a while.

We also had dinner at Traif. http://traifny.com/ This is a restaurant in Williamsburg,  Brooklyn and is worth the trip. We had a very interesting meal with very good food. It is a small place and serves small plates. I won't call them tapas. We had an amuse bouche of watermelon gazpacho. Then we had strawberry cinnamon glazed baby back ribs $10, an arugula salad with berries $9, fried collar of hamachi $22, and broccoli rabe, porcini truffle toast, asiago cheese and a fried egg $12. All except the arugula salad were very good. The toast was exceptional; the truffle oil added that little touch. I was surprised that the chef did not add bacon. The hamachi collar was different but good. It was the collar bone with meat attached that was deep fried. Not heavy and fun to pick at.

The dessert was chocolate pudding with sour cherries and black sesame ice cream. It worked. We had a bottle of Dibon Reserve cava for $30. It was good but a touch sweet.

The restaurant is small and the service was very good. We received new plates with each dish and the cava glasses nice flutes. Some times wine glasses are not too good, if you know what I mean. We enjoyed it.

While I am on the subject, this weekend's WSJ had article by their wine person Lettie Teague on wine snobs.  "In Defense of Wine Snobs. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304299704577502660282767838.html?mod=WSJ_0_0_WP_2507_RIGHTTopCarousel_1She is a wine snob and thinks that wine snobs have a place in the world and have been feeling a backlash lately. She is counter attacking the backlash. Interesting article.

Ate lunch at Mangia http://www.mangiatogo.com/on 57th street in Manhattan. I have loved Mangia forever. They have several location in Manhattan. The salad/food bar is exceptional. They have salads, desserts, sandwiches and main courses. In NYC for the quality of the food, the prices are reasonable. We had red snapper from the food bar with wild rice, a chicken quesadilla, and a lemon meringue tart. All was good. With coffee and a soda the meal was $22.

We also found the Food Hall at the Plaza Hotel. They don't have much of a website. They have a number of food shops such as maison du chocolat, Francois Payard bakery  http://www.payard.com/  , Luke's Lobster and Todd English's Wine Bar, Cheese & Charcuterie Station, Sushi Bar, Burger Bar & Rotisserie, Asian Noodle and Dumpling Bar, Espresso & Tea Bar, Brick Oven Pizza, and a Fish and Seafood Grill.

We had a lobster roll, an organic ginger soda and potato chips for $17 at Luke's. The lobster roll was very good. It was basically lobster on a hot dog roll. Payard has ice cream sandwiches with french macaroons. We had the chocolate sorbet with cocoa nibs, $5. Run don't walk to Payard's for the ice cream sandwiches. Best thing we have had in a long time.

The Todd English place is very large but almost hidden. It looked interesting with one menu giving the selections for all of the different food stations. Lots of different places to sit.

We went to walk the Highline  http://www.thehighline.org/about/maps , the new elevated park in Manhattan. It starts in the meatpacking district, west 12th street,  and continues to around 30th street. There are permanent food trucks and gardens and places to sit. Cool place.

We decided to ride the Staten Island ferry. It is free and may be the best thing in NYC. WE hopped on late in the afternoon and motored past the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. The view of lower Manhattan was great. When we landed in Staten Island, we just got back on line and took the boat back. It is about 25 minutes each way. Take the #1 subway to the end at South Ferry.
BTW we saw the Queen Mary 2 on way back to Manhattan.

We visited MOMA(Museum of Modern Art). It is always fun to walk around. They have a beautiful garden and on Thursday evenings they have music. Nice ambiance. The only downside with the Museum is the price of $25 for adults. They have student rates and kids under 16 are free. Also Friday nights are free but the lines are enormous.

NYC note- the popularity of Halal food trucks is amazing. At 10pm at night almost 50 people were lined up for food.

Wines of the Week

My Cellatracker notes at https://www.cellartracker.com/list.asp?Table=Notes&iUserOverride=215105&HideNullNote=0&T=1000

Protocolo Spain 2010 $6. A long time favorite, mostly tempranillo.

Chateau Larrivaux 2005 $12 Nice light Bordeaux. It was highly recommended for the 05 vintage. It is not as good as the 09 cheaper Bordeaux's but it has been improving the last few years and it was good the other night.

La Barotte 2009 Bordeaux $8. WAs written up in wine column. It was OK. Light, earthy with some fruit. Not really representative of the 09's.

Chateau Haut Barrail 2009 Bordeaux. $14.99. A very good Merlot based Bordeaux. nice fruit and and good structure. Some complexity. Tried twice.

Chateau Retout 2009 Bordeaux $17. Drank another bottle and liked it more this time. A little heavier than I originally thought. Great fruit and complexity. The Cabernet Sauvignon come through.

Fireworks

I was not terribly impressed with fireworks this year but I noted a trend. 2 major firework displays -San Diego and somewhere in Connecticut --had major problems due to computer issues. Think about that.

Farmers market

Todays's haul -- green apples, sour cherry pie, mushrooms, eggs, cucumber, potatoes, onions, little cherry plums, muskmelon, swordfish, clams, mahi-mahi, and flounder.

Good eating and try a bottle of rose with your meal. Don't be afraid to chill wine in the summer, even red wines. There are no rules.

Hope you had great 4th of July.