Linkin’ logs: 1-17-17
Time for drinking wine on the cheap, from everywhere (except maybe a nasty autocrat’s stash), via the World Wine Web:
• Can’t we all just get along? While California’s grape and marijuana growers remain at odds over water and workers, here comes the first Wine & Weed Symposium.
• Couple of really good lists, and not just because they include wines I’ve recommended before :o): Eric Asimov’s 20 winter reds and Nick Passmore’s 10 best European reds under $20.
• I’m not linking to Blake Gray’s post because I’m quoted in it :o), but rather because he makes a damn good point: Korbel is making some super sparkling juice for the price.
• Yessir: VinePair, usually aiming for “edge,” endorses trying everything but the “trendy” wines in 2017.
• One of the last people in the world I’d want to drink wine with is Vladimir Putin, but taking a gander at his cellar is sorta kinda fun.
• Finally, a bit of vinous verse:
a justly beloved winery. Especially given its price, this pinot has surpassing elegance and beauty, not to mention deliciousness (OK, I just mentioned it). Lovely red fruit, picked at optimum ripeness, and superb structure are hallmarks of this beauty. And what a lovely, deep finish, pure and persistent. It seems that one of Oregon’s first wineries – Dick Erath made his first batch in 1965 – is still one its best. Like all good pinots, this baby calls for roasted veggies or fowl, especially a recipe from the incomparable Ina Garten’s latest book, 
for special occasions, like the 2012 
• One of my panel’s weirdest categories was “de-alcoholized wines,” a first for my fellow panelists and myself. After trying and spitting the first one, a quite tasty Brut, I blurted out, “Wait a minute! We can swallow.”
the help.) Also learned that Kent and his daughter Shonna, at their current winery 
Sparkling: Korbel, 2013 Brut, Russian River Valley
• As we all are aware, tomorrow, Jan. 9, is National Cassoulet Day. Here’s 
• I have friends who are major devotees of 
“A person with increasing knowledge and sensory education may derive infinite enjoyment from wine.”
well-being and delight. Drinking wine was not a snobbism nor a sign of sophistication nor a cult; it was as natural as eating and to me as necessary.” – From “A Moveable Feast”
“I drank a bottle of wine for company. It was Château Margaux. It was pleasant to be drinking slowly and to be tasting the wine and to be drinking alone. A bottle of wine was good company.”
most promising ever based on our 4-hour lunch. Eyrie, Roco and even A to Z showed beautifully, and many others were quite worth trying and buying. And these were just the appellation wines, the basic stuff. We capped it with a Thomas Dundee Hills Pinot Noir from my cellar. This is a nigh onto perfect wine, and it’s understandable why it has developed a cult following of people who want to keep it to themselves. (Oops.). The ’14 showed incredible aromatics, with a dense but pristine nose, then incredible fruit tucked into spot-on tannins and acid. Its utter harmony make it fabulous now and indicate that it could age for decades.
he took a hard line on alcohol levels in wine, which produced a fascinating thread featuring many vintners 
• But wait, there’s more: “suberous: like cork in appearance and texture” … And a word I had of course heard at holiday time but never fully understood: “wassail: to drink to the health or success of; toast. 2. to revel with drinking.”
ever — is the 2009 
• When to comes to bubbles, it might be 
• The morals of drinking wine, especially at lunch, are examined 