Originally posted on the WLDG forum.
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Kurt works for Bobby Kacher, so his meals are usually accompanied by wines that he gets through work. Our evening went as follows:
2005 Furque 3 Cepas: From Mendoza, this was Kacher Selections producer of the month in September '08. A blend of 40% malbec, 30% tempranillo and 30% syrah, it was actually the syrah that stood out for me and I found the nose to be somewhat Rhone-ish. Dark brooding fruit, hearty tannins, some sediment as the producer doesn't filtrate. Very nice wine for the price, it retails for around $12.
2004 Domaine Chevalier Ladoix 1er Cru An absolutely beautiful, classic burg that went fabulously with the snails in butter, garlic and pesto. Gorgeous medium gold color, apples and earth on the nose, perfectly balanced acidity and oak. Lovely.
2003 Andre Brunel Chateauneuf de Pape Les Cailloux This is what I expected from an '03 Rhone. I haven't tasted a whole lot of CdP in my life, but I know enough to know that this was atypical. Much more fruit and fewer tertiary aromas and flavors, it was also somewhat lacking in structure. After a while in the glass it did improve a bit, letting some leathery notes emerge. Not a bad wine overall, but I found myself wishing that I had chosen the Cote Rotie instead when Kurt asked me to pick from about 8 wines what would accompany the main course of hanger steak marinated in chianti, olive oil, garlic, sea salt, pepper and thyme.
2005 Quinta do Alqueve Colheita Tardia, We chose this to accompany the plate of cheese (tallegio, brillat saverin, gouda), fig spread, honey and candied walnuts. It was surprisingly not very sweet, either on the nose or on the palate. It didn't make much of an impression on me one way or the other, but I must admit that by this time all the preceding wine of the evening had begun to have a pretty strong effect on me, and I was in not in the best mind-frame to evaluate. I'm chalking it up to the high alcohol content in the first and third wines, because although there were only three of us drinking, a bottle consumed over the course of 5 hours with food doesn't normally have such a strong impact on me.
A very nice evening overall.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Saturday, January 17, 2009
What to Say
I've been emailing myself ideas to write about here whenever they occur to me, but for some reason I have had no desire to follow up on them. They sit in my email folder, remembered but ignored, because I just don't feel like writing. Or maybe they're too personal in nature and I don't necessarily feel like sharing them with others. Or perhaps I don't have the energy or attention span right now to delve deeply enough into the subjects to write something worthwhile.
I've been told that I write well, and I used to love to do it as a past time when I was younger. But over the last 10 years or so, I find writing to be a chore and not something that I really enjoy anymore. It's kind of frustrating to know that you have potential in something but to have no desire to practice it.
Right now, as I sit here, I have several things that I want to write that tie into this theme and would allow me to express more fully and coherently my thoughts about this, but I can't figure out how to say them! And that right there is probably one of the biggest reasons I don't write more here. I'm not a good blogger. Blogging is supposed to be off the cuff writing, just say what you're thinking, but I have a hard time doing that because I want cohesion. I want my words and ideas to make sense to anyone else reading them, and it takes me a long time to arrange and rearrange those words before I'm satisfied with them. OK, so I'm writing somewhat freely right now, and I'll just go with it and explain my other reasons for not wanting to write.
The first is something I touched on in the first paragraph, which is limited attention span. I recall reading an article (in the Atlantic Monthly I think) called "Is Google Making Us Stoopid?". The gist of the article is that the internet is structured in a way that makes us jump around, clicking here and there, reading bits and pieces of things but never delving too deeply into any one story or subject. Two examples that come to mind are Wikipedia and the Huffington Post. It is impossible for me to get through a Wikipedia article without clicking on one or more of the numerous links to other pages contained within the text. And once I've done so, there's about a 25% chance that I'll actually return back to the original article I was reading. When I visit the Huffington Post site, I'm continually distracted from the article that I'm reading by the pictures and headlines for other articles that are framed very visibly all around the current article. My point here is that I think the short attention span phenomenon translates into other areas as well (at least for me) and I often find it difficult to follow up on a project to it's completion. As I wrote this last sentence, the thought occured to me that a number of people reading this might comment that perhaps I have adult ADD, and I found myself suddenly wanting to explore the idea that all these adult ADD diagnoses might be tied into this "sound bite" society, but then I'd be going off topic, wouldn't I? Point made.
The other reason that I don't want to write is because I know that whatever I have to say, someone else has already said it and said it better than I. So what's the point? Well, I guess I have to first decide whether I'm writing for me or for others. If I'm writing for me, then does it really matter? You know, I think it does. It's similar to cooking a meal for myself. The final product doesn't have to be the best I've ever tasted, but it needs to be good enough, even if it's only me eating it. And I guess I feel the same about writing. If the final product sucks and isn't enjoyable to read, even just by me, why bother? And I think that's a big reason that I don't write more often. For me, it takes a lot of effort to produce something worthwhile, and frankly, it wears me out.
So screw this, I'm going to the gym. Out!
I've been told that I write well, and I used to love to do it as a past time when I was younger. But over the last 10 years or so, I find writing to be a chore and not something that I really enjoy anymore. It's kind of frustrating to know that you have potential in something but to have no desire to practice it.
Right now, as I sit here, I have several things that I want to write that tie into this theme and would allow me to express more fully and coherently my thoughts about this, but I can't figure out how to say them! And that right there is probably one of the biggest reasons I don't write more here. I'm not a good blogger. Blogging is supposed to be off the cuff writing, just say what you're thinking, but I have a hard time doing that because I want cohesion. I want my words and ideas to make sense to anyone else reading them, and it takes me a long time to arrange and rearrange those words before I'm satisfied with them. OK, so I'm writing somewhat freely right now, and I'll just go with it and explain my other reasons for not wanting to write.
The first is something I touched on in the first paragraph, which is limited attention span. I recall reading an article (in the Atlantic Monthly I think) called "Is Google Making Us Stoopid?". The gist of the article is that the internet is structured in a way that makes us jump around, clicking here and there, reading bits and pieces of things but never delving too deeply into any one story or subject. Two examples that come to mind are Wikipedia and the Huffington Post. It is impossible for me to get through a Wikipedia article without clicking on one or more of the numerous links to other pages contained within the text. And once I've done so, there's about a 25% chance that I'll actually return back to the original article I was reading. When I visit the Huffington Post site, I'm continually distracted from the article that I'm reading by the pictures and headlines for other articles that are framed very visibly all around the current article. My point here is that I think the short attention span phenomenon translates into other areas as well (at least for me) and I often find it difficult to follow up on a project to it's completion. As I wrote this last sentence, the thought occured to me that a number of people reading this might comment that perhaps I have adult ADD, and I found myself suddenly wanting to explore the idea that all these adult ADD diagnoses might be tied into this "sound bite" society, but then I'd be going off topic, wouldn't I? Point made.
The other reason that I don't want to write is because I know that whatever I have to say, someone else has already said it and said it better than I. So what's the point? Well, I guess I have to first decide whether I'm writing for me or for others. If I'm writing for me, then does it really matter? You know, I think it does. It's similar to cooking a meal for myself. The final product doesn't have to be the best I've ever tasted, but it needs to be good enough, even if it's only me eating it. And I guess I feel the same about writing. If the final product sucks and isn't enjoyable to read, even just by me, why bother? And I think that's a big reason that I don't write more often. For me, it takes a lot of effort to produce something worthwhile, and frankly, it wears me out.
So screw this, I'm going to the gym. Out!
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Act in Haste, Repent in Leisure
Or, in the words of my favorite philosopher Marcus Aurelius, "How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it.''
Just been thinking of how pertinent this is lately, what with the violence in Gaza, the riots in Greece, and the ongoing "war on terror" resulting from the events of 9/11. I would also include the ill-conceived bailout and call for more regulation in response to the financial crisis (I don't think we need more regulation, I think we need smarter regulation, and hopefully the Dream Team of economic advisors that Obama has put together understands this but I'm not holding my breath).
It seems to me that the entire world has succumbed to the mentality that we need ACTION NOW! and have become willfully ignorant of the unintended consequences that accompany any action.
Along these lines I'll close with one platforms from the Libertarian Party website (www.lp.org) pertaining to foreign relations (it doesn't really have anything to do with the topic, but it's something that's also been on my mind lately):
The principle of non-intervention should guide relationships between governments. The United States government should return to the historic libertarian tradition of avoiding entangling alliances, abstaining totally from foreign quarrels and imperialist adventures, and recognizing the right to unrestricted trade, travel, and immigration.
Just been thinking of how pertinent this is lately, what with the violence in Gaza, the riots in Greece, and the ongoing "war on terror" resulting from the events of 9/11. I would also include the ill-conceived bailout and call for more regulation in response to the financial crisis (I don't think we need more regulation, I think we need smarter regulation, and hopefully the Dream Team of economic advisors that Obama has put together understands this but I'm not holding my breath).
It seems to me that the entire world has succumbed to the mentality that we need ACTION NOW! and have become willfully ignorant of the unintended consequences that accompany any action.
Along these lines I'll close with one platforms from the Libertarian Party website (www.lp.org) pertaining to foreign relations (it doesn't really have anything to do with the topic, but it's something that's also been on my mind lately):
The principle of non-intervention should guide relationships between governments. The United States government should return to the historic libertarian tradition of avoiding entangling alliances, abstaining totally from foreign quarrels and imperialist adventures, and recognizing the right to unrestricted trade, travel, and immigration.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
On what I will do to help fill my time on Crete
I love wine. Next to travel, it's my greatest passion/past time. I've completed the intermediate and advanced certificate programs from the London based Wine & Spirit Education Trust, attend tastings as regularly as finances will allow, head up a monthly wine club group, and participate in wine forum discussions online. I'm what they call a wine geek, I guess.
So I was online checking out the various vineyards on Crete, noticing that the majority of their wine is grown/produced in the eastern part of the island, which is about three hours from where I'll be living. Then I happened upon a website for Manousakis Vineyards, which is in western Crete and much closer to where I'll be, and I was sufficiently impressed by what I read that I sent them an email asking if they might use me as an unpaid volunteer. I got a call from Alexandra Manousakis, who is the daughter of the owner, Ted Manousakis. She is actually in DC for the holidays (their family is originally from this area but moved back to Crete to start up the vineyard a few years ago) and we've got an appointment to meet next Friday evening to discuss how they might use me.
I've been reading about the Greek wine industry on this website, which I think is a great resource for producers and consumers alike who are interested in this region and the transitions in its wine industry:
http://www.greekwinemakers.com/
I'm really looking forward to getting some hands on experience working in this vineyard/winery.
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