Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Drinking my own words

So, Spectator’s newest wine dweeb..er…correspondent wrote an article on how cool the new champagne splits are that have been showing up all over the place. A few weeks ago I featured the Nicholas Feuillate splits that came with “hand leashes” that were great to take to the beach, picnic, or tailgate. But, as he got into the article he criticized the splits that came with straws.

However, Champagne producers aren't trying to please scruffy-looking thirty-somethings like me. Mostly they're trying to appeal to the hip, club crowd. Which is why the bottles all look like My First Champagne or the sort of thing Paris Hilton would give to her Chihuahua to play with. If you drink the wine through a straw, you lose the textural feel in the mouth. So to serious wine drinkers who would probably judge the book by the cover given their prior experience with Champagne, don't be dissuaded by the Mary-Kate-and-Ashley-looking bottles. These are great wines. And to clubbers already drinking these Champagnes: Please, either get a glass or at least drink 'em straight from the bottle (that’s what I do). You already know what to do with the straws.

Holy Ouchness!! Mary Kate and Ashley Champagnes?? It’s no secret that I love champagne, and one of my guiltiest pleasures is a split of Mumm on a Sunday morning with a hearty breakfast. Sadly, I must admit that I have been known to enjoy a split of Sofia on a hot day and I do use the straw. With that skeleton out of the closet, I decided to put their theory to the test.

Tonight I took a split of Sofia and had some in a champagne flute, as well as some out of the can through a straw. Here are the results:

Can
On the palate it was very creamy with a sweet lemon lime flavor finished with nice acidity on the middle of the tongue. Nothing too complicated, but nice.

Flute
The nose was all petroleum leading me to think I had poured the wrong wine in the glass. It was a pale straw color with hints of lemon meringue. On the palate it was...well, god awful. It had a tiny tinge of lemon with a hollow middle and a very strong, very new, very bad oak finish.

Through the straw, I totally enjoyed this wine but in a glass and under the microscope I was ashamed to say that I liked it. Damnit!! I guess some of those Spectator peeps are right some of the time.


Somebody's getting drunk tonight!!

Yesterday in Houston, somebody was in the right place at the right time. As the delivery driver entered a store to make a wine delivery, a crook jumped in his car and made off with the goods valued at $8,500.

The driver, from Prestige Wine Cellars, said he was only away from the truck for a few minutes, but that was obviously enough time for some wine connoisseur to pull a fast one. Or maybe it was a lucky delivery truck connoisseur — it's not clear from the report whether the thief knew the truck was full of wine or was just excited about the chance to steal a delivery truck.

Either way, I bet that theif is the hit of the party wherever he goes!!


More on Mondavi

Yeah yeah, I realize you’re getting sick of it but any kind of wine event this big deserves coverage. I found even more details today about the 40th anniversary for Mondavi Winery.

This past weekend in Napa Robert Mondavi Winery spent three days celebrating its 40th anniversary. There were dinners, parties, tours and tastings, of course. But this is Mondavi, and from the very beginning he's pushed the idea that art and wine should be enjoyed together, so the centerpiece of the weekend was the inaugural Taste3 Symposium. With an unusual mix like that, of course, some interesting comments were overheard. Such as: "We wouldn't let you go without having an orgasm."

Back up… If I overheard that at a tasting, that would be my clue to put down my wine glass and go home before things got ugly. Just what were they doing at that tasting? Oh wait, maybe that was overheard from one of the models at Cleavage Creek Cellars. Let's hope it wasn't Margrit Mondavi (pictured right)!! Sorry, that was bad.

Speaking of which, the audience was howling when Dan Barber, chef and owner of Blue Hill, in New York, told a story about Boris the boar, an animal on his farm. Apparently, Boris is unable to perform his main job anymore, even though, as Barber stated, "A sow in heat is not picky."

Seriously Hef, I mean Mondavi, we have told you time and again that you can't just "slip" your Viagra everyones glass and expect it to be ok.

Well, I better leave that one alone for good now so on to the next…

Starry, Starry Night


Chandon Winery has released their new sparkling wine called Etoile (which in french means star). I have never had their wines but the closure is absolutely beautiful and much less intimidating for someone unfamiliar with opening a champagne bottle. What was even cooler were the people that they paid..eh...invited to attend the kick off celebration

Ashanti gets bubbly with rapper beau Nelly at a recent Los Angeles dinner party for Napa Valley vintner Etoile's sparkling wine.

FYI, I totally don't expect them to get wasted and go home and make out!! Also, take a look at the guy in the background. I think he just passed gas! HA!

Cheers!!