Thursday, October 04, 2007
Gnarly, dude
One in an occasional series of wine recommendations from ER. Motto: If I blog about it, it's got to be damn good.
Gnarly Head, red zin, 2005. (It'll ask you what state you're shipping to -- just click one to read the winemaker's notes and customer reviews.
I'd seen Gnarly Head (winemaker's Web page) in my local wine shop, but I've got just enough gripey-butt-old-man in me to be suspicious of anything that sounds too cute, like "Gnarly Head."
But I tried a couple of glasses with some wild game appetizers and a trout entre the other day at the Red Lion Restaurant in Boulder. Burned out on shiraz, cabs, etc., I wanted a red and it was a mid-priced "other."
Pretty gnarly stuffm, this Gnarly Head, and it's a real decription, not, like, you know, neo-Valley Girl-ese:
"Unlike modern rows of trellised vines, these old Zinfandel vines were grown as free standing 'head trained' vines. Today they resemble wild bushes with twisted old trunks and branches that spread out in all directions sprouting leaves like unruly umbrellas -- truly gnarly heads. The grapes from these brash old vines create Zinfandel with rich, concentrated fruit flavor that is easy to drink and pair."
I bought a bottle, and last weekend had it with a seasoned and grilled pork chop with a jalapeno-and-cheese sausage on the side. Muy bueno.
Gnarly Head comes with the ER Seal of Approval.
Previous wine recommendations:
Black Swan Chardonnay-Semillion.
Carchelo Monstrell.
WHAT'S YOUR RECOMMENDATION? Doesn't have to be wine! Beer? New CD? Book? Movie? Eatin' joint in Oklahoma or Colorado? Do tell!
--ER
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Have been on a beer kick lately, and given the time of year, Sam Adams' Octoberfest has been the poison of choice. Partly that's because the local liquor stores don't stock much in the way of seasonal beers, but it's also just a pretty darn good beer.
I know one thing about wine: it comes in two colors. However, I am a big fan of of Folie A Deux's "Menage a Trois" wine, which is a blend of Chardonnay, Muscat and Chenin Blanc grapes. (I had to look up the grapes, like I said, I don't know about wine.) Don't let the cute name fool you, this is a good wine, and quite inexpensive.
But I do know about beer. You can't go wrong with anything that Bell's Brewery (Kalamazoo, MI) puts out. Their summer brew, Oberon, is excellent, their Octoberfest is great, their very, very hoppy Two-Hearted Ale is wonderfully bitter (though I'm the only person I know who likes it), and their midwinter Sparkling Ale is the beer equivalent of champagne.
I pity anyone who doesn't live close enough to Michigan to try these. :)
But I do know about beer. You can't go wrong with anything that Bell's Brewery (Kalamazoo, MI) puts out. Their summer brew, Oberon, is excellent, their Octoberfest is great, their very, very hoppy Two-Hearted Ale is wonderfully bitter (though I'm the only person I know who likes it), and their midwinter Sparkling Ale is the beer equivalent of champagne.
I pity anyone who doesn't live close enough to Michigan to try these. :)
# posted by 
: 12:38 PM
: 12:38 PM
La Bicyclette 2004 Syrah, right now - might be too smooth for those with gnarly tastes...I find I often have to go by year with my wines.
Cherry Point Vineyards Blackberry port.
The latest Wreckers' CD (and the last Dixie Chicks one).
No time for TV or movies :(
Anthony Giddens: Modernity and Self-Identity (very interesting)
Next book on my list (came in the mail a week ago) that comes highly recommended:
Goedel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter
Cherry Point Vineyards Blackberry port.
The latest Wreckers' CD (and the last Dixie Chicks one).
No time for TV or movies :(
Anthony Giddens: Modernity and Self-Identity (very interesting)
Next book on my list (came in the mail a week ago) that comes highly recommended:
Goedel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter
# posted by : 12:50 PM
: 12:50 PM
Does the restaurant have to be in Oklahoma or Colorado?
Don't you guys travel?
Even though I live in West Coast Canada, my favorite restaurant right now: Manny's Steakhouse in Minneapolis - all I can say is WOW.
Has great, great wines by the glass too.
Instead of a menu, the meat and seafood is presented raw at the table
(I have been known to drool at the sight of a fine-grained piece of quality raw meat - and was a vegetarian for years!)
and they make the best Oysters Rockefeller I've ever had.
Don't you guys travel?
Even though I live in West Coast Canada, my favorite restaurant right now: Manny's Steakhouse in Minneapolis - all I can say is WOW.
Has great, great wines by the glass too.
Instead of a menu, the meat and seafood is presented raw at the table
(I have been known to drool at the sight of a fine-grained piece of quality raw meat - and was a vegetarian for years!)
and they make the best Oysters Rockefeller I've ever had.
# posted by : 1:03 PM
: 1:03 PM
Sorry to be on again, but have you seen this? (Another recommendation)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHzdsFiBbFc
or youtube search "Wood Spider"
(Spider on drugs)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHzdsFiBbFc
or youtube search "Wood Spider"
(Spider on drugs)
# posted by : 1:28 PM
: 1:28 PM
Hmmm. I have friends in Michigan -- will have to suggest that they send me something from Bell's for Christmas this year.
Karen, the spider video is a hoot! Here's a clip of everything a mom says in 24 hours (Cliff Notes version): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzZJO3ZRNCo
Oh, and lately I've been enamoured by the cd Technochek Collision from Slavic Soul Party. Great funky brass sound, better than caffeine for an energy boost.
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Karen, the spider video is a hoot! Here's a clip of everything a mom says in 24 hours (Cliff Notes version): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzZJO3ZRNCo
Oh, and lately I've been enamoured by the cd Technochek Collision from Slavic Soul Party. Great funky brass sound, better than caffeine for an energy boost.
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