Archive for July, 2008

2001 Chateau St Jean Pinot Noir Sonoma County

Disclaimer: I am a mere mortal. I do not profess to be an expert or to possess a superior palate. So, don’t take my word for it; try it for yourself!

Digging through my stash, I came upon this forgotten-about bottle. I believe it was acquired after my husband was suckered into joining a wine club. That said, this is not a shabby bottle of wine. Its deep ruby color is much darker than the typical Oregon pinot.

Swirl and sniff. At first the nose was shy, but after a while it opened up to aromas of cherries and toast, with a hint of creaminess.

Swig. Definitely decant, would be my advice. This pinot needs a little time to open up, but when it does, it reveals the dense, black cherry flavors that teased the nose. There is a spicy, pepper quality accenting the fruit. After some encouragement (aeration), the flavors blossom. While skipping the mid-palate, this wine finishes nicely. 

Overall: I’ll drink it without too many complaints; it could be a bit rounder on the palate. If you happen to have a bottle, what are you waiting for? Personally, I don’t think it has the tannins to go much further in the cellar. So, drink up!

All I’m Saying, Is, Give Eee a Chance!

I know. The title is a bit much–and quite possibly, incorrectly punctuated–but hear me out, please! This is a bit of a performance review of my Eee PC. Overall, I’m very happy with my Eee. I only wish the battery lasted just a bit longer. I did have a couple incidences in which I thought I had (gulp!) lost my Eee to the dark side. The screen froze up to the point where I had to turn off the power to reboot. (Sorry techies, but I don’t know the term for this. Is it a hard reboot?) Anyhow, I’m happy to report that I was able to resuscitate my Eee!

Why should you take the plunge, you ask. Aha, excellent question. Let me name the top ten reasons the Eee 2G surf will improve your life:

 10. Girls: It’s cute, comes in several colors (sky blue, pink, green, pearl white, grey, and black), and fits in a handbag. It’s a must-have accessory! Guys: Everyone will envy you! All of your friends, family members, and complete strangers will want one once they see your Eee.

9. Linux. Need I say more? OK, I will elaborate, since you asked. Linux is zippy and lacks the cumbersome qualities of Windows. From what I’ve read, it’s also less vulnerable to viruses. (Not sure of this, but it sounds good.) Windows fanatics, no worries. You can run Windows (stripped-down, as I understand it) on Eee.

8. It is small (size of dvd case, plus a little girth) making it a traveller’s or commuter’s instant companion.

7. It has a really long cord on the charger unit, which is both good and bad. Good because it’s handy for hard-to-reach outlets, and bad because the cord is a bit unruly to bundle up.

6. There are three USB ports, which is more than sufficient. Right? With a thumb drive, you are set to work with docs or jpgs to your delight!

5.  The price. I paid $299 plus tax for mine on Amazon. I figured, hey, if it’s stolen by some unruly thug while traveling, I’m not out the $700 I paid for my Averatec dinosaur laptop.

4. Penguin racing (game where you try to collect herring as your penguin slides on its belly down a slalom ski course) is a riot, especially after a glass of wine. OK, I’m joking. Sort of. On a more serious note, did I mention that it has an SD card slot. This came in handy to download picts onto my computer during my trip. Eee comes loaded with a picture viewer that I used to upload photos to Flickr. Kinda slow, but it worked. The best part was that I was able to make back-up copies of my picts onto my thumb drive.

3.  Built-in wifi. Plus, it has an ethernet port, so it is super web-friendly!

2. It boots up in about 10 seconds. My Averatec takes about 25 seconds. Go figure!

1. Did I mention how light it is? It’s less than 1 kilogram! (That’s what the box says.) OK, for non-metric folk, I think that’s roughly 2 pounds. Transportability is its number one feature, at least for me.

Wine (and writing) in Saint Emilion

View from an Alley in Saint Emilion

View from an Alley in Saint Emilion

After Paris, I subjected myself to a winathon, of sorts. Taking part in a food/travel/wine writer’s workshop, I had the good fortune of visiting premier chateaux, tasting superb wines, delving into divine dishes, and–of course–writing about it! Our group consisted of seven women and our instructor, Nick. (Accolades to Nick for making all of the arrangements.)

What were the highlights? Hmm, hard to remember after all of that wine. Visiting Michel Gracia, garagistes, at his converted garage winery, is a moment I want to bottle because it brought such pleasure. An animated man who is quick to smile and crack a joke, Gracia oozes passion for wine. The meticulous methods he honed as a stone mason have spilled over into his cellar. The result of such perfectionism are two masterpiece of wines.

In my spare time (while not drinking wine or writing), I explored the medieval village of Saint Emilion and the surrounding countryside. Saint Emilion’s narrow cobblestone streets are lined with wine shops, jewelry store, art galleries, cafes, restaurants, macaroon bakeries (local specialty), and a bead store. Then, the surrounding countryside is accessible through a system of trails that meander by vineyards.

Paris in Four Days

Glass Pyramid from Inside the Louvre

Glass Pyramid from Inside the Louvre

At last, I have published a page detailing my adventures and misadventures in Paris. For four days, I was lost in Paris’ narrow, twisty streets lined with tall, stone buildings. Yet, I managed to stumble upon the sights I planned to visit and many more. Paris, for me, was about the journey of place and time, which allowed me to dabble in the art, architecture and culture of France. 

The full account is here: https://winentrip.wordpress.com/perdu-lost-in-paris/. Or, you can just click on “Perdu (lost) in Paris” under Pages, to the left.

I have posted my pictures in a set entitled, “France,” on Flickr. This is the link: www.flickr.com/photos/bspicher.