Hello, you need to enable JavaScript to use this network.
Please check your browser settings or contact your system administrator.
Please check your browser settings or contact your system administrator.
For People Who Drink Wine - and Do Other Stuff Good Too
Oldest winery in Napa Valley - check
Strong taste of dirt (good thing) - check
Enjoyed by others - check
I hate to waste my alcohol consumption on everyday red wine, but Beringer has allways been very enjoyable. It will not g…
Posted by Gabe Holmes on July 3rd, 2008 at 5:28pm — No Comments
If Prince Charles can do it I can do it.
Who needs corn based ethanol and Brazil's Flex cars powered from sugar cane when u have wine. When the UK Telegraph mentions wine as a fuel for Prince Edwards car I wonder why there is no commodity exchange that allows me to buy into the future price of jug wine.
Posted by Gabe Holmes on June 30th, 2008 at 6:33pm — No Comments
I have had so much luck with Spring Mountain District in northern Napa that I spent a day checking out Howell Mountain on the other side of St Helena. Out of pure cha…
Posted by Gabe Holmes on June 27th, 2008 at 10:38am — 1 Comment
I am becoming more and more intrigued with Washington State wine and decided to venture over to KandL and give the CMS blend a whirl. Very light and tight for the first half hour, but starts to open up over time leading to r…
Posted by Gabe Holmes on June 25th, 2008 at 6:06pm — No Comments
I am yet to see the movie (as well as literally all but one movie in the theatres in the last 12 months), but Adam Sandler gets down with…
Posted by Gabe Holmes on June 23rd, 2008 at 5:59pm — No Comments
I recently started a wine club for Israeli Wines: http://IsraelWineCompany.com
A lot has been written lately about this new and up and coming region of the world (not just war, but wine too!!)
One of the last shipments for the wine club included Rimon Pomegranate Dessert Wine. If you like Cannonball, this will knock your suit off. It is actually imported by someone in the Cannonball Company...
I have tasting notes on my site, but it reminds me of that first rain in the fal…
Try their gilled lobster flown in daily from Maine or their Salmon sashimi and u will not be disspointed. I even was a fan of both Spatlese German Rieslings that were available for under 50 bucks a bottle. The view is great. The food is great. A little pricey,…
Posted by Gabe Holmes on June 22nd, 2008 at 8:37am — 1 Comment
It's that time of year again. Go here and get your tickets for Pinot Days '08. If you've never been to one of these events, they are off the hook - two football field sized warehouses with tasting tables lining the sides and center with Pinot from all over the west coast. You can go and generally get to know your pinot, find some choice wines you'll…
Posted by William White on June 18th, 2008 at 1:36pm — 1 Comment
I'm torn. On one hand I crave meat after workouts. On the other hand studies show vegie people tend to perform better over time. Considering Prince Fielder (guy in picture) weighs almost 300 pounds and is a vegan, I think it is safe to say Vegetarianism d…
Posted by Gabe Holmes on June 17th, 2008 at 4:31pm — 1 Comment
William Cross Wine Merchants
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
6-9pm
German Wines
In honor of Riesling Week
Any excuse to taste German Wines is all I need, but a national campaign for Riesling Week seemed
too easy. So, get ready for a good dose of Riesling, along with a Silvaner and Pinot Noir. These are
some of the most food friendly wines, along with a high degree of yumminess.
So get your lederhosen and come on by.
2005 Dr. Heyden Pinot Noir…
Posted by Gabe Holmes on June 17th, 2008 at 3:14pm — No Comments
Champagne would have been appropriate as we bombed towards Jenner beach in the Russian River Valley blasting Chromeo on repeat in our rented white Chrysler Sebring convertible. It's not a super fancy car - but a novelty against the citicarshare scions or Ford Focus which are more reasonable weekend warrior road trippers.
Once in Russian River Valley we stayed in a charming little camp ground - the majority of whi…
Posted by William White on June 16th, 2008 at 2:57pm — 2 Comments
For the third time this year I was blown away with Wellington Vineyard's Noir de Noir. The grape is…
Posted by Gabe Holmes on June 14th, 2008 at 12:49pm — 2 Comments
Sometimes it is good to have Karma on your side.
According to the San Jose Press, the Bonny Doon tasting room survives the drastic forrest fire north of Santa Cruz. Considernig their grapes are g…
Posted by Gabe Holmes on June 13th, 2008 at 11:54am — 3 Comments
I had Qualimotcho (sp?) when I was in Spain ten years ago. TIME TO GET CREATIVE.
Posted by Gabe Holmes on June 11th, 2008 at 8:25pm — No Comments
Its not too surprising that Stalin's favorite wine is from h…
Posted by A Holmes on June 10th, 2008 at 2:24pm — 2 Comments
After years of seaking out the "everyday red wine", I have found my magic touch. Like the Dutch crushing the Italians in Euro 8 I needed a wine that just flat out beats the competition. Serious tannin. Serious fruit up front. I would never guess this guy…
Posted by Gabe Holmes on June 9th, 2008 at 8:36pm — 2 Comments
Posted by Gabe Holmes on June 8th, 2008 at 9:10am — 2 Comments
Cellar Defender: A term referring to dri…
Posted by William White on June 6th, 2008 at 1:58pm — 3 Comments
I use the word "tight" when describing wine as much as:
"dark fruit"
"serious"
"unbelievable"
"this guy"
In reality this guy is as tight as they come. It is so tight I cannot even drink it. I find a lot of Italian wine to be a bi…
Posted by Gabe Holmes on June 2nd, 2008 at 7:50pm — 3 Comments
Posted by Gabe Holmes on May 31st, 2008 at 12:49pm — No Comments
Half of SF's wine store owners have mentioned to me that the Golden Glass tasting event in SF is a must attend. This event used to be exclusive to Italian wines, but now includes all of the exciting new world countries. Where else in San Francisco will u be able to taste the different terroirs of South Africa's Stellenbosch District?
Posted by Gabe Holmes on May 31st, 2008 at 12:33pm — No Comments
Posted by Gabe Holmes on May 31st, 2008 at 12:28pm — 1 Comment
A while back I mentioned Brunello di Montalcino wine producers were caught mislabeling their hot shot italian wine. Now our US government is giving them 25 days to get with the program. Personally, I love Brunello di Montalcino's (even though I usually go Rosso) and I am fine with a little bit of mislabeling if the product…
Posted by Gabe Holmes on May 29th, 2008 at 4:20pm — No Comments
I had the luxury of having dinner with Liquidnet Founder Seth Merrin two weeks ago. (Think this guy age forty five.) Unfort…
Posted by Gabe Holmes on May 29th, 2008 at 4:06pm — No Comments
This post is not me. In fact, i cut and Paste it from a buddies IM. I would not spend 4 grand on a bottle of wine. I would rather buy a 40 dollar bottle of wine form the 100 best wine producing countries in the world.
1997 Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon ($3900.00) 100 points Robert Parker:
"It doesn't get any better than 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon, a perfect wine. Representing the essence of cassis liqueur intermixed with blackberries, minerals, licorice, and to…
Posted by Gabe Holmes on May 29th, 2008 at 12:26pm — 1 Comment
Posted by Gabe Holmes on May 26th, 2008 at 2:09pm — No Comments
A new young mind in central California went ahead and invented a new alternative to wine corks. He even got 15,000 in funding. A different cork for different wines will be a huge benefit to the wine world.
Posted by Gabe Holmes on May 25th, 2008 at 7:07am — 1 Comment
San Francisco's new soul food hotspot, 1300, brings the heat,…
Posted by Gabe Holmes on May 24th, 2008 at 1:10pm — 1 Comment
Justin Hughes of Baraka tells me, "the wine is fantastic, but the label is a little off". However, the wine clerk at William Cross is fine with the label. He looked at me very wierd when I mentioned I found the label to be a little two-buck-chuckish as well.…
Posted by Gabe Holmes on May 21st, 2008 at 4:12pm — No Comments
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUZNw7h96WU&feature=related
Can anyone understand what the guy screams before throwing it?
Posted by Gabe Holmes on May 21st, 2008 at 4:05pm — 3 Comments
Most wine store owners barely know where Slovenia is. It usually takes them a few seconds to think through other Eastern European wines they c…
Posted by Gabe Holmes on May 19th, 2008 at 6:56pm — No Comments
A comparison of the 2008 presidential candidates to South American Red Wine
…
Posted by Gabe Holmes on May 19th, 2008 at 11:07am — 1 Comment
Norman Vineyards down in Paso Robles, (you may have heard of their "Monster Zin"), produces a "no nonsense" red blend, which is a bi…
Posted by Gabe Holmes on May 18th, 2008 at 7:40pm — 1 Comment
Straight from New Orleans, Galactic brings the funk.
…
Posted by Gabe Holmes on May 17th, 2008 at 10:02am — 1 Comment
I went to a Wine 2.0 tasting a few weeks ago and the Cannonball stood out against thirty other California red wines. Very big and jammy with some serious red rasberry notes. If u like "California Zins" I would give the cannonball a shot. As two buddies and me…
Posted by Gabe Holmes on May 17th, 2008 at 9:51am — 1 Comment
Posted by Gabe Holmes on May 17th, 2008 at 9:46am — No Comments
Robert Mondavi passed away today at the ripe age of 94. The venerable Hugh Heffner of the California wine community may have been the singlest most important individual to have gnarled his years away in Napa Valley.
Posted by William White on May 16th, 2008 at 5:13pm — No Comments
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/girl-scout-sells-17328-boxes-of-cookies/20080515113709990001
OK, so 17,238 boxes may not add up to exactly 200K cookies, but it is still significant.
Posted by Gabe Holmes on May 15th, 2008 at 12:39pm — 2 Comments
Only the NY Post would keep me this hip.
* textual relations: text-message dirty talk
* OMFG: oh my bleeping God
* a - - hat: a stupid person
* gnar gnar: even better than gnarly
* cowboy up: be a man
* wizard: cool
* toolbox: a bigger tool than a regular tool
* trunk full of crunk: a car trunk with alcohol
* dormcest: sex betwee…
Posted by Gabe Holmes on May 14th, 2008 at 2:55pm — 5 Comments
The tasting evnet is supposed to only be for industry insiders, but I am sure non -industry people could get creative to get a pass.
Here is the link for more info:
http://explorer.oregonwine.org/events_industry.php?id=27&action=info
There will be literally 50 killer producers. The wines will mostly be mom and pop shops.
Posted by Gabe Holmes on May 12th, 2008 at 11:39am — No Comments
This was a good grab at K&L San Francisco after seeing the Giants tear apart Philly this past Saturday. I don't usually spend money on older wine - this one is a '96 - let alone the inflated French stuff, but the bottle was in the 20 to 30 dollar range and…
Posted by William White on May 11th, 2008 at 8:17pm — 1 Comment
Justin Wines are big and crowd pleasing, but there grapes are mostly outsourced from other Paso Robles vineyards.
Carmody McKnight was one of the first Paso wineries and sold part of the vineyard to Justin about twenty years ago. The…
Posted by Gabe Holmes on May 11th, 2008 at 2:13pm — No Comments
Yelpers are 50/50. I am 50/50. I thought the food was much better than, Limon. Yes - I think Limon in the Mission is way overated. Essencia is too small and there is n…
Posted by Gabe Holmes on May 10th, 2008 at 12:15pm — 2 Comments
Posted by A Holmes on May 8th, 2008 at 12:44pm — 5 Comments
Now where can I buy this fella?
Posted by Gabe Holmes on May 7th, 2008 at 8:41am — 3 Comments
Try serving your red wine 55 degrees as opposed to the usual 65 degree room temperture and u will not be dissapointed. I allways thought the rule of thumb was colder tempertures will only bring out the acidity and subtle flavors in red wine. A cooler serving temperture will make even the big warm weather red wines taste that much better.
Michael Bauer agrees with me.
Posted by Gabe Holmes on May 5th, 2008 at 7:20pm — 1 Comment
There are over eight grape varieties in this red wine blend, including Gewürztraminer. Why…
Posted by Gabe Holmes on May 4th, 2008 at 12:19pm — 1 Comment
Biondovino, which is on Green and Polk, is pouring four top notch Chianti Classico's on Wed. William Cross, whch is four doors down, is also doing their usual Wednesday tasting. Anyone down for a Polk street wine crawl?
…
Posted by Gabe Holmes on May 3rd, 2008 at 10:53am — No Comments
Alder, the man behind Vinography.com, says Screaming Eagle has skipped the latest Napa tasting event for industry and press. Are these guys too cult for their own g…
Posted by Gabe Holmes on May 3rd, 2008 at 10:42am — 1 Comment
How about a recommendation on a wine tour/tasting event in the Washington DC area? Anyone?...Bueller??
Posted by Rob Griffin on May 2nd, 2008 at 8:50am — 1 Comment
OK
So I hit up what I thought was every possible "good" winery in Paso other than Turley. Turley is a Napa Firm buying up a local vineyard because they like the old vines. But why did I miss Linne Colado? They have a blend called the Nemsis. Note to self: never disapprove of a Paso blend with the southern Rhone veriatals. I feel like I could order online and still purchase a home run. Just ask…
Posted by Gabe Holmes on May 1st, 2008 at 9:14pm — 3 Comments
I had the opportunity to try a '85 Mouton Rothchild tonight. We are talking crazy old school - as in brown color and silky smooth tecture that allows u to taste the earth and the soft tannin. Is it worth the one grand price tag? I am fifty fifty. On one hand u get an experience unlike any other new world wine meant to be drank within two years of bottling. On the other hand I could buy one hundred bottles of 2005 Argentinian Cabernet Malbec's and call it a day.
Posted by Gabe Holmes on May 1st, 2008 at 9:06pm — 1 Comment
Posted by mimi on April 29th, 2008 at 10:58am — 3 Comments
If you are not a fan of long blog posts I would skip down to my snippets below. It provides enough rand…
Posted by Gabe Holmes on April 28th, 2008 at 7:44pm — 4 Comments
Posted by A Holmes on April 28th, 2008 at 5:38pm — 1 Comment
I am at this tasting event and the winemaker for Modus Operandi says, "that is funny, I take wine to the face all the time". This is the same guy who fully admits he is a "lush". I am diggin the fellow open minded wine nut.…
Posted by Gabe Holmes on April 24th, 2008 at 10:30pm — No Comments
Posted by A Holmes on April 24th, 2008 at 11:17am — No Comments
Posted by A Holmes on April 24th, 2008 at 10:29am — No Comments
Posted by A Holmes on April 23rd, 2008 at 12:15pm — 7 Comments
Murphy Goode is an old school label from Central Sonoma(Note to self- it is located right next to the Casino), which to me stands by the sweat of earth ethos of Sonoma. Why change the label and create a new marketing campaign? I am nervous. Will Murphy Goode…
Posted by Gabe Holmes on April 22nd, 2008 at 7:58pm — No Comments
by Mimi Toro
For those of us who aren’t quite clear about the origins or meaning of the prepositional phrase, “to the face,” a brief debriefing:
Dating back to the golden ages of fledging wine exploration and the founding of the secret brotherhood of the Face, this phrase was uttered as a right of passage for those who wished to cross the threshold and enter the infamous secret enclave of the Order, a site later identified by anthropologists as 1545 Larkin (recently excavated f…
Posted by mimi on April 22nd, 2008 at 10:43am — 7 Comments
Who's down for a free indie rock / electra fiesta at the Mezzanine on Wednesday? You can check out their tunes here.
I plan on serial crushing a few bottles of slightly nice / slightly expensive california red wines at my place before hand. Maybe some Tecate as well. I don't know. I don't know if I'll have enough time.
For all you music video junkies - this one is…
Posted by A Holmes on April 21st, 2008 at 8:41pm — 2 Comments
If Chris rocked the Blackbird Cabernet blend in Night at the Rocksberry he would have more swagger, more vibe and yes - even more style. T…
Posted by Gabe Holmes on April 21st, 2008 at 7:07pm — 3 Comments
I love Monterey. I love its aquarium. But when a Monterey wine is sponsoring a corporate mega star it is a little bit discomforting. You can see it for yourself.
Posted by Gabe Holmes on April 21st, 2008 at 7:00am — 1 Comment
I am chillin with the Leo Hillinger 2006 Zweigelt and I am starting to form an opinion.
Zweigelt is a grape related to the Blaufrankisch (I checked to make sure I spell…
Posted by Gabe Holmes on April 20th, 2008 at 5:52pm — No Comments
Posted by Gabe Holmes on April 20th, 2008 at 5:32pm — No Comments
Posted by Gabe Holmes on April 20th, 2008 at 5:08pm — No Comments
I am used to the semi sweet sparkling wines of north west Italy that reek of fruit and are impossible to not like.
With a very big mouth feel and less flavor per bubble than the usual semi sweet wines I was no…