August 2010
1 post
Would you like a glass of "Meet the Beatles" or...
Describing anything in life in a subjective way has always been an art. It’s human nature to adopt a generally accepted “vocabulary” to describe thoughts, impressions, and experiences in a way that different people can easily understand. Isn’t this the thought at the core of language itself? The wine industry has its own language. It’s a set of adjectives used to...
July 2010
1 post
7 tags
Paso Robles: The Frontier of Great Wines
We just returned from nearly a week touring the windy roads west of Paso Robles in California’s Central Coast. Paso is roughly 30 minutes north of SLO — or described another way — about 1/2 way between L.A. and San Francisco on the 101. Paso Robles was named for the large oak trees — literally El Paso de Robles, or “The Pass of the Oaks.” In terms of wine...
April 2010
1 post
The Other Great West Coast Growing Regions
We all know that California is blessed for growing world class wines. From the Paris Tasting of 1976, where California wines bested the French counterparts in both white & red, to the foreign ownership of vines here in this state by some of the world’s oldest & most revered families like the Perrin family, the Frescobaldis, and the Rothchilds. We know that a lot of the wines being...
March 2010
1 post
crappy over-cropped grapes make crappy wine
You would think that after five years tasting hundreds of wines per week that I’d never be in a position to drink crappy wine. And you’d largely be right. Because I regularly stock our home cellar with wines from The Cask Room’s regular list — we don’t frequently shop other places for wine. Why would we? Wholesale prices + the ability to weed out the crappy wines on...
February 2010
19 posts
8 tags
California's Rising Star (not Ryan Seacrest)
One of the most wonderful aspects of California as a grape growing region is the virtually unmatched diversity in growing sites. From the cool coastal regions like Sta. Rita Hills & Sonoma Coast, to the warm valleys of Sonoma & Napa, to the hot areas like Lodi & Amador, and the higher elevation areas west of the Sierras like Eldorado. You would be hard pressed to find another growing...
we now have 500 wines by the glass!!!
I had to respond to a critical review of our wine bar last week mentioning that we didn’t have a “great selection” of wines by-the-glass. This is essentially what I wrote, but I thought it worthwhile to talk about on my blog for education’s sake…
Any establishment that has more than 20 bottles of wine by-the-glass is playing games to be able to make money on those...
the nbc executive's guide to port wine
Well, I couldn’t say “idiot” or “dummy,” could I? Let’s just leave it at that. Yes, this is a wine blog, but I’m going to pull out my trusty soapbox to weigh in on the Conan vs. Leno battle. Let’s just say this has been an entertaining couple of weeks for monologues on all of the shows. I am a Conan guy, but I always thought it was a strange thing to...
recession proof wines
While the politicians and policy makers figure out how to fix the economy, it should already be quite apparent to everyone that times are a bit tighter than normal. Of course you don’t want to stop drinking your favorite wines, beers, and cocktails, but you’ll need to be a bit more shrewd in order to help offset the rising costs all around you. One of my favorite adages about wine is...
there's a mad scientist loose in the cellar!
In my blog last month, I talked at length about the 100 point system used to rate wines and its impact on the wine industry. If you recall, the point system essentially puts a numerical score that is absolute and static on a product that is constantly changing from minute to minute. It’s also representative on one person’s sole subjective opinion. It’s dumbing down the...
this blog rates 89-92 points
Wine ratings. Are they good for the us, or are they taking the fun & discovery out of wine drinking? Yes to the latter. You have seen them: Wine Spectator gave this wine an 88, Robert Parker gave that wine a 93, Wine Enthusiast gave another 92 points, Stephen Tanzer rates one at 84, and Wilfred Wong gives everything 88+ points (he does work for BevMo — of course they want you to buy...
robert mondavi was the patriach of american wine
Robert Mondavi passed away last month just shy of his 95th birthday. Surely every wine drinker knows of the man & his eponymous winery, but I’m guessing that not everyone understands the tremendous impact he had on the world of wine. Not just American wine, which he single-handedly drove from bulk jug wines to some of the best wines in the world, but also the global wine business. Robert...
wines are going green!
It’s Spring, and everything is turning green. I guess that’s why it’s the perfect time to have a reminder of protecting Mother Earth. We have just passed the official Earth Day, and seemingly every day we see somebody reminding us to recycle and “go green.” The wine industry has increasingly been following this trend, not simply to save the planet, but to make better...
to cork, or not to cork?
There’s a huge problem in the world of wine and it doesn’t rhyme with Shoe Luck Truck. Up to 10% of the bottles released by any given winery contain a compound that spoils the wine. It’s called trichloroanisole, or TCA for short. You may have heard of it by its informal name “cork taint” or “corked” as in, “man, this ‘85 Petrus is corked!...
where the sun shines through the mist
San Diego is lucky to have a premier winegrowing region right in its backyard. Mention Temecula to someone and memories of warm afternoons spent sipping a chilled Chardonnay or a decadent Dolcetto come to mind, but few people likely know the history of the region and the special attributes that make it such a unique place to grow grapes. In fact, the Luiseno Indians had a word for what makes this...
kids & wine cellars
It’s amazing the way something that happens in your life triggers thoughts about something seemingly unrelated. This just happened to me after the birth of our first child, Ella Grace, last week. I should be thinking about the years of love & hard work ahead of us — and I am — but I also am strangely thinking about cellaring wine. Before you judge me as the uber-lush I...
chocolate & wine: not always a good match
Valentines Day is right around the corner and there is usually a large amount of chocolate exchanged in the name of love. Wine and Chocolate seem like such a natural couple. Like Bogey & Bacall, Tracy & Hepburn, and Marge & Homer, we naturally assume that wine and chocolate are perfect matches. But, this couple is more like Al & Peggy Bundy — they mostly don’t match,...
new year's resolutions & wine
New Year’s Resolutions Here we go again. It’s a new year and much like Punxsutawney Phi — the groundhog who predicts a long winter or early spring by his shadow — we collectively measure the hedonism of the holidays and prior year by the shadow our figure casts on the windows we pass. Hardcore diets and new memberships to the local gym ensue, as well as an all-or-nothing...
wine snobs vs. winos
My name is Mike. I am a Wino. Webster’s defines “wino” as someone addicted to wine. It also has the word “derelict” in there somewhere, but I’ll take poetic license with my definition. To paraphrase JT, I’m bringin’ wino back! I think the difference between a wino and a wine snob comes down to intent. Both are crazed aficionados of the juice, but one...
our sonoma wine discovery trip
THE CASK ROOM’S WINE MUSINGS
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13, 2007
Our Sonoma Wine Discovery Trip
Steph & I just returned from a nice long weekend trip to Sonoma — or more precisely, we just returned from a trip to the Russian River appellation of Sonoma County. Try as we might to break over to Alexander Valley, Dry Creek Valley, or Carneros, we just couldn’t seem to detour from the...
conan loves wine!
Conan O’Brien Visits Napa
I don’t know how many of you are Conan fans, but I came across these two bits online after missing the shows on my Tivo (I only keep the latest two episodes). Anyway, it’s a hilarious field trip to the Napa Valley where Conan brings his own glassware and sense of humor to the normally stuffy Napa Valley. There are two bits for the Napa trip on this...
wines & costco
Here’s a head’s up to all of you loyal Cask Room friends. The wonderful 2002 Jocelyn Cabernet Sauvignon we carried in January of last year is available at Costco (at least the Mission Valley store — sorry, Tony!). It’s only $24.97 — which is a killer price, considering my wholesale on it last year was $20/bottle! Why is this significant? Starting with the ‘03...
2 tags
one.org & american idol
So this isn’t really about wine, it’s more about poverty & our responsibility to help those in need. I don’t know how many of you all caught the special American Idol Gives Back show last night, but it was pretty incredible. I was celebrating with my friend Tony last night at his bachelor party and easily dropped a couple of hundred bucks on drinks, food, and fun. It really...
