2 Times a Charm

The other week, Neel and I went balls out on some older vintages.

2001 Geyser Peak Alexaander Valley Cabernet (I found this at an Asian grocery store for cheap)
2002 Alexander Valley Vineyards Cabernet (I think Neel's pops hooked him up)

Thinking we had some baller ass bottles for mass consumption, we were fairly disappointed with both bottles.

Having had a 2004 Geyser Peak earlier, it strangely did not meet those same standards even though the vintage was from 2001. The Alexander Valley Vineyards also failed to wow the both of us.

Hopefully we can pop some bottles soon to help us forget the dismal performace we had this time around. More postings forthcoming, really.

2008 first post

unlike my cohorts, some of which make empty promises. I will not promise any update...if anything very few.

just so u know i will venture into making wine....i'll keep u posted.

the ultimate goal here is to graduate to making vodka. or some wine too strong to drink without mixing.

til next time. been keepin it real w/ the drinking
-Cameron Hughes Lot 43 Zinfandel drink it...while eating ribs...damn!

Bottoms Up

I honestly don't know why I didn't do this from the get go but hindsight is always 20/20. This past year has been filled with some ridiculous wines, granted we've posted here and there about some of them but I just don't know why we didn't just post the bottles, good or bad, with or without descriptions or opinions on the blog. I know up here in the Northern Californian division of the blog, Neel and I will meet up every 3 weeks or so and get our fill on grape juice or as some may call purple drank.

So with the start of 2008 which looks to be an even more awesomer year, hopefully we can post up all the bottles, good or bad on this bad boy for all to see. I'll get this rolling with the rundown of what was on the tasting menu the last time Neel and I met up.

1st Rounder - 2005 The Show Cabernet Sauvignon ($12.99 @ Cost Plus; decent more on this later)
2nd Rounder - 2005 Ridge (Ponzo Vineyards) Russian River Zinfandel (extremely spicy probably better with food)
3rd Rounder - 2004 Clos du Bois North Coast Cabernet ($8.99 @ Costco or wherever wine is sold)

Now some may see this and call it a bit excessive, damn those pundits! I say f*ck the pundits, thats why they're pundits! It's just a way to fight the good fight. The fight against free radicals as wine is jam packed with antioxidants.

Til next time.

(Currently listening to Frank Sinatra & the Count Basie Orchestra: Live at the Sands, Las Vegas)

Christmas Remnants

This entry is dedicated to Rich, who has been faithfully posting to this blog while all the rest of us have no doubt still been enjoying wine, but have been too lazy (or drunk) to write anything down.

Today at lunch I opened my mom's refrigerator and saw an open bottle of Maddalena Pinot Grigio (from the San Antonio Winery in L.A. - http://www.sanantoniowinery.com/). I gave this bottle to my mom for Christmas, which I think is when it was opened. Not one to shy away from a glass of wine at lunch, I decided to try it. A newly opened bottle of this wine is quite nice. It has a refreshing taste filled with fruit flavors. I'm still trying to perfect this tasting and identifying of the flavors thing, so I'll just include the San Antonio Winery's description of the wine here:

Maddalena Vineyard Pinot Grigio reveals aromas of citrus with hints of wildflowers. The mouth is filled with ripe fruit flavors, including melon and green apples. Bright acidity and mineral notes frame this structured and balanced wine.

I would say that's pretty close, as far as the citrus and fruits are concerned. Not quite sure what wildflowers taste like.

At any rate, the two+ week bottle of opened wine was not as bad as I expected it to be. It was actually still quite refreshing, although I think that the "bright acidity" mentioned in the description above turned into slightly "harsh acidity." But not enough to make it undrinkable.

My only other complaint about this old wine was that it did not leave me with any type of afternoon buzz whatsoever, but then again, I only drank about half a glass.

I'll try to be better about posting. I got a book for Christmas of "unusual" wines, along with what was considered a bottle of an "unusual" wine (Cardinal Zin), and have made a resolution to try and drink every one of the wines listed in the book!

Wine from the Rising Sun

This wine sucked. It may not be entirely representative of wines from Japan but the gold & silver sticker claimed it had won awards at major Japanese wine events. With a name like Chateau Mars how could it have gone so wrong? Granted I still have no idea if it was a Cabernet, Merlot or Malbec. It was red and cost only 1400yen so I tried it. It was red water. The alcohol content must have been 2.8%. It was almost undrinkable but with beer costs in Japan so high, I couldn't let it go to waste. I let it sit. Maybe it would open up with some air. I let it sit in my bag for 4 days. It opened up but just barely, still somewhat undrinkable but whatever. If you ever see it, no matter how tempted you are by the snazzy Japanese kanji and the awards it won, stay the f*ck away. What was I thinking drinking red wine from Japan while in Japan? Should have gone with rice wine, otherwise known as sake or nihonshu to the Japanese. Next time indeed.

Sangria

You can get with this? Or you can get with that!

I love me some sangria. I associate it with Spanish tapas of course, warm summer evenings, friends, great conversations and no cares in the world. Unfortunately, it's one of those drinks you always get at a restaurant or bar, considering just how easy and cheaply it can be made, why not make it at home? The ingredients vary from version to version but usually it'll contain some cheap red wine, some rum or brandy, fresh fruit, orange juice and some carbonated soda. Pretty easy and from what I can tell, it'll last in your fridge for a while. I suppose it can one of those things you can whip up if a particular red wine tastes like ass and you'd rather not drink it.

So where was I going with this? I just wanted to post some pics of tetra-pak sangria from Barcelona. I had the option of choosing one or the other as I was on the verge of going European bankrupt, the exchange rate sucked. Low on the Euro funds, I had to make an executive decision on one or the other. Carrafour vs. Don Simon. 78euro cents vs. 1.15 euros. You know what I chose, and considering the cost and the fact that I drank it room temperature, it wasn't half bad. Too bad the only sangria one can buy these days is from Target I think. Maybe you'll get a post about it in the near future once the weather warms up or better yet get culinary on that ass and make your own batch. Until next time. Salud!