2010 Bonny Doon Vineyard Vin Gris de Cigare

More Than Just a Summer Sipper

Today’s the 4th of July, and if you live outside the United States, perhaps that means nothing more to you than a date and a month. But for those of us who live in the USA, today is, of course, Independence Day.

And, for those of us who spent a grip of years in college studying Political Science,1 this is a particularly excellent holiday.

The proper way to celebrate gaining independence from British rule, and perhaps even more importantly, crafting a document like the Declaration of Independence2 can be summed up in three letters:

B. B. Q.

2010 Bonny Doon Vineyard Vin Gris de Cigare

Hopefully you are grilling the flesh of something dead today. If you’re a vegetarian, vegan, or other herbivorous type, then grill up some delicious fresh veggies. But break out the barbeque, sit out in the sun, maybe take in some baseball3 or just lounge at the park or by the pool. Catch some fireworks tonight.

But whatever you do, you’ll probably be drinking.4 Now, it might seem like a no-brainer that beer is not only a better choice for barbeques or other outside activities, but also a better choice for America FUCK YEAH Day. But to that, I say “pish-tosh.” Wine can be just what the doctor ordered on a hot day.

Take this wine, for instance. Seriously, have a sip. You didn’t think you like pink wine, did you? You do. Everyone does. Some people just don’t know it yet.

The 2010 Bonny Doon Vin Gris de Cigare is (like most Bonny Doon wine) a blend of Rhône varieties, predominantly grenache,5 and clocks in at a very reasonable 12.8% ABV.

In the glass, the Vin Gris is a salmony-peach color. Very pretty, and not as pink as what I think most people imagine when they picture a rosé in their mind. On the nose are wonderfully-fragrant notes of peach and apricot, and a whiff of strawberry.

On the palate, the wine has a light body and a medium-length finish. Notes of peach and strawberry mingle with very faint hints of bread or toast, and the wine is ever-so-slightly frizzante.6

It’s delicious. And perfect to break out for your summer barbecues. Highly recommended.

Price Point: $12-$16

Footnotes

  1. Yup. ↩
  2. That took balls. ↩
  3. Despite the popularity of NFL and NASCAR, I would remind my readers that baseball is still America’s Pastime™ ↩
  4. Please drink responsibly. ↩
  5. Roussanne, grenache blanc, and mourvèdre are also part of the par-tay. ↩
  6. Meaning it’s a bit bubbly. But not actually bubbly, of course. ↩

2009 Intelligent Design Cuvée Blanc

Minerals and Acid: White Wine’s Best

I think it’s incredibly important for every wine drinker, of every level of experience and knowledge, to learn what they like. I can tell you all about what I taste in a wine, I can talk about the balance, the acid and the sugar, the alcohol and the tannin, and on and on. But, as Jim Morris of Michel-Schlumberger once told my wife Heather and me, while we sat and sipped his winery’s stellar pinot blanc, “There are two kinds of wine in this world: yummy wine and yucky wine. Drink the yummy wine.”

Jim’s right, of course. While it’s a simplified view of wine that doesn’t make for compelling wine writing, the long and short of wine is enjoyment. Do you (or I, or anyone else) enjoy the wine you (or I, or that other person) are drinking?

2009 Intelligent Design Cuvee Blanc

It takes time to learn what you like, of course. There are plenty of people out there just drinking wine willy-nilly, making no mind of what it is about a specific wine they like. Is it the fruit? The acid? The alcohol? The astringent texture? The long finish? Is there nothing in particular that they do like, they just find the wine inoffensive?

Ambivalence is the most sinister emotion of the heart. Its darkenss sneaks up on us, takes us unaware, and makes us feel, well, nothing. And nothing is worse than nothing.

I say all this to bring up the following point: I know what I like. And when it comes to white wine, I know I like minerality, and chalk. I like acid, and crisp, clean flavor notes.

Luckily for me, this wine delivers on all those points.

The 2009 Intelligent Design Cuveé Blanc from Wesley Ashley Wines is a Central Coast blend of 50% viognier, 30% rousanne, and 20% grenache blanc.

The Rhône varietal blend expertly balances a not-insignificant 14.1% alcohol by volume. In the glass, it’s a lemony straw yellow, with the faintest hint of green. On the nose is a wonderful mix of fruit (apple and lemon), a custardy element, and some grassy, floral elements. My wife commented that the wine “almost smelled like beer,” and I think there is an herby, hoppy element to the floral notes on the nose.

The wine is light bodied, crisp and clean. Not much fruit on the palate, but great acid and some nice grassy notes. The finish is long, with tight, crisp mineral and chalk notes. There’s even this slight skinless almond note on the finish, really cool and different.

This wine is excellent. It’s really awesome, and more than that, it’s right up my alley. If you’re a big oaky-buttery chardonnay person when it comes to white wine, maybe this won’t be up yours.

But if your taste buds tingle and your mouth waters at the sounds of “mineral,” “chalk,” and “acid” when it comes to your white wine… well, what are you waiting for? Intelligent Design is the natural selection for your obviously-evolved palate.

Price Point: $34

Pairing Wine With 1990s Sitcoms: Married… With Children

Married… With Children

Love and marriage,
Love and marriage,
Go together like a horse and carriage…

Has Frank Sinatra ever been used in a more ironic way?

From L to R: Marcy D'Arcy, Bud Bundy, Peggy Bundy, Al Bundy, Lucky Bundy, Kelly Bundy, Jefferson D'Arcy

From L to R: Marcy D'Arcy, Bud Bundy, Peggy Bundy, Al Bundy, Lucky Bundy, Kelly Bundy, Jefferson D'Arcy

I loved this show. Al Bundy was a hero of mine, but not in the traditional way we think of heroes. He was everything—literally, everything—I did not want to be. He hated his job. He barely put up with his wife. No one respected him, least of all his family. He was perhaps television’s greatest all-time cautionary tale.

And I loved him for it.

Sure, there were times when the Bundys put aside their nigh-sociopathic vitriol for not just one another, but for people as a whole, and came together as a family. Chants of “Whoooooooaa BUNDY!” were rare but certainly not unheard of. Peg certainly was in love with Al, even against her own better judgment most of the time. And the kids, Kelly and Bud, were reminded on occasion that their parents loved them, and that they required their assistance to live.

Bud as "Grandmaster B"

Yes, even you, Grandmaster B.

The show followed the trials and tribulations of the mythical Bundy family. Al and Peggy, and their kids, Kelly and Bud. The Bundys live in suburban Chicago, and are pretty much loathed by everyone. Al sells women’s shoes at the local mall, and hates it. He still lives in the past, when as the star running back for Polk High, he scored four touchdowns in one game: the 1966 city championship against rival Johnson High.

He will remind anyone of this fact, any time. It’s quite literally all he’s got left. The show opened with the famous dulcet tones of one Frank Sinatra:

So what wine could possibly go with this show? I doubt Al Bundy ever drank a single sip of wine in his life.

But Peg probably drank a lot of boxed wine.

Doesn’t matter the type, barely matters what it tastes like. It’s plonk, but it’s cheap and it’s plentiful and it takes longer to run out of it, which necessitates a trip to the store. This is akin to work, and is therefore something Peggy Bundy abhors.

So that’s the pairing: boxed wine. Don’t care which, because I bet Peg Bundy didn’t care, either.

Some boxed wines I can heartily recommend… avoiding: