the legion of the purple teeth

I managed to take a picture of every wine and/or winery my wino-pal Carla and I got to try at Pinot Days at Barker Hanger this past weekend. This doesn’t mean I have tasting notes for you beyond ‘wooooow this was gooooood’. I never claimed to be Robert Parker, people. I’m about a half-step up from asking a drunk guy on the street what he’s been quaffing.

I had to push my way into a crunch of winos to even get near the Gary Farrell booth.

Pushed some more to get a few tastes of Hitching Post Pinots…

We had every single one of the Morgan pours and they are all excellent, especially “Gary’s Vineyard”.

And my favorite of the fest: C Donatiello. I have to give massive props to Wandering Wino though. I bumped into him and demanded to see his little list of favorites, and he pointed us toward this winery.

My outdoorsy hike lovin’ granola-huffin’ BF grew up camping, eventually reaching Eagle Scout. I grew up going to Vegas with a slots-machine loving mum. (She didn’t have a gambling problem, I swear, it’s a Filpina thing.) I only started recently camping with Tony after he took me on a perfect Big Sur weekend. Now I’m getting comfortable enough with our routines regarding equipment and food, so guess what! Each camping trip now needs wine parings. I make sure we lug a cooler out to wherever the hell we’re going so at least one night at the campsite, we can have a nice chilled wine after a day of hiking. Here’s a few of our camping sippables – and not all of them were wonderful. But now that it’s 10 PM and the fire’s going, you can’t turn back!

2010 J. Mourat Fiefs Vendeens – A mix of Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc and Negrette; I’ll buy anything with a touch of Cab Franc in it. We ate chili with salsa toppings and chips with queso dip and wow. What a food pairing misfire. It was massively dry when what we needed was something much fruitier and “less serious.” Guzzled at the Redwood Meadow campground, Sequoia National Forest.

2006 Colosi Nero D’Avola. Paired with Trader Joe’s Indian food packets and some naan bread. We had had a long weekend vamping in Arizona before we arrived in Joshua Tree and this wine was still nicely chilled inside our cooler. After a few sips of this dark-fruit-laden wonder while we watched the sun set over the Jumbo Rocks campground, we finally felt relaxed.

Camping in Death Valley, absolutely no civilization around us, the stars were big jewels sparkling in the dark night sky dome. But, we ended up drinking this crap bubbly red from Trader Joe’s. I think we forgot to bring our Govino plastic wine glasses with us this trip and we had to drink it out of tin camping cups. I guess that didn’t help the experience. Still. You’d think I’d have learned my lesson about cheap wines from TJs and what you could end up with. I’m in my mid-30s for the love of flip.

Look at my camping skills now. Cute little French linen towel to cover up scuzzy campground table. Didn’t forget a bottle opener OR the glasses. And this wine is a delicious, unpretentious Santa Barbara Pinot Noir that never disappoints, especially after a little cellar time (a LITTLE, like a year or a year and a half at the most).

Can’t wait to go camping again! Big Sur, September 2011.

I don’t go to the 99 Cent Store all that often. It has been my experience across this fine city of ours that the 99 Cent Sto’ attracts the craziest people. Something about those deals and that lighting and the weird assortment of merchandise (Underpants! Canned octopus! DVDs of Z-grade 1940s adventure films! Sweatshop-made figurines of French shepherds!) really draws in odd customers. I have been in that one near Fairfax and Wilshire on strange nights and we left before some Arkham Asylum shit could break out. Nerdy references aside, I found myself in the Highland Park branch the other day, buying cheap religious candles and dish soap. And…staring in horror at this.

I stared in so much horror I forgot to take note how much they cost. It could be 2 for 99 cents. Maybe it was just 99 cents a pop. They seem to be the standard little bottle of wine they normally give you on an airplane. Could this be castoffs from some failing airline? Could it be cooked? Old? Smelling of socks? Just plain bad? Sorry dear winos, I am not that brave of a blogger to find out.

While I was taking these photos, nearby customers became interested in the plonk at hand and I got crowded out from looking at the bottles more closely. Two old ladies discussed the wine bottles at length. I had earlier seen then talking quite seriously about 2 jars of Ragu pasta sauce.

I know people are on strict household budgets and this recession is making it necessary for lots of people to have to bargain shop…but I’d have to draw the line at drinking wine from the 99 Cent Store. It just don’t seem right.

I figured you should hear it here first.

We first stumbled upon this brew at the Pasadena Whole Foods – and then after that first time, tracking it down again proved harder. Each time the beer guy either at that Whole Foods or the Glendale location would say, oh, come back on TUESDAY – we might get some more in then, or, oh yes, we’re sold out, that one is quite popular, or worst yet, you know that’s only a seasonal brew, it will be gone completely one day. There’s a reason it’s flying off of shelves – the Anderson Valley Brewing Co. Summer Soltice Cerveza Crema is kind of like a Corona and a Fat Tire made a baby. It has the lightness of a Mexican brew coupled with the spicy creamy lightly fruity quality of a Belgian-influenced beer. It’s so smooth and so easy to drink that you and your loved one(s) can easily decimate a 6 pack, thereby sending you back into the world on a crazy beer-goose-chase. The last time I had a chance to buy this I bought 2 12-packs and should have bought the 3rd one left on the shelf. I should start hoarding them now.

Anderson Valley Brewing – Summer Solstice Cerveza Crema

I’ve been attempting flexitarianism lately. I am down to about 1 or 2 meat meals a week. That’s right. 2 out of 21. I used to be one of those bacon people, what gives? Just cutting back. Been watching one too many scary food documentaries (note: Food Inc. is available on Netflix’s watch now service.)

Anyhow, all this abstaining and sadness has suddenly lead me to different restaurants. Gone are my glory days of K-town meateries. Now I find myself sitting in Silver Lake’s little Cru restaurant, wondering what’s going to happen to me, and that little part of me that nearly wept when I ate a Skooby’s cheddar bacon dog a few weeks ago. (Oh god. Best hotdog in the city. Fuck Pink’s.)

But enough about the magical bacon hot dog. Cru’s creative kitchen serves up an extremely satisfying meal. We shared a bruschette app (photo above) and I had a “pizza” – it had a sunflower seed cracker crust, vegan cashew cheese, incredibly fresh and firm crimini mushrooms, and lots of greens. It will never REALLY be a pizza, but it’s an interesting simulacra.

Dessert was the most memorable part of this meal. Look at this lemon cheesecake. How the hell do they make vegan raw cheesecake? What voodoo powers does it take to make something so creamy and so dairy-free?

These people must be wizards.
Cru Restaurant
1521 Griffith Park Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

I don’t know what possessed me to choose this post name. I, don’t know. I work from home and am alone with two cats most of the time so I might be going a little funny in my mindjunk. Anyhow, I recently really enjoyed these 2 wines and have purchased them multiple times, so I figure you, my fellow drunkards, ought to know about them.

Bandit 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon
Yes. This thing is an adult juice box, the very kind Buster Bluth would have gotten into trouble over – but much, much better than his Franzia. It will set you back $8 a bottle (but it’s not a bottle? a package? a tetrathingy?) which is a gooood price point because I’m often inclined to buy a few of them at a time and treat everyone to a friendly sipper. Yes, friendly! Friendly how? It has a very-berry-ness that isn’t very heavy or complex or ponderous – just vivacious and open. It would be welcome at BBQs going well with your smoky meats and that ubiquitous potato salad. It’s certainly going to show up at the Bowl this summer with me, for sure. No worries about breaking the bottle, or needing to jam the cork back in. You just put the cap back on. Brilliant. Good for the planet too. Brilliant. I’m drunk! Brilliant.

The Icario Rubi Delle Pietrose 2005
This is a bit pricier than the Bandit, at $20 a bottle, but I find this one a consistently delicious guzzle when I feel a little extra change in my pocket. It’s a mouth-watering blend of Sangiovese (70%), Teroldego (20%), and Merlot (10%) and I feel like the presence of those second two grapes have mellowed out that sometimes-rather-aggressive Sangiovese. It’s smooth but not totally flabby and un-tannic, tasting like pleasant cherries with an herbal sage-y note going on in there. “Very pretty” in the glass, a dark ruby red. A wine to ruminate with. Or wash down so many pieces of Casa Bianca pizza covered in sun-dried tomatoes. Jesu Christo, amigos, do you know how good life can be?

(Purchased locally at my two favorite wine shops).

(Extra points – did you spot the Johnny Depp?)