The World's Most Important Wine Book

...is a comic! I seriously can't wait for the English release of Drops of God on October 4. Read the hilarious article from Gilt Taste HERE. I know I sure swoon over a man's decanting skills---soooooo hot.

♥ Devon

Recent Tastes

2001 Rauzan Segla (Margaux, France) &
2002 Thelema Cabernet (Stellenbosch, South Africa)
with bone marrow by Little Bird.
After this meal, we can all can die happy.

Enso Winery's newly bottled Mourvèdre.
Keep an eye out for this sultry & spicy wine after it's Autumn release. 

A night of Pinot with Phelps Creek and Domaine Drouhin. Yum!

Battle rosè!
Provence vs. Bandol.
Castel des Maures vs. Domaine Ott.
Who takes home the trophy?!
Well, we do---for getting to drink these incredible wines!

On the Waterfront

More Mourvèdre?! I must be addicted or something. I just enjoyed a bodacious bottle of Zerba Mourvèdre on a spectacular evening spent snacking on the riverfront at Thrist Wine Bar.

Zerba has some pretty offerings coming out of Washington. Their 2007 Mourvèdre---blended with 10% of each Syrah & Grenache (remember GSM?)---is all fruit harvested from the Columbia Valley. This wine is pretty much sold out, but their 2008 GSM (33% each varietal from Walla Walla, WA) is on my list of wines to try. 

What jumbled mess of descriptors did I scribble on my napkin? So glad you asked: Intense ripe juicy blackberries. Rich red licorice and sultry coconut lime vanilla. Hawaiian hibiscus sexy vacay with a touch of spice. Toasted cedar. Fresh roasted hazelnuts. Earthy mushroom. Phenom tannins, ultra complex extremely lengthy but bright blue-blackberry spritz. The best artisan dark chocolate liqueur-filled truffle ever. Subtle. Regal. Silky. Beautiful.

And as Brent so admiringly phrased, "Man, that nose is just bombastically good."

Film Taste

Watching a movie should be an experience; I just can't help but fall into the ditch with every character. So I started thinking, "what pairs best with what we watch?" We've matched loads of drinks with tasty food on Blush Naked, and now it's time for the next level in ultimate pairing!

The Flick: Control

Here we delve into the abstruse tortured life of Joy Division's Ian Curtis. The film is jam-packed with apathetic brooding and bleak indecisiveness oozing from the enigmatic front-man. Be warned: intense melancholy may last for days following your Control experience, but it's totally worth it.

On the Table:

British cask ale (at room temp)---we are, after all, enjoying some English history.

Black Russians (1 part Kahlua + 2 parts Vodka over ice)---dark & lamenting.

A bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey---smooth but intense for maximum agony.

A pack of cigarettes

Plenty of painkillers

Get the following day off work. Ruminate. Maybe next time we'll enjoy a more "uplifting" movie...

Grillin n' Chillin

Check out these bad-boys!

friends + grill + sunshine = excellent excuse for celebration (math is fun!)

Charlie's backyard chickens were sure pleased that we were grilling cow. We needed something in the realm of juicy-savory-spicy-sultry to pair with a rockin marinated tri-tip, so after enjoying our food-prep aperitifs we uncorked a few winning bottles (and a little 5th growth Bordeaux thanks to papa Wassenmiller! How awesome is life? So awesome!) We scarfed down roasted beets and loads of veggies from Charlie's own micro-farm, leaving us with dufus-sized grins on our faces.

. . . eats . . .

salted cucumber salad.

roasted red beets with sliced avocado, blueberries, nuts, and crumbled goat cheese.

grilled tri-tip steak, marinated teriyaki style & seasoned to juicy perfection.

. . . drinks . . .

Ridge 2009 Paso Robles Zinfandel

light n' spicy yum yum fruit! We know what that tastes like... right?!

Château Cantemerle 2000 Haut-Médoc

earthy heaven, D'Artagnan! now THAT's a haut bottle! ;)

Revisited

We opened this Artist Series Meritage a little over a year ago and loved it; thanks to papa Braun we got to take put our tastebuds on a flashback montage. That's right: whoa, smokey-slate! Vanilla-blueberry-chocolate-cake! Yes, amaretto-cured-cocktail-cherries! Bam, silky-smooth-juicy-awesomeness! Thank you Chateau Ste Michelle for making something that rocks my socks like it's 2001.

What it's all about

In the bottle---It's Meritage, baby! That means we get all the tasty Bordeaux grapes in one pretty bottle. 

Fine wines---Chateau SM makes a ton of vino, but in celebration of artisan winemaking and fine art, they've been creating an array of really neat "Artist Series" wines since 1993. This 2001 Meritage features a sculpted glass piece by Richard Marquis.

Stats---the fruit comes from Columbia Valley, Washington. At 14.2% abv, this wine should be hot, but we think it's quite nicely balanced. Unfortunately this wine is all gone, but it used to cost a cool $Ulysses S Grant.

As Enrique Iglesias likes to say, I like it; and as Billy Idol once expressed, I want more more more.

Summer Evenings in Stumptown

Backyard picnicking with good friends goes really well with a little Viognier and Evening Land's Gamay Celebrations. And Syncline is doing some tasty things up in Red Mountain, WA, and heck, it may be the hottest week of the year (I hope!) but we can't get enough Mourvèdre---ever.

I recently described my love for the Mourvèdre grape (and it's difficult pronunciation) to a coworker who replied "Ooo---sounds kindof erotic!" Indeed, the stuff is chalk-full of magical, manly, meaty awesomeness. Syncline is, sadly, totally sold out of their 2009, but if you have an approaching special occasion and are interested in sampling this bewitching grape, here's a quick guide to finding the stuff:

Mourvèdre is a variety of many names, which can get a touch confusing. Remember: Mourvèdre (or Balzac) in France; Montastrell in Spain; Mataró in Australia + Portugal.

Bodacious blends: Mourvèdre, Grenache, and Syrah make for one abfab blend of the classic Rhone varieties, affectionately known as GSM.

From where? Bandol (on the Mediterranean coast of France) gives us kick-ass Mourvèdre, and gorgeous rosés for summer sipping; You're probably safe buying any wine from here or the surrounding Provence region.

We love:

Domain Tempier (France > Provence > Bandol) Mourvèdre, Grenache, Cinsault (Syrah, Carignan in some blends.)

Chateau Salettes (France > Provence > Bandol) Mourvèdre, Grenache, Carignan.

Bunell Cellars (Washington > Whaluke Slope) 100% Mourvèdre. 

Torbreck Cuvee Juveniles (Australia > Barossa Valley) Grenache, Shiraz, Mataró.

Happy hunting!