Carr Winery - Santa Barbara, nice escape for an enlightened soul

Hello all, for any of you who have been following me on this little journey of exploring wines who's low price tags contradict the quality of it, here's another little fun fact about me, other than wine, a secret passion of mine is music. I feel as if life is a soundtrack. Normally my day starts off with a little jazz, then transitions into hip-hop throughout the period of my nine to five, and by the evening my days long set is concluded with some smooth R&B. But when I'm in a total relaxed mood, meaning I'm away from work, and the day is ripe with sun, wine and a good cigar, for me, nothing is better than some soulful Aya, Dwele, Blue Six, or a Rebirth album. I know you guys could care less about my self-indulgent rumblings, you want to hear about the wines. Well here it goes, last weekend a few of my friends whom I hadn't seen in a while, decided we wanted to get away from our normal lives and drive down to Santa Barbara. Although, the trip was supposed to include four of us some last minute roads block came into play for some of my journey men, so from four we were two. That was fine, I personally just wanted to see something different and Santa Barbara did not disappoint. Walking from winery to winery, my feet moved at the tune of Om Lounge and Jamiroquai, allowing the flow of the city to guide me in this relaxing place of beautiful beaches, beautiful people, beautiful culture, and beautiful wine. Ododa and I went to a number of different places but there was one place that seemed to stimulate all senses was Carr Winery. When walking into this place of understated sophistication, the layout itself was curious to the eye, with a square bar to the left outlined by bar stools and animated with classic and new world vintages (or should I say patrons), smiling and drinking in each others merriment. As a person who loves how wine allows people to interact with different types of other people, I personally was all smiles and once I had walked in pass the bar on the left, there sat an open space with tall round tables, a space big enough for a large party. My friend Ododa and I sat down expecting that with all this eye-appealing scenery, the wines would fall by the waist side. I was indeed surprised by a number of their wines. To spotlight some wines, there was Pinot Noir Rose 2008 that was complex enough on the palate to turn me back into a fan. This Rose was not that typical Rose that tasted like lightly sugared cherry kool-aid, this had hints of vegetation, black-berry and mint leaves. The word refreshing comes to mind when drinking this Rose, which means a perfect drink for those hot days and a perfect pairing for those dishes of spicy game, fish and shrimp. Along with this refreshing Rose, Carr had many other wine such as the 2006 Cabernet Franc. This wine held within it's confines; chalky shavings of chocolate, cherry, hints of cinnamon and spice. It was definitely a big boy's wine, and because of the winemakers touch of class, it had concentrated hits on the palate. All in all, Santa Barbara supplied me with good impressions and a good quality of life. Life should always be about the quality, not about how many hours you work at the job you are not even interested in. So with saying all of that, I implore you to find you passion an invest in it, also find your personal soundtrack and move to it. Everyone is different like food and wine tasting palates, so embrace yourself, I will continue to do so myself........

Chateau Briot 2007 - My good cheap wine of the week

Chateau Briot 2007 Bordeaux

As a child, a statement that seemed to be forced into my head like a screw, which of course at that age I had couple loose (if you missed that, re-read), was you cannot understand the future without revisiting the past. Well in the case of wine, it's past lies in France and to be specific, the Bordeaux region. Because of all of the new world wines I have been tasting from places such as Chile, Argentina, and of course California, I felt the need to visit France, not physically, because at the moment my bank account will not allow me to do so, but through my well document vice of wine. What I picked up was the Chateau Briot 2007 bordeaux red blend(priced at 12 dollars retail, from Trader Joes). This Briot is a Cabernet based wine at 60 percent, 25 percent Merlot, and 15 percent Cabernet Franc. What I have noticed since beginning this journey in wine is that old world wine for example Italy and France, tend to have different complexities from a place like California. For example with this Chateau Briot, on the nose you get a good amount of vegetal characteristics along with cassis, sour cherry, and hints of mint, which when put together offer up a wonderful bouquet. On the taste you get green vegetation on the front end which stays all the way to the back end of the palate. Also, there is a little amount of black currant on the finish. The mid palate has sour cherry/rasberry and is decent but could be better. In saying that though, this wine does pick up steam on the finish. This wine is definitely still young which can be observed in it's tannins. But all in all, a good wine that can definitely help those just starting in wine to understand that by tasting as much different types of wine from different types of places will allow you to better understand your palate, and ultimately help you to understand what wine really hits your sweet spot. And by the way, I'm sorry I've been away for a while, I'm back now, and ready to get back into the wine and I hope all of you will join me.

Nevada City Winery Cabernet Franc 2005 - My cheap wine of the week

Welcome again my friends, I'm curious, are you guys familiar with Cinderella? Of course you are, everyone knows about Cinderella. Well, if you remember, Cinderella used to cook and clean for her evil step-mother and sisters, because of all the work she did on a daily basis, no one could see her true beautiful self. So, recently a good friend and I decided we needed to get away from all of the craziness that comes with a recession in the economy What we did was drive up to this quaint town themed in western architecture from the late 1800's to early 1900's but with better restaurants. Driving through Nevada City, California, thoughts of the OK corral comes to mind. But we aren't there to site-see or take pictures, we were there to get some writing done without the distractions of city life. Robert finishing up his first novel and I working on my second, it was something we both needed to do, at least in respect to our sanity. Well, after staying up writing all night intoxicated off of numerous bottles of wine and cigars, the next morning we decided to break the rules and go check out the town. While walking down the street in the snow on a sunny day, I noticed a winery interesting, I thought, why not go in and try some. Now, to tell you the truth, I didn't expect anything out off the ordinary, I mean, I live in California, there's a winery or wine tasting on every corner. What I found was a diamond in the rough, once I took a sip, this elegant beauty tickled my tongue. A little like Cinderella, once she was dolled up, her beauty was surprisingly breath-taking, just like this wine. The Nevada City Winery Cabernet Franc 2005 (23 dollars) was the wine that seduced my palate. The nose carried creamy vanilla, bright cherry, and hints of earth and spice. The taste filled my mouth with fresh fruit, chocolate, and soil. The balance was manicured with good transitions from beginning to mid, and had great concentrated of cherry from mid to finish which lasted for about a minute and ten seconds after the wine went down. Now all of this is well and good, and I know for the average person, getting this wine may be a problem, but you can order online at www.ncwinery.com. If you can't orderthis wine, and get the chance to get away, definitely drive up to this gem of a town to be transported back in time, it will be an experience that will be hard to forget.

Gascon Malbec 2008 From Argentina - My Good Cheap Wine of The Week

Thanks to all those visiting this site for the first time, and a special what's up to those who have graced me with your presence in the past. I happen to be in a very good mood tonight, I feel as good as a 19 year old college boy finding out his girlfriend isn't pregnant. The reason for the good mood, is the fact that I've just tried a wine that for most of you fruit forward tasting wino's, you could grow to love. The Gascon Malbec 2008 from Argetina is definitely a wine that people who are big into the Australian wines can appreciate. Normally, when I deal with wines from Chile, Spain, and Argentina I tend to look for certain characteristics, such as soil and vegetation. What's interesting about this wine is it plays around with a more fruity characteristic, also incorporating chocolate on the mid palate, with a strawberry finish. Because this wine is so young, the alcohol is apparent in the nose (because it's young, you could let it sit for three to five years before consuming, the alcohol should digress by then), but if you know what to smell for, you'll also catch Cassis, dark currant, vanilla, and a hint of leathery tobacco. Upon tasting, there is great transition from beginning to mid palate, which is definitely something to be desired in a 12 dollar bottle of wine. I don't know about you, but I like anything that transitions from Cassis to chocolate to strawberry, and this wine does just that. This Argentinean Malbec is a good wine all in all, and for all of those who are looking for a pair with this wine, don't look for seafood or steak, but maybe a prime rib or chocolate dessert. Lastly, to all of you wino's, continue to love, live, eat and drink wine.

Enjoying LIfe Through Friends and Wine

This week I wanted to get away from the normal Good Cheap Wine of the Week, I wanted to focus on friendships, food, and wine. About six years ago, around when I was starting to realize a real passion for wine, as luck would have it, I met a couple of friends who knew much more about earths sweet nectar than I did. One guy, an old friend of mine, Nick, who now stays up in New York, used to say "wine brings people together," at that time I did understand his meaning, but had not yet grasped it's depth. Well, it's six years later, and I've had quite a long time to ponder what Nick was really saying, the man was absolutely right. Most people, especially in the present time, are overly stressed because the economy and life has dictated so. For some, I'm sure that it has been a while since you've connected with anything outside of your day job. From what I've been hearing in the media, 2009 is supposed to be about change, so when was the last time you changed your weekly routine. Well I decided to do just that this past week and I just feel like sharing some of it with you.
Just to highlight some activities I participated in this past week, a few guys I know, we all try to get together bi-weekly, and either have dinner, go to the cigar shop, or a chosen Wine Bar. This week, a couple of us went to Vintage in San Jose CA, at Santana Row(good call by my good friend Jafari). While we were tasting our flights of wine and speaking of world domination by us, ambitious young renaissance men, both my friends Ododa and Jafari took a sharp right on the road of this collective conversation and started talking about how being places like Vintage (for example), helped them get through the week and I immediately agreed. Ododa then followed up asking about my wine blog, and why not make an exception this week and write about how wine and places like this brings people together. Nick's words immediately jumped to forefront of my mind and I realized, wine and good converstions, for me is like therapy, it helps me to escape this corporate mindset I get stuck in throughout my work week.
To tell you the truth I was blessed enough to have two really great experiences this week in relation to wine, food, and good company. My experience started at Vintage on Wednesday, which for those who ever watched Cheers, I feel like Norm when I walk in this place. The staff there are inviting, and not to knock other wine bars, but Vintage employees are very knowledgeable about their wines and enjoy helping first timers understand that quality does not always come with a huge price tag on a bottle. So for all of you, who may have been to a wine bar in the past, and maybe was afraid to ask questions, go to vintage, and ask away.

My next experience led me up to Half Moon Bay, to a wonderful restaurant called Crab Landing. A beautiful place with beautiful ambience, and as told by the staff, because I arrived at night, there are also wonderful view of the ocean during the day. A good friend of mine Named Dante, invited my lady and I up there to hang out with some of his friends. Now for anyone who knows "The Mayor," I mean Dante, knows that he knows everyone in the bay area and he also loves to bring people together over good food and wine. So because it was Dante inviting us we drove up, and it was worth the trip. In the dinner party there was about 12 of us and the conversation was lively, as we shared many a dishes. One of the dishes that stood out to me was the Calamari that was on point like a military sniper taking a shot, it was literally that good, with sweet breading that paired extremely well with the only bottle of Vouvray on the current menu. Another dish that tickled my fancy was the Bluepoint Oysters, which also caught the sweetness on the finish of the Vouvray very well. We as a group ordered a number of wines which I will not bore you with, but the wine list is strong, and as I heard from the manager himself, and also witnessed in his cellar, patrons can expect an even more balanced to come. So definitely if you are in the area drop by Crab Landing and enjoy the atmosphere of quality service, food and wine.
Lastly, I know with the recession, people have been stressed out which has led to them cutting down on spending money. I say continue to be frugal, but sometimes it's okay to step outside of work life and catch up with some friends or loved ones, you may, as I did, find some sanity. So go out this week or weekend with some friends or family and leave a response online, I would love to hear what you guys and gals experienced while out. Oh yeah, and include some wine or food to the equation. Take care as usual and I'll be back to wine next week.

Veranda Cabernet-Carmenere 2004 - My Good Cheap Wine of The Week

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, it's been a busy last two weeks. You've got to love California weather, it feels like winter one day and the next, the sun is shining and its mid 70's outside. Well with these drastic changes in weather comes colds and flu season,which I was became a victim to this last week, and let me tell you, it definitely wasn't fun. Along with having a cold, the yearly reminder of one's mortality came about, which of course was my Birthday, and by the way, to all who helped me celebrate, thanks for coming out, and all of those who couldn't be there, I'll save a spot for you next year. When I wasn't coughing, blowing my nose, or whining to my Girlfriend about not having a fever even though the thermometer sat in contradiction, I got a chance to try a few more bottles of wine. By the way, shout out to my lady, Edna, thanks for taking care of this sick, hard headed, old man last week, Love you. Enough with the mushiness, I know this Blog is not about my relationship with my lady, it's about wine. Everyone who has been taking this journey with me in which we have been learning about numerous wines that have the ability to expand our palates, let me help you to understand that ever so often you run into a diamond in the rough. It's inevitable when drinking wine, if you drink enough you'll find something that hits your spot. It's life, you try enough things and you find out what you really like or dislike, well let me introduce you to a new Diamond in my life, Veranda Cabernet-Carmenere 2004.

I don't know, maybe it's puppy love, but all who know me, knows I drink a good amount of wine, and for something to really surprise me, it takes a lot, well here it is, I'm Surprised. To start off with the nose, which was intriguing enough for me to want to bite through the glass, you can smell plum and wild cherry, bitter chocolate, redwood bark with a spicy undertone, and yes, let me assure you, I haven't gotten to the taste. You know what, let's get down to it, I was going to get into the history of the grapes in this wine, but you know, I fill like drinking because this nose smells too interesting. Anyone who is reading this and is actually interested in the history of these grapes, it'll be in the next paragraph, but let's talk about how this wine tastes. A silky smooth transition from the time the wine hit your tongue, to the mid palate, which has intensified fresh fruit, and fulfills this experience with a long finish, that lasts for about a minute and a half. Just to kind of break down how many characteristics this wine has, it goes from cassis to vanilla and chocolate to wild cherries on that very long finish. Elegant is the word that describes this wine, and what makes it such, is the balance found between the floral fruit components and how it's cultivated in the hands of the wine maker. The food that perfectly matches this wine is nothing less than a Filet Mignon, so for all of you looking for a pairing, be ready to pull out your wallets, because the cassis in the wine adds bright enough fruit to compliment a medium rare cut of one of the finest aspects of Beef.

So, as I promised, for the history buffs, The grape Camenere is one of the 6 original grapes from Bordeaux in France, so it has a bit of royal blood. During the 1880's in the bordeaux region there was an outbreak of phylloxera, which destroyed a number of vines, one being the Camenere, so when they tried to replant the grape it did not take due to the cold weather. One of the few places where Camenere, in the future, found a home was Chile, and now it is the most planted grape in the country. I'm not goin to waste you time with the Cabernet Grape (I know this is a Blend) because it is probably the most favored out of the bordeaux region, and you should already know it by now, but if you don't, feel free to leave a comment I promise to get back to you. My last thought to you is to take a walk on the wild side, expand you palate, try something new and whether you like it or not post a remark and let me know how you feel.

By the way, for all those that read my rambling, I'm considering, in the future, doing a tasting of some of the wines I've showcased, with appetizers that could pair well, at a location I'm working out at the moment. Let me know what you think, I would love to hear your feedback.

Bogle Vineyard Merlot 2006 - My Good Cheap Wine of the Week

Hello to you all again and happy new year. My hopes for all is that this new year brings new money, new friends, new romances, new aspirations, and yeah, new wines. For some, I believe that this current wine of the week may be a good start for you. Let me introduce you to Bogle Vineyards Merlot 2006, and yes, I've watched "Sideways," and to tell you the truth, when done right, Merlot is one of the most complex grapes around. My opinion to those who look to expand their palate inregards to wine is to not get caught up in what people say you should drink, try new things and let your taste buds do the talking. Now that I'm off of my soapbox let's get down to it, this Merlot, which you can buy at any Raleys or Safeway grocery store, is a great buy at 13.99. Let me tell you, there are certain smells that will always bring a smile to my face, the smoke from a good cigar, the smell from Cinnabon, fresh bread, and lastly inhaling the interior of a new car. I love the smell of a new car, this Merlot captures that characteristic. There is an array of vanilla, rasberry, and a hint of earth tones in it. Also, what's so great is that with all these aromas tickling your nose, this Merlot does not over do it, the balance and structure is very much apparent in this young wine.

I know, I know, I went off on a tangent without even tasting this Merlot yet, but I was just trying to paint a picture for your sense of smell, now let's get to the good part. Upon tasting the Bogle Merlot, you catch hints of cinnamon and ripe cherry. As the Merlot hits the mid palate, black currant is apparent along with chocolate, which transitions nicely into the finish and is topped off again with ripe cherry. Truthfully, I would buy 2 of these bottles of wine, one I would drink now, and the other I would hold onto for at least 3 to 5 years. The idea of holding onto this wine derives within the finish. This 2006 Merlot has a finish surrounded in tannins(pucker effect in your mouth), with an array of fruit playing a symphony on your palate, but what is interesting is the fruit apparently has not yet reached its full potential. Although young, this intriguing Merlot is so well made, the structure mutes the complexity just enough to let the drinker know that down the road this wine could move up from a good wine to exceptional. This is a very well balanced wine and after a few years the tannins will mostly subside and the fruit will explode in your mouth. Once you try the Bogle Merlot feel free to comment, let me know how you feel about any of the wines I've showcased, I would love to hear your feedback, positive or negative, everyone has a different palate, enjoy.