Yes, I will now blatantly rip off Paolo's food porn idea (in which he inserts pictures into his blog of food, usually which he has created himself, to appeal to those of us who like food). I am going to submit my wine porn. Seeing as wine is my favorite intoxicant upon which to expound (considering my training, background, and favorite store section to hang out in), I've now chosen to occasionally include this bit in my repertoire. Here are a few pics of wines I've sampled lately:
Yes, this is a bottle of 1992 Opus One. I am shamelessly putting this as my first wine cumshot as I had been hoping my father (the owner of this bottle) would crack one of the few he has for my wedding, but he chose to wait until Tristan was born before he would crack it. I don't blame him, considering this very bottle cost anywhere from $450 to $650 depending on how you kept it. My father knows how to store wine. 'Nuff said. Thanks, Dad (Grandpa)!
This wine: My father decanted it for a good hour before we even imbibed a drop. Completely understandable considering this wine had been aging in the bottle for SIXTEEN YEARS. Nose was a bit leathery with very prominent smoky black currant tones, and the initial taste yielded a moderately tannic representation of cranberry, blackberry, and occasional chocolate notes, with a long but satisfying finish. My rating: Try it yourself. I'm not a sommelier, I should get some official training, I've studied under two sommeliers, and my final summation on this wine is: If you're ballsy enough to buy the latest vintage at Top Foods for a C-note a bottle, let it sit. Check the website, and drink it when they suggest. It. Is. Fucking. Amazing. It will age as long as you want it to.
This is my latest foray into the red blend section at my store. This was the WOW! (read: promote this item!) wine product at my store last week. Now, I'm a fan of red blends. From the moment I was legally allowed to drink, I took a liking to reds and whiskies. Thank my Dad for both, I learned at about 12 that my father's favorite spirit was Glenlivet single-malt scotch (because of an uncle's recommendation, my father's not an alkie). For some reason, I kept that bit of information with me, and as soon as I woke up from my zero-hour run, I went out, bought a pint of said scotch, and showed up at my Dad's door: "Let's have a proper drink."
He also turned me on to reds immediately, but that's a story for another time.
Rewind: I love red blends. I'm particularly interested in the unconventional ones. Menage a Trois certainly counts, as it is a blend of Cab Sauv, Merlot, and Zinfandel. Mind you, I'm well-versed in the many Cab-Merlot blends, but seriously, the Zin brings a whole new plane to the blend. My latest affinities have been towards the Malbec/Pinot Noir/Syrah (Shiraz for all you snooty Aussie assholes, it's the same fucking wine), but I'm not ashamed to admit that I love this unabashedly sweet red. Yes, I designated this red wine as sweet - usually the only reds that are genuinely sweet are ports. If you sell wine, and you get some ignorant fuck in your area asking for a "sweet red," point them towards this. Awesome, especially for the "under $10" price. My rating: 7/10.
Argentinian dining, as I promised: My wife and I received a $100 gift card to Masa/Asado from my father and stepmother. Brief background: These restaurants, owned by the same person/company, sit across 6th Ave (Tacoma) from each other. Masa offers Mexican cuisine, Asado serves up Argentinian fare. We chose one night to sample Asado's comida along with our friend James. Valet service. 'Nuff said. Simply stepping into the restaurant made me regret my Green Day beanie/focuspoint t-shirt attire, as this place definitely suggests a higher dress code. We were seated, and I perused the wine list, deciding upon a 2006 L'Ecole Syrah for the godawful price of (gasp!) $60 a bottle. Their wine list, by the way, is very niche-friendly: you want to impress by ordering a $250 bottle? Why not $400? It's available! Think three, four pages.
You're each handed a leather-bound menu with overly carnivorous offerings, admittedly with off-the-beaten-path garnishes, sides, and marinades: I ordered the lamb shank with cipolline mole, side of butterbeans with garlic mashed potatoes. My wife had the marinated flat-iron steak with mashed purple potatoes, and James had one of the daily specials, a filet mignon with jalapeno-bacon stuffing. The average plate will cost you $20-$30, and is definitely well worth the price. Portions are generous, and if you don't come hungry you'll walk away with a carry-out box. Plus, they serve a gratis appetizer of hearty bread with some sort of peanut-buttery butter that isn't easily identifiable under the dim lighting, but is very tasty. The general manager served us our bottle of wine, as well as our desserts (me: fried ice cream on a sweet cream/avocado bed with four fresh raspberries; Allie: chocolate torte a la mode; James: creme brulee with a fresh homemade caramel on the side). After the bill was divvied up, he came around once again to ensure our enjoyment - let me just say that although we weren't suffocated by the help, our needs were immediately taken care of and the presence of the GM was definitely appreciated. Though this may not be a weekly outing for the average suburban Western Washingtonian, I will definitely put Asado at the top of my list for special occasion dinners. My rating: 8/10.
I intended on blogging about our Leavenworth trip with my brother for his birthday (1/20), for which I took off 1/20-1/25 to facilitate some sort of 'family outing,' but I'm too tired and relatively intoxicated to blog more. Suffice it to say that it's now 4am and I'm fucking tired. Plus, I'm trying to make this more reader-friendly......I know, I mentioned earlier in my blog that I wouldn't do such a thing, but honestly, I really haven't been of the mind lately to be overly profane or opinionated. Sorry to disappoint the 0% of you that love that side of me.
focuspoint (my band, http://www.myspace.com/focuspointmusic) is playing at the ShowBox at the Market on Friday, Feb 20th. We're opening for Your Divine Tragedy (who we played with at ShowBox SoDo), Boneriver (who opened for us at our Lost in the Sound CD release at Valhalla in Kirkland), and the headliner is No Ground (formerly AfterAll) celebrating THEIR current CD release. Make it out, I swear to God this will be a fucking show to remember. This is a stellar lineup.
See you in the crowd.
-Watty
1 comments:
Red blends are the shit!
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