Kevinmsu F.
E-Mail: kevinf@altgn.com
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AIM: headshrkr
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Web Page: http://homepage.mac.com/kevinferguson
Registered Since: 2007-10-18 00:29:38
Profile: I live in the Detroit area and I'm working toward certification as a wine expert, called a Master Sommelier. So far I'm in the Guild. Aside from working six days a week, I spend way too much time playing video games and putzing around on the internet. I'm also a Michigan State Graduate (BS Human resources, BA Sociology) and a hardcore sports fan.
Posts by kevinmsu:
Zinfully Good (LOL, yuck yuck yuck, so on and so forth)!
July 31st, 2008“No Wimpy Wines” is the mantra of Ravenswood, a California Winery that is spread out in a few parts of the Cali Wine Country. I give them much credit as they are a fairly large winery, yet they’ve managed to compartmentalize themselves so that their products are of notable quality.
They do have a blended Zin, it is their “California Vintners Blend” label, noted by the gold foil top.
That is a decent wine, but for literally a dollar or two more, you can get their Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel, a fabulously delightful, under $20 bottle (maybe under $25, depends on where you live and the taxes involved). It is noticeable by the silver top and its also shorter than nearly everyother foil top around, you can actually see the cork. I took mine off, so I googled the image below, it’s much older (a ‘94) but there are some serious “lul’s” for the first gen ipod on the desk:
It is deep and red with many notes of lush purple, indicative of the fact that it’s a little young at 2006. It’s a little brash on the palate to drink alone, a good Zin is big and this is no exception, so this wine is optimal with red meats like lamb chops or a nice big steak, so get a bottle and fire up the grill. Veggie-wise, pick something you can caramelize to bring out their natural sweetness, you don’t want a bitter taste like asparagus, it would not compliment this wine. If you don’t want to make a full meal but you want to crack this bottle open, some pistachios or cashews would provide the proteins to bring out the flavor in this wine. This wine has big, bold fruit on the front and a tart, cooked fruit flavor on the back. There are most definitely tannins in this wine, you will feel that loss of moisture as you drink it.
Here is a bad picture of what the bottle looks like (my significant other isn’t as good at taking pictures as she thinks and I can’t find my Digi-camera, sorry):
If you plan on aging this, I think that would be a fabulous idea. I don’t know if you will have the disciple to do so (this is some pretty tasty stuff), maybe get a case, drink 6 and save the other half for aging.
Keep drinking wine and leave comments if you want me to add some recipes!
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SNK Arcade Classics : VOLUME ONE
May 9th, 2008A bit of nostalgia, a trip back to being 11 and yearning for the ever elusive, extremely expensive NEO GEO. I think the system was $650, well above the price point of the Sega Genesis and Turbo Graffix 16. It was a time of ‘Beat’m ups’, Final Fight and Streets of Rage were the mainstays, Konami was cashing in on the success of the Ninja Turtles and its X-Men Dual Screen Arcade game. Really in retrospect, the tragedy of the entire era was the fragile economic nature of the delivery system. Ram Carts were insanely expensive, and the NEO GEO used 200 MB (LOLOLOL, HUUUGE!!) game files. thus games were $200 + . Now in their defense, these were legitimate arcade games.
Actually, the NEO GEO joins the Atari Jaguar as the other system I didn’t have. I bought all the rest of them… 3DO, Virtual Boy, Genesis + Sega CD, SNES, NES, Turbo Graffix 16 + the CD-ROM add on, PS 1 + 2 +3, Xbox + 360, Dreamcast, N64 and Wii. I actually fiddled around with the idea of buying a NEO CD, as they got the Media costs down to $50-60, but the nightmare of a 1x CD-ROM drive and nightmare-ish load times scared me off.
And now that I’m jaded and brainwashed by the Mario 64 3D Revolution, NEO GEO just seems… Tacked on as far as history is concerned. Let’s be honest, all they really did was ride Capcom’s balls for like 10 years (I thought that even Samuri Shodown was a rip off of Weaponlord by Namco, but SS was first). I would then denote that Samuri Shodown was SNK’s flash of brilliance, the first game that truely broke it away from being a bunch of Final Fight and Street Fighter II rip offs.
And now that brings us to the SNK collection for PSP. An alphabetically organized trip down memory lane. Now, I’m not going to lie to you, most of these games are absolutely insufferable. They simply don’t hold up well. Really the biggest flaw in this collection is that it uses the first run on many of the SNK franchises; these were turds. SF2 rip offs, crappy wrestling rip offs and R-Type rip offs. There are two gorgeous gems in this collection along with another worth having.
I’m gonna burn (LOL, pun) through a lot of these, I’m not going to lie, I couldn’t stand more than 10 minutes of most of these.
“THE NEXT GLORY” Soccer - it sucks. Same button for pass and shoot. HUH? yeah. That’s what I said. So the clock goes fast and you have to be in the box to shoot. IE, you can’t set up a goal. Like in FIFA. Or NHL. You could do this in ‘91 on your Genesis. Unless you like the gay side of the 16 bit era:
“YOU LIKE MAKE OUT NOW? NOM NOM NOM NOM!!!”
Remember how fun R-Type, Thunderforce and Blazin’ Lazers were, packed with interesting power ups and fluid game play? This LAST RESORT game has none of these things. Whereas the R-Type ship looked like a flacid penis, the Last Resort ship looks like a wiener in a vice grip.
What would happen if the guy from bionic commando raped sonic and tails? TOP HUNTER would squeeze out 9 shameful, felonious months later. You tap a button to jump from plain to plain. You have a stretchy arm you punch with. It’s as gay as it sounds.
HADOYKEN….errrr… WHATEVER WE SAY AT SNK
I lump ART OF FIGHTING (zomg, zoom capabilities!) and FATAL FURY into one crappy turd of a Street Fighter Rip off. Really the only thing worse than Art of Fighting was the SNES port of the game. Talk about rushed to market! AOF you can pick from one of 2 characters. FF, pick from 3. The game play is insufferably clunky compared to SF2 and really, SNK should have swept this shit into the trash can and put the sequels in, especially Fatal Fury 2. I remember that game being decent.
BASEBALL STARS 2 - the irony is that none of them are stars; And it feels like every game is in the metrodome, and I hate Minnesota. This game is kind of amusing though.
BURNING FIGHT : like Final Fight. Only the characters are cliche and the gameplay sucks ass.
KING OF THE MONSTERS - this game gets credit for it being from 1991. I would have enjoyed this game back then.
MAGICAN LORD was a NEO GEO launch title. I enjoyed Keith Courage Wayyyyyyyy more.
WORLD WARRIOR - This is a game. A game about a “WORLD WARRIOR”. I assume he has to fight for something.
SHOCK TROOPERS is like commando… by capcom. only like 6 years later. meh.
NEO TURF MASTERS is a crappy golf game. The meter system sucks. It feels completely anti-intuitive. Barf.
SENGOKU - bad, but not as bad as burning fight. not… NEARLY as bad.
$30 is too much for this set. Were it $20, I would say BUY BUY BUY, and why is that? For these treats:
Samuri Shodown Holds up. Granted, 2 is a better game, but man… I had this on 3DO, at the time, the best version you could get without buying a NEO GEO. It plays smooth and tight, its a well balanced game (granted a few worthless characters) and the money characters play like butter. I loved this game and I still do.
METAL SLUG - Y’know I’d never played this game before getting this compilation? This is just enjoyable as hell, probly a shameless gunstar hereos rip off, but still just FUN.
KING OF FIGHTERS ‘94 … This game really gave SNK street cred as it was the first time that the might capcom actually stole one of THEIR ideas. Mashing up characters. Capcom fought these games popularity with X-Men vs. Street Fighter, Marvel vs. Capcom and Punky Brewster vs. The Three Fingered Candy Shop Owner. The best part is that Mai has a perfect ass. I mean, really… It’s perfect.
“OH HAI. TE GUSTA?”
So, at $30 I’m not sure this is worth the money. The special add-on’s are stupid and make no sense; why should i have to unlock move lists? these games are like 15 years old. As a developer, I would spot my customers this information. At $20, I say hell yeah, Samuri Shodown and Metal Slug alone are worth it. Good stuff! I haven’t tried them online, so I can’t vouche for it either way, I’ll work on that and update later.
So the verdict is Buy it if you want it, Definately worth a Burn if you have access to that.
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2003 Argiano Brunello : The Taste of Italy
April 17th, 2008 
I love Italian Wine. There is so much character and essence in Italian Wine that you simply cannot replicate without growing your fruit from that soil. It’s Real. It’s Lush. It is Italy. It has a distinct flavor of Earth and Oak, mixed with ripe fruit and lush berry. There is nothing like Italian wine, even when its not “Italian Wine” like the IGT Antinori wine I reviewed.
This Argiano is a Brunello,
Located Here:
This Region is known for deep, dark and rich red wine. It’s reputation is sublime and the price will in fact reflect this revered status. This will be magnified by the crappy US Dollar. Thank you Mr. Bush.
Tasting Notes:
On the Nose there is a little must, earth and hay; not barn hay. A field hay, light and arromatic, like driving past a field with the windows open.
This wine is very smooth and lush.
The Flavor is Classic Italy and very traditional, little bit of earth, little bit of oak and spice; that of black pepper and Black Cherry.
It is Fruity on the back end with out acidity.
I tried to get a decent picture of the color:
It’s really hard to do, as if you don’t use the flash its black. But the light washes the color out vs. natural light. Its deeper in the middle and as it gradiates to the edge, you get this gorgeous browning.
So, pricewise I can say this wine is cheap… FOR A BRUNELLO.
You can buy it retail for around 50 to 60 Dollars. At least for now, all depending on the continued poor performance of the U.S. Dollar. This price point is not exactly entry level for most wine, and as you may or may not know, that is my focus. However, I am remaining true to form because this is an entry level price Brunello with exceptional value. In general, good Brunello’s run in the $100+ range. So this is a good buy if you want a delicious Italian wine that will impress a guest or significant other and won’t totally break your budget for the finer things.
Keep drinking wine and good luck finding this exceptional product!
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Thanks to the Weak Sauce U.S. Dollar, Some of the Best Italian Wine Just Got Wayyy More Expensive
March 30th, 2008Inflation, crazy Gov’t spending, The War… Blah Blah Blah. Thanks to the surging Euro and the weak ass pathetic U.S. Dollar, European wine prices are set to go through the roof this year.
This wine here is top notch. In the wine making process, sugar + yeast = alcohol. In the Amarone process, the grapes are set out on these bamboo sheets to air out, to let shrivel. Not raisin, just shrivel a bit and lose water content. They then press the grapes and barrel this thicker, heartier juice. The problem is that there is so much sugar in this heady juice, the yeast would die off before it matured the sugar and would render a raisiny, sweet red wine. In 1984 Masi created a strain of yeast that is more resistant to alcohol, therefore living longer and consuming more sugar, rendering a richer bodied, more mature tasting wine.
Masi Costasera Amarone is *STELLAR*
And it’s going to cost $10 more a bottle. And that is “at cost” (a term we use in the industry referring to what we purchase product at from our vendors.)
So let’s do the run down:
NOW:
bottle from vendor cost : $36.80, SO… retail is about $43-50 and in a restaurant you’ll pay $80-$90
as of next month, it will be $46 and change. On my wine list, I’m raising it to $85. I don’t know if other places are going to split the cost with the consumer, but as of this week I’m blowing up my restaurants wine list. I went with wines that aren’t heavily tied to the Euro; Anything to keep the doors open.
If you see this wine, pick it up. Try it that night and if you like it, buy a few bottles the next day. It’s not an entry level priced wine like I normally focus on, but this is just such a fabulous bottle, a rich heady red with four distinct flavors of tobacco, leather, cooked fruit and port. It was the first bottle that was opened the day I closed on my home!
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What It Is Like to Have a Perfectly Aged Chardonnay…
March 12th, 2008I think the common conception is that the more you age a wine, the better it gets. This is not true at all actually, in fact for the bulk of wine produced is meant to be enjoyed the moment you get it home from the store (not during the car ride home, believe it or not there are laws against that).
Heady Chardonnays age well (short term aging, figure around 5 years is your sweet spot) because all of that brash flavor comes down a notch and mellows out on your palate. A bold one year old wine will have bold rich oak or butter, but the acidity will be brash or the aftertaste will be unpleasant. If the grapes are of quality, a well aged Chardonnay will give you the best of both worlds. Bold and rich flavor, but in a rounded out fashion that comes from being mellowed by the aging process.
So the Chardonnay inspiring my latest diatribe is a 2002 Dry Creek Vineyards Chardonnay.
Apples immediately on the nose, also oak.
The flavor lingers but there isn’t a lot of acid, it’s just a rich overall with a hint of butter and a subtle oak to compliment the fruit.
Further, the fruit has a citrusy nature to it, yet still low acidity; I attribute this to the aging.
This is just a mellow and lush white wine, rich in flavor.
The color is this clear, golden hay kind of hue, it’s delightful:
Oh, and there was sediment at the bottom. Not much, White Wine is much different than Red Wine (Red Wine sediment is like sand or crystals). It basically looks like bits of oak.
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Châteauneuf-du-Pape
February 24th, 2008Châteauneuf-du-Pape roughly translates to “New Castle of the Pope”. There is a bunch of history to it, all of it being very rich and exciting. If every you don’t have any wine to drink and would like to fall asleep, here is a Wiki link.
The Châteauneuf-du-Pape I’m having right now is Barton and Guestier, or B & G as it’s commonly known.
They are not really known as a prestige vintner, if you’re trying to impress someone, this probably isn’t the purchase you should make.
This is the 2005, I think they are already selling the 2006. Don’t buy that. Frankly this ‘05 is too young as it is. This B & G is a drinkable wine, you won’t dislike it by any means, but it’s disappointing for a Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Taste-wise, there is a earthy, semi-sweet fruit bonded with a gentle acidity that is just enough for your palate, it is not over bearing as it blends in with the overall body of the wine. the finish is an oaky raspberry sweetness. Dana and I had this with a dinner of fresh pasta and a bologonese (meat) sauce she made from scratch and also some spicy Italian sausage. It paired very will with the acidic sweetness of pasta sauce.
Price wise this wine is about $20 a bottle. Cheap by Châteauneuf-du-Pape standards. And you are getting what you pay for. You can get a Wildman & Sons Châteauneuf-du-Pape for around $40 and that is a bit more of a treat, an experience, if you will.
A little note about Châteauneuf-du-Pape; these vines grow in rocks.
So typically, those roots go down deep. Wine-wise, you get this awesome earthy depth in the fruit. A high end Châteauneuf-du-Pape is one of the finest experiences in wine. And you will be charged accordingly, these bottle’s price range runs $60 to $1000’s.
So the bottom line on this wine is that it is a solid but overpriced drinkable wine.
Frankly you can do a lot better with $20 if you shopped for an Austrailian Red or a Napa Valley Blend.
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Our Very Own OLDMAN Has Been Very, Very Busy…
January 27th, 2008Check out this wicked awesome, custom built spinning DVD thing OldMan built!
I asked our own Altgn forum member and part-time Rockband God how long it took to make this marvel, how many hours he put into it and how many DVD’s it will hold:
For standard DVDs/Video Games only it can hod exactly 702. There are 18 shelves, each 23 inches long capable of holding 39 single standard cases each. The main piece of plywood used for the “Y”s was $27 and the white 1×6 for the shelves was about $40. I had ripped some shelf pieces out of these free boards we had, but they ended up too short and it was easier to buy premade stuff and cut to length. $10 for various screws. The lights were $30 but they are LED so basically will never burn out. The switch was $7. The Lazy susan bearings (Zena Rings) were $6 each. They are rated for 1000 pounds. I never weighed the shelf or the DVDs in it, but a good guess would be around 350 pounds for everything. We bought $30 worth of paint and painting supplies but never painted, always can later on though. There are 2 steel angles 1.5×1.5×48 inches each holding up the 2×12 that suports the shelf over my A/V stuff. They are about $10 each I think. There was other stuff, but I can’t remember it all. Close to but under $200 overall.I rolled the idea around in my head for a couple days before finally planning it out in a free CAD program. The hassle of using some crappy free program over AutoCAD added several hours.
I probably spent more than 5 or 6 hours just planning it all out in cad and figuring out angles and radii and dimensions before I even bought any wood. Marking and cutting the first “Y” took about 2 hours then I just traced the second one and cut it. About 15 minutes to carefully follow the curves, because its a one time thing or I have to buy another sheet. Spiff helped a little with that and some of the ripping on the table saw for the shlf ends and backs. All the cutting took at least a couple hours then assembly took most of the time. Trying to line stuff up with no straight references is not easy. Centering the bearings wasn’t a walk in the park either. I also had to modify my existing lower shelf to accept this new one. After I finished putting it all together in the garage, I broke it down into 5 pieces, the top Y, the 3 wings and the bottom Y. We carried them in and put it all back together pretty easily. Then we filled it up. I had all our DVD’s just sitting in laundry baskets and storage bins on the floor for at least a week. I had find the right boxes and make sure everything was still in a-z order. All in all it was at least 30 hours by myself in the garage and another few hours of spiffs help loading and unloading DVDs and cutting some larger pieces of wood. I learned a bunch doing this and if I ever upgrade my TV and have enough room to move all my E/V equipment under it, I will probably build another one of these with 4 shelves high under this one so its goes floor to ceiling. But if our collection ever gets that big, it might be time to slim it down a little. We’ll see.
So what about when you buy new DVD’s Oldman?
This new spining thing is the size of 1/4 of our old total shelf, ON EACH SIDE. So we added another 2/4 or half of what we had before onto the total. We now have 150% of what we had. There was a seperate game shelf that didn’t work out before, so now the games are all on half of one side of one wing. I should take a shot of the whole thing we have setup. We used to be at about 98% capacity but now we have almost 4 completely empty shelves approximately 184″ of shelving which trasnlates to about 320 single dvds worth of empty space or realistically 200-250 titles depending on how many TV shows or large box sets we buy. It just wasn’t shown in the video.
Well goodtimes then, right? We’ll keep you updated if it falls to pieces or when he adds a CSI style crime lighting system.
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Remy Martin is Pushing a New High End Vodka… Is It Worth the Scratch?
January 27th, 2008 It’s called “Imperia“ and here is the shpeel, Originating in 13th century Russia and passed down through hundreds of generations, vodka has forever been a part of Russia’s legend, lore, history and culture. So captivating was the vodka spirit, it crossed numerous borders. But vodka’s true origins are distinctly Russian. The vodka should be fermented only from wheat. The vodka should be distilled several times to remove impurities. The vodka should be blended with only soft glacial water. The vodka should be blended to 40% alcohol for the best equilibrium. The resulting vodka should be filtered to remove impurities. 
First off, the bottle is SEXY AS HELL. It’s a wheat vodka, and this fact is VERY pronounced on the tongue, you really feel a gluteny sweetness on your palate. Frankly, it is a pleasant flavor, however there is a fundamental flaw in Imperia; it has a really rough burn to it. I tried a little bit neat (room temp, no ice) and it is Grappa-esque. I threw a few ice cubes in it to cool it down and hopefully smooth it out, which it did to a certain extent. Cooling it down brought out some of the finer flavors, but there is still a marked burn on the back of your tongue. Frankly, this is not acceptable at the $40 price point. This product has more flavor than say, Grey Goose, but it lacks the subtle grace Grey Goose possesses. Ketel One competes with this vodka in the sense of flavor, but by clocking in at only a little over half the price it blows Imperia out of the water. Now that I’m done trashing the product, I will make mention of the “Standard“, the base level version of this Vodka product. I recall tasting it back in October and I liked it much better. I’ll buy a bottle and do a review sometime in the future.
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Currently My Favorite Red Wine: Flora Springs Cabernet
January 14th, 2008This is not an entry level price point, I just want to point this out right off the bat. Generally, I focus on less expensive, quality wines. This is consistent with my vision, as I feel the quality you’re getting is actually worth more than the price, but keep in mind this is a $35 bottle of red wine (and worth every bleeping penny).
Flora Springs ‘04 Napa Valley Cab is as true to Napa Cabernet as a wine can be. Its color is deep and dark berry red. The Bouqet is fragrant with berry and there is a note of the burn to come as its a 14.2% alcohol level. On the tongue, it is nothing short of lush and transcendental. Rich, dark berry flavors, its more raspberry than strawberry, you will taste the heat from all that alcohol, but it will come down a bit as you aerate it. This is a full bodied red wine on the tongue and full rich and chocolately tannins pepper the back end. I would denote this wine as archival quality Napa Valley, the water mark by which other Napa Cab’s should be judged as far as quality meets price point is concerned. This wine will age *VERY* well. I can attest to this as the ‘03 was warehoused for a year by one of my wine vendors and it developed a darker color and finishied full of heady ripe fruit.
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SHAM-PAYNE!!!
December 30th, 2007So sales of sparkling wines and Champange sky rocket on today, Dec 30th and tomorrow, Dec 31st. Why? Apparently people celebrate some sort of thing… I’ll get down to the bottom of it one day, but for now I am going to recommend you some sparkling wines in case you happen to be participating in whatever seems to be going on in the next day or two.
I decided to stick with one store, Trader Joe’s . Merely for simplicities sake, they carry products that a great deal of other places also stock. I purchased 4 bottles, an Asti (Italy), a Burgundy (France) and two Napa Valley (California).
Asti (sub region of Piedmont), Italy
Villa Cerrina
$6
Sweet and fruity, very frothy like a typical Muscato.
Light, sweet sparkling with a slighty syrupy nature. Rich with fruit like peaches and tangerine. Chicks will dig this wine at your party, especially rare and occasional drinkers.
Napa Valley, CA
Mumm Napa
Sparkling Pinot Noir
$18
Rose or Salmon in color, citrusy sweet nose with strong floral elements. It had strong flavors of Grapefruit and a refreshing crisp acidity with a citrus peel bitterness on the back.
Brut Prestige
$18
There is a subtle sweetness that is overcome by a crisp dryness that wets the palate and tickles the tongue. It’s crisp clean and dry with a lingering fruit that will be left on the back of your tongue after you’ve swallowed it.
P.S. Mumm also makes a Cuvee (meaning “blend”) that is simply to die for, sweet and fruity but dry with a rich acidity that will make your mouth water.
Burgundy, France
Blason de Bourgogne Crémant Reserve (Super Terrific Best Buy)
$9
Delicate and flavorful, balanced acidity and a rich citrusy finish.
This is a fabulous sparkling burgundy and the price is rock bottom for the quality you’re getting. Other sparkling wines at the $10 price point simply don’t measure up.
Funny story, I popped this open thinking that I would taste it, write some notes about it and then we’d make mimosa’s with it. Upon tasting it I decided that it was simply too good and no one was allowed to ruin it with Orange Juice. Find this stuff and buy it, its delicious and very affordable.
and back to Napa Valley briefly,
Le Reve by Domain Carneros
$90-120
100% Chardonnay produces a perfectly balanced and elegant sparkling wine, hailed by many as the finest made in the United States. I’ve had the opportunity to taste it at the Domaine Carneros winery and it is positively mind blowing. You will not be able to find this one easily, but if you see it and want impress your guests or a special someone, this is a very elegant and refined sparkling to enjoy with them.
As far as high end bottles go, I prefer this over Dom Perignon, Vueve Cliquot and Crystal.
Good luck and happy shopping!
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Good Bubbly Deal on Wine.Woot.com : Mumm Napa 1.5L
December 19th, 2007I’m a huge fan of the Mumm Cuvee, a bubbling blend with notes of sweet fruit like strawberry but also a robust and crisp dryness that titillates your palate and delights your senses.
A “mag” is the size of two bottles, it is noted to be ideal for the yeast in sparkling wines and it is supposed to add a whole new depth and texture to the wine. $65 shipped is a great deal and they are throwing in an ‘05 Pinot Noir which I assume was a winery exclusive as I haven’t seen it around. Buy it at wine.woot
This is a fabulous bottle to break out for your friends and family to celebrate New Years Eve in serious Napa Valley style!
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Qupe Syrah
December 14th, 20072004 Qupe Syrah
An excellent opportunity for those uninitiated into the world of Syrah
First off, let me clarify that Shiraz and Syrah are sister grapes, they are virtually interchangeable and any difference between the two has more to do with where it was grown vs. what grape it is.
As a wine maker, Syrah can be your heady foray into the world of super deep, rich, tannic red wines. It is a product for the wine lovers, not the occasional or the casual, Syrah varies heavily all over the world and it can be heady dark and rich or plumy and fruit forward.
Qupe Syrah is a Central Coast California wine with rich and fruity features. The color is Ruby with slightly cloudy edges and moderately dark center.
The tearing isn’t heavy, but it’s definitely there, as this wine clocks in at 13.5% alcohol. If I haven’t discussed tearing before, its those evenly descending drops that form long tears in the glass (a perfect example of heavy tearing can be see by putting some vodka in a wine glass and swirling it around; you’ll see tightly spacing, long and even tears because of the high alcohol content of the vodka).
Tasting the Qupe Syrah yields round fruit on the body of the wine and a crisp acidity that will have your mouth watering. There is a rich earthiness to it that keeps the fruit in check and creates a very balanced flavor in the wine. The aftertaste is that of cooked fruit and some tannin that you’ll feel on your tongue and teeth.
This Syrah is a good start if you haven’t had it before, as its not quite as big as more traditional American Syrahs, its accessible and enjoyable. If you’re serving dinner, pair it with red meat, like Filet Mignon, Rib Eye or NY Strips. Veal would work too, I suggest a Marsala sauce.
This Qupe should price at around $15, a solid price for a nice bottle of California red. I’ll tackle some headier Syrahs in future articles.
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Villa Antinori Toscana
December 7th, 2007Deep, rich, lush red wines. This is why I’m interested in wine, it is what I love and pursue. My goal is to choose wines that you can actually run out and buy, wines that are of solid quality and a fair price, something that I feel this Antinori Toscana delivers. Do you like the way I funneled that into the wine I’m about to talk about? See what I did there?
Antinori has been making wine in the heart of the wine world, all over Italy in several regions. This particular red wine used to be a DOCG Chianti a few years ago, but due to it’s popularity and thus increasing demand, Antinori decided to add Cabernet Sauvignon grapes to the mix, something not allowed for a certified Chianti as that grape is not native to the region. This makes it an IGT wine, or Indicazione Geografica Tipica. It’s essentially something that they made up after the governmental certification system was set in place. IGT means that although the grapes used to make the wine may not be native, they are of higher quality than other wines lacking the pink/orange/lime tag,
which are typically low priced commodity table wines.
As you pour it into the glass you’ll notice a beautiful deep red with semi cloudy edges. The bouquet is fragrant with cooked strawberries, oak and a hint of vanilla. The mouth feel is very lush; there is some tannin in there from the oak barrels and the cabernet grapes. The overall flavor is nice round Italia, rich fruit and an earthy acidity with just enough bitterness to really bring out the roundness of the fruit. This is a great red wine if you’re just getting into finer red wines and it’s a fabulous crossover wine. If you are a high end bottle drinker but you’re having guests over that may not love a black berry colored reserve ’03 Syrah like you would, this Toscana is something wine aficionados can enjoy and at the same time bring the inexperienced into the fold. This is good stuff.
So run to the store, grab a bottle of this, some fresh angel hair pasta (not that dried up stuff), fresh mozzarella, some tomato sauce to dress up and chicken breasts to grill. Buy some real basil in the produce section, not the jar stuff. Chop it up, add some to the sauce along with some half and half, throw in some fresh ground pepper and let it simmer. You can do the breasts as is after marinating/rubbing with olive oil and garlic or you can bread them if you have skills. Cut some of that fresh mozzarella and place it on top of the breasts with some of that basil and throw it back in the oven to melt (you can cook this in a toaster oven too).
In the store this wine will cost around $23-26, I’ve seen it at Trader Joe’s and grocery stores like Meijer for the mid-west or the Bev-Mo for you West Coasters.
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Vodka Vodka Vodka!
November 29th, 2007You’re at the liquor store. You need to pick up a bottle of Vodka. The shelves are inundated with
multiple bottles ranging from $6 to $50. Some distilled, some twice distilled, some so distilled its
like they took all the flavor out. There are sooooooo many choices and it is very objective, so please take
this article with a grain of salt (or wheat-LOL-vodka) as it is indicative of my tastes. So in regards to my
explanations, remember that in addition to breaking down the fundamentals, this is my taste and what I
like. That being said, if you are enjoying a high quality spirit that won’t give you a hangover then
mozeltov to you my friend, it’s a wide world of spirits out there!
I’ve chosen Tanqueray Sterling, Stoli, Absolut, Ketel One, Grey Goose, Chopin and Belvedere. The name will be followed by it’s composition.
Tanqueray Sterling Vodka : Neutral Grain : This is a somewhat of a little known vodka and the price is VERY
NICE at around $20 a bottle, depending on how nasty your state taxes. It’s clean, crisp and takes very
well to a martini treatment, so throw in some ice and shake it up. I do not like olives myself, but I have
been told by many that they pair with this vodka nicely.
Stolichnaya Vodka : Neutral Grain : Another fine product at around the $20 price point, Stoli is very
flavorful. I find that it excels as an “on the rocks” cocktail, perhaps with a twist of lemon, orange or
olive and when you let a little bit of that water from the ice take down the burn of the alcohol, you get
delightful hints of hazel nut and a sweetness from the oils and essences released by the skin of the fruit.
Absolut Vodka : Neutral Grain : This is my parents vodka of choice, perhaps yours too. Personally, it
doesn’t agree with me. I’ve tasted it though and the ba-jillion people that love it must be onto something,
right? I would characterize it as having an earthy flavor and being a little rough around the edges. I
don’t really consider this a very refined vodka, which would explain why more mature tastes tend to prefer
it. Absolut is without a doubt the product that opened the floodgates for premium spirits. The primary vodkas
on the market prior to it’s introduction were 6 dollar bottles of fire-water. So cheers to the precursor, the
first company crazy enough to make a sexy looking bottle and the gaul to charge $20 for it.
Ketel One : Wheat Grain : This vodka has gained quite a bit of momentum in the last year or two, it is of
high quality and the price is very fair at around $25 a bottle. I like it with Perrier or plain club soda;
whatever is available at the moment. The wheat lends a complex sweetness to the aftertaste, not a candy or
chocolate sweetness, more of a gluteny sweetness. Remember when you were a kid and you would make a ball
of white bread and stuff it in your mouth? Its like that. So stuff Kettle One in your mouth. Responsibly.
Grey Goose : Wheat Grain : The big dog. The next level. Sort of. Designated for creation by Sidney
Frank, the man who popularized Jagermeister as the “party shot” on every campus and dive bar in The
United States of America. At some point, he decided that the world needed a $30 bottle of vodka. No one
believed that Absolut could fetch $20 a bottle, but with a slick marketing campaign the likes of which
people collect as art for god sakes, it was insanely successful. So Mr. Frank applied his Jager tactics to
Grey Goose. He had it created by the Frenchman Jacques Cardin, as he believed the French made everything
better, and he started a grass roots campaign of getting it available in bars and having scantily clad,
really attractive women get men to try it. Grey Goose is very clean and has very little flavor, I would say
it tastes like distilled water out of a plastic jug. Y’know how you kind of taste the plastic? Its like
that. I wouldn’t mix it with anything else besides ice, unless you hate the taste of alcohol, then throw
it in some juice and you’ll taste nothing and be about $36 poorer. Crunk it!
Chopin : Potato : Most people think that all vodka’s are potato based. This is not the case. Most are
grain, few are potato based outside of bathtub distilled moonshine out of some basement in Poland.
The bottom line is that you can generate a much higher quality to cost using grain based ingredients. Still
there are a few polish distilleries carrying the torch and Chopin is, in my opinion, the premier of the
group. The taste is earthy and robust, but there is also a starchy sweetness to it. I would characterize
it as combining the Earthy elements of Absolut and the gluten based sweetness of Kettle One.
Belvedere : Rye Grain : Made by the same distillers as Chopin, Belvadere is a Rye based premium vodka. I
consider both to be high quality spirits, but neither are something to be enjoyed daily. Their taste is
distinct in nature, they stand out so much that I only have them when I am in the mood for that specific
flavor. So to me, they lack versatility. If you find yourself enamored with them and you can absorb their
lofty price points of $35 +, then please enjoy. The Rye in Belvadere really pops, it brings this kind of
‘dirty’ flavor and an earthy nature with a hint of salt and pumpernickel bread in the aftertaste.
Soooooo, this is my rundown of my favorite premium vodka spirits. If you’re a dedicated mixer, if you
enjoy your vodka with vanilla coke or cranberry juice or OJ, I suggest Smirnoff. It’s $14 a bottle, it’s
clean and it was my booze of choice through my first 3
years of college (and if you have access to Faygo, try Smirnoff and O’hana Lemonade, it’s the BEST).
Finlandia is also a very nice vodka for $13-14. If you are interested in the more refined spirits, I have
found I like this set of vodkas more than the Ciroc’s, Level’s and Crystal’s out there in regards to price
and quality. Enjoy!
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White Wine Review : C.M.S. by Hedges
November 12th, 2007I constantly espouse the virtues of wine coming out of the State of Washington. The price points are nice and low and the quality is exceptional. This C.M.S. by Hedges Winery is an unusual blend that is as unconventional as it is delightful. Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Marsanne make up this juice, you’ll find some light oak and a citrusy fragrance in the nose. It is a very light white wine, the product is very clear (star bright almost; you could read a book through a full glass) and there is a wisp of hay in the color. That’s all fine and dandy, but lets get to the serious business: how does it taste?
There is a rich acidity, you will feel a little burn and your mouth will water from the acids and the alcohol (It’s 13.5% if you’re interested). The flavor is very French in its nature with a little bit of ‘New World’ brashness in lieu of the ‘Old World’ mustiness. This is a crisp white, heavy with citrus notes on the tongue, but the finish is a lush, mellow oak and Vanilla that will delight you.
I would recommend this wine with food, think fish dishes like Salmon or Sea Bass and use fatty sauces that are cream based or just heavy in protein and oils (like Caesar Dressing). My friends and I enjoyed it with Havarti Cheese and fancy crackers. The Price point on the wine should be between $12-15 depending on where you’re shopping.
So be adventurous! I’ve had problems selling this wine because people don’t like to drink things they can’t pronounce. “Marsan.. ain… sany? What’s that?” It is a French grape, native to the Northern Rhone region.
It grows well in Washington apparently, granted its only 2% of the overall blend in the C.M.S.
Find this wine, buy this wine and I do hope you enjoy it!
PS - Do click the link to the winery and if you see that red varietal blend, pick that up. It should be a similar price point, it’s Cab, Merlot and Syrah and it’s unique and you can’t beat it for under $20.
You’re going to have to go to a wine shop for this product, I don’t think retail chains carry them so good luck and happy hunting!
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