So what are we thinking of drinking this w/end?

Just watched the early morning news and see that Pres. Chirac is selling off his Bordeaux celler. Should get him to post here?!!

Anyhows, I will start off....a stout from Rogue, Oregon (see Otto`s Open Mike). Plus the `01 Hecula (Yecla), a monastrell from Bodegas Castano for this months Mourvedre tasting on Wine Focus.

I'm headed off to the U.K. tomorrow, so I will probably be downing tankards of ale, or stout, or bitters, or whatever they are imbibing at this time of year.

I'll probably start Saturday morning with fresh pressed Steuben juice, as I'll be crushing 3 bushels for wine. It's a great fresh juice! Then after a hard day of winemaking, I think I'll open one of the reds from my cellar while watching Game 1 of the World Series. Don't know which red, but I'll post later.

Have a good time pressing the Steuben, Howie! My Cayuga is still fermenting away happily, in glass now, however.

Do you press Steuben with the stems? I've been meaning to ask you how you de-stem your grapes - do you pick them off the stems by hand or do you press with the stems and just remove individual bad grapes? Or, do you have a de-stemmer?

On another tangent, I'm helping my buddy make wine for the first time, but it was just with Californian juice that he bought. It's much easier to get a beginner started that way than to actually go through the tiring mess of working with grapes (although that's my preferred method). We tried a bit of it already - primary is still under way. It tastes not bad, maybe about 10% alc. so far, still quite sweet, but very light red and no indication of Cabernet flavour at all. In fact, it tastes like a white wine base with cane sugar added and maybe some colour from a second or third pressing of Cabernet skins. Call me a part-time cynic, but I would love to know how those "varietal" juices are really made ...

I've got an '04 Lucien Albrecht Pinot Blanc I can't wait to have with dinner tonight. I'm steaming cod and scallops with asparagus, white beans and cherry tomatoes. A sauvignon blanc would probably be a better match, but I'm looking for excuses to drink the Albrecht.

After that, the wife and I are thinking of popping open that '98 Dom Perignon I picked up some time ago. We want to start working on a family, so there's a few wines we'd like to drink before she gets pregnant. Who knows, maybe tonight's the night

Tomorrow I'm planning to have that '96 Musar and '95 Musar rose so I can post notes for Otto.

[Jenise]

This weekend? Heck, Bob, I'm still trying to decide on what to pour at lunch today.

It's our closing weekend at the fishing/hunting club, so most members will bring a couple bottles of wine to share. We usually have a tasting Sat evening, just before the game dinner. My contributions will be 1996 Hess Collection Cab, 2000 Bois de Boursan CdP, and, for tonight with the steak dinner, 2000 Haut Bages Averous.

1990 Lafleur. A special weekend,justifies a really special wine.Cannot believe how expensive this wine is now,but thank goodness I did not actually buy it!!

Tex-Mex tonight so probably a Negro Modelo or two. Tomorrow our last bottle of one of my wife's favorites: '99 DDO PN.

I've been meaning to ask you how you de-stem your grapes ...

.....but very light red and no indication of Cabernet flavour at all. In fact, it tastes like a white wine base with cane sugar added and maybe some colour from a second or third pressing of Cabernet skins. Call me a part-time cynic, but I would love to know how those "varietal" juices are really made ...

Last year I bought a combination crusher/destemmer. Before that, I would crush all the grapes and shake then through a plastic milk crate to separate the stems.
There is a place in Niagara Falls, Ont (which, I believe might be a chain with stores in the Torornto area) that sells "California Wine Juice". Several year ago, I purchased 2 5-gallon pails of juice from them, 1 Cabernet Sauvignon and 1 Pinot Noir. Although they were labeled as such, both pails contained the same juice (I couldn't tell the difference) and I don't have any idea what they sold me. I've never been back.

Well, not to brag... ok.. I'm bragging, I'm attending a Sine Qua Non dinner/ tasting on Saturday. I've only had these wines a couple of times, so this will be quite an experience.

Amazingly, the wines are being provided by members of the mailing list who have these in their cellars and wish to share them with those who don't own these wines. What is it up with wine people wanting to share their wines? [As a not-so-incidental aside, I totaled the lowest current value of the bottles to be served, 2 of each, at more then $10,000. That's a lot of generosity.]

The dinner is being held at the wonderful Pinot Provence restaurant in Santa Ana/Costa Mesa. Here is the line-up.


Sine Que Non ~ Postcard ~ Offline

Saturday, October 21st, 2006


First Course

Dungeness Crab Tower with yuzu granite with ponzu gelee

00 The Hussy

01 Albino

03 Sublime Isolation


Second Course

Roasted John Dory filet with rapini and lobster mushroom risotto, braised short rib jus

00 A Capella

01 No. 6

02 Hollerin' M

03 Omega


Third Course

Pan roasted duck breast, caramelized endive, cranberry jus en gastrique

01 Ventriloquist

03 Lil'E


Fouth Course

Prime roasted beef culotte, fall root vegetables, black truffle scented demi jus


97 Imposter McCoy

98 E-Raised

99 Marauder

00 In Flagrante

01 Midnight Oil

01 On Your Toes

02 Just for the love of it

03 Papa


Fifth Course

Wildflower and vanilla panna cotta and warm vanilla scented Madeline


00 Mr. K Strawman

02 Mr. K Nobleman

02 Mr. K Strawman


OH BABY!!

James... color me extremely jealous!

As for my weekend wine... I really haven't decided yet. BUT, I was rearranging some of my wine last week and I came across a bottle of 1989 Ygay Rioja that I had forgotten about and my mind keeps wandering back to it. Its time may have come.

Have a great weekend,
Glenn

Bob - possibly a Traminette or Vignoles (both dry), or maybe an Ontario Zweigelt or Portuguese red. Or a Pinotage.

As you can see, my mind is almost made up.

I was supposed to open a cheap, crappy wine to use mostly in my food. Instead I got a bit peeved by a comment on another site, so I opened up a Rioja instead: WTN: Coto de Imaz Gran Reserva 1996 19,98€ 13,5%

Dark red. A rather modern style with copious dilly oak and chocolate. But there is also a pleasant vegetal nuance and red berries. The palate is oaky for sure, but also is red toned, highly acidic, well structured and tastes fresh. This is pretty nice, though modern.

I sort of liked the 1995 and thought that with the more acidic profile of 1996, I should like that more. I did. As a good wine at 20€ is a bargain in Finland, I might actually go back for a couple more to age. I'm not totally against all modern wines. Though I suppose this should be classified mid-modernist!

Excellent question--

I am braising short ribs tommorrow so something with depth and heft is required. I have a '95 Tignello that has been calling me ever since our gathering in Edmonton last month. It should be nice with the beef and some roasted veggies from the garden.

Maybe we can start with the Lucien Albrech Gewurtz which is lovely with some slightly spicey Carribean pumpkin soup--we eat too much on the weekends!

Ruth

ESJ.

Two votes for Albrecht, that`s pretty good.

Rahsaan, how many cases of ESJ do you have?!!!

Two reds at random from a recent case from Chambers Street. I love the uncertainty.

I'm headed off to the U.K. tomorrow, so I will probably be downing tankards of ale, or stout, or bitters, or whatever they are imbibing at this time of year.

Sam, try to visit some of the independants and especially try to find Prieure du St Jean Bebian (Languedoc). If I had known you were going to London sooner I could have hooked you up with some wine people in London!!!

Rahsaan, how many cases of ESJ do you have

Several.

Tomorrow night will be a party in honor of my arrival on this earth, and Steve's wines will be the center attraction.

Notes will follow.

Happy Birthday Mr R........Mat Garretson in town next week.

I'm going to taste at a small winery called Verite in Sonoma County (Chalk Hill Road). They make very "French" style blends that sound intriguing. I warned them I would be bicycling by so not very "elegantly" dressed (although I have cute spandex )

Happy, Happy, Rahsaan!

Tomorrow I'm planning to have that '96 Musar and '95 Musar rose so I can post notes for Otto.

Is it too early over there to ask for preliminary thoughts? I did tell you to decant well in advance didn't I?

-O-