Vegas!;California and Rebelle; Part 1

Las Vegas

We took a trip to Las Vegas and then on to California. We stayed at the Aria https://www.aria.com/en.html?kbid=2584521&cvosrc=ppc.google.aria%20vegas&cvo_crid=107281943483&Matchtype=e&ef_id=21dOSEGQx0oAAIH5:20160917213530:s, a fairly new and supposedly deluxe hotel. (5 diamonds, AAA) The rooms were nice, curtains opened electrically but service was strange. We stayed 2 nights and on the second day our room was not cleaned at 4:30 so I had to call housekeeping. The room finally got cleaned around 5:30. Not top flight. Vegas was boring. Times Square on steroids and that is not a complement. Every top chef in the world has a restaurant and the prices are New York high but what do you really get.

We ate lunch at a Bobby Flay Burger place. It was forgettable. Bobby should be ashamed as the burgers were too salty and the staff knows it.

We ate the first night at Bardothttp://www.michaelmina.net/restaurants/las-vegas/bardot-brasserie/ , a french bistro in the Aria. Michael Mina is the chef responsible for the place. (We had good experiences at his restaurant in the Borgata which closed several years ago.) It was very good and a relative bargain. They had a Summer in Provence prix fixe meal for $65 with wine for $35 more. The food was tasty and well prepared and the wines were good  and varied. Some even surprised me.

Wines were a Vouvray from the Loire, Pinot Gris from Alsace, Rose from Provence (Whispering Angel), Coudelet de Beaucastel 2013 a Rhone wine made from the Chateau Beaucastel folks and du Bugey,  a sparkling red wine for dessert.(see menu below) The wines were really good and as you can see quite interesting. The meal may be the best deal in Vegas. My wife and I shared everything so we had an 8 course tasting menu.

Tuna tartare

 Melon with ham

 Cocquilles st Jacques

 Duck wings

 Branzino

 Lamb chops

 A pavlova. This looked better than it tasted.

 About $230 with tax an tip, which for what we had was a bargain. When we paid for the meal we tried to charge it to the room. The waiter said it would not go through as we were not showing a credit card on file. I told him that  was impossible as you can't check in without a credit card. However the restaurant could not do anything and we had to pay separately.

After the meal we went to the front desk of the hotel and were told to go back to restaurant and have them undo the charge. We asked the person at the front desk to take care of it and she finally did. Not what I call top service.

Day 2 we were bored with Vegas so we rented a car and drove to Hoover Dam. It is a short 40 mile drive. We took a tour of the inside of the dam which showed us the turbines and other things. It was fascinating. The dam itself is awesome. It was bright and sunny and very hot.

The bridge behind the dam. You can walk across it.

 Walking across the dam. You can drive or walk across it.

 When they built the dam,they needed to divert the river so they could build the dam on dry river bed. They built huge tunnels around the dam site to divert the water. This is one of the tunnels.

 The turbines used to generate electricity. Everything about Hoover Dam is extraordinary and on a monumental scale. Read about it.http://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/

 You can see how low the water in Lake Mead is currently.

 A view of Lake Mead. There is a brewing controversy about dams in the west and about dams on the Colorado River. The amount of  water lost from evaporation from Lake Mead is enormous. The dam connects Arizona and Nevada and depending on the time of year, you cross into another time zone. Arizona does not switch to Daylight Savings Time and is on Mountain Time all year.

We returned to Vegas and tried to figure out where to eat dinner. We decided on Lago https://www.bellagio.com/en/restaurants/lago.html in the Bellagio because it has big windows that give you a view of the lake in front of the Bellagio. The lake has a water fountain show every 15 minutes. Lago is a small plate Italian place that would make Olive Garden proud. It was awful and the service was pathetic. The water show was  great. BTW Lago is considered a top Vegas restaurant.

The water show from Lago.

Rebelle

For our anniversary we went to Rebelle http://rebellenyc.com/in NYC. It is the sister restaurant to Pearl and Ash. The restaurants have one of the top wine lists in NYC. They have a chefs table tasting menu and in the summer you could bring your own wine with no corkage to the chefs table. I brought Domaine Drouhin's Louise Pinot Noir 2012. This is the top of the line DDO pinot noir. Availability is very limited and I only have the wine from the 2012 vintage. It was great. Balanced, lots of terroir and intense flavor. I also brought a half bottle of Veuve Clicquot. The beauty of being able to bring your own wine was that we could have great food and still drink great wine without spending a fortune. The tasting menu was relatively a bargain as it $230 for 2 inclusive of tax and tip.

The food was very good. We about 12 courses and sat facing the kitchen. The best part was that everyone was so nice. No NY attitude. We talked to other diners, shared wine with them and just had a great time. The chef and cooks all chatted with us as well.

Foie gras

An egg with Bayonne ham and greens "Green Eggs and Ham."

 Roasted bass.

 The kitchen from our seats

 Lobster with brown butter and potato chips.

 Lamb.

Yogurt with granita.

 Strawberry ice cream, sorbet and other assorted delights.

 Our California(Santa Barbara, Cambria, St Simeon, Carmel and San Francisco) part of the trip coming soon.

Wine tip of the week -- Daou Winery in Paso Robles, California. More about it next time.

Enjoy

Summertime; Farmer Neil, Atlantic City, Summer Wines, PGA Golf

Farmer Neil

My garden is growing like crazy, lots of water this year. String beans, broccoli, snow peas , lettuce, eggplant, zucchini, peppers and tomatoes so far.

Spring

 Summer

 The bounty

Just came back from Atlantic City. The Borgata again. It still is a fun place. They have added a new food court, an outside pool with "beer garden"and a  new night club. The food court has a marketplace restaurant that looked lame. Not sure why they added it. There are tables to sit and eat antipasto and wine. The other food court places are similar to what had been there.

The pool area is pretty but can be hot. The looks to be for standing and talking, not swimming. The beer garden is no beer garden; it is a bar. There are some nice seating areas with shade and they have bands on weekends. There are ping pong tables with the cheapest ping pong balls ever. Outside ping pong requires very good 3 star balls because the weight helps with the wind. The paddles were a joke as well.

They have some light beers on tap and some lame bar food. No pretzels and nothing resembling a real beer on tap.

The club, Premier, is upstairs in the casino. On Mondays you receive free admission if you eat at Izakaya. Izakaya was very good except the service, while eager was comic. You order small plates and all five things we ordered came within 5 minutes. Wow. But the food is good and Monday is a special deal for much of the food. We had our usual $24 white wine from Spain, Albet i Noya 2015 XA Xarel-Lo, which is always good. Best cheap wine in any restaurant that I have visited.

Premier was dark, smokey and full of young women. The concept is "club". You can sit on a couch if you buy a bottle of alcohol for an outrageous price. Then if you order a bottle, a bunch of scantily dressed young women march over to you holding blinking lights and the bottle of booze as they deliver the bottle to you. Silly and sexist. When the women are not delivering, they stand in a pen, actually a roped off section of the club near the bar and against the wall. Can't make it up. The music is loud DJ stuff. There are many many employees, someone to guard the bathrooms, someone to clean the bathrooms, bouncers, pretty young women hostesses, a couple of guys working at something, etc. I was stamped 3 times to enter, proofed, ok to enter and then entered. I understand that the Borgata spent millions on the place, I don't understand the concept. Everything seemed fake like someone was trying emulate Miami Vice which was a show a long time ago. A bunch of wannabes spending money to be cool.

On second thought, maybe the Borgata was no so great. But we had a good time.

We went to the beach at Wildwood and Brigantine. The water was great and the beaches beautiful. The beach at Wildwood is free and it is the widest beach I have ever seen. They actually have taxis to take your from the boardwalk to the water.

We also drove from Wildwood back to Atlantic City along the ocean. It was quite scenic and the towns we drove through were very nice. Being from north Jersey I am not that familiar with the beaches below Atlantic City.

Wildwood

 Wine at Izakaya

Premier

Wines for Summertime

Summer is a time for roses. The problem for me is that while there are plenty of roses to choose from, most are tasteless and not very good. Two roses that I have tasted recently are very good but also hard to find.  Domaine Drouhin 2015, $25 (rose of pinot noir); Xavier Cotes du Rhone 2015, $12 (rose of syrah and granache).

 I am also really liking Portuguese white wines this summer again. Look for the blends with a number of grapes that you have never heard of and keep the price under $12.

Codorniu cava is also back on radar. It is great in the summer and while it has gotten a bit more pricey, it is still around $12.

I am also a bit down on the pricey Beaujolais. None have been home runs. 2013 has been getting odd press but I would stick to 2014.

Hint of the month -- try a white Bordeaux.

For summertime red, try Oregon or Burgundy Pinot Noirs. Just be prepared for some misses.Try $20 to $30 range. Stick to the 2014 vintage for both.

Recent wines

2015 Anselmo Mendes Vinho Verde Passaros White Blend
8/1/2016 - I LIKE THIS WINE: 89 points
Light to medium bodied, good fruit but nicely balanced,drank with sushi, missing a little something but a very good wine, will drink again, good value.


2009 Louis Jadot Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Guettes Domaine Gagey Pinot Noir
Options7/31/2016 - I LIKE THIS WINE: 92 points
Beautiful bouquet, light color, balanced with nice fruit and tannin, drank easily but had complexity, medium finish, drank with barbecued ribs, a classic pairing, it was nice to drink a good Burgundy for a change- caveat, I have only been drinking inexpensive ones, would drink again if I could find it.

White - Sparkling
NV Codorníu Cava Brut Macabeo-Xarel-lo-Parellada Blend
7/30/2016 - I LIKE THIS WINE: 86 points
See previous note as we drank 2 bottles, always enjoy Codorniu, we toured the winery rears ago, great tour, will drink again.

White - Sparkling
NV Codorníu Cava Brut Macabeo-Xarel-lo-Parellada Blend 7/30/2016 - I LIKE THIS WINE: 86 points
Solid cava , good balance, fruit and acid in harmony, cava prices are increasing for unknown reasons, Champagne prices are dropping so the price gap is closing, drank with tomato and mozzarella salad with other cheeses, will drink again.


White
2015 Herdade do Esporão Duas Castas Vinho Regional Alentejano  White Blend
s8/3/2016 - I LIKE THIS WINE: 90 points
Fresh, grassy, balanced blend, crisp with lots of flavor, enjoyed with Cornish hens, will drink again, great value, Portuguese whites rock!


2015 Anselmo Mendes Vinho Verde Passaros White Blend 
8/1/2016 - I LIKE THIS WINE: 89 points
Light to medium bodied, good fruit but nicely balanced,drank with sushi, missing a little something but a very good wine, will drink again, good value.


Rosé
2014 Domaine Drouhin Oregon Pinot Noir Édition Rosé Dundee Hills  
7/28/2016 - I LIKE THIS WINE: 90 points
Smoothe and lots of flavor, medium bodied, nice color, drank with grilled chicken, will drink again.

Red
2014 Marcel Lapierre Morgon Gamay
7/24/2016 - 88 points
Interesting wine, started out a bit funky, then opened up with a delicate flavor, light in body and color, more like a cheap Burgundy pn, not a bad wine but not worth the hype or the price, disappointing, drank with swordfish, probably won't drink again.

2014 Penya Vin de Pays des Côtes Catalanes Grenache Blend, Grenache
7/25/2016 - I LIKE THIS WINE: 90 points
Solid red wine, balanced, clean tasting , medium bodied with nice fruit, drank with flounder, will drink again, great value.

Rosé
2015 Domaine Drouhin Oregon Pinot Noir Édition Rosé Dundee Hills  
7/23/2016 - I LIKE THIS WINE: 89 points
A bit harsh to begin but it opened up as it warmed up, complex flavors, drinks easily, not fruity but enough fruit to maintain balance with the acid, medium bodied for a rose, drank with swordfish and oysters, will drink again.

White
2015 Kirkland Signature Sauvignon Blanc Ti Point Marlborough  
Fizzy, a bit astringent for a NZ sb, ok fruit, drank with salmon, ok wine for the price, NZ sb never overly impress, might drink again.

Red
2014 Kirkland Signature Pinot Noir Willamette Valley  
s7/22/2016 - I LIKE THIS WINE: 90 points
Very good Oregon Pinot noir, good acid keeps the fruit balanced, medium bodied, our second bottle with consistent notes, drank with loin lamb chops, great value, will drink again.

White
2014 Domaine Thomas St. Véran Tradition Chardonnay
7/18/2016 - I WROTE: 85 points
Generic Burgundy, good acid, light on the fruit, drank with scallops, probably would not drink again.

Rosé
2015 Xavier Côtes du Rhône Rosé Red Rhone Blend
7/17/2016 - I LIKE THIS WINE: 90 points
Medium bodied, light color, lots of flavor, drinks easily , good value, will drink again. Drank with tuna sushi, and dumplings.


2013 Red Newt Cellars Cabernet Franc Kelby James Russell Nutt Road Vineyard Seneca Lake  
7/16/2016 - I LIKE THIS WINE: 89 points
Very light, almost a rose, balanced with delicate fruit and acid, 12% alcohol, enjoyed with tilefish and baked clams, a bit pricey but NY wines are not cheap, might drink again, cab franc rocks.

Red
2013 Domaine Drouhin Oregon Pinot Noir Cuvée Willamette Valley  
7/15/2016 - I LIKE THIS WINE: 90 points
Earthy, a bit thin, good flavor,light to medium bodied, drank easily, drank with veal chops, will drink again,

White
2015 Albet i Noya Xarello Penedès
7/11/2016 - I LIKE THIS WINE: 88 points
Good white wine with lots of fruit but good acid and balance, clean tasting, light body, not complex but great with food, drank with Asian fusion small plates at Izakaya at the Borgata, AC, bargain on wine list at $24, will drink again.

2011 Fratelli Barba Montepulciano d'Abruzzo I Vasari Old Vines
7/8/2016 - I LIKE THIS WINE: 90 points
Better than the last bottle, fruity but acid balances , drank easily, drank with chicken Parmesan, will drink again. Good value.

White
2014 Château Guiraud Le G Bordeaux  Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc Blend
7/9/2016 - I LIKE THIS WINE: 91 points
Good stuff, great nose that smells rich and sweet, the taste is dry but as the wine warmed the flavors opened up, complex, the whole package, no relation to other SB's like from NZ, enjoyed with swordfish and baked clams, will drink again, good value for the price I paid.

PGA Golf

Had a chance to attend the PGA golf tourney. A fun day. It was well organized, it was easy to get great views of the golfers and the holes. The food was tasty and not over priced.

Enjoy the rest of the summer. I have some interesting trips upcoming.

Question of the week. If you had a big event to celebrate with up to 4 people, what wine or wines would you select. Price is a consideration. Let me know.