tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36063664943355852722011-11-27T15:39:09.547-08:00words, words, words (and a few thoughts)Prince of Winesnoreply@blogger.comBlogger121100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3606366494335585272.post-23121374526334731672009-11-24T16:32:00.000-08:002009-11-24T17:31:03.281-08:00

Your Faithful Correspondent is back after a prolonged absence to regroup and reinvent. The new wave around here is independence, traveling light, destocking (not sure I really like that word though).To destock in advance, there is no wine store in my immediate future, thus no stock to acquire and manage. But I still have a large inventory of words on hand and they need to be (re)capitalized.

Prince of Winesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3606366494335585272.post-87978926767840211712009-02-20T23:50:00.000-08:002009-02-21T01:38:04.223-08:00

My friends,Are you tired of human interaction?  Do you want to avoid talking to a waiter when you get a drink?  Then what you need is a wine dispenser in your local tavern or restaurant.  Just swipe your "prepaid, debit-style, smart card" and this beauty will fill your glass with your choice of, well, whatever is in the machine.This remarkable apparatus was designed to "maximize portions and

Prince of Winesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3606366494335585272.post-75082542412497769532009-02-09T15:58:00.000-08:002009-02-21T01:38:50.623-08:00

I was so annoyed by this article saying that wine is an unnecessary luxury that I had to object strenuously. Luxury, my eye. When the economy is weak, we need to watch more carefully for value, not just give up.However, I must apologize for maligning the Puritans. With further research, I found that that their objection was to drunkenness rather than to drink, and indeed there was more beer

Prince of Winesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3606366494335585272.post-35040542117997351612009-01-23T14:10:00.000-08:002009-01-23T16:21:33.624-08:00

Is it what it says? This is not a Clintonian fudge. My question is: Is this wine what it claims to be? Here are a couple of wines that, shall we say, did not represent themselves accurately.The Princess, our friend and I took a junket to a winery that shall remain nameless. It has a spectacular setting high in the mountains, with an elaborate and fantastical villa that must have cost a

Prince of Winesnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3606366494335585272.post-55780200648702137062008-06-03T13:00:00.000-07:002008-06-04T16:33:27.284-07:00

We were in the mood for lamb chops and suitable accompaniments. Our usual Saratoga chops; asparagus, with aïoli of course. I doctored a bag of Trader Joe's insta-lentils with some sautéed onions, roasted red peppers, garlic, olive oil and fresh thyme. It was time to break out some Bordeaux. The Princess was intrigued by the idea, having not yet been exposed to a really fine Bordeaux. I explained

Prince of Winesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3606366494335585272.post-70863100419233240412008-03-13T15:41:00.000-07:002008-03-21T13:43:09.678-07:00

We arrived for dinner around 20.30, when only tourists are eating in Buenos Aires. The restaurant was almost deserted; another party of two (yes, tourists) was a few tables away. As it filled up, the service never slackened and the maître d' continued to dote on us as if we were the only table.I don't recall what we ate or drank, except that it was delicious, but I will never forget the service

Prince of Winesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3606366494335585272.post-63968214017499792962008-03-02T23:26:00.000-08:002008-03-03T15:06:15.960-08:00

We dined the other night at Passionfish in Pacific Grove, where they have a very civilized wine pricing policy. This lets us try more (and more interesting) wines without breaking the budget. For us, it is mandatory to start with the fried oyster and arugula salad. My dinner was scallops with tomato truffle butter and thyme risotto; the Princess had sea bass with tomato aïoli and niçoise style

Prince of Winesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3606366494335585272.post-58120552466584210092008-02-21T16:23:00.000-08:002008-02-21T16:57:50.637-08:00

We went to Valentine's Day dinner at Au Midi, one of very few French restaurants in this area. (Note to the trade - let's remedy that.) Nice service, flawless food. An oyster in aspic with salmon roe forced us to confront our, er, aspicphobia. A great experience in fishiness and texture.The Princess broke her fish habit by joining me in having filet mignon with morels and potatoes galette.

Prince of Winesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3606366494335585272.post-73838023358379289912008-01-13T23:21:00.000-08:002008-01-18T16:51:48.188-08:00

There are NO Vietnamese restaurants in our sleepy burg, so we went on a trek to try one. Neither of us has any experience with this cuisine. Don't expect any profound insights here. Anyway, Xanh restaurant in Mountain View, CA was a pleasure.Our wines were a somewhat assertive Trimbach Pinot Blanc and a more restrained Bonny Doon "Cigare Blanc" (made from Roussanne and Grenache Blanc). The papaya

Prince of Winesnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3606366494335585272.post-69996931392069507212008-01-03T13:25:00.000-08:002008-01-11T14:17:40.706-08:00

Highlights of some fine recent meals:at Fandango in Pacific Grove, CATheir cassoulet was wonderful as always. If you can't spend all day (and more) in the kitchen to make your own cassoulet, get Fandango to do it.The wine: 1999 Corton Clos Du Roi, Vincent Girardin. It was everything I hope a Burgundy will be. And so civilized that it's available in half bottles.at Passionfish, also in Pacific

Prince of Winesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3606366494335585272.post-16102462975466013262007-12-18T18:21:00.000-08:002008-01-08T13:40:08.275-08:00

I enjoy how newspapers have enabled online comments from the public. I'm not sure I enjoy that Topic Drift, wherein an interesting topic for discussion becomes an excuse for the airing of unrelated pet peeves, is an inescapable facet of the human condition. (Of course, Yr Humble Servant tries to stay on topic, but it's not always easy.) Today's casus belli was restaurant service. The complainant

Prince of Winesnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3606366494335585272.post-87406103790384750012007-12-14T00:42:00.000-08:002008-01-08T13:40:31.509-08:00

Lately one of our local milongas has been without a regular DJ, so we've had various visitors doing the honors. Last night's was a winner. Every piece he played was danceable, interesting and a great arrangement - many classics but also a few I haven't heard before. OK, Libertango wasn't danceable but someone requested it, so I won't hold it against the DJ's record. Seriously, have you ever seen

Prince of Winesnoreply@blogger.com0