The Culinary Timeline is a side-project that I've been working on since October. I'm hoping to have most of it complete by the end of January, with any luck. Until then, updates around here will be weekly, rather than twice weekly. Do stay tuned.
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I was doing some research on Ridge, when I finally learned that Optima is the font that the winery has used as its brand for the last 40 years. I’ve always admired the look of Ridge’s packaging, and the wines themselves have delivered so much personality, they have remained a perennial favorite as well. In an age when a lot of frou-frou and slick packaging can be used to sell wine, Ridge retains a classic look, and offers a lesson in elegant simplicity.
In my recent interview with Aurajo winemaker Matt Taylor (also of Taylor Cellars), our discussion [... read more ...]
I was hoping that this warmish December weather would tease out a few late-season porcinis at Salt Point State Park this week, but I couldn’t find anything edible today. Mushrooms are often mysterious, but I suspect that once the first frost of winter occurs, porcinis may go dormant for the year (in which case, their off-switch had already been tripped at least two weeks ago). Either way, I was skunked at Salt Point for the first time in 2009, and it will be a long, patient wait before my next fresh porcini. Still, the weather was perfect this [... read more ...]
Tacos la Plancha
I’ve mentioned La Morenita in this blog before, even the very items pictured above, although this picture had been missing from my original review. For me, these tacos la plancha continue to stand out, if for no other reason than they represent a taco that is fundamentally different than most other tacos found here in Napa, which are quaintly assembled upon small, coaster-sized, two-ply tortillas. Among its brick-and-mortar restaurants and the army of local taco trucks, the Napa Valley boasts a few noteworthy versions of this particular taco, my favorite being the carne asada tacos [... read more ...]
With everything in the Napa Valley finally slowing down to a winter’s pace, I caught up with Chris Pedemonte this morning to taste a couple upcoming releases of Pedemonte Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon. A relative newcomer compared to many of its neighbors in Rutherford, Pedemonte Cellars was founded with the 2004 vintage, and has already produced a string of noteworthy Rutherford Cabs. With an annual production that averages only about 300 cases, Pedemonte offers truly hand-crafted wines at an artisanal, almost Old-World scale. Although the wines from Pedemonte Cellars may a bit difficult to locate in most markets, they can [... read more ...]
Close-up: One of the stained-glass windows at Terra Valentine.
I was at Terra Valentine the other night for an open-house event, drinking through the winery’s three delicious estate Cabernets. I had tasted these same wines several months ago, having also visited the winery during the summertime. Originally, it was the 2005 Yverdon Vineyard Cabernet that had lured me up Spring Mountain Road, although I think that their 2005 Wurtele Vineyard Cabernet ended up being my favorite of that day. For me, the key difference was that the Wurtele Cab exhibited a more subtle use of oak than [... read more ...]
Matt Taylor is not only Araujo's vineyard manager and winemaker, but he's also the estate beekeeper. For some reason, I'd always assumed that bee hives needed to be white by default, but Araujo's hives feature a terrific shade of pistachio. They reminded me of little droids lurking among the olive trees, standing guard over the nearby chicken coop.
With the harvest of 2009 quickly winding down, I’ve made this winter my time to catch up with a few winemakers. Among the folks I most wanted to meet, Matt Taylor certainly topped my list, not only as the winemaker [... read more ...]
For those who have never been confronted with the almighty Double-Double “Animal Style” from In-N-Out Burger, this is what you have been missing. Notice how the melted cheese captures the light — I had to snap a photo.
Sharing is caring…
I began taking blogging a little more seriously about a year ago, when I finally upgraded the Thirsty Reader from a static HTML page to a more fully functional website. Since then, I’ve attempted to keep pace with my own taste for the good life by sharing as many positive experiences as possible, whether it’s wine, restaurants, recipes, or books. The tricky thing about covering wine, in particular, is that new vintages can roll around in no time, and thus, there is an inherent pressure to not only discover new labels, but to also keep up with the old [... read more ...]
As part of my on-going preparation for the Certified Wine Educator (CWE) exam in 2010, I’ve continued to compose a few short quizzes that really test the depth of knowledge for the world’s most important wine-growing regions. Again, this quiz may not actually be the most difficult in the world, but it’s not amateur hour, either. Much like the 20-question quiz I created for Burgundy Grand Cru, these 25 questions concerning Bordeaux require much more than a superficial knowledge of the region. For the most part, this quiz looks beyond the five First Growths, and delves into the lesser-known [... read more ...]
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