Send Lawyers, Guns and Money

Uh, on second thought, just send the lawyers and money

Thursday Night Wine Blogging

Tonight we return to Spain for the second in the series that will lead up to my trip in March. Last week, when we last left our intrepid taster (that would be me) we were in Rioja. Tonight we're in Ribera del Duero which as best as I can tell is just to the west of Rioja.

Ribera is similar, although it seems that the altitudes at which the grapes are grown is higher that those of Rioja. This difference has apparently led to a slightly different grape, that while similar to Rioja's Tempranillo is different. Ribera grows the Tinto del Pais, which is a thinner skinned grape and slightly more acidic; or at least that is what these guys say. Frankly, this sounds a little like product line differentiation, which I can appreciate from an MBA point of view, but I will test from a wine drinker point of view.

As the great man once said, "trust but verify". So let's get down to verifyin' shall we! (Another man once said, "verify early and often". That was me about 30 seconds ago)

Ok, popped the cork, and my first impression is that the wine is not as fruity as last week's initially was. Remember how I popped the cork on the Rioja and the scent of fruit filled the room? Not so tonight. Instead there is a subtle fruit scent in the glass, some earth and a bit of chocolate. There is a little spice too.

Now for the intial taste. Hmm, not bad, but nothing really notable either. Still there is a lingering in the mouth that is very pleasant. Perhaps some hope for this one? Second sip, same impression. It's a good, very drinkable wine, but not particularly notable. Let's let it rest a bit.

Oh, I almost forgot the details. Tonight's wine is a Vina Sastre Crianza 2001. The Crianza is one of three types of wines produced in the region with the others being the Reserva and the Gran Reserva. This Crianza is aged in new American Oak for 12 months, and then spends another 12 in the bottle prior to release. This is less than the Reserva and the Gran.

Ok, I must say that the flavors in my mouth, not having had a sip in about 5 minutes are still lingering. I'm getting a little blueberry, and a little menthol and tobacco smoke. Weird huh? Somehow, this flavor is very clean and refreshing. Call me nuts but there is some grilled meat flavor here as well. Lets try another sip.

The nose has relaxed and is talking a little more of the smoke that I smelled in last week's tempranillo. I gotta tell ya folks, I don't see a whole lot of difference between these two grapes. A difference in the wines? Yes, but clearly the grapes are very related if not the same.

Man, that mouth is still going strong. This is not a complex wine. Last week's, which was a Gran was much more structured. This week's wine is good and very drinkable, but not as artfully crafted. Interestingly they both cost $25. I better get back to Sam's and pick up the rest of the other wine!

If i were pricing this baby, I'd pay 15, American, so I suppose this one is over priced in my view. It is so drinkable though, who cares? Lets have another glass.

I just found this site. Very interesting background on the Sastre family. If you scroll down you'll find they're thoughts on this wine. They give it 90 points......this is crazy talk. While I steadfastly refuse to give a numerical rating, this is not a 90 caliber wine in my view; perhaps it's a case of reputation extending down into a respected vinter's lower line offerings?

As Tom said in last week's comments, the Tempranillo is clearly one of the world's under rated varietals. Two wines in two weeks, and I find both more than acceptable. I'm looking forward to next week's session!

What Is Wrong With Liberals...I Mean Besides The Obvious Stuff?

I have always loved a good car trip. When I was a kid I think may parents drove my sister and I to or through at least 30 of the lower 48, and it could have possibly been more. Back then I wasn't as thrilled with car trips as I am today, but still, there was a certain adventure to hopping in the car and driving to a new destination. Clearly some of those drives were pretty boring - I hadn't yet learned that the fun is the journey not the destination - but still the I have to admit that the destination always held some cool surprises. I saw the Bonne Terre Mines in Missouri, the hot springs in Billy BOHICA's home state. I drove through the General Sherman tree, marveled at the bad lands, and yes made the obligatory stop at Wall Drug. These trips instilled in me a love for the road that simply can't be sated by a plane trip.

While the reason for my road trip yesterday was sad, I must admit it was good to be on the road again. Since I spent most of my time driving after dark I was also able to indulge one of my other favorite pastimes; scanning the AM radio waves for local stations both near and far. Oh, it was great. I heard St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Boston and I think Baltimore as well as one or two central Illinois stations.

To be completely candid scanning the airwaves isn't quite as great as it was when I was a kid. Today so many of the small local stations are part of a larger corporate network it is hard to get as much local "flavor" as once was possible. Still, there was enough to satisfy as I heard about a local school controversy in St. Louis, reports on the big Super Bowl parade in "The Burgh" and other little tid bits of the Americana that makes AM radio so cool.

The drive was great; it gave me time to think about my day, my uncle and the beautiful funeral service that was held in his honor. A lot of thoughts can go through your head as you drive through the Illinois night in mid February, but the one that kept popping back in my head every hour on the hour was, "what in the world is wrong with modern liberalism"

Really, I just couldn't believe my ears. You see, most of these rural stations had CNN Radio news on at the top of the hour and of course the big news of the day was that other funeral, Mrs. King's. I must say, as I heard the reports from the funeral, complete with playbacks of President Bush's speech, as well as Reverend Lowery's and Jimmy Carter's I just couldn't believe my ears.

As is typical of Mr. Bush and his writers he once again displayed their combined ability to rise to the occasion. It really is an amazing trait of W's; when he wants to put the effort behind standing and delivering the goods, few are better. I doubt that many would disagree that he did exactly that at the service yesterday.

I won't waste time here repeating what Lowery and Carter said, except to say that anyone who chooses to turn a funeral service into an opportunity to attack one of their fellow mourners is a complete ass. Of course we knew this about Mr. Carter already. Mr. Lowery was a bit of a surprise.

So I wondered, what has happened to American Liberalism that causes it to repeatedly be expressed in so many inappropriate ways. There was the Wellstone funeral, of course, but there has also been so many other instance of inappropriate behavior or the association with so many bad actors that one really does have to begin to wonder. If you need some examples just visit any public declaration by Howard Dean, or review Teddy Kennedy's questioning of Justice Alito.

As I considered this question though I realized that liberalism has been in this state for at least 30 years. I joke that Jimmy Carter turned me into a conservative, but to give him credit for this would really be lending too much authority to the highest performing offspring of a pretty wretched gene pool. No, I left liberalism because it was a hollow, pointless ideology that had pretty much run it's course by the mid-seventies. I mention this because liberals in particular have been using racial politics in lieu of any real ideology for a long-time, and their treatment of the King's in particular is quite instructive.

We all know today, that despite their insistence that they were big supporters of the King's, the Kennedy boys were quite the opposite behind closed doors. Bobby had MLK's phones tapped, and he and Jack tried to discredit King by suggesting that MLK had ties with communists. Bobby was famously heard to say at one point that if the country knew what they knew about King, King would be finished. Doesn't sound like much of a fan to me.

Then, of course, there was LBJ. We all know that LBJ passed the Civil Rights act, but what we all forget is that he did it with broad Republican support. In fact, a higher percentage of Republicans voted for the act than did Democrats. Still LBJ was a big fan of King, right? Well, maybe, but he couldn't be bothered to attend the funeral and instead sent his Vice President.

So President Bush's appearance at Mrs. King's funeral was all the more important yesterday. Certainly Mrs. King was worthy in her own right of Presidential honor, that it also helped make up for the slight of her husband at the time of his death made it all the more important.

Perhaps we'll never know what really set liberals off, but we do know that for at least some of them, honoring the King's was never really as important as using them to promote an unrelated, hollow cause.

My Uncle

I’m Blogging from the road tonight; the result of the death of my fave uncle who passed away over the weekend. Friday afternoon I received word that the end appeared near and Saturday morning it was over.

So this morning found me wrapping things up at work, and then I made the four hour drive down to southern Illinois for the wake and funeral tomorrow.

My uncle was an interesting man. Smart, witty and a little rough around the edges he was a man’s man, which as those of you who have been readers of mine will know, is high praise in my book. He could have done anything that he wanted, and had several opportunities to leave this small burg and venture for something that held greater reward economically, but he chose to stay here. A small town business man, who took care of his clients, raised a family, and made a good living for himself, it’s easy to overlook one simple fact:

He did do exactly what he wanted, and he was a rich man because of it.

When he is finally laid to rest tomorrow I have no doubt that his town, a town that he left just about one year ago to be nearer to his kids in Kentucky, will turn out en mass to say goodbye. He was a presence here, first as a kid running the streets, then as the high school football star who liked to shoot pool down at the hall. He gave up college to marry the girl he met while life guarding and he diligently saw after his mother in his early twenties when his father dropped dead in the coal mines of a heart attack He built an insurance business, raised a family and managed to see a little of the world along the way.

People have told me that we were similar in many ways, and I guess I know what they mean. I remember when I was a kid that we’d come down here every year and I would always look forward to seeing him. I would be a bit nervous about it too. He seemed like such a tough guy…it was a bit intimidating.

For years we would have the annual arm wrestling contest. He knew I played football and would tease me about seeing if I was strong enough to beat the old man. Every year it was the same; I’d get killed. When I got to high school things began to change. I found the secret to weight lifting, and being the competitive guy that I was I had two goals. First I wanted to bench more than any other guy in the school. Second, and much more importantly, I wanted to beat my uncle at arm wrestling.

I don’t remember when exactly it happened, but it did. One year we were engaged in our annual battle and I noticed that suddenly he was playing not to lose. I could tell that he couldn’t push me over and was just holding on trying to outsmart me by conserving his energy and wearing me out until he could move in for the kill. This was new, and in that moment I could tell that my triumph was near. With every ounce of strength I engaged the battle and pinned him there in his own living room.

Talk about bittersweet.

This is what it is to be a man. Set a goal, accept the challenge, and play to win. We don’t take prisoners, and second place is just the first loser. My uncle understood this, and more importantly he knew it was important for me to understand it too. That victory so many years ago was not just mine. It was also his because in those contests he passed a little bit of himself over to me. It is a piece I will always love and cherish.

Part of being a man is also being honest. With your friends, with your family, and most importantly with yourself. The honest truth, my friends, is that I missed a chance with my uncle. The years following my youth went by so fast. My visits down here which weren’t often enough when I was young became increasingly infrequent. I’d hear news of my uncle through his sister, my mom, and I’m sure he kept up with me in the same way. The man, who taught me so much, who so many said I was like, became an update item in my mother’s conversations with me.

What a loss. We had so much that we both liked. Football, hunting, a cold beer and watching our families grow. We both turned down lucrative careers in other cities to be nearer to those we loved, and, of course, we both liked a good arm wrestle once in a while. Somehow, we let that get away from us.

Damn.

Word came late last summer that my uncle had lung cancer. I put the girls and Mrs. P in the car and went down to Kentucky with my Mom and sister right away. It sounds strange, but it was a wonderful weekend. My uncle was in good spirits, and my kids got to see what a wonderful family he had raised and how close they all were. Here was family that in many way was so different than ours, but you wouldn’t have known it to hear us out on the back deck late that Saturday night, yuckin’ it up like we were old friends.

My uncle and I also got to spend a couple of hours earlier in the day alone. We had gone over for breakfast, and after we ate, the rest of the family went inside, one by one, until the two of us were alone on the back deck. We drank coffee, enjoyed the summer breeze and talked about stuff. I was nearing my deal to start working again, he was complaining about the Democrats and we both talked about investing our nest eggs. Mundane stuff yes, but also the stuff that men talk about with their equals.

We left that weekend and my uncle’s last words to me were, “I’m going to beat this” and I really thought he would. Sure, I knew the odds weren’t good, but I damn well thought I’d see him again.

Soon thereafter life got busy, I started working, the kid’s sports teams got busy, we began remodeling our house and the holidays came and went. Now he is gone. One phone call would have made a difference. It might have started a series of calls. We could have talked sports, complained about my mother (his big sister), or talked about our kids, but I kept putting it off. As I sit here tonight I wonder what in the world could have been more important.

So I have regrets. Big regrets. The truth is though, that I also have memories. Wonderful memories of a man who was in many ways a larger than life figure to me. It is these things that I will choose to hold on to. I can’t let my regrets go I can only understand them and hope I never make the same mistake again.

Although I didn’t realize it until now, I guess I was a little intimidated by him all the way to the end and I hope that wherever he is he understands that.

I also hope that someday, my nephews say the same about me.

Hmmmm, It Seems There's Been Some Inaccurate Reporting...

....about that whole no pictures of Mohammed thing. You know, with the angry crowds, the signs written english, well one could get the impression that this is nothing more than a contrived effort to give the masses something to do. "Ignore the repressive political climate and the backwards culture, we must slay the true infidel!"

God, where's Winston Smith when you need him?

via: Protein Wisdom.

Thursday Night Wine Blogging

Welcome once again my friends to another edition of Thursday night wine blogging. Tonight, as promised, we begin our tour through Spain and where else to begin but in the region of Rioja.

Unfortunately, I haven't done as much research as I would have liked to in order to start the Spain series, but this week has been very busy. All culminated today with a presentation where, in the imortal words of Webb Wilder (last of the full grown men), "man, I blew the folks away". So to celebrate I pulled into Sam's Wine on the way home a bought up a mess of Spanish wine.

I'm intrigued by tonight's selection, Faustino Tino Gran Reserva 1995 because it only cost me 25, American. Seems odd, don't you think? A Gran Reserva which means it was a decent vintage, spent 2 years in oak, and three in the bottle before it was released, and yet its only a cool 25 bucks. Go figure!

Rioja is the region in north/central spain and is known for it's full bodied red wines. Made primarily around the Tempranillo grape using techniques important from bourdeax ages ago. Here is a little more on the region if your interested.

But enough of my yappin, lets pop this baby and see what we have.

Zoinks! Thats a big nose. Ok, the minute I popped the cork both me and Mrs. P could smell the bouquet. It is a bit fruity, I hope there is more compexity, but wow that was a nice surprise. So ok the nose is fruity, maybe some rustic scents as well upon further examination.

Fist sip......interesting....the fruit isn't there as much as on the nose and the taste is a bit tight. As I type I can feel it opening in my mouth a little. I'll try another sip. Ah there the nose has really calmed down. The taste is developing as well. Fruit, rustic flavors such as an earthy back taste that is maybe a tad mentholish. Nice. It definately lingers in the mouth, this is a wonderful wine.

I'm going to continue drinking for a bit, and give you an update in a bit. I did want to tell you a little story about a conversation that I had with a sommilier last Friday at a wine dinner. The dinner featured the wines of bourdeax, I can't remember if it was the right or the left bank, but we had medocs and Margauxs so you can look it up if you wish. Thats not the story though.

The story is that we were enjoying our first course accompanied by a white bourdeax, and the somolier comes over to me and opens a bottle of Margaux, I think it was something like L'Argentine, but I can't fully remember. Anyway, he mutters something in French and asks me to try it. Well, it was very acidic and I really did not like the nose at all. So I said, "perhaps its a bit tight and needs to breath". It was either that or it wasn't a very good wine which I think was his real concern. Anyway, he said something interesting, and I thought "oooh, I've got to remember this to tell my wine buddies".

So the guy says, "I don't know how much breathing makes a difference. Sometimes I think it takes time for us to come to a wine too. It is like a woman, they are as they are, and we have to appreciate the beauty they bring and meet them where we work best together". Well, as you can imagine it was an intersting thought taken to French obsurdity, but in a way I do think he has a point. We do have to be ready to accept a wine as it is, and sometimes that does require us in the immortal words of the prison warden in Cool Hand Luke, "get our minds right".

That said, I was really tempted to say to the guy that he better hope breathing will help cuz there was no way I was likely to enjoy that wine otherwise. Turns out, it never got better than crappy. The dinner was good though.

Second glass now and the wine has really come into it's own. It is smooth, full bodied and very long in the mouth. It is not super structured, but it is very elegant. I really enjoy it. The bottle has been open for about a half an hour and it really is something to appreciate, to experience this wine come alive. I tell ya, I think my somollier buddy is nuts. Good wine is, to a certain extent, alive and good wine does grow and develop in the glass.

I'm often struck by people that say they cannot taste things in wine. While I understand that it is unussual for people to remember exact tastes years after they experience them, I do think people can get more from their wine experience than perhaps they are allowing. It depends on attitude, and attention. If you are distracted or too busy, it ain't gonna happen for you. Wine, as with good food, or art requires your attention and expects your appreciation. It's the same difference as the experience of running or walking through the woods. The runner gets a great workout, but the walker sees the beauty. Neither experience is necessarily better, but the focus and concentration are different.

Ok, last comments. A cool thing kind of happens with this wine when you let it sit in the glass. A scent builds up that is not unlike smoke. As I pick up the glass and sniff, I'm reminded of a fall day with the scent of burning leaves coming from somewhere in the distance. The taste is as elegant as before.

So thats it for tonight. A good bottle of wine and my nutty ramblings. Aren't you glad you stopped by?!

Snore of the Union

"When did the State of the Union speech get so popular?" I found myself wondering last night. I'm really curious about this because as a life long political junkie, I've probably seen every speech going back to the years when the odious Jimmy Carter was giving them. Here is a little secret:

They always sucked.

It's a stupid speech born of some constitutional obligation that the pres will go before Congress and let us all know how we're doing. For me a "we're still here, market is up, Super Bowl is this weekend, and American men are still the world's number one love making machines" would pretty much suffice.

Instead though, we've got this event that is akin to the "What I Did On My Summer Vacation" papers every elementary school kid used to have to write on the first day back at school. We didn't much like those papers, and I doubt the president or the Congress for that matter, look much more forward to this event.

Yet somewhere along the line people seemed to get the idea that the State of the Union, which at best is manufactured news, was a big deal. Good Lord, we've got wall to wall coverage and analysis, we have bloggers "live blogging" for God knows what reason, and worst of all the Democrats (Republicans when they're out of office) feel the need to extend our pain by issuing some half baked response. Hell, they can't even get somebody decent to give the response so we're treated to some yokel governor who, since he has been given so many constraints by the party, can't come up with anything better than, "there must be a better way".

The whole thing is a nightmare, but as a card carrying political junkie I've got to sit through the disaster, and worse, insist that my family join me. I made sure the guns were locked up just in case Mrs. P and the PD's (cool name for a band eh?) were moved to attempt some sort of coup. They had that look in their eyes.

Any way I was left with one impression from the night. The Democrats are dumb as a sack of hair. Yup, I'm talking stupid beyond all comprehension. For a party that has got it into their minds that they are the intellectuals I can't figure out for the life of me why they can't run rings around this president.

For example Bush complained last night that they didn't do anything on his social security proposal. This was an enormous opportunity. They could have had governor yokel talk about how Bush's policy was wrong for America and propose a high level alternative, they could have sent out talking points to their friends in the media for the "analysis" shows later, hell they could have done anything except the one thing that they actually did do. They applauded their own in action.

Here we sit in this country with a real problem on our hands. The retirement system is in need of serious reform; social security is underfunded, the pension guarantee system is underfunded, pension plans are underfunded, and people haven't saved enough on their own for retirement. Yet there they were, the poor dumb bastards, in all their glory applauding their inaction. Hillary in particular look like some sort of Monkey trained to clap in Skinner Box sort of stimulus/response repetoir. What a marvelous commercial that will be this fall.

So congrats boys and girls, it looks like two more years in the wilderness. For everyone else, can we let this thing drift back into obscurity? Please? Sure I'll go on watching, but without all the hoopla it will be like a quick dental check up. 45 minutes of scraping, a slightly unpleasant interaction with a guy we don't really know that well and then blamo; we're outta there until the next appointment.