Jim Lester rode into town a few days ago with some new selections from his Wyncroft winery in tow to taste with prospective buyers.  After he was through making his rounds, he stopped over for dinner, and of course, we got to try the wines too.  Bonus!  We had tasted two of the three wines with him and others last fall, but in the case of at least one of them, it has already undergone some noticeable evolution.

I was underage when I bought my first bottle of vintage dated wine back in 1971.  I had actually been able to buy alcohol legally for a short period before that, when the state of Michigan lowered the drinking age to 18, but the voters, in their infinite wisdom, rescinded that privilege through referendum, leaving me and my peers in alcohol limbo for several months.  Nonplussed, when I needed a dry red wine to go with grilled steaks I was serving to a hot date one evening , I paid a visit to Lemanski’s Food Emporium, a delightful little gourmet food and wine shop in Bay City, Michigan that is sadly no longer in existence.  I stood in front of a wall of fine wine, all with mostly incomprehensible labels , and I eventually, and quite randomly, settled on a bottle of 1966 Chateau des Templiers Bordeaux Superieur, reasoning that two of the few things I knew about wine was that Bordeaux was a dry red and dry reds went well with steak. Read the rest of this entry »

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Wines based on Italian grape varieties have had a rough go of it here in California.  What was supposed to be the next great thing in California wine is, today, a sideshow at best, and a rapidly dwindling one at that, as producer after producer quietly drops their Italian varietal wines in favor of more widely accepted (and profitable) varieties like Pinot Noir.  And yet, just when it seemed Italian varietals had no future in California, a producer that makes nothing but Italian varietal wines (and blends made from Italian varieties) has emerged that finally makes a case for them.  The winery is Palmina, and it has rapidly become California’s finest producer of wines from indigenous Italian grape varieties. Read the rest of this entry »

“I Need a Miracle Every Day” – Grateful Dead

Bob Weir and Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead brought their latest musical project, Furthur, to Chicago for two shows on March 2nd and 3rd, and Kim, Rosie and this reporter reprised our Rothbury adventures to meet there for both shows at the beautiful Auditorium Theater of Roosevelt University, a venue that more usually showcases the likes of Ballet Folklórico de México de Amalia Hernández and the Alvin Ailey Dancers. Read the rest of this entry »

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We book-ended the fantastic 2010 Winter Olympic Hockey Tournament with Detroit Red Wings victories over the Ottawa Senators (Feb. 13, 4-1) and the Colorado Avalanche (Mar. 1, 3-2), and as has become tradition here at Gang Central, we enjoyed successive vintages of fine Gigondas from an excellent producer whilst watching the respective games. Here’re my impressions: Read the rest of this entry »

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I’ll admit it–I like to DRINK wine.  That’s not an earth shattering admission on a wine blog, I suppose, but notice the use of the word “drink”.  Not “sip”, not “taste”, not “sample” or “experience”.  No, I like to really drink the stuff, preferably with food, but always in quantity, with abandon.  I was thinking about that the other day after reading yet another post on a wine board about a “tasting” dinner, at which 10 or 20 different wines (always of the high-end, rare “mailing list” variety) were sampled by a bunch of guys who seemed more interested in comparing tasting notes (and awarding points) than actually drinking and enjoying the stuff.  Now I’ve attended a fair share of such dinners myself (and even reported on a couple for the Gang), and they can be both fun and useful.  And of course a goodly amount of wine gets consumed at such events.  But what’s really more satisfying to me is to open a terrific bottle at home and enjoy the whole damn thing over the course of an evening–a glass while preparing dinner, several glasses with the meal, then polishing the bottle off afterwards with that sense of satisfaction and well-being that only a good meal and (plenty of) good wine shared with my wife can provide.

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If you’re into Michigan wines the way Kim and I are, there’s one blog you need to bookmark and check in on regularly. Michigan By The Bottle owner Shannon Casey has his finger on the up-to-the-minute pulse of the Michigan wine scene in all its aspects, from wineries and current releases, to conferences and events and more.  He uses video podcast reporting very well, links regularly to other bloggers who have good things to say about Michigan wines, and when it comes to understanding the importance of social media, he GETS IT. Read the rest of this entry »

This past weekend, 19th – 21st of February brought “Cuvée” to Niagara. Cuvee is something akin to the Oscars, bringing folks all deftly robed in their Sunday best to the Fallsview Casino to taste their way through some of the best food and wines the region has to offer. Trophies and awards are of course given out, and for the category of “Best Limited Edition Red Wine and “Cuvee Gold Designate” went to Niagara College’s Teaching Winery Canadian Oaked Pinot Noir 2007. How cool is that? As of today, the complete list of Cuvee awardees has not been posted, but once it is, I will link it. Read the rest of this entry »

Living through a Canadian winter can be, at times, hard to endure. This winter though has been a breeze. The temperatures have been unseasonably mild and Niagara has seen little if any snow. That was until Monday night, the same night I was slotted to leave to drive to London and taste for the next two releases, scheduled for March 13th and 27th. Heavy snow then freezing rain changed my plans to drive, thus I have no notes on either of the releases. Stay tuned for next month though as I am certain Mother Nature will be kinder to me.

In the meantime, I have something else that you might enjoy coming through in the next couple of days. Stay tuned.

Cheers
CK

The Brownbag Irregulars gathered for their second meeting last week to blind taste and consider another dozen wine selections from around the world. Some tasters had been at the previous event, while there were some new attendees as well, including our own Kim Adams; all were “in the biz,” as the saying goes. As was the case previously, there were no sales pitches, just some good palates checking out some new wines. We got things going with the two whites in the lineup. Read the rest of this entry »