2007 Fritz ZINFANDEL (Dry Creek Valley, Cal.)

A good value in a medium-weight, intensely minerally Zin.

Dark ruby garnet.  Medium intensity, inviting nose of warm vanilla, spicy blackberries, and salty, stony minerals.  Soft and fruity, lots of up-front blackberry fruit, along with a striking saline minerality.  Good acidity and a fair amount of tannin in the finish.  Good, not great concentration, and a medium-long, dry finish.  Solid B.  I got this for $14 and change at Spec's on Weslayan.

2009 Domaine Seguinot-Bordet CHABLIS "Vieilles Vignes" (Northern Burgundy, France)

A young, intense, tight, mineral-infused Chardonnay.  I would lay this down for at least another year or two, maybe more.

Medium light, very bright gold color.  Intensely saline/chalky/minerally nose whose fruit profile features intense green apples and crisp, slightly underripe peach scents.  Lean, intense, chalk and stone-laced flavors attack the palate, with some slightly bitter green apple skin and straw flavors.  Needs time to settle down, but should get even better.  The intense acidity and good length bode well for ageing.  B++.  Imported by J&R Selections.  Was $21 at Spec's on Weslayan.

2007 Casa Emma CHIANTI CLASSICO (Tuscany, Italy)

This wine was in a very soft, easy-going style.  A bit less structured and simpler than is usual, in my opinion, from this very good producer.

Dark ruby garnet.  Scents of warm gravel and cherries.  Soft, easygoing flavors of sandstone, bright cherry fruit, and steely minerals.  Very soft texture and decent acidity.  Ideal for red-sauced pasta dishes over the next year.  B-.  Imported by Margaux and Associates, I got this for about $18 at Spec's.

2007 Domaine Vendemio "AMADEUS" (Cotes de Ventoux, Southern France)

This 80% Grenache, 20 % Syrah was a bruiser.

Completely saturated black ruby.  Dark, low-toned and highly-extracted nose of mineral-laced blackberries, pound cake, and scorched earth.  Inky, mouthcoating, peppery flavors of blackberry skins and graphite.  Boatloads of tannins in the long, dark, highly-extracted, peppery finish.  B.  A winter-weight wine.  Imported by Eric Solomon, I got this on sale from Zachys.com during one of their periodic "$20 Sales."

2009 Domaine de la Voute des Crozes COTES de BROUILLY (Beaujolais, France)

A tightly-wound, classic cru Beaujolais at value price.

Jet black ruby with dark purple highlights.  Intense nose of crunchy cherry candy, cracked stones, and a hint of Juicy Fruit gum.  Intensely minerally cherry and plum skin flavors.  Tight and bone dry, with a surprisingly (for a Beaujolais) amount of tannin in the finish.  Good acids too.  This wine will be better in a year or so, but it is very enjoyable now as well.  Very food-friendly.  B+.  Imported by Kermit Lynch, I got this for $18 from B-21 Wines in Florida.

2008 Wine Guerrilla ZINFANDEL (Dry Creek Valley, Cal.)

A very good value, flavorful Zin.

Dark ruby garnet.  Pleasantly rustic nose of dark blackberries, roasted green herbs, and brambly sandstone.  In a leaner more rustic style than most Zins, this wine has drying flavors of blackberry, brambly underbrush, and scorched earth.  Good acidity and a bit of tannin in the medium length finish give some structure.  Would pair well with rustic, assertive dishes.  B+.  $14.73 at Spec's on Weslayan.

(Sorry, 2009 shown)

RIP: Peter Falk 1927-2011

A hilarious skit from a 1977 episode of the Dean Martin Celebrity Roast Series featuring Peter Falk as the rumpled, bumbling, ever-forgetful Leiutenant Columbo. Falk stays in character as he leaves the audience and entertainment's bigs in stitches with his antics during a roast of the late Frank Sinatra. Truly a jewel from the halcyon days of Television.

Falk, who had reportedly been suffering from Alzheimer's disease was 83 years old. He appeared in on and off Broadway stage productions, in musicals, comedies and feature films. Peter Falk was a marvelous actor and person. He will be missed. NBC has a brief bio and slideshow of the late actor's life and career here.

This Blog Has Moved

Please visit my new blog at http://www.redstateconservative.com/.

2009 Cline "Ancient Vines" MOURVEDRE (Contra Costa County, Cal.)

Cline has cranked out yet another excellent iteration of this wine.  Let's hope that the vineyard owners in the region don't sell out anytime soon to the real estate developers, which apparently is a real issue with the old vines in Contra Costa County.

Dark, violet-tinged ruby.  Rich, low-toned fruity nose of sappy blackberry juice, toasted baking spices, toffee, and sandstone.  Soft (especially for a Mourvedre, which can sometimes be a bit coarse), ripe, mouthfilling flavors of blackberry, smoky gravel, and a hint of peach juice.  Long finish with well-integrated tannins and the barest trace of heat.  A winner.  A-.  $13.99 at Spec's.

(BTW -- I had the 2009 Cline Ancient Vines Zin while on vacation, and while I have no notes for it, it too was a great value in a fleshy, balanced Zin).

2008 Jean & Gilles Lafouge AUXEY-DURESSES 1er CRU "LES DURESSES" (Burgundy, France)

One of the best under $30 Burgundian Pinot Noirs I've had in many years.  A high energy wine.


Light ruby garnet color.  Gorgeous, high-toned nose of sweet/tart cherries, cool plums*, powdered stones and lemon dust.  Piercing, almost electric flavors of high-toned cherry and tingly, stony minerals.  Crisp acidity and a fine dusting of tannin dominate the texture of the finish.  Amazing purity of flavors and liveliness.  Leaves the palate tingling and invigorated.  A-.  Was $29.99 from B-21 Wines in Florida (an excellent retailer who ships).



*  Remember that William Carlos William poem, "This is Just to Say"?

This Is Just To Say
I have eaten the plums that were in the icebox and which you were probably saving for breakfast Forgive me they were delicious so sweet and so cold

2010 Crios ROSÉ OF MALBEC (Mendoza, Argentina)

A bruiser of a rosé, but in a good way.


Very dark (for a rosé) cherry/watermelon color.  Deep nose of cherry and watermelon juice (I'm not just getting lazy here, it really did look and smell like cherry and watermelon) along with powdered rock dust.  Intensely flavored (almost overwhelmingly so for a rosé) with cherry/mineral flavors.  Lots of body too.  It's a rosé that drinks like a red, is what it is.  Clean. long, minerally finish with some (barely) perceptible residual sugar.  Not a lot of finesse, but a lot of oomph.  Put a good chill on it or it will be cloying, but with that good chill it's a B+.  Got this as a gift, so I don't know the price, but an Internet search reveals that most places sell this for around $10, making it a good value.  

Ann Coulter on The View: Liberals Are Committing Violence at Tea Parties

While promoting her book "Demonic" on The View, conservative pundit and author Ann Coulter points out for the benefit of her hosts and members of the TV audience that Republicans are the party of peaceful order and that Liberals are party of mobs.

Wisconsin Unionists Disrupt Special Olympics Recognition Ceremony

They're doing it for the children. Union protesters dressed themselves as Zombies, (very appropriate) and marched between Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and Special Olympics kids who were gathered to hear him deliver a speech honoring their achievement and participation in the national program. The unionists stood facing the children, blocking their view of the Governor and remained motionless during the time of his address to the children and their parents.

You may not agree with Scott Walker but when you impede, disrupt or try to shut down the right of others to freely and peaceably assemble and participate in a ceremony just because you don't like someone participating in the ceremony, you are way over the line. I'm grateful that these goons didn't try to start a riot while the children were around.

Bunny Dressage Hops Onto the World Stage

Hey sports fans. Have you always wished you could compete in the tony world of International Dressage but don't have the oats or the dough to field an expensive equestrian champion?

Well take heart dear friends. A more pedestrian version of the aristocratic pagentry sometimes referred to as, "Horse Ballet" is now available to the hoi polloi. Bunny Dressage, with all the riviting elements of Grand Prix Dressage enjoyed by the well-heeled, include the calm, composed, Piaffe, the great elevation and strides of le' Passage and extended gaits for cuniculus sized competitors are now but a hare's breadth away for the cottontail set. Will the thrill of watching the performances of the Lipizzaner stallions give way to the graceful levades of the Lapinzaner bucks?

Spectacular Solar Prominence Eruption - June 7th 2011

U.S. Soldier Thwarts Florida Bank Robbery

I love this story. U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Eddie Peoples put his combat training to use in assisting a bank robber achieve a full-on face plant to the pavement, after the robber brandished a gun toward his children. The robber flashed a realistic-looking fake gun at patrons of a Sarasota, Florida bank while demanding cash from a teller. Peoples hid his kids behind furniture while the robbery was in progress.
When the robber fled with some of the bank's cash that's when the criminal's whole day unraveled.

Peoples jumped in his rented van and blocked the robber's dark-colored Honda in a parking space. The robber rammed the van several times with his car, trying to flee. When that did not work, he confronted Peoples, pointing his gun at his face. Peoples said his Army combat training simply took over. He used his left arm to grab and twist the robber's arm until the wrist locked, making it easy for Peoples to strip the gun away. Then he used a martial arts move to wrap one arm behind the robber's neck and slam him face first to the ground.

The robber was fully engaged in contemplating the minutiae of parking lot asphalt when Sherriff's Deputies arrived at the scene to make the arrest.

Pics and full story here.
HT: Ace

Andrew Klavin: One State Solution - Make the Entire Middle East Israel

I like the idea. Methinks it's not so meshugana after all.