“Oops” – Monthly Wine Writing Challenge #4

Posted on October 22, 2013 by thewineraconteur

“Oops” is not the word you want to hear from your surgeon or for that matter from your Certified Public Accountant.  We are having the fourth installment of the “Monthly Wine Writing Challenge” and the theme of “Oops” has been suggested by last month’s winner “The Wine Kat.”  As I pondered the relevance of this term to the subject of wine, I could envision the concept of pratfalls or spills of great bottles of wine, or the loss of a great bottle of wine that is now over the hill because of the misplacement of the bottle in a cellar, or from improper storage.  I thought of funny anecdotes and even some sad stories that could arise from this simple four letter word.  What pray tell could I write about, and then I thought of resurrecting my favorite wine story that I have relayed in the very early days of my writing, which has probably been lost or missed by people that have just a cursory interest in my writing, or haven’t used the search box to see if I had written about one of the most hallowed of all cult wines “Screaming Eagle.”  To calm those that may have a thought that I may have broken or spilled a bottle of this wine, and are dreading to read further, this did not happen.  The “Oops” is from perhaps a fatal flaw of your raconteur, I like to talk to people and I especially enjoy talking about wine, since a raconteur is just an old fashioned term that is not bandied around much any more, and simply means a story teller or a narrator.

 wine-stain Monthly Wine Challenge

“Screaming Eagle wines are not for mere mortals” was a statement that I uttered to two gentlemen, and this is from the middle of the story, that I have to admit, I do enjoy relating.  My Bride and I were on holidays in the beautiful wine country of the Carmel Valley, as we enjoy staying at Carmel-by-the-Sea.  As is my habit when we make our holiday plans I start making dinner reservations and one of the reservations was at a fine restaurant on the grounds of a winery that we wished to visit as well.  In this retelling of the story the dinner we enjoyed, as well as the wines selected are secondary to the story under the guidelines of this particular theme.  My Bride and I were dressed to the nines, as we usually are when we go out dining on our holiday trips, just to be more festive, and normally when people see us dressed up, I think most people refrain from disturbing us as they must think we are celebrating, since people do not dress up for dinner, the way people did years ago.

We had planned and ordered a great meal that evening, when two gentlemen were seated at the next table to us, and they were dressed in business attire, which tends to be more understated then when people dress up for an occasion.  The waiter went to the next table and then so did the sommelier, and the two men ended up with an argument with the sommelier almost immediately and he left their table.  The next moment the wait staff was assembling a collection of wine glasses of different sizes on our table in anticipation of our dinner.  One of the two men then asked if I knew anything about wine, and since I like to be social, and since the question was about one of my favorite subjects, I answered in the affirmative.  That was the “Oops” of the evening, as I proceeded to get grilled about wines even though my Bride and I were attempting to have a fine dinner in a wonderful venue.  I was being grilled as if I was in a courtroom or giving a deposition, even though we were trying to enjoy our dinner.  They were happy with the answers I gave, I guess, as they then informed me that they were business partners and they had about $3000.00 of company money that they had to spend from an account that evening or they would loose the right to spend the money.  Silently I looked at my Bride and I knew that she was just as appalled as I was at this revelation.  It turns out that the two men had decided to order the bottle of Screaming Eagle that was listed on the wine carte listing and the sommelier had declined their wishes, informing the men, that the wine was not ready to be enjoyed as it was still too young and had suggested a few other wines that were in their prime, as well as being very expensive bottles of wine.

The two men wanted to enlist me into the fray of battle between them and the sommelier, because they wanted to spend the client’s money and they thought this wine was the perfect expense.  I told the men that I thought the sommelier was right, that the wine was too young, as this wine was made to be laid away for further aging, in the same way the great Clarets of the Medoc are made (I was also told that this was the same valid argument the sommelier had given them).  They would have no part of the argument, and said that wine is listed, so they wanted it, and asked me to have a talk with the sommelier as they felt that they may have been too terse in the initial conversation/argument.  I asked our waiter to have the sommelier come to my table, and I related all that I had learned since he had left our two tables.  I said everything loud enough so that the sommelier and the two gentlemen could hear my discussion, so as not to have to repeat anything, and I was getting a little testy as I was not enjoying my dinner to the extent that I had hoped to, while my poor Bride had to suffer the loss of her conversation partner during all of this time.  I made mention that I was a retailer and since they did have the bottle listed, and I am sure it was more for bragging rights, than for an actual desire to sell the bottle and lose it from the listing, that they must sell it, even though the sommelier had done his due diligence to inform them the wine was really not ready to be drank.  The sommelier agreed to my conversation and decided to serve the wine, even though he felt that it would be a waste of money, when he had other wines that were at their peak of maturity and would have been a fine investment for dinner.

 screamingeaglelabelv2

After my “Oops” moment, my Bride and I were finally free to salvage the rest of our meal and our own company.  After dessert, wine and coffee I had called for our bill.  The sommelier return to our table with a tray with the finest wine glass I had ever seen; the longest stem and the most perfect shaped glass atop of it, with a deep red wine in it.  I mentioned that I had not ordered anything else and was waiting for my bill.  The sommelier told me, that the two gentlemen wished for me to have the first glass of the wine after it had been decanted.  I hastily requested a fresh glass of water and a piece of bread to cleanse my palate after such a fine dinner.  I asked my Bride if she would like to try it, and she declined claiming that it was all mine.  I felt, even though I had tried to be discreet about the events that all eyes were upon me.  As I swirled the wine in the glass, inhaled the nose of the wine and finally poured the first drops to kiss my taste buds.  I whistled in the last bit of air and then I chewed the wine to get every bit of taste from that first sip.  I smiled at my Bride, the sommelier and finally the two gentlemen and said that the wine was delicious, but it would have been monumental and awe-inspiring in about ten years.  I nursed the wine, the men proceeded to enjoy their wine and dinner, and I felt that the world continued to revolve and life went on.  Oh, may I have another “Oops” like this again.

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North at Kierland Commons

Posted on October 20, 2013 by thewineraconteur

Sometimes the thirst must be self inflicted to leave one city in a desert Las Vegas to go to another desert in Arizona, and the temperature was about twenty degrees hotter as well.  I still get thirsty just thinking about it.  We went out to visit one of my Bride’s best friends and a former co-worker; in fact we had even attended her wedding.  We have visited her before in Phoenix, so it was going to be fun.

 Le Volte dell'Ornellaia 2011

When you get two ladies together, they immediately think of shopping and I just tag along.  We went to a delightful shopping district called Kierland Commons that was set up like a downtown area, with individual buildings, some with condos above and the mix of better chain stores that are in better malls around the country.  There was even curbside parking of automobiles, and a fine collection of cars were present.  They were in Seventh Heaven, and I in my “retail consultant” hat wandered around looking at all of the businesses and how all the stores seemed to be doing well.  My only disappointment was that when I walked over to a tobacconist, there was a sign on the door, that proclaimed he was out for lunch, just like a small town, but we were not in a small town.  I was also admiring how well all the women that were shopping were attired.  This was not a sweat-suit haven, but very chic woman with au-courant apparel, and I was enjoying the tableau that I was observing.  We have a very important event coming up next year, and as we wandered from shop to shop, I found something for my Bride that was not even on her radar yet, and we got her a beautiful formal outfit for next years festivity.  Suffice it to say, I do believe she was happy to have that out of the way, even though it was not a pressing concern at the moment.  For me the event will be easier, either a tuxedo or a suit, depending on the final plans.

 AZ North PC

After all of that shopping we not only had a thirst, but an appetite as well, so as we wandered around the shops and boutiques we settled on a restaurant called North, there tagline was “adding a touch of Italian to Kierland’s rich heritage.  Putting two and two together, I surmised that the restaurant was going to be offering Northern Italian cuisine as opposed to the heartier and heavier dishes encountered in the Southern parts of Italy.  So we got a table outside to enjoy the weather and have our meal.  My Bride was having a Caesar Salad with chicken (which I never understand, because I still think that she makes the greatest Caesar Salad around) while our friend had a Chopped Chicken Salad that she enjoys from this restaurant.  As for me I tempted fate and ordered Bolognese dish with homemade Tagliatelle pasta and Grana Padano, it was much different from my recipe but very enjoyable.

 AZ North Entrance Sign

To quench my thirst beyond the basic need for water, I selected a wine that I had not tried before.  It was Le Volte dell’Ornellaia 2011, a “Super Tuscan” wine, but a second tier wine from the legendary Ornellaia winery.  Now Ornellaia erupted unto the wine scene with their 1985 vintage and created a new image with their blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.  The wine that I had ordered was a blend of Merlot, Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon and it had a good nose and a very mellow taste for such a young wine.  This wine is aged in the used barrels from past Ornellaia production.  I was savoring it, and it was perfect for my Bolognese pasta.  The best part was that it was very affordable as compared to the flagship wine of Ornellaia.

Ornellaia 2001

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Seeing My Cousin in Pheonix

Posted on October 18, 2013 by thewineraconteur

As we bid our children and grandchildren adieu in Las Vegas, we boarded another plane to visit one of my cousins that lives in the Phoenix area for dinner and then we were going to go see an old friend of ours that also lives in Phoenix.  I had written about my cousin’s destination wedding at Niagara Falls, New York and now we were going to see him, his wife and family.

 KJ VR Summation 2010

We didn’t want to go there empty handed and when we got off the highway to find his home we looked for a wine shop to no avail, but we did see one of the major chain pharmacies and went in to see what they had in the way of a wine selection.  We settled on a bottle of Kendall-Jackson Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay 2012 which is always a safe bet.  Then I saw a bottle of a wine from the same company that I had not seen before; a Kendall-Jackson Vintner’s Reserve Summation Red Blend 2010 and we bought a bottle of that as well.  Then we doubled back to visit my cousin.

 River Road Boschetti Vineyard Old Vine Zinfandel 2011

We placed the bottle of Chardonnay in the freezer of their refrigerator to chill the wine as we started to reacquaint ourselves with all that had gone on since their wedding.  The wine was chilled enough and we started enjoying some Chardonnay and a good conversation.  My cousin’s wife was all excited to talk about wines, and she brought out a beautiful scrapbook that she had started with some copious notes about the wines that they had enjoyed.  They also showed me some of the bottles that they had saved, but had not soaked off the labels as of yet.  They were saying that the labels that they had glued into the scrapbook did not look as nice as some of the labels that I show in my articles.  I had to laugh, and told them that some of mine come out pretty ratty, and that if she searched this site, I told her that there was a commentary from one of my fellow Bloggers and a film clip of how to bake the labels off of the bottle in the oven.

 KJ VR Chardonnay 2012

Then the ladies went out to get some carry-out Thai food and my Bride made an extra stop to get me something to eat, as I do not do well with most foods of that area, as most of the restaurants tend to rely on MSG as a flavor enhancer and that causes me problems, so I tend to just avoid the food entirely, unless I am for certain that there is no MSG added.  I have also found out that if you request the food without MSG, there is no taste, because the restaurants that rely on it, can not prepare the dishes with flavor without this added crutch.  Be that as it may, as we started to have dinner, my cousin and his wife brought out a bottle of wine that they had enjoyed at a wine tasting at their favorite wine shop, which was not anywhere near where my Bride and I were driving around earlier.  They had a bottle of wine from River Road Family Vineyards and Winery in the Russian River Valley section of Sonoma County, California.  The wine was a 2011 Old Vine Zinfandel from the Boschetti Vineyard.  Now I normally do not order Zinfandel wines, but I have enjoyed many a wine from the Russian River Valley, and they did want my opinion of the wine, so I opened up this bottle.  I must say that it was very smooth and lush and not as sweet as some Zinfandel wines that I have tried, in fact I would even order or buy this wine if I saw it again.  So I do have to adjust my thoughts on this varietal, as I have done to others in the past.  We left their house and gave them the bottle of the Summation Red Blend as a gift.  I will have to try to find that wine around home to try as it is a blend of Zinfandel, Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, Grenache and Petit Verdot.  So either way, I was going to have a bottle of Zinfandel that evening and I am sure that I would have enjoyed that wine as well, time will tell, perhaps in another visit.

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Sedona

Posted on October 16, 2013 by thewineraconteur

I am not going to talk about the painted desert of Sedona, rather a restaurant by that name in the city of Las Vegas.  Our last night there, we had dinner with the entire family that resides out there, with no one missing out because of work.  We celebrated the upcoming birthdays and gave gifts to the ones that we had sent out parcels earlier this year, so that none of the grandchildren would feel slighted.  We also gave Halloween gifts to our grandchildren and we passed out all of the Christmas presents early as well, some with the caveat that the packages could not be opened early.  The grandchildren were also excited because we were all going to play Laser-tag afterwards.  It was a wonderful last night, though it was also sad knowing that it would be some time before we could see them again.

 Troublemaker NV

We started out by just ordering plates of appetizers to be brought out to the table and these included Sirloin Carpaccio, Tuna Ceviche, Crab Cakes, Lobster Roll, Cured Wings and Glazed Ribs.  Then everyone order their own entrée for the evening; my Bride ordered Striped Bass and I chose Braised Short Ribs and both were excellent though we really couldn’t share each other’s dishes as we were on opposite ends of a table of  eleven.  Our son and daughter-in-law ordered the “Sinatra” platter which was not even on the menu and the dish was a classic version of Surf and Turf, a filet and a lobster tail.  We ended the meal with a birthday cake; from a bakery another chef mentioned to me at an earlier location that we had visited.

 NV Sedona MB

While the grandchildren enjoyed soft drinks and some of the adults enjoyed cocktails we still went through two bottles of wine for the night.  I felt like trying a different wine that evening, that was listed as a “Red Blend” and I also “googled” it as I wanted to see what it was.  The wine was made by Hope Family Wines of Paso Robles, California which is a wine area that we enjoy and have visited.  The Hope Family Wines also include Liberty School, Austin Hope, Treana and Candor wine groups.  The wine was named Troublemaker Blend 6 NV, which does not tell you much and neither did the back label.  The wine is a blend of Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre, Petite Syrah and Zinfandel varietals.  I must commend the winemaker as it was a smooth blend and I really enjoyed the wine through out the evening while at Sedona.  My Bride was just as pleased as I was, as well, and thought that she should mention that I take note of the wine, so that we could look for it, when we got home.  I chuckled and assured her that I had taken a photograph of it, for a future story, which I am relating at this time.  I do sometimes think that she forgets that I write this blog, though she reads every article, sometimes chiding me, and sometimes correcting my syntax or my memory.  What would I do with out her?  That is why she is still my Bride.

Troublemaker NV BL

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A Barbeque in Summerlin

Posted on October 14, 2013 by thewineraconteur

Two of our children live in Las Vegas, in a community known as Summerlin.  Summerlin is a 22,500-acre master-planned community under development by The Howard Hughes Corporation in the Las Vegas Valley of Nevada near the Spring Mountains and Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area (according to Wikipedia).  While we were visiting, we were regaled with a barbeque at a park in Summerlin that had a large play area for the benefit of the grandchildren and a covered picnic area for the adults with a view of where the kids were playing.

 Frei Brothers Chardonnay 2010

Our daughter and daughter-in-law went to a couple of ethnic markets to purchase food prepared for the barbeque.  To them Armenian food and Arabic food are identical, while I tried to explain some of the differences, since I had the good fortune to have my Grandmother cook our classic dishes, as she and my Grandfather had both made it to Canada after surviving the Ottoman genocide of the Armenians during World War One.  Consequently my concept of Armenian food is much different from what my grandchildren accept as Armenian food.  I think the biggest difference is that there are very few real Armenian restaurants, as most who would go to an Armenian restaurant would say that the food is not the same as they remember from their Grandparent’s kitchens and I would be part of that group.  Middle Eastern food I feel came from the Ottoman Empire influence, and I feel that it is all based on Armenian cuisine, can you tell that I am biased.

 Saperavi 2008

Regardless on my innate biases, the food was delicious and enjoyed by all that went to the barbeque.  We enjoyed a bottle of Frei Brother’s Chardonnay 2010.  This was a delightful bottle of Chardonnay from the Russian River Valley, which we had bought at a major wine shop near our hotel as it was already chilled.  I was concerned a little bit, because I am not a fan of 2010 Chardonnay wines from the Central Coast, but this wine from the Russian River Valley was very good, so even though both areas are in California, there was a marked difference in the wines.

 Saperavi 2008 BL

Our daughter had also mentioned that at the Armenian market that she went to that day, that they had some Armenian wine.  My interest was piqued, and in fact the next day she had a bottle of it as a gift for me.  I had to laugh, because what she had bought as an Armenian wine was actually from Georgia, a country adjacent to Armenia.  When I saw the bottle and the label I immediately knew that the writing on the label was not Armenian, but Georgian.  The bottle of wine was Saperavi 2008; this is a wine that is made from the Saperavi grape varietal, also known as Kahketi grape that has been a staple of the Kahketi region of Eastern Georgia.  I have not tried this wine yet, but the wine can be semi-sweet to a dry wine, and some of the wines have been known to cellar age for fifty years, but I will not wait that long before I try the wine.

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View Wine Bar & Kitchen

Posted on October 12, 2013 by thewineraconteur

We were taking a leisurely stroll shopping and we were working up a thirst.  Up on the second floor above a restaurant was a floor of little boutiques and a wine bar.  We had stumbled onto View Wine Bar & Kitchen.

 Line39 Chardonnay 2011

We just wanted to have a quick bite as we were meeting the family later for a big barbeque, so we had a quick bite.  My Bride had a Butternut Squash soup with a piece of breaded fried banana.  I went a little heartier and had Lobster Mac and Cheese.  These were just enough to stave our hunger until later on that day for dinner.

 Stratton Lummis The Riddler

My Bride had a glass of Line 39 Chardonnay 2011, which is made by the Cecchetti Wine Company, and this wine was from grapes harvested in the Central Coast.  This Chardonnay was very pleasant, and the bar man had suggested this, if we liked creamy and oakey wines, but we did not find this to be overly buttery or oakey, but we would order it again.

 Stratton Lummis The Riddler BL

The wine I chose was Stratton Lummis “The Riddler” Lot Three NV from the Napa Valley.  This was a blended red wine, but certainly not a Meritage, but it was a very smooth and enjoyable wine.  It was a blend of Petite Syrah, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Tempranillo Charbono, Zinfandel and Petit Verdot.  A veritable Heinz 57 of wines, but the wine master did a fine job of blending these different varietals into a harmonious blend.

Just a perfect way to relax, before going out with the children and the grandchildren for a barbeque.

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Wicked Spoon

Posted on October 10, 2013 by thewineraconteur

One of the newer hotels on The Strip is The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.  My daughter wanted us to try the buffet called Wicked Spoon.  She described it as a buffet that was more akin to a tasting menu, rather than the typical Vegas buffet, as she knows her dear old Dad, so well.  The hotel is another example of a glamour hotel, rather than a theme hotel, that was the norm a couple of decades ago.

 Maso Canali Pinot Grigio 2012

We finally found the Wicked Spoon on the second floor, of course, we had entered from the opposite corner of the hotel, but it was fun walking around.  As we entered the room, one of the first things that I noticed, was the wonderful aroma in the room, and I found that appealing.  I walked around the room, looking at all of the stations before deciding where to start.  One of the major differences that I noticed was that the majority of the dishes were actually in little presentations of their own, and not just big chafing dishes that one would ladle food onto your plate.  Some of the dishes were served in little glasses, some in small plates; some were in little frying pans, grillers and other unique presentations.  There were some large plates for self serve, but the better and more unique dishes were already plated as is if it was to be served in an actual restaurant setting. The use of truffle oils, balsamic vinegars and other condiments were listed on the sign holders explaining each dish that was being offered.  Of course in today’s climate of restaurants there was a sushi area, and there was carving area with prime rib, top sirloin, lamb, as well as a whole pig laid out on the counter.  One of the items that everyone talks about from the Wicked Spoon is their offering of bone marrow.  There were fish and seafood, polentas, and even s station to assemble your own Mac and cheese station.  I was pleased with the different offerings, and found that the special pre-plated dishes offered the most nuances of taste and even some whimsy.

 NV Wicked Spoon BC

Picking out a wine for a buffet dinner, was a bit of a challenge, as I didn’t want to get anything that would over power some of the small plates, so I settled on a Maso Canali Pinot Grigio 2012 from the Trentino-Alto Adige region in Northern Italy.  The Alto Adige region is also known as Sud-Tirol (South Tyrol) and is left over from the old Austro-Hungarian empire, in Trentino the Italian language is used, while in the Alto-Adige area the German language is prevalent, which is rather unique, but as one gets closer to Switzerland that is common.  This particular Pinot Grigio wine had a natural spiciness, that can be missing from domestic versions of this wine and it was welcome with the nuances of some of the dishes that we had that evening.

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A Very Unique Day

Posted on October 8, 2013 by thewineraconteur

Due to the new rules of air travel, one never knows how to plan.  There was no traffic encountered from our house to the airport, and there was no traffic at the parking lot, and we immediately got on board of the shuttle and went directly to the airport.  There was no one in line at our airlines desk, so there was immediate service for our luggage.  Then there was no line going through security, it took longer to get all of the bins in order, then the actual time spent there.  So we found ourselves with almost three hours to spend at the airport, before our flight.  I do not recall ever having an experience like this, and I may be cursing the return flight, as this one was such a great experience.

 The Broadway RatPack

Here we were getting ready to see some of our children and grandchildren.  On the plane, I passed on the wine selections and we decided to have cocktails for the trip, not really like us, but there has to be some variance in life.  Even had good luck with the puzzles that I attempted in the airline magazine during the flight.  When we arrived and got to the baggage claim, our checked luggage was third, and fourth appearing on the carousel, the day was wonderful, even I had trouble finding things to grouse about.  The car rental went without a glitch, outside of my usual request for an “American” car, after all I am from Detroit, and this was accomplished with out a problem.  Since our flight was even early, we had time to drive out to the borough where we were staying instead of “The Strip” since this was closer to where our children live.  There was no line at the hotel and we got our room, unloaded and back on the road to the downtown area of Las Vegas where we were going to meet some of the family.  My daughter had arranged for us to see a matinee show of “The Broadway Rat Pack” which featured some of her shirt-tail relatives.  This was a different version of a show we have seen twice in the Detroit area, and it was fun to see a different version.

 Nathanson Creek Cabernet Sauvignon NV

We had a private table behind the general seating, so it worked out well with our grandchildren, some of the parents and my Bride and me.  I must say that all of the children were great during the show and seemed to have a good time.  With the price of wine by the glass at the bar, it worked out to be more advantageous to buy the magnum of wine that they were serving, then by the glass, especially since we could take the unfinished wine with us, after the performance.  Perhaps the only glitch was the sole selection of wine at the show that was red, it was Nathanson Creek Cabernet Sauvignon NV, and the problem was not with the wine, which was a fruit forward wine without any nuance, but made for quick consumption and perhaps quaffing of this wine without the benefit of food, just drinking.  The winery is located in Lodi, California and is a major blender of wines from different locations and different varietals.  I think that my biggest complaint was that this bottle of red wine was that it was stored in the refrigerator, which did nothing to enhance the wine and it was a bit of a surprise as I was handed the bottle at the bar area.  All in all it was good, and the kids even had their picture taken with a couple of the recreators.

 Rat Pack and Grandchildren

Afterwards we all had dinner at Magnolia’s in the hotel, and the children even ate all of the food that they had ordered.  It is always questionable when you have that many children if the food order would just be a waste, and it wasn’t.  As I said, it was a unique day, but a long one for us.  More adventures to come.

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An Early Bottle of Wine

Posted on October 6, 2013 by thewineraconteur

When I first started on the road of discovery about wines, a gentleman in the trade had suggested that I try some Spanish wines as well as the French wines.  Since he was in the trade, and I was a high school student trying to look and act more mature, I accepted his suggestions with out hesitation.  I had bought an assortment of Clarets, some Rioja Reserva wines and a bottle of Torres Gran Coronas Reserva Black Label 1961.

Torres Gran Coronas Reserva 1961

I would have to say that this was about 1969 or 1970, and here I was buying a 1961 vintage, when most of the other wines were of the latter half of the 1960’s.  I thought to myself, is he just trying to dump a bottle of wine off on me, because I am naive, or was the wine already too old and that is why is was not expensive.  These were thoughts that were going through my head as I was driving home with my mixed case of wines that I had just purchased.  I just had a limited knowledge of wines back then, and when I look back upon the situation I realize that the Reserva entailed a longer aging period and would not appear on shelves until much later (so much for me being savvy at that age).  I remember that this was one of the first wines that I tried, as I did not have a large selection to choose from and I was concerned about this particular bottle.  I should have known better, as it was so smooth, that even I realized at that point in my learning curve that this was an excellent bottle of wine.  In fact I made it a point to go back a couple of weeks later with the intent of just buying some more of this wine, but it was all gone, and I was informed that there was none left at the distributors.  Live and learn, this was a good teaching moment for me.

Torres Gran Coronas Reserva 1961 Back Label

I recalled all of this as I was looking at my scrap book of wine labels and I thought I would do some research on this early bottle of wine, that I remembered the story of so well.  I had to get a magnifying glass out the read the back label, as it was small gold print on a black background and from the soaking to remove the label; it had lost some of its clarity of printing.  The wine was from the town of Vilafranca de Penedes, which is now officially called Penedes, and it is the capital city of the area known as Alt Penedes in Catalonia, in the province of Barcelona, Spain.  The wine is a blend of two varietals Ull de Llebre and Monastrell, which are the Catalonian names for Tempranillo and Mourvedre as indicated on the back label.  This wine is still being produced but it is now a Cabernet Sauvignon blended wine, as the new vines were just being planted in the first half of the 1960’s.  This was fun to go back and research a wine that I still remember so well, but I had no real knowledge of it.

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A Celebrity

Posted on October 4, 2013 by thewineraconteur

Sometimes a setting can be so parochial, that a celebrity is not recognized, but that type of person is not expected.  This was recently the case, and I can attest to it.  I do some consulting in the retail industry and I was working on a project for a store, now as an old retailer, I am constantly watching “the floor” as old habits die hard.  A gentleman came into the establishment accompanied by a chauffer, which in its self is a red flag of a kind.  The gentleman required some quick alterations and he was assured by the chauffer that this was the establishment to go to.  I looked at the man closely, as he was answering some questions as a work order was being filled out, and then he went to one of the fitting rooms.

 Robert Picardo Autographed

Now the woman behind the counter always jokes and is sometimes amazed at the number of people that I know when I am at the establishment.  So I walked over to her and said “that man looks like Robert Picardo.”  She replied that his name was Bob Picardo, and did I know him from my past selling days.  I responded that he is a television star, now I have to tell you, that I have not watched television for at least the last twenty years, as my free time is too valuable for me to sit on a sofa or recliner and just aimlessly watch a screen.  The reason I knew who he was is that my Bride loves to watch certain television shows and old movies.  In fact her desk is behind my desk in our office and when we are both working our backs are to each other, but she has a television above her desk, so that she can be on the computer and have the television on at the same time.  She is also a Science Fiction geek and that is one of her favorite genres on television.  There can be evenings where she will watch multiple versions of Star Trek while she is working and through the years I have learned who most of the main characters on the various shows are, just by osmosis.  Robert Picardo played a holographic doctor on Star Trek Voyager. After his fittings were done, I approached him, and relayed the information about my Bride to him.  I also tried to call her, to no avail.  So I asked him, if it would be alright if I took his picture and he laughed and smiled and agreed.  I took his picture and then sent it without any wording to my Bride.  He then left, and he would come back later to pick up his alterations.   In about a half hour of sending the transmission my phone rang and it was my Bride, and she went on to tell me all of the television shows that he had appeared on, including some that I was not aware of, but she most assuredly knew.  She was all agog, and asked if he was still there, and I replied to the negative.  She then asked me the question that every husband hates to hear, when he realizes that he should have done it, at the time “did you get me an autograph?”  I had to reply “no” to this simple question, and I could tell that she was upset, so I figured that I would be crass later and have to impose on him again, after taking his picture.  By this time the store was star-struck after I had informed them who had graced their presence.  Then they realized who the actor was, if not from Star Trek, then from some of his other shows.

 Robert Picardo Shopping

When Mr. Picardo returned later that day for his alterations, he had a manila envelope and asked if my wife had seen the picture that I had taken.  I had to laugh, when I recited the litany of shows and appearances that she remembered him being in and he seemed genuinely appreciative.  He pulled out an assortment of glossy photographs and asked if there was one that she would appreciate more than the others and I nodded and chose the one from the Star Trek series and he personalized and dedicated the picture with an autograph to her, without any request from me.  I was relieved that I did not have to ask him for an autograph.

 Boomtown Chardonnay 2009

While he was autographing a picture for the store, so that they could add to their collection of personalities that have come into the store, I asked him if he would like a drink and gave him a variety of choices.  He asked for a white wine and I poured him a glass of Boomtown Chardonnay 2009 from Dusted Valley Vintners in the Columbia Valley of Washington State.  I also poured a small tasting for myself to make sure that it was fine, as it was in the refrigerator at the time.  It was fine, and tasted that it must have been fermented in stainless steel as it was crisp and fruity as opposed to an oakey, buttery taste.  I had to look it up afterwards for this article and found that it made the “top one hundred domestic values” as well as a “best buy” from the Wine Spectator magazine.  All in all it was a good day, I tried a wine that I may not have tasted due to working, the store was happy and most of all; my Bride was ecstatic when she came home later that day and saw the autographed picture waiting for her.

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