I discovered Spanish Grenache wine (granacha) sometime before the holidays. My first one was the Bodegas Zabrin Atteca 2005 old vines. I would characterize it as a "new world" style wine with loads of upfront fruit. Very intense flavors of cherry, blackberry, and I found a light note of toffee. I think Robert Parker gave it a 90 score, so the stuff flew off the shelves. I managed to score about 5 bottles. I have seen the 2006 around 15 bucks, which is a good buy.
While looking for it, I saw the Las Rocas 2005, which is cheaper than the Atteca, and pretty close to it in my opinion. The bonus being that it is pretty readily available. I had some tonight with grilled steak tips and vegetables, and it worked very good.
Notice a trend? it's like I'm behind the ball on these things! I guess it is because I tend to know what I like, and I stick to it for as long as I can. I'm trying to venture outside of the comfort box, and it's bringing me to these little discoveries.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Friday, February 15, 2008
St. Valentine's
By design, the whole St. Valentine's thing is such a farce. It's pretty much a commercial "day" designed to make you shell out your money. If you truly love your special someone, you don't need a day dictated by someone's balance sheet to show it. I was laughing inside watching all the fools at the store picking up cheesy cards and flowers at the last minute. I guess I feel bad for both: The guys because they feel like that's the day they have to "express" how the feel (or else), and the ladies because they have been conditioned to expect this non-sense. Heck: if you think a once-a-year expense on flowers, chocolate, and who knows what else is a good measure of how much he really cares about you, I got news: It shouldn't and it most probably isn't.
I decided (for once in a loooong time) to play along for a bit and do something nice on V-day for a change. I decided to prepare a nice meal and enjoy our time together.
We love French cuisine, so I went around looking for a crispy duck recipe. I found several, and most were very good. I settled for a crispy duck with pears and green peppercorns recipe, and it was a great hit. I took the potato cakes from another recipe and paired them with a garlic aioli (from yet another recipe), and it was pretty good. To celebrate, we decided to finally drink a bottle of Krug Grande Cuvee that we bought a long while back to celebrate another occasion. It was the first time I've had a oak cured champagne, and it was very good. Definitely a different experience from the normal champagne fare, but certainly worth it. The chardonnay grape loves oak, and this pretty much proves it. It had a beautiful deep golden color and hints of honey, apple and citrus that worked well with the pear and the apple from the duck dish. The potato cakes didn't compliment much the champagne, but that was pretty much expected. The meal was great, nonetheless, and I got a new wine refrigerator/cellar anyways, so I'm happy!
If you like duck, I highly recommend the recipe. It is simple to make, and it is a wonderful hit. Duck breast is easy to obtain these days, and there's nothing to do for the preparation. Follow the recipe, and save the duck fat. That stuff is gold!
Well, I hope you had a great Valentine's as well-and for the right reasons!
I decided (for once in a loooong time) to play along for a bit and do something nice on V-day for a change. I decided to prepare a nice meal and enjoy our time together.
We love French cuisine, so I went around looking for a crispy duck recipe. I found several, and most were very good. I settled for a crispy duck with pears and green peppercorns recipe, and it was a great hit. I took the potato cakes from another recipe and paired them with a garlic aioli (from yet another recipe), and it was pretty good. To celebrate, we decided to finally drink a bottle of Krug Grande Cuvee that we bought a long while back to celebrate another occasion. It was the first time I've had a oak cured champagne, and it was very good. Definitely a different experience from the normal champagne fare, but certainly worth it. The chardonnay grape loves oak, and this pretty much proves it. It had a beautiful deep golden color and hints of honey, apple and citrus that worked well with the pear and the apple from the duck dish. The potato cakes didn't compliment much the champagne, but that was pretty much expected. The meal was great, nonetheless, and I got a new wine refrigerator/cellar anyways, so I'm happy!
If you like duck, I highly recommend the recipe. It is simple to make, and it is a wonderful hit. Duck breast is easy to obtain these days, and there's nothing to do for the preparation. Follow the recipe, and save the duck fat. That stuff is gold!
Well, I hope you had a great Valentine's as well-and for the right reasons!
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Remembering the fun of skiing!
Sometimes, life throws stuff at you, and you become so involved with the "stuff" that you cast other things aside. For me, one of those things was skiing. Last year, I didn't ski once. The year before, I think I went 3 times. Compare that to the previous 8 years that I used to go skiing about 10-12 times on average. Sad, isn't it.
This weekend my lady and I went to visit a friend of mine that has invited us to his ski place for over 2 years. The ride was long, and on the way up, I was second-guessing myself. I got to the slopes sometime around noon, and went skiing. I was very apprehensive about getting back to the slopes (although I wanted to go down the hardest trail on the first pass), but after two runs, it all came back. It was so much fun! Almost like finding an old friend. I skipped lunch (which in retrospect was a bad idea) because I didn't want to stop. Naturally, I ran out of steam after about 5 or 6 runs in the span of about 2.5 to 3 hours. My boots were also punishing me for not using them in such a long time, so that didn't help either. I did do the aforementioned run, btw. That was a leg killer! I wanted to go back once more, but my older, more reserved self cautioned me against pushing too much on my first time. Leaving on the meat wagon would have been a big buzz-kill...
Needless to say, we had a great time at the slopes, and during apres-ski. I was a great feeling that (as I mentioned) I had completely forgotten. After this weekend, we are definitely going to try to get out and ski more often!
This weekend my lady and I went to visit a friend of mine that has invited us to his ski place for over 2 years. The ride was long, and on the way up, I was second-guessing myself. I got to the slopes sometime around noon, and went skiing. I was very apprehensive about getting back to the slopes (although I wanted to go down the hardest trail on the first pass), but after two runs, it all came back. It was so much fun! Almost like finding an old friend. I skipped lunch (which in retrospect was a bad idea) because I didn't want to stop. Naturally, I ran out of steam after about 5 or 6 runs in the span of about 2.5 to 3 hours. My boots were also punishing me for not using them in such a long time, so that didn't help either. I did do the aforementioned run, btw. That was a leg killer! I wanted to go back once more, but my older, more reserved self cautioned me against pushing too much on my first time. Leaving on the meat wagon would have been a big buzz-kill...
Needless to say, we had a great time at the slopes, and during apres-ski. I was a great feeling that (as I mentioned) I had completely forgotten. After this weekend, we are definitely going to try to get out and ski more often!
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
As good as I remember it
I was very happy today. I managed to get a pair of bottles of the wine I had for our anniversary.
I decided to splurge on our anniversary dinner and get a really nice bottle of Burgundy wine. I got really interested in Burgundy wines after hearing a few podcasts from Grape Radio about the wines, the makers, and the complexity of the Pinot Noir grape. I'm usually more of a Meritage-style wine kinda guy, but I was intrigued by what I heard.
Out of pure luck, I picked a bottle of Nicolas Potel Clos Saint Denis Gran Cru 2003, and I knew I had made a great choice when the sommelier complimented the choice. I've been to this place before and I trusted the sommelier's opinion. The wine worked great with everything we ordered! From the Foie Gras to the dessert, everything paired so good with the wine. We were both very happy with it. To top it off, I finally gave my lady a diamond ring, so the night was very special for both of us.
I tried getting the wine locally to no avail. 2003 Burgundy (apparently) is tough to get because the year wasn't that great, so the quantities are limited. After much searching online, I fond a place that carried it and shipped to my place. I got two bottles - not surprisingly for less than I paid at the restaurant - and they arrived today.
Tonight, my lady and I had a great dinner and we had one of them. Just as lovely as I remember it. Loads of fruit, lovely tannins, and a beautiful finish. It worked great with the reduction sauce on the steak and with the chocolate cake. Although not as good as with the dessert we had for our anniversary dinner. I searched around and found that the '03 was rated very high by the usual suspects.
I just saw that the '05 is supposed to be superb. If you can splurge, I'd suggest you try it. The guys from Berkeley Wine shop apparently have the '05. Let me know what you think.
I decided to splurge on our anniversary dinner and get a really nice bottle of Burgundy wine. I got really interested in Burgundy wines after hearing a few podcasts from Grape Radio about the wines, the makers, and the complexity of the Pinot Noir grape. I'm usually more of a Meritage-style wine kinda guy, but I was intrigued by what I heard.
Out of pure luck, I picked a bottle of Nicolas Potel Clos Saint Denis Gran Cru 2003, and I knew I had made a great choice when the sommelier complimented the choice. I've been to this place before and I trusted the sommelier's opinion. The wine worked great with everything we ordered! From the Foie Gras to the dessert, everything paired so good with the wine. We were both very happy with it. To top it off, I finally gave my lady a diamond ring, so the night was very special for both of us.
I tried getting the wine locally to no avail. 2003 Burgundy (apparently) is tough to get because the year wasn't that great, so the quantities are limited. After much searching online, I fond a place that carried it and shipped to my place. I got two bottles - not surprisingly for less than I paid at the restaurant - and they arrived today.
Tonight, my lady and I had a great dinner and we had one of them. Just as lovely as I remember it. Loads of fruit, lovely tannins, and a beautiful finish. It worked great with the reduction sauce on the steak and with the chocolate cake. Although not as good as with the dessert we had for our anniversary dinner. I searched around and found that the '03 was rated very high by the usual suspects.
I just saw that the '05 is supposed to be superb. If you can splurge, I'd suggest you try it. The guys from Berkeley Wine shop apparently have the '05. Let me know what you think.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Bioshock
After playing the game to completion, I believe it was very good. I feel that I got my money's worth.
The weapon/plasmid concept was almost reminiscent of an RPG, but with the fast pace of a shooter. The idea of the camera and baddie research makes it almost a side quest by itself, which was cool. Towards the end, the game dynamic is a little repetitive, but that's a typical issue with FPS games. It doesn't really bother me that much.
The story line was very well developed, and my only regret was that they didn't "run with it" as far as they could have. The end gives you a feeling that there's more to come from the story line. Let's hope it is true.
Now, back to COD4 online!
The weapon/plasmid concept was almost reminiscent of an RPG, but with the fast pace of a shooter. The idea of the camera and baddie research makes it almost a side quest by itself, which was cool. Towards the end, the game dynamic is a little repetitive, but that's a typical issue with FPS games. It doesn't really bother me that much.
The story line was very well developed, and my only regret was that they didn't "run with it" as far as they could have. The end gives you a feeling that there's more to come from the story line. Let's hope it is true.
Now, back to COD4 online!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
