Archive for the ‘Wine & The Holidays’ Category

Something Special To Celebrate This New Year’s Eve: The Emancipation Proclamation

December 29, 2012

I spent a great many years as a professional songwriter and musician, and have now been in the wine business for a fair amount of years as well. And in both lives, New Year’s Eve looms large.

For a musician, the night is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, you HAVE to gig. It’s the best pay of the year. You can often make in a single night what you’d make in a month otherwise. But on the other hand, it’s the worst gig of the year; everyone is loaded, and behaving like … well, you get the idea.

For those of us in the drinks business, the New Year’s Eve conversations tend to all be about … well, drinking.

What to drink, where to drink, when to drink, with whom to drink, how much to drink, etc.

There also tends to be the requisite reconciliations of lament and hope, regret and redoublement, burial and birth, farewell and hello, the old and the new.

Truth be told, we’ve been raising cups of kindness for auld lang syne since long before even ol’ Robert Burns penned his immortal verses.

All of which is alright, I suppose, to a point.

But if you’re interested in tapping a different wellspring of celebration this New Year’s Eve, you might consider the Emancipation Proclamation, and Watch Night.

January 1st, 2013, will mark the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation’s issuance, making this New Year’s Eve the 150th anniversary of a Watch Night like no other.

Watch Night itself technically predates that deeply anticipatory eve back in 1892; it ostensibly began in 1740, inaugurated by the Reverend John Wesley — founder of the Methodist Church — as a spiritual alternative to the holiday debauchment already so de rigueur.

But the night took on a far deeper significance in 1862, when Black Americans in all corners of the young and tortured country waited through the night for news that they were going to be free.

By the President of the United States of America:

A Proclamation.

Whereas, on the twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a proclamation was issued by the President of the United States, containing, among other things, the following, to wit:

“That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free …

No, the Emancicpation Proclamation did not officially end slavery. The 13th Amendment did that in 1865. But what it did do was clearly tell a brutally suppressed, oppressed, and enslaved people that their country believed in their freedom, and would see it realized.

So this New Year’s Eve, among the many toasts you raise, you might wish to include one to freedom.

And then one to the spirits of those brave enough and noble enough and kind enough and courageous enough and humane enough and true enough and pure enough and deep enough and real enough to recognize that we are all one, and that no system of governance should exist in immoral defiance of this truth.

And then raise one to the better angels within yourself; that you too might enact this truth in every moment of your life.

We are all one.

–

To read the full Emancipation Proclamation, please click here:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h1549t.html

514_pg01

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Posted in History, Viticultural Salmagundi, Wine & Spirituality, Wine & The Holidays | 2 Comments »

Our Annual Post: The Ballad of Old Saint Wine -or- ‘Twas The Night Before

December 24, 2012

‘Twas The Night Before: The Ballad Of Old Saint Wine, The Holiday Wine Elf

‘Twas the night before tomorrow

and all through the kitchen

not a bottle was decanted

not even the Lytton

And the wine rack was set

on the counter with care

in hopes that new bottles

soon would be there

Kids the world over

all snug in their beds

as visions of verticals

danced in my head

And mama with a zin,

(a magnum, not a fifth)

was trying to bribe me

to wrap up some gifts

When out on the lawn

there arose such a clatter

I sprang from the floor

to see what was the matter

Away to the window

to see what I’d find

I pulled on the cord

and opened the blinds

The moon on the breast

of the new-fallen snow

branches making shadows

like the prongs of an Ah So

When what, to my wondering

eyes should appear

But an American Oak barrel

pulled by 6 strong wine-deer

And a little old driver

on the barrel, supine

and I knew in a moment

it must be Saint Wine!

More rapid than pump-overs

the wine-deer they came

and he whistled and shouted

and called them by name

“Now Merlot, now Syrah,

now you too Chardonnay

On Zin, on Grenache,

and on Cabernet!

To the top of the porch,

to the top of the wall

now dash away, dash away

dash away all!”

So up to the house-top

the wine-deer, they flew

with that neutral oak barrel

and Old Saint Wine too!

And then in a twinkling

I heard on the roof

the prancing and pawing

of each little hoof

As I drew in my head

and was turning around

down the chimney St. Wine

came with a bound

He was dressed all in grapeskins

from his head to his foot

and his tannins were tarnished

with ashes and soot

And a casebox of wine

he flung on his shoulder

A fine mix of vintages

from younger to older

His dimples, how merry

his eyes, such a blue

his teeth, once so white

now a purplish hue!

His moist little mouth

was open to speak

As his beard, white as snow

lined with thin purple streaks

The stump of a cigar

on his lip, balanced handily

with the smoke reaching upwards

like leaves in the canopy

He had a broad face

a little round belly

that shook when he laughed

like Cabernet jelly

He was chubby and plump

a right tipsy old elf

and I laughed when I saw him

in spite of myself

A wink of his eye

and a twist of his head

soon gave me to know

I had nothing to dread

He hummed to himself

then, as if just to tempt me

he filled up the wine rack

‘til no slot was empty

And laying his finger

aside of his nose

and giving a nod

up the chimney he rose

He sprang to his barrel

to the team gave a sign

and away they all flew

like the dew on a vine

But I heard him exclaim

in the winter moonshine

A good wine to all,

and to all a good wine.

RidgeSnow

(written with both respect for, and apologies to, Clement Clarke Moore, the author of the original “The Night Before Christmas”)

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Posted in Wine & The Holidays | Leave a Comment »

December 17th

December 13, 2012

Greetings all,

Just a quick and practical letter to everyone; while I concede I am prone to the occasional bout of long-windedness on this blog, I do pride myself on at least occasionally offering a somewhat more concretized and tangible set of benefits to the reader, and this is one such occasion in which I wish to drop some solid and practical science:

To wit, and for your reference, if you wish to send Ridge wines to anyone for the holidays, it is important that you place your order by December 17th (at least, if you wish your gift to arrive by the 25th, for that Xmas sort of feeling …).

holiday-delivery-01

Now, the 17th of December, while selected in this incidence essentially for logistical reasons, actually has some tangentially interesting relevance as regards wine and its myriad worlds.

For example, it was on this date back in 1777 that France officially recognized The United States of America. An event they may or may not have come to regret. (See: Phylloxera and The Judgment of Paris!).

1976: The Judgment of Paris

1976: The Judgment of Paris

Going a bit farther back into the weaving mists of time, it is worth noting that December 17th also marks the passing from this mortal realm of the very great mystical poet Rumi, for whom wine was a deep and powerful symbol greatly weighted with spiritual significance.

Rumi

Rumi

Drink the wine that moves you
as a camel moves when it’s been untied,
and is just ambling about.

December 17th was also the very first performance of Franz Schubert’s masterwork “Unfinished Symphony”; the very same Franz Schubert who famously, somewhat morbidly, and arguably unknowingly, toasted his own impending death with a glass of wine in the hours just after Beethoven’s funeral; a funeral at which he was a torchbearer!

UnfinishedSymphony_Schubert

from “Unfinished Symphony” by Franz Schubert

December 17th was also the date, back in 2010, that we lost the inimitable Captain Beefheart, eulogized on this blog here:

http://blog.ridgewine.com/2010/12/18/goodbye-mr-beefheart/

And December 17th is also, of course, Saturnalia; a wine holiday if ever there was one! Bacchus, and all that …

And lastly, December 17th was the date, back in 1989, that the first full-length episode of The Simpsons aired on US television, introducing so many of us to one Homer Simpson, who, famously or infamously (depending), both forgot how to drive after taking a home-winemaking course, and drank his yearly salary in a single bottle unceremoniously extracted from the cellars of one Mr. Burns!

The point being, is that December 17th really shouldn’t be too hard a date to remember.

December 17th.

Remember.

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Posted in History, Viticultural Salmagundi, Wine & Philosophy, Wine & Poetry, Wine & Spirituality, Wine & The Holidays, Wine Quotes | 1 Comment »

Kisses Sweeter Than Wine

December 9, 2012

Dawdle around on the oldies stations long enough, and you’ll hear it. A pathos-laden and groovily roosty little slab of romantically dogmatic pop folklore; “Kisses Sweeter Than Wine.” Based on an old Irish folk song, re-interpreted by Leadbelly, and brought into pop form by Pete Seeger and The Weavers, it is the Jimmie Rodgers version I know best, and that is the version that came on this morning as I was driving up the mountain.

“Kisses Sweeter Than Wine.”

It’s a really coy and delightful song, and it swings, and it’s a beautiful narrative, and it’s hooky as all get out; in short, to borrow a line from the Bay Area’s own Greg Kihn, they don’t write ‘em like that anymore.

So I was listening to the song, and because mountain driving allows for a great deal of thinking and reflection, I was thinking and reflecting, and what I was first thinking about was, what exactly DO we taste when we taste kisses?

Well, if you’re married to an Italian girl like I am, it’s probably something like beauty, red wine, garlic, stubbornness, and molto dolce!

But seriously, there is, in pop folklore, a great deal of reference to the sweetness of kisses. Clearly the bards of our ballads were tasting a bit of sugar as they were top-side on their typers.

And then I started to reflect on the wine side of the equation. Kisses sweeter than wine. Which would seem to presume a preliminary state of some degree of sweetness in the wine; the better to make the comparison.

Meaning, for the romantic at heart, there is clearly something moving and important and significant about sweet wine, when it comes to the wooing.

So I was thinking, and reflecting, and I got to thinking about Essence.

Essence.

A rare and wondrous type of wine that Ridge makes ever so rare and wonderfully. In the 50-year history of Ridge, there have not been many of them made. It takes a rather singular confluence of the viticultural stars to even propose the possibility, and even then, it’s a high-risk endeavor to commit to an Essence.

An Essence, put most simply, is a naturally sweet (read: vine-ripened) style of dessert wine crafted from grapes left on the vine for an extended-enough time that they build up acceptable levels of sugar to support the creation of a fine dessert wine, but not so long that the grapes raisin; the wine is meant to be devoid of the raisin-y/pruney-y notes that often bog down otherwise perfectly reasonable sweet wines, and it’s meant to still have some of the structural hallmarks of a proper table wine; acid, tannin, herb, etc. When made correctly, an Essence is quite simply one of the most exquisitely decadent, sensual, and refined wines one could ever hope to taste. They’re just extraordinary.

So I was thinking about kisses, and Essence.

Which reminded me of this: http://www.ridgewine.com/holidayfeast

RidgeHolidayFeast

This, is the Ridge Vineyards Holiday Feast Pack, a rather excellent and unprecedented contribution to our annual offering of Holiday niceties. It is a six-wine assemblage of wines most especially selected just for you; but beyond that, it is a six-wine assemblage of wines most especially paired with recipes for dishes most especially crafted to perfectly complement said six-wine assemblage. For example: the 2010 Ridge Vineyards Lytton Springs paired with Bacon-wrapped Pork Tenderloin & Rosemary-Pomegranate Jus.

And beyond all THAT, is Wine Six. Wine Six, in the Holiday Feast Pack, is … an Essence. A 2003 Stone Ranch Essence. Which is a wine I have awaited the re-emergence of for some time. I had the great pleasure of briefly making its acquaintance back in August of 2009. An experience you can read about here:

http://blog.ridgewine.com/2009/08/31/the-essence-of-essence/

The 2003 Stone Ranch has returned again, as Wine Six in the Holiday Feast Pack, and I for one could not be more delighted. And the pairing? Romantic.

03Essence

One can only imagine the kisses that are sweeter than this.

Unless, of course, you’re married to a molto dolce Italian girl, as I am.

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Posted in Food & Wine Pairing, Lytton Springs, Special Offerings, Tasting Notes, Varietals & Blends, Wine & Food Pairing, Wine & Music, Wine & The Holidays, Zinfandel | Leave a Comment »

‘Twas The Night Before First Friday …

December 6, 2012

Tomorrow is the day.

The big day.

The big First Friday day.

And I have visions of Ridge wine dancing in my head.

–

I have the 2007 Monte Bello Chardonnay dancing in my head.

2007-Chard-MB-bottle-shot

I see its bold, golden hues in the bowl, I see the meticulous glides of its legs down the sides …

I smell its honey-warm come-on, the seasonal ecru, the mineral, the yeast, the sweet hazel cream …

I taste its balance — impeccable — its structure — in focus — its gravitas, depth, and complexity …

I savor its autumn exotic, I savor its wintering comfort …

–

I have the 2010 Geyserville dancing in my head.

10ZGY

I see its ruby-red hues sparkling in crystal; I see its crimson threads running elegantly down the bowl; I see magenta in its halo …

I smell its farmer’s market basket of fruit; bright with raspberry, cherry, and spry little plums. I smells its spices, its bramble, its minerals…

I taste its round mouthfeel, its plush, spreading juice, its lifted and fresh, sly decadence…

In the finish, the linger, as languid as post-loving bliss; I taste its rich, red largesse …

–

I have the 2006 Estate Cabernet dancing in my head.

06xse

I gaze deep in its robicund countenance, and I see alive people … I see earth, and a rufescent halo, I see sunset’s florid vermillion …

I smell forest, and mystery, and magic, and mountain; the rustic elixir, acidity, mineral …

I taste lush striation, the round rings of history, the bark that is so much very better than bite …

I taste black fruit and elegance, and linger in black herbs and herbal abundance …

The coolness of acidity balanced to tannin, the leanness of spice balanced to fruit, the balance of alcohol balanced to juice, the fineness of structure balanced to breadth, the flash of the high-tone, the flesh of the low …

–

I have the 2009 Monte Bello dancing in my head.

09CMB-web

I smell the regal stitched in to the richest of fabrics …

I see the holy sewn in to the deepest of robes …

I taste the magical wedded in braids of fine wonder …

I linger, in love, the ineffable peace …

The black fruit and black herb beguiling aromatica …

The eucalyptal, cool-climate beguile …

The limestone and yeast, the dried fruit and pepper …

The anise, the fennel, the chicory …

The perfection of grape in perfect land harmony, spilt into decadence, splashed into glass, split into now and forever …

–

I have the 2010 Lytton Estate Petite Sirah dancing in my head.

10PLE

The capacious complexity, the heliotrope halo and mulberry middle, the muscular solemnity of deep, sensual darkness …

The weight, the languidity, the power and passion, the soulful low moan of the baritone …

The umami umami, the savory savor …

The chalk and the powder, the crushed rock and talcum, the tannin, the beams, and the girders …

I see the baroque, and I smell the romantic; I taste the deep power of renaissance …

This linger must last me forever …

–

‘Twas the night before First Friday, and visions of Ridge wine, alive in my head …

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Posted in Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Events & Photographs, Food & Wine Pairing, Geyserville, Monte Bello, Petite Sirah, Santa Cruz Mountains Estate, Special Offerings, Tasting Events/Opportunities, Tasting Flights, Tasting Notes, Varietals & Blends, Viticultural Salmagundi, Wine & Food Pairing, Wine & The Holidays, Wine Clubs, Zinfandel | Leave a Comment »

The Top 100s are coming!

December 3, 2012

This time of year can be quite a hoot if you’ve got a bit of time for some extra reading; it’s the time of the Top 100s, and they’re already coming. Some of them are humorous, some are ridiculous, some are vital, some are niche-y, and a great many can be truly informative.

I often find that the relevance of a Top 100 list tends to function as a referendum on the relevance of the list-maker themselves; meaning, I tend to read the lists from the writers I like best.

In my field — the world of wine — there are quite a few writers & publications whose End-of-Year Lists I truly anticipate. Some of this is personal; it should come as no surprise that I enjoy wine, and these lists have often sent new offerings across my bow that I might otherwise have failed to discover.

Some of this is of course professional as well; I like to see when and where our wines place.

Jon Bonné is one of those reviewers whose year-end lists really are something to look forward to. He’s insightful, erudite, thorough, and perhaps best of all, he takes his job seriously. I don’t often drop the word “professional,” and I try and never use the term lightly – it’s a concept I hold particularly dear — but Jon really is a pro. And for whatever my two cents are worth, that’s high praise.

So it was with some degree of excitement that I began combing through the lists he’s just released, and given my esteem for the man, you can imagine my pleasure when I read the following (in regards to our 2009 Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello):

“Quite simply, one of the best California Cabernet-based wines I’ve ever had”

Those last three words are especially noteworthy; Jon has tried a great many California Cabernet-based wines (in his capacity as the wine editor for the SF Chronicle)!

To read the rest of Jon’s Top 100s, please follow the following link:

http://www.sfgate.com/wine/article/Top-100-Wines-Cabernet-and-Merlot-4081085.php

And it’s worth noting that, while the ”official” retail allocation of the 2009 Monte Bello is now sold through, you can in fact still purchase it via our Holiday Gift Offerings.

I don’t mean to be shameless with the plug, but this is a pretty special wine, at a pretty special price, and, well, you’re pretty special.

I’m just sayin’. It’s Monte Bello Time.

09cmb1_I

Monte Bello Gift Pack

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Posted in Varietals & Blends, Cabernet Sauvignon, Bordeaux varietals, Monte Bello, Press Reviews, Wine & The Holidays | Leave a Comment »

Friday Foodie Friday! -or- The First Friday To End ALL First Fridays (or, at least the 2012 ones!)

November 26, 2012

To deploy a rather retro-minded rendition of contemporary parlance, the December First Friday at Monte Bello is going to be … the bomb.

Not to be confused with You Dropped A Bomb On Me, by the Gap Band.

A song which, while referencing The Bomb, is in fact, The Jammy.

–

Anyhow, back to the December First Friday, which is going to be, as I said, The Bomb.

Why?

It’s  going to be so, because we’ll be pulling out some serious culinary stops, and anytime the Ridge foodie-stone gets called upon for a whetting, you know it’s going to be something special. Something explosive. Something positively bomb-esque. In fact, The Bomb.

So, if you’re a member, and you can get yourself to Monte Bello on the First Friday of December, then very much start staying tuned into this blog, because we’re very much starting to roll out details.

But first, a bit of a back-up, a refresher, and a tutorial.

First off, what is First Friday?

First Friday is a very special monthly member event held here at our Monte Bello Estate. As advertised, it occurs on the First Friday of every month; 4-7pm, without fail. Like clockwork. First Friday. And what do we DO at First Friday? Well, lots of things. Always wine-centric. It’s actually a very fun, and often experimental, lil’ wine event. Do a search for “First Friday” on this blog, and you’ll dig up all sorts of unique themes and wines and adventures and experiments and shenanigans and educative explorations into the wild wine winds. In fact, we often use First Friday as an opportunity to showcase a new member release, though that said, we just as often might use it to showcase some newly-uncovered rarity from the library vaults. And actually, sometimes we do both! First Friday is also a great opportunity for our Will-Call members to pick up their shipments, and there is also usually a nosh afoot; bread, cheese, olive oil, tapenade, those sorts of things. Sometimes I even cook. I did so pretty darn often this year, actually, though I failed to keep up with my New Year’s pledge of cooking for EVERY First Friday.

But I will more than make up for THAT, with the December edition, because I’m bringing in BIG GUNS to cook for our guests!

But more on that later. Back to the back up, the refresher, and the tutorial.

I think we’ve covered the basics of what First Friday is, but, as it’s imperative we understand this happening as a MEMBER event, it might behoove us to contemplate membership for a moment. What does membership at Ridge look like?

Well, it looks great, actually. It looks like you becoming part of a delightful and historic lineage of wine-lovers that stretches back 35 years! That’s right, the Advanced Tasting Program (ATP) — Club Tine #1 of Ridge’s Oeno-Trident — was whelped 35 years ago this year, and is still going quite strong, now linked at the staff with Tines 2 & 3 — Zlist & Collector — in said triumvirate. The Oeno-Trident: ATP, Monte Bello Collector, and Zlist.

That’s what membership at Ridge looks like.

And it also looks like you being invited to extraordinary events, both exclusive and public. And it looks like you being offered exclusive access to rare limited-releases and hard-to-find library wines. And it looks like you visiting us often to enjoy complimentary wine tastings, and very special member pricing on enhanced tasting experiences. And it looks like you benefitting from member-only purchase discounts. And it looks like you building multiple verticals of outstanding flagship offerings. And it looks like you eating well, drinking well, and enjoying great fellowship. And it looks like you getting to know us, and us getting to know you. It looks like me taking pictures of you and your children on our Monte Bello knoll (yep, did that with some members yesterday!), and it looks like you naming your first-born after me (ok, maybe not that part). Mainly, it looks like us very happily welcoming you into the arms of California’s Original Wine Club, and you being very happy about that.

ATP 35 logo

So that’s First Friday, and that’s being a Member.

So what about this December First Friday?

Well, there is a confluence afoot. First off, it’s First Friday. So, of course we’ll be doing something special. Next, it’s the December First Friday, making it a) the last First Friday of 2012, and b) dead-center of the holiday season. Which all adds up to, game on. Or should I say, The Bomb.

So, in the interest of double-needling up the yarn of said confluence, we’re throwing a fantastical food-and-wine dang doodle. That’s right! We’re going to Pitch a Food & Wine Dang Doodle (to rather preposterously borrow a lyric from the great Howlin’ Wolf):

Tell Automatic Slim , tell Razor Totin’ Jim
Tell Butcher Knife Totin’ Annie, tell Fast Talking Fanny
A we gonna pitch a ball, a down to that union hall
We gonna romp and tromp till midnight
We gonna fuss and fight till daylight
We gonna pitch a wang dang doodle all night long
–
–
 
So, let’s review:
 
December First Friday
Big Gun Cooks
Wine Club Membership
Food & Wine Dang Doodle
 
Yep, that about covers it.
 
 
 
 
 

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Posted in Events & Photographs, Food & Wine Pairing, Monte Bello, RIDGE Staff, Special Offerings, Tasting Events/Opportunities, Tasting Rooms, Wine & Food Pairing, Wine & The Holidays, Wine Clubs, Wine Tales | 1 Comment »

Things I’m Thankful For …

November 22, 2012

I am an admittedly idiosyncratic traditionalist, in that I am rarely much for traditional traditions, but am conversely rather boffo for my own rather less-than-traditional iterations thereof; which makes it all the more of a personal revolution in the offing that I am posting these words today.

This is, of course, the rambling preambling to the preamble of my annual “Things I’m Thankful For” post; which I traditionally, per the terms of my own tradition, post on the 23rd of November. Which I was dead on track for doing again this year. Except here it is, Thanksgiving, and I’m feeling all thankful-laden, and it simply feels odd not to commit these lines to the blog-o-web on this most gratitudinous of days. Yet it’s the 22nd, a proposition that defies convention. But blast it all, tradition be damned, what? On with the show! Pip Pip!

When I ponder the word Thankful, I see my wife’s face. As I do when I ponder the other following words:

Fortunate, Blessed, and Grateful.

These are of course self-referential. When I simply ponder her, as opposed to how I feel when I consider the blessing upon me that is she, these then are some of the words that come to mind:

Wise, Beautiful, Magical, Powerful, Amazing, Fragile, Astounding, Tender, Perfect, and Love.

I am so thankful for my wife. My friend, my lover, my partner, my wife. I am so thankful for my wife. One can define the almighty in whatever ways one wishes, of course; but if the definition of God has something to do with that which gives life to life, that which governs all, that foundational being that is the alpha and omega of all things, then she has dominion over all my world. She is the Bodhisattva come to help me, the Savior come to save me, the God come to raise me. I am so thankful for my wife.

And I am so thankful for my daughter, before whom I am a positively helpless puddle of mush. What hasn’t this small, beautiful creature given to me? There is no shade of blue in the sky, no streak of green in the sea, that she has not alerted me to. No whisper of wind in the night, no chirp of bird in the day, that she has not called my ears toward. There is no tear duct in my eye she has not drained of its feeling, no cavity of my heart that she has not filled. What hue of autumn leaf, what scent of springtime blossom, has she not drawn me to? What a thing, to have a daughter! I am so thankful for my daughter.

For my wife, and my daughter, I am so thankful. A Love Supreme.

Which reminds me that I am also distinctly grateful for John Coltrane.

And wine glass sizes drawn in fractions. Like 19.75 oz. glasses.

And the wines that inhabit them.

Like, perhaps, the 1981 Monte Bello, which tasted so fine just this past Sunday.

Which would also taste so fine in, for example, a flat-bottom glass.

I am so thankful for people who drink red wine from flat-bottom glasses.

And grandparents. There is no insanity like the insanity of grandparents. That my little family of three – Papa Bear, Mama Bear, Baby Bear – has two hearty and hale sets of grandparents, is a blessing beyond compare. To watch our little girl in their blissful company is a gift unimaginable. I am so thankful for our parents; grandparents to our wonderful daughter. I am so thankful for this.

As I am for the knoll at Monte Bello. Such a place to stand and contemplate the void, to be temporarily one with the ancestors staring at the walls and seeing truth.

I am thankful for poetry, and the wines that have, through time, lubricated its fragile and complex gears.

Like, for example, the 2004 Buchignani Ranch Zinfandel, which tasted so fine just … yesterday.

There are few moments greater than the moment when your father and your wife bring to their respective lips the wine you have poured for them. I am thankful for these moments.

I am thankful for Haiku.

I am thankful for people who do not ask me to throw away their chewing gum upon their arrival at the Monte Bello Tasting Room.

In fact, I am thankful for people who do not chew gum.

I am thankful for wooden canes, and limping through vine rows relying on one.

I am thankful for Amy Monroe, Sam Howles-Banerji, and Kirsten Anderson. If you’ve ever come to Monte Bello, and accordingly felt a bit of magic enter your soul and there take up permanent residence, there to be called upon whenever your worry and care threaten to overwhelm you in the pursuit of your conventional happinesses, it is likely because you were moved by Amy and/or Sam and/or Kirsten. They are in the practice of providing memories that will last forever, and they are rather excellent at this endeavor. They have given me so much to be thankful for, and are to me canonical saints in the pantheon of Monte Bello magic.

I am thankful for the word canonical.

And the word Vertical. And the thing that is, in winespeak, a Vertical.

And the Estate Cabernet Vertical, which will not be available for much longer. I am thankful it is still available, because the 2004 Estate Cabernet, is, in particular, one of the best wines I’ve ever had. It was also one of my first loves upon joining the family at Ridge, and in it, I taste my good fortune.

I am thankful for P.G. Wodehouse, for having given to the world Jeeves and Bertie Wooster, of whose exploits with the cow-creamer, last night, were so delightful to read.

I am thankful that I do not believe in decent-tasting “entry-level” wines costing $10/bottle, any more than I believe in decent-sounding “entry-level” Telecasters costing $100.

I am thankful for windows that lock and unlock with ease.

I am thankful for wines that taste especially fine whilst standing at windows gazing out at trees in autumn. Like the 1992 Monte Bello, which, out of a 375ml bottle, tastes especially fine whilst standing at a window (open or closed, whatever, it’s easy to lock and unlock) gazing out at a tree in autumn.

I am thankful for candles.

I am thankful for bow-ties, which, perhaps come the New Year, I shall resolve to wear more of.

I am thankful for champys, and the people who use the term.

And for the people who drink champys.

I am thankful for champys.

And Bodhisattvas.

I am thankful that Ridge has found a place in its heart to place me.

I am thankful that, in lieu of a manpurse, I wear sportcoats.

I am thankful for everyone who comes to Monte Bello in the summertime, and doesn’t comment of the fact that I am wearing a sportcoat.

I am thankful for Aaron, Antonio, Barry, Emma, Jane, Jenny, Karen, Kathryn, Kim, Lori, Michael, Nancy, Peter, Samantha, Sonja, and Tara. Because Hospitality is holy, and they are the true keepers of the faith. The foundational saints. The canonical hosts. To truly “host” a guest is an essential act of love, compassion, empathy, sympathy, faith, and kindness. I am thankful for these wonderful human beings, and for the generosity of spirit they so consistently offer.

I am thankful for the XTC song “Dear God.”

I am thankful that the new 2008 Mazzoni Home Ranch is such an absolutely excellent contribution to the Mazzoni canon.

I am thankful for high-quality buff cloths, and the wine hosts that know how to use them.

I am thankful for ritual, and what it teaches us, and I am thankful that the world of wine is so ritualized.

I am thankful for people who, when confronted by those who know a bit more than themselves about something, think first, “Wonderful!” as opposed to “Snob!”

I am thankful that I know so little, because I look so forward to learning.

I am thankful that a great deal of my “work” at Ridge is “learning” more about wine.

Learning more about, for example, the 2007 Monte Bello. For reasons soon to be revealed!

I am thankful for things that are soon to be revealed, as I do not enjoy surprises or secrets, though I am thankful for them. Thankful that they offer the opportunity for revelation.

I am thankful for Son House.

I am thankful for anyone who can figure out a way to work wine into a tattoo without looking like a rather foolish sort.

I am thankful for Syrah co-fermented with Viognier.

I am thankful that part of my “job” at Ridge involves sitting at table with people like Kathy and Ingrid, and “working” on food & wine pairings.

I am thankful that I very often have occasion, while at work at Ridge, to deploy the term “culinarily companionable.”

I am thankful that I get to write this blog. Not only is it a still-very-overwhelming honor, but it also allows me to make up a great many words; a great many made-up words that, when discovered and subsequently called out as being made-up, become the springboard for me to deliver my patented lecture on the true value of language and its purposes. Which no one needs to hear anymore.

I am thankful.

I am thankful for trumpet mutes, and the jazz players who deploy them.

I am thankful that Ridge makes wine like Thelonious Monk made chords.

I am thankful that Sumano’s bakery makes Watsonville Sourdough.

I am thankful for drinking wine, eating bread and cheese, and riding ferries.

I am thankful that Bellwether Farms makes San Andreas. And I am thankful for being able to taste it while sipping on 1978 Monte Bello.

I am thankful for harvest videos, and the opportunity to make them.

I am thankful for #Harvest2012.

I am thankful that I do not dream in hashtags.

I am thankful that if one Googles “Generation X Characteristics,” the very first entry that appears lists the following:

• Cynical

• Skeptical

• Independent

• Problem-solvers/resourceful

• Defy Authority

• Reality driven

• Distaste “touchy feely”

• Technology Competent

• Resist Hierarchy

• Multitasker

I am thankful that I still manage to rarely use the word “Google” as a verb.

I am thankful for walking cities.

I feel thankful when I go walking in a city, and the person I am walking with says, “My, that looks like a nice wine shop!”

I am thankful for Christopher Robin, Winnie the Pooh, and all the denizens of the Hundred-Acre Wood.

I am thankful for the poet Sharon Olds, because she writes about woman things in ways that can truly move a man.

I am thankful that as soon as we were installed in our little post-birth “hotel” at the hospital, my very exhausted and triumphantly beautiful wife called for Cava and Monte Bello.

I am thankful that when my wife calls for champys, she calls for Coupe glasses.

I am thankful for coupe glasses.

I am thankful for trains.

I am thankful for movies made before 1970.

I am thankful for music made before 1980.

I am thankful for wine made before 1990.

I am thankful for balsamic vinegar made before 2000.

I am thankful for books made before 2010.

I am thankful for wonderful exceptions to the above.

I am thankful for wine poured before I wrote “I am thankful for wine poured …,” like, for example, any of our Syrah/Grenache blends.

I am currently thankful for the 2008 Ridge Vineyards Lytton Estate Syrah/Grenache, and I am previously grateful for all the other vintages.

I am thankful that my daughter just announced that her Grandpa “stinks like Thanksgiving.”

I am thankful that some people still roller skate.

I am thankful for limousine drivers that do not park in spaces reserved for the disabled.

I am thankful for wine drinkers that are not drunkards.

I am thankful that calm, clear-headed, self-possessed, serious, alert, concerned, cool, exacting, rigorous, thoughtful, vigilant, and pure are all synonyms for “sober.”

I am thankful that, while it’s today in the news that it’s going to happen, Nikki Sixx’s “Heroin Diaries” is not yet, in fact, a Broadway Musical.

I am thankful that, for the fourth year in a row, I have the opportunity to praise Haig’s Hummus. I am thankful for Haig’s Hummus. And I am thankful for the way Haig’s Hummus tastes when it’s in your mouth, wrapped up in a big balloon-size swallow of Ridge chardonnay.

I am thankful for Ridge Chardonnay. Especially the 2010 Monte Bello Chardonnay, which, when released, will F%*&KIN blow your mind.

I am thankful for %*&.

I am thankful that we have a President who likes wine.

I am thankful for Zen.

I am thankful for the Monterey Bay, and how it makes Carignane taste. Especially Ridge Carignane. Which always tastes so nice, but tastes especially nice when sipped next to Monterey Bay.

I am thankful for John Olney, and I am thankful for the Carignane that he makes.

I am thankful for everyone at Lytton Springs, and for the opportunity to make this appreciation public. I am especially thankful for my counterpart Sandy Johnson, because her greatness humbles me daily, and it is good to be humbled. And I am thankful for her friendship, because it is good to have friends. And I am thankful for her colleagues that I get to, albeit infrequently, work with, namely Jason and Eliot. I wish I got to see them more, because I am always thankful for the opportunity. And it’s good to be thankful.

I am thankful that I rarely see myself in the mirror making air quotes.

I am thankful for Paul Draper, Eric Baugher, John Olney, David Gates, Kyle Theriot, Will Thomas, Shun Ishikubo, and Muiris Griffin, for the absurdity of how much they’ve taught me, and how patient they’ve been with me.

I am thankful for when Petit Verdot gets ripe. Because if swampy and funky can become fragrant and floral, then beauty is forever possible.

I am thankful for every moment there is not violence.

I am thankful for funny instructions on fading paper, push-pinned to dirty corkboard, that say things like, “If  you see a mountain lion, don’t bend over,” because who bends over when they see a mountain lion? And I am thankful that this is based on a true story.

I am thankful for true stories. And made up ones as well.

I am thankful for the opportunity to read poems that were written by people who were drinking wine while they were writing.

I am thankful to Ryan Moore, because he is my boss, and he seems to kind of like me. Which really feels good.

And I am thankful that the fates and powers that blessed Ryan with a wonderful wife have now blessed him with a beautiful, wonderful child, because I am very happy for him, and it’s good to be happy for other people.

I am also happy for myself, and am thankful that I have been blessed with a wonderful wife and a beautiful, wonderful child.

I am thankful that the obvious similarities between myself and my boss obviously continue.

I am thankful for the days when my boss calls and says things like, “Have you tasted the 2007 Dynamite Hill recently?” And I say, “No.” And he says, “Can you pull a bottle and taste it, and tell me what you think?” And I say, “Yes, boss.”

I am thankful for, in no particular order: Love, and the Lack of Hate.

Also for Charlie Christian, Sonny Rollins, Bud Powell, Lester Young, Bill Evans, Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington, Django Reinhardt, Miles Davis, Wes Montgomery, Zoot Sims, and Grant Green.

I am thankful that Duke Ellington is the Monte Bello of Jazz, and that Monte Bello is the Duke Ellington of Wine.

I am thankful for what localism teaches us about being peaceful with one another.

I am thankful that wine from our estates makes people feel peaceful.

I am thankful for peace.

I am thankful.

I am thankful for the certainty that this list will never end, and that, when confronted with all the wonderful things I’ve inadvertently omitted from this iteration of this list, I will have another opportunity at some future time to make amends.

I am thankful for ancient Mountains-and-Rivers Poetry.

I am thankful that I work on a mountain.

I am thankful to Ridge, for forever altering my life in momentous ways I could have never imagined, for, above all else, affording me the means to support my family.

I am thankful to Ridge for trusting me to speak for Ridge.

I am thankful for Merlot.

I am thankful for pine cones.

I am thankful for rattlesnakes, and the ones that don’t bite me.

I am thankful to Penske, for renting me the truck that carried me from New York to California, for helping to prove in yet one more way that Northern California is indeed the promised land, for stopping when I needed it to stop, at that truck stop where I first got on the phone with Nicole and inaugurated the process that would eventually culminate in my being hired by Ridge, and for starting again when it was time to start driving again to California.

I am thankful for my parents. And your parents.

I am thankful for anyone who buys a fine bottle of wine for their parents.

I am thankful for parents who buy Monte Bello from the birth year of their children.

I am thankful for the poetry of Dylan Thomas.

I am thankful for every moment, in every corner of the world, in which someone eats a slice of pizza, then takes a rather healthy swallow of really good wine.

I will never admit it to her, but in truth, I am thankful that my wife did not allow me to name our daughter “Pizza” as I wanted to, because even though this would guarantee I would spend my life saying, “I love you, Pizza” over and over, it wouldn’t have in fact been particularly fair to our daughter, and if there’s one thing that being a parent teaches you, it’s that love means someone else.

I am thankful for pizza.

I am thankful for pizza and wine.

I am thankful for, not Chivas Regal in a $5 room (as Tom Waits had it), but pizza and a $400 Monte Bello.

I am thankful for art, and those who mean to make it.

I am thankful.

I am thankful.

I am thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving to all, and to all a good day.

I am thankful you read this.

I am thankful for that which you feel thankful for.

I feel thankful for you, whoever you are.

I feel thankful.

I am thankful.

Thank you.

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Posted in Bordeaux varietals, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignane, Chardonnay, Food & Wine Pairing, Grenache, History, Lytton Springs, Merlot, Monte Bello, Paul Draper, Petit Verdot, Petite Sirah, Rhone varietals, RIDGE Staff, Santa Cruz Mountains Estate, Syrah, Tasting Rooms, Varietals & Blends, Virtual Verticals, Viticultural Salmagundi, Wine & Art, Wine & Food Pairing, Wine & Music, Wine & Philosophy, Wine & Poetry, Wine & Spirituality, Wine & The Holidays, Wine and Jazz, Wine Quotes, Wine Tales, Winemaking, Zinfandel | 2 Comments »

Radio Silence: Over!

November 21, 2012

Greetings all, and apologies for the recent radio silence.

In CB Radio Talk, I’ve been no Alligator; rather, I’ve been a bit backed off the hammer, in the granny lane. But now I’m ready to catch you on the flip-flop, and I’ll be cookin’ good shortly, ready to hit the cobblestones, and jaw-jacking in a short-short …

Put another way, I’ve been in the brief valley that lies betwixt the hysteria of harvest and the hysteria of the holidays (The H of the H and the H of the H), where there is only silence, wind, and ghosts.

But with Thanksgiving right around the corner, and the annual “Things I’m Thankful For” post immediately on deck, the time is nigh for a return to the typer, and these ten digits is ready!

So, what’s with the wine and carrot, you might ask? Why, it’s a lovely (and weird!) painting by René Magritte!  Who … was born TODAY! In 1898 of course …

And truth be told, it’s just been that kind of week. Why? Because we also noted the birthday (November 19th) of one of my favorite poets, Sharon Olds, who, in “The Planned Child,” gives us one of the most astonishing wine metaphors ever committed to the poetic page:

The Planned Child

I hated the fact that they had planned me, she had taken
a cardboard out of his shirt from the laundry
as if sliding the backbone up out of his body,
and made a chart of the month and put
her temperature on it, rising and falling,
to know the day to make me–I would have
liked to have been conceived in heat,
in haste, by mistake, in love, in sex,
not on cardboard, the little x on the
rising line that did not fall again.

But when a friend was pouring wine
and said that I seem to have been a child who had been wanted,
I took the wine against my lips
as if my mouth were moving along
that valved wall in my mother’s body, she was
bearing down, and then breathing from the mask, and then
bearing down, pressing me out into
the world that was not enough for her without me in it,
not the moon, the sun, Orion
cartwheeling across the dark, not
the earth, the sea–none of it
was enough, for her, without me.

-Sharon Olds

–

But enough about birthdays, let’s talk about Ridge!

Lots of things happening in Ridge country these days.

http://www.ridgewine.com/News/image.axd?picture=%2f2012%2f11%2ftanzerwithbottles.jpg

For example, the individual who is quite possibly my most favorite of all wine critics, Stephen Tanzer, recently spent a bit of time with our wines, and the results are very much to my liking: 96 points for the 2009 Monte Bello? Thank you very much Mr. Tanzer, so very glad you enjoyed the wine! To see more about his reviews, please click here.

And that’s not all! ‘Twas a good week as well for talkin’ PBTQ.

No, not NRBQ, tho that’s cool too.

No, I’m talkin’ PBTQ, the almighty Price-Break-To-Quality assessment; meaning, how much wine (meant the jazz way, as in, “How much horn were they blowin’?) are ya gettin’ for the money?

How much wine would the wine bottle blow, if the wine bottle could blow jazz?

Consider the recently announced Wine Enthusiast feature, their Top 100 Cellar Selections.

This is essentially their compendium of the 100 most collectable, ageable, cellarable wines available in 2012. Meaning, pretty rarefied company. Now, dig the Top 10. #4? Our 2009 Ridge Vineyards Estate Cabernet! PBTQ factor? Warp Factor 9! It’s the least expensive wine in the Top 10! Meaning, it’s blowin’ a heck of a lot of horn! In fact, you’ve got to go all the way down to the #18 wine before you find a lower price break. That’s some serious PBTQ!

And speaking of the 2009 Estate Cabernet, have you been checking out our 2012 holiday pack releases? If you’re not familiar, this is an annual happening of the rather most greatest importance; a happening in which we shape a rather most groovy assemblage of vino-inventory into the forms of individuated and nuanced holiday offerings, thusly to be made available to none other than all your exceptional y’allness!

The rather most grooviest way to enculturate yourself to this panoply of deliciousness is via our Interactive Holiday Brochure. Astronauts love this, because the future is NOW! To dig, please click here.

And to get back to the Estate Cabernet, you may wish to consider the Estate Cabernet Vertical.

Close this window

As the legendary  tenorman Lester Young might of put it, it wails!

Three vintages of one of the most ageable, cellarable, collectable PBTQ wines on the oeno-landscape, at a price that’ll make you dizzy with boplicity?

It wails! How can you not trust Lester?

Exactly. Lester says it, you believe it, and that settles it.

–

And with that, we come to the conclusion of this radio broadcast.

Funk power.

Over and out.

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Posted in Cabernet Sauvignon, Monte Bello, Oeno Econ, Santa Cruz Mountains Estate, Tasting Notes, Varietals & Blends, Wine & Music, Wine & Poetry, Wine & The Holidays, Wine and Jazz, Wine Quotes, Wine Tales | 2 Comments »

Drinking Ridge Wine Makes Puppies Giggle!

November 9, 2012

And here is the New Math to prove it!

Seriously, people. The holiday season is percolating in the Gaggia of our Sangha, and it’s time to Get Happy!

All of which is another way of saying, the Ridge Vineyards Holiday Packs have arrived!

Procure them here.

Because remember; drinking Ridge wine makes puppies giggle.

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Posted in Special Offerings, Wine & Food Pairing, Wine & The Holidays, Wine Accessories | Leave a Comment »

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