Side Note

As you all well know we like to drink...here at L-NRD we believe in alcohol and water. If its in there we'll drink it.

Many years ago my great friend Rich (also the biggest contributer to this blog) introduced me to a beer made from the same stuff the black noodle, aka soba is derived from...Buckwheat. He found this concoction at a Noodle shop called SobaYa located in Manhattan, NY.

Feeling like Rich hyped up this beer wayyy too much i decided that i needed to find out on my own how good this beer really is. I must warn you, it is not for everyone. I like to believe it wasn't because of the miles of walking in NY, the panging hunger pains, or the record breaking 26.9" snowfall (night of feb 12, 2006) that made the beer taste sooo good. I have since then searched high and low from my desk at work to find this beer.

All i can say is Rich has come through after numerous calls and emails to both Rogue Ales (the mfg. of this beer) and the actual restaurant itself, even with calls by yours truly, to find this magic elixir.

RICH IS DA MAN!!!!! stay tuned for a pic of the bottle from SobaYa

It's Super Official

From the outside looking in, it looks like a whole lot of wine. We call it research. Too bad it's not tax deductible. That would be pretty awesome. What are the logistics involved in calling yourself a WINE Think Tank? Doing 'research' etc and writing off the expenses involved in such a project? Anyways, here's the lowdown.

2002 Chateau Ste. Michelle Columbia Valley Cabernet ($13.99 at the super secret squirrel spot, you can find it much cheaper probably around for a Hamilton. It was relatively smooth yet slightly hollow. I've had much better Washington State wines then this one. But something different to try and report back on.)

2004 Barnwood '3200 Santa Barbara Cabernet (Neel's dad hooked up 5 bottles of this last year. 3 went down real good, I traded a St. Supery for one bottle and the last bottle went down yesterday night. Not too well, it definitely wasn't what we remembered. Let's hope the one last bottle measures up to the ones in the past.)

Snoqualmie

This might have been the 3rd of 4th Washington State wine i've had in the last few months and I have to say I am liking them. Granted they won't be in your face like a Napa cabernet but what they lack in full frontal assault on the palate, they more than make up for it in the smoothness department.

I picked up the 2004 Snoqualmie Rosebud Vineyards Cabernet for $9.99 and it was delicious. I honestly don't know the correct terms to use when describing wines and what I taste, so more often than not I probably sound like a drunken heathen. Besides telling you that a wine is well balanced, fruity, sweet, with bite or without bite and delicious or crap, I have nothing to offer you in terms of tannins, aromas or anything else. So until that refinement period comes, I hope you'll make due with my often lame descriptions. Ha!

I'm looking forward to some more wines from the Pacific Northwest, until then drink on.

Back on Track

After a short slump, it seems like we are back on track.

2003 Clos du Bois Reserve Alexander Valley Cabernet ($19.99, found of course at my secret squirrel spot and it was delicious. Smooth, sweet and fruity.)

2005 Seriously Good Wine Stag's Leap Cabernet ($14.99, found at Cost Plus and recommended to us by Neel's dads friend, the same guy who recommended the 6th Sense Syrah. This was a 'press rewind if I haven't blown your mind' wine. Well balanced and smooth, at a fraction of the price that wines from that region usually go for. This will be thrown into rotation for sure. Find it immediately!)

The Stuff of Legends

2004 Ridge Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet - This was really good. I mean really really good. Very well balanced. Priced at roughly $30, this could be in regular rotation for sure. Some call it a baby Monte Bello and at the price, compares very favorably to other wines more expensive. Neel wasn't as a big fan as i was/am, I'd rank this right along with my other favorite, the Ridgeline Cabernet.

2004 Gundlach Bundschu Mountain Cuvee - Mainly merlot based, I have no idea what a cuvee is but it was in the cabernet secction so i'm assuming it's like a red table wine. Either way it was a great second rounder, developing a myriad of flavors. Yes, I said a myriad. It changed up a lot during the course of drinking it. How pretentious is that.

2004 Merryvale Starmont Cabernet - Smooth and delicious. Easily found at Costco for $18.99, a very solid wine under $20.

Slumping

It's been pretty hit or miss at the LNRD Norcal division on the wine tip. We've had some badass bottles and some that failed to live up to the potential that we envisioned before corking. Two bottles that we had the other night that didn't leave us very satisfied or begging for more.

2001 Chateau Souverain Alexander Valley Cabernet (I bought this for $19.99 at my secret squirrel spot thinking that 2001 will knock our socks off, after nearly an hour of decanting it lacked real flavour and after a few more glasses the bite at the end of the finish was pretty strong. A bit disappointed along with the 2001 Geyser Peak Alexander Valley.)

2003 Penfolds Bin 407  (Honestly, I don't even remember the vintage or bin number, I'm pretty sure I got it right. Usually Australian wines should be like Paso Robles wines, sweet but this one came at us like it had a grudge. A vengeful attack on the palate. Think durian fruit. Surprising as Robert Parker the Wine Spectator gave this one a 90point score. Goes to show what that fool knows and what that fools insured palate is all about)

Bear's Lair vs. Stag's Leap.

I just had to try it. I saw it at Trader Joe's for $3.99 and at that price who cares if it tastes like ass. The label straight up looked like Stag's Leap, except it was some odd shade of yellow, it had the same font and for all I knew it could have been the same wine but labeled differently as to not water down the prestigious reputation that it has. A bear instead of a stag, it had all the makings of a winner. Too bad it was LOSER, a vinegary mess, I almost could not finish it and regretted not getting 2 bottles of the 2buck chuck. Lesson learned, if you see the bottle above, stay away.

Outside Napa

2001 Columbia Crest Grand Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. I went outside of Napa for this one, heck I went outside of California too.

Found this one at my secret squirrel spot, I figure if 2001 was a good year for Napa, surely it should be good for the Washington region since we're all on the west coast anyways.

Priced at a cool $8.99 and an older vintage, I figure I'd roll the dice. Glad I did. Super smooth, well balanced and flavor neutral. Medium bodied, I'd compare it with a St. Supery cabernet but not as flavorful. Still a real nice drink considering the price point.

I don't know too much about wines from the Washington area but it is something that intrigues me as it seems they end up costing a lot less than the Napa ones.

Wine vs. Water

To my friends who enjoy a glass of wine... and those who don't.

Ben Franklin said "In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is freedom, in water there is bacteria."

In a number of carefully controlled trials, scientists have demonstrated that if we drink 1 liter of water each day, at the end of the year we would have absorbed more than 1 kilo of Escherichia coli, (E. coli)- bacteria found in feces. In other words, we are consuming 1 kilo of poop.

However, we do NOT run that risk when drinking Wine & Beer or other liquors because alcohol has to go through a purification process of boiling, filtering and/or fermenting.

So Remember: Water = Poop, Wine = Health

Therefore, it's better to drink wine and talk stupid, than to drink water and be full of shit.

There is no need to thank me for this valuable information: I'm doing it as a public service.

All Night Long

Blog post barrage.

The rundown with ribeye steaks, medium rare.

Justin Paso Robles Cabernet ($21, fragrant, fruity but not as sweet as most other cabernets from the Paso Robles region)
Pine Ridge Merlot ($20, yes a freaking merlot and it was delicious)