it is just grapejuice

“…It seems the Verre de Vin in this particular experiment didn’t prove to preserve the wine any better than a standard cork left in the bottle.
Since all tasting is subjective, we can only say “I liked this wine” or “I didn’t like this wine”, but in our case many people didn’t seem to like any version of either wine, and others seemed to like them all and didn’t notice a big difference between them. I think this is the most interesting part of the experiment. People either were very critical of all the wines, or enjoyed them all for what they were worth.
This brings us to the ULE or Stevenson’s Universal Law of Enjoyment which states that a glass of wine that was opened a week ago still tastes pretty good compared to not having a glass of wine at all.”
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So the family sat down and after the opening round of Cotes-du-Rhone as aperitif, we poured the Domaine Coteau midway through dinner, having been opened an hour previous. Nobody seemed overwhelmed, but happy to drink it, especially after the big, tannic juice from southern France. Everyone headed off for bed, leaving me with the last glass in the bottle… I thought that I would reference WS online and see what their appraisal of our Oregon pinot might be. 91 points on the 100 point scale… did we miss it? Certainly plenty minerality and subtle, almost reluctant fruit suggestions; had this been a pricey bottle from Burgundy would we have pondered it more deeply? Would we have given it more room and nodded our heads approvingly at the first mention of “terroir”? OK, so the family is not quite the connoisseur panel, just pedestrian palates looking for a good time, which is what makes it fun and interesting. Had I called them back and mentioned the fair showing in the estimaton of WS, they may have raised their eyebrows and tried another sip of what they were content to walk away from. Were we expecting a new world fruit display and closed to this knuckleball pinot, saving “terroir” for a French label? Funny how expectations can almost predetermine our opinion or appraisal of a wine… and how a mainstream rating can alter it.

RF

Ahh…the joys of a wedding. The event planners had been at the restaurant for two days transforming Larkspur into a fairytale. Ivory silk fabric covered walls and fresh orchids dropped from the ceiling. Thousands of dollars of flowers in every shade of red spilled into every nook and cranny. Our tablecloths simply wouldn’t do. They were replaced with ivory silk and each napkin housed roses and lilies. As guests arrived, lights dimmed and candles illuminated the room. A most enchanting setting for a romantic evening.
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Perhaps leaving the best job on earth, Pierre Rovani has decided to retire from the Wine Advocate. Rovani has been with Robert Parker for over 10 years and was in charge of reviewing the wines from Oregon, Washington and, of course, Burgundy. Here are a couple of quotes from Rovani from a recent posting on Mark Squires Bulletin Board.
http://dat.erobertparker.com/bboard/
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“Sherry is associated with the British people, and they have had a passion for the wine since 1587, when the Spanish Armada was crippled, its stores were sacked, and Sir Francis Drake’s fleet made off with the equivalent of 180,000 cases of Sherry. Shortly, thereafter, Shakespeare’s Falstaff was toasting the wine as ’sherris sack’.”
-Doug Frost, MW; Wines from Spain

Father and Daughter
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…that hip hop legend Jay-Z is leading a boycott against Cristal? The boycott is in response to comments made by the president of Champagne Louis Roederer in Economist magazine. When asked if association with rap’s upper echelon if could mar the brands reputation, Mr. Rouzaud responded ‘That’s a good question, but what can we do? We can’t forbid people from buying it.” In a phone interview, Jay-Z said “Surely he meant to say, thanks, right?”

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Digital Image by Josh Stevenson- FLASHPOINT Photography