dinwiddie

My wife, not being tall in any sense of the word, refuses to sit on stools, even if they have backs. She says that they just are not comfortable as her legs have to dangle, even if they have a foot rai. So we never sit at the sushi bar, or at the bar anywhere if we can help it. Personally, if I'm at a bar, I prefer one with a food rail and no stools, so I can stand with one foot on the rail, my elbow on the bar, and toss back my drink, just like John Wayne.

We had a few friends over last Saturday. We decided to try to answer a question asked by one of the folks on E-Gullet "Do you feel that women agree with these tastes?" when talking about CA Pinot Noir. While these are not necessarily representative of the CA PN landscape, they are of my cellar, so they are what we opened. I tried to let all of them decant for an hour or more in order to get a true picture of their flavors and aroma once they had a chance to open up. 2004 Dain American Beauty, Amber Ridge Vineyard - David Dain's inagurial vintage and a great start. Floral nose of cherrys, cola and nutmeg that was very pleasant. Supple, elegant wine, not as "big" as other PNs but still very fruit forward. Lots of black cherry, vanilla and earth flavors, well structured, good acidity, and supple tannins. Medium finish to long finish. Everythig on could want in a Pinot Noir. Excellent first effort and I'm really looking forward to the future for these wines. 2003 A.P. Vin Gary's Vineyard - Dark ruby in color. Initially showing a nose of cherrys, cola and allspice, as the evening progressed it gained cinnimon and licorice notes. On the palate rich flavors of cherrys and blackberrys with a wonderful earthiness, mild tannins that softened with each passing hour. Balanced with long structured finish. Excellent wine. 2004 Loring Wine Company Pinot Noir Rosella's Vineyard - Nose of predominate cherrys, allspice/cloves with a nice earthy funk that blew off early. After decanting the fruit had begun to mute from its initial predominance and it smoothed out to a well balanced, supple PN. Still bigger than the Dain. Smooth fouth feel, short to medium finish. Nice easy to drink PN. 2002 Martinelli Bondi Home Ranch Water Trough Vineyard Pinot Noir - Medium-dark purple with a floral nose that clobbered you with cherries. Expansive with intense flavors of cherries and very ripe berries with a little smoke in the background. Almost a Syrah like PN, extracted, full bodied, and rich, but easily the favorite wine of the evening.

I liked the essay, and I read it but didn't comment. I don't always agree with Joe H, but I enjoy reading his posts. Now I have a better understanding of where he is coming from and how he got here. I'd love for there to be another forum or two for topics that just don't really fit into the ones we have now.

I thought the Alamo opened in 1954. When I lived in Riverdale in the '80s, it was considered old, but it still had that great family feel and friendly folks who served huge portions of Tex/Mex food. Haven't been back in years, I guess I'll have to make a trip.

I'd apply, but since I'm all for abolishing the County as wholesaler I don't think I'd even be considered.

This place had gotten to be a regular carryout spot for us. The boy and I had the oxtail and the brown stew chicken last night and it was delish as always. I really want these guys to do well as it is as authentic as you can wish for and good food. Washed it down with a bottle of ginger beer and was full as a tick when I finished.

Now that my wife has me on a diet, BBQ ribs and Buffalo chicken wings, especially the ones from Urban BBQ.

I don't think that there was room to allow for more extensive comments from each taster. But I agree, this panel was much better suited to the format than some that have been in the past. I wish I had the collection that some of them have. I also thought it interesting that the panel fairly consistently rated the wines lower than Ben did.

I don't blame Dean for loving the Ridge Montebello. Which vintages did you drink? (I'm jelious!) My son uses the '94 Ridge MB as his benchmark wine for American Bordeaux blends.

Joe Riley, jpbloom and jamietown have all made great suggestions. Depending on why you want to stop at a winery, there are a couple of others I'd suggest. If you are looking for a chance to taste some great wines, but that are very hard to get and have expensive price tags, I'd suggest Alban, which is by appt. only, Domaine Alfred, Justin, and maybe Brewer-Clifton, also by appt. only. There are literally dozens and dozens of wineries in that area (Wine Spectator lists 185) so there are lots of places to try. I'd definitely stop by the retail shops which pour a lot of the smaller local producers' products, like jpbloom suggested and maybe try to visit one of the ones that you really liked.

It is unfortunate too because there are some excellent chefs in MC. I occasionally talk to restaurant owners in MC about their feelings about allowing corkage if the county would permit it. The range of answers is interesting. Quite a few feel that it would be a great idea, others have no idea what I'm talking about, and several have said that they don't want to permit it or even have a decent wine list because they feel that a bottle of wine on the table encourages diners to linger over the meal and hurts their turnover. Of course, that is why I go to DC for a nice meal when I want to be able to bring something out of my cellar. I'd love to be able to do the same in MC, and to have wine shipped to me there instead of having to ship it to DC, but as long as Donald the Ogler is Comptroller, and the distributors continue to give huge amounts of money to candidates in MD, it won't happen. BTW. Mark. We are going to dine at Citronelle next month at my son's request for his birthday, even though he knows that corkage is not permitted. I just hope I can make up my mind from your great list. I'll be sure to ask you for assistance.

The Wine Specialist constantly has in-store tastings. While I find their prices to be high, if you sign up with them for an e-mail notification they will send you announcements of sales, tastings, etc.

Iagree with the excellent school system, but the profit a couple of years ago was $139 million, not $5 million. The county claims it can't afford to get out ot the wholesaler/retailer business, and whenever it comes up they trot out a lot of employees of the county stores who complain that they will lose their jobs.

Joe, An interesting and informative post. Obviously there are lots of reasons that a certain wine at a certain store will be cheaper than somewhere else; overhead, the wine isn't moving, the store got a special price so the distributor could move it as the next vintage was in the pipeline and they needed to get rid of stock, etc. What burns me is the extremely high prices that I have to pay in Montgomery County because the county is the only legal wholesaler and they jack up the prices to the retailer and the restaurants (yes even restaurants can't buy from anyone except the county). I once say a restaurant's price list from the county. The prices that the retailer was paying to buy the wine was higher than I could get the same wine for in DC or VA at retail. I once purchased a wine from a store in VA for $14.95, at the Montgomery County branch of the same store, the same wine was $18.95, and the owner said it was because he had to buy it from the County wholesaler to sell in the Montgomery store, at a higher price than he paid from the wholesaler in VA. The other thing that occasionally gets my goat is watching the price of certain wines soar due to the lack of availability or because of high scores from Parker or WS. I know that supply and demand is a fact of life, but when I see things like the Karl Lawrence Cab (not the single vineyard Cabs) that are sold at allocation for $50 going for over $100 on the retail shelf, I wonder. I recently saw a Kosta-Browne Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast 2002 (WS 87), which sold for $28 if you were on the allocation list, selling for $99 at a DC retailer. I realize that it is not easy to get, but that kind of markup at the retail level makes one wonder. But I guess there are those out there who will pay that given the hype that Kosta-Browne has gotten, and how hard it is to get if you are not on the mailing list. Another example was a Martinelli Zinfandel Russian River Valley Jackass Vineyard 2002 (WS 88) which sold at the winery for $50 going for $125. I guess I shouldn't complain since I can't even keep up with all my allocations, but when one sees these types of prices, one wonders. Of course, the amount of these wines available makes the profit the retailer is making at these prices nice, but not enough to keep in business. After all, it is volume, not high markup that makes a retailer profitable. As wine unsold brings in no profit and a lot of wine sold at a reasonable markup does.

I wonder if they would permit the Crí¼ to do a dinner there?

Once they changed the way wine was reported on in the Food Section, I no longer found any reason to even open it.

2003 OS Ulysses

Personally, I prefer my fois gras without beef and bun. Much better with a nice sauternes.

I just got the miler for WesMar's most recent offering, again a case of each except the Chard. Only 6 of those. I think I'll order some, but not all. No Piner Ranch or Oehlman Vineyard this time, but they do have a new Hellenthal Vineyard and a Balletto Vineyard.

As it turned out, it was a little discombobulated. The wife was planning to go to here pottery workshop, so we didn't plan anything. It turned out she had to work late, so she didn't go to pottery. We ended up ordering take out Jamacian food and opening a Dain Amber Rose PN to go with it. Not the best match, but a great wine. As to the WesMar, since I signed up for their list before they sold their first wine, my allocation is crazy. I'm allocated one case of each wine and two cases of the Russian River Valley and one other (can't remember whcih of the top of my head). Of course, I'm not buying that much from one allocation, but it is nice to know that I can. I tend to buy three bottles of each instead.

If I remember correctly, the guys who own Urban BBQ used to work at Rocklands and decided to open their own place. IMHO, they do a much better job.

He lists the 2003 WesMar PN, but doesn't say which one. I've tried them all, like them all, but the Piner Ranch Vineyard is yummy. In fact I have several of each left, guess I should open one tomorrow night.

Probably not a thing. The stupid laws that make the County the only legal wholesaler are still there and this shouldn't have any effect on them. Restaurants are required to buy from the county and can't buy direct from the winery (at least not legally)

I think the more appropriate code section to look at is § 2-204. A Class 3 manufacturer's license: (1) Is a winery license; and (2) Authorizes the holder to: (i) Establish and operate in this State a plant for fermenting and bottling wine at the location described in the license; (ii) Import bulk wine from the holder of a nonresident dealer's permit; (iii) Sell and deliver wine to any wholesale licensee or permit holder in this State, or person outside of this State authorized to acquire wine; (iv) Sell wine made from products grown in Maryland at a retail price at the plant to persons participating in a guided tour of the facility. The purchase shall be limited to not more than one quart per person per year provided the purchaser has attained the Maryland legal drinking age; and (v) Serve at no charge not more than 6 ounces of wines made at the licensed facility to a person who is participating in a guided tour of the facility, provided the person has attained the Maryland legal drinking age. As I understand it, Maryland law does not permit MD wineries to ship wine within the state to consumers unless it is local delivery, by the winery, meaning within the county in which the winery is located, i.e., they can't ship across county lines. You will notice that the law requires that they can sell wine (except for a limited amount directly at the winery to consumers) only to holders of wholesale licenses.

I wonder if they permit corkage?