No Wine Over $20-Reviews and the LA Wine Scene

Folks who love pretty, floral and delicate may not be enchanted by this entry. If you like chintz, peacocks, and the scent of lavender then you should stop reading NOW. This entry is for people who appreciate the phrase "it smelled like a Frenchman's toes"!! which is ripe ripe ripe cheese for gourmands like us.

If you are someone who appreciates the path less traveled, or who ascribes to the maxim "I will try anything twice because I may not like it the first time" then the following may satisfy your hunger for something different.

In wine tasting there often comes a point when one's allegiance switches from cabernet - which along with chardonnay, are the two wines on which most if not all Cali snobs cut (inked?) their teeth - to pinot noir. I am not suggesting that novice wine aficionados inevitably develop a taste for pinot noir (we do). That would acknowledge that pinot noir is capable of complexity that cabernet simply cannot attain (it is with the caveat there is always an exception like the 1982 Mouton Rothschild). Some folks never manage to leave the cabernet camp. I am not suggesting that pinot noir is the summit of wine tasting (having fallen from this summit, like the Beatles' disenchantment with the Maharishi). In fact, it may be that one must pass through the cabernet and the pinot stages in order to find palate freedom. Forget the higher level innuendi. For some, cab and pinot are like Alcatraz - an iconic tour but I wouldn't want to live there.

Once these stages have been completed it is likely even greater pleasure will be experienced when one returns to tasting the world's two most popular fine wine grapes.

Let's talk about the two pinot noir wines I had the other night at Saddlepeak Lodge. They are Burgundies. Some folks like to say French Burgundies but that is redundant isn't it? The good Dottoré is usually quick to point out that someone who has tasted enough premium burgs and California pinots (such as himself) can always pick out the domestic from the international wine. I agree and these two pinot noirs from top level Burgundy vineyards, made by top level winemakers, and bottled by two premium producers prove that point. Nothing from Cali (or anywhere else) tastes like this. It does not get any better on a wine-for-wine basis. Here they are.

1999 Comtes Lafon Volnay-Santenots-Du Milieu: Big fruit, strong tannins, all on the nose. Dark red color with tinge of purple. Big flavor, not massive, not overwhelming by any count. Expertly balanced. Solid fruit core. Luscious, even toned and voluptuous (think Heidi Klum or Gabby Reece). Remained like this for 2 hours. Never changed. The Derek Jeter of red Burgundy.

1990 Comtes de Vogue Chambolle-Musigny: As I was saying about stinky cheese...this wine had a funky nose. Not barnyard. Not le merde. Young Runki San nailed it - truffles. Now I have had truffles on eggs (didn't get it), and on pasta in Italy (umm good). It is difficult to get to know truffles because they are so hard to come by good 'n fresh. And forget tasting them in truffle oil or any other truffle product that can be purchased off the shelf. I once had an all-truffle meal at Valentino's in LA and never got it. I don't eat there anymore. But this 1990 Chambolle was truffles on the nose, truffles in the mouth, truffles all night long. If you can appreciate exotic, slightly dank and stank-eee aromas, and flavors, then you know what we were tasting. Sounds gross? Made us dingy. Like catnip. Color was red brick. Even perimeter. Consistent flavor. The wine will go another decade I would guess. 13.5%. A very unusual wine for Mr. <$20. As memorable and as spectacular as the 1995 Dehlinger Reserve noted in our first entry. Except that wine was definitely barnyard (i.e., poopy).

A word on great wines: One of the most memorable wines I ever tasted was an early 80s La Landonne. I forgot the producer although I could find out by asking the man who brought the wine to the holiday tasting about 15 years ago. I can tell you I instantly made a note to capture La Landonne wines whenever the right conditions prevailed. The aroma and flavor of this wine that was probably 15 years old at the time? Sour buttermilk. Sounds disgusting and I would never drink sour buttermilk; however, in the glass, red and perfect, it was absolutely strange and wonderful.
La Landonne is expensive. After all it is the most famous and revered vineyard in the Cote Rotie. The vines are 100% syrah and the slope is 45°! There are only a couple producers who bottle wines from this vineyard. Sometimes I wonder how collectors who pursue trophy wines would like an aged La Landonne from a great vintage. Any perfectly aged bottle would cost as much as but not more than what one pays for a "must-have" new release Screaming Eagle.

Great wines should be enjoyed with a great meal in a great dining room with terrific service. We made sure all conditions would be met by sharing our wines at Saddlepeak Lodge. Our server was the peripatetic Mike who has his own blog speedmonkey.com. Gary, I mean Mike, was ably assisted by Terry the manager, formerly of the Wolverine Marching Band. Saddlepeak is the finest restaurant in the Conejo-Calabasas micro-region. They are famous for game. They did not disappoint. Thank you guys.

Heavy hitter wines have big names. Sometimes they have long traditions. They are almost always one of the 3 most popular varietals - cab, pinot, chardonnay. Of course, heavy hitter wines, like their counterparts in baseball, do not always get the big hit. Barry Bonds comes to mind. In fact, Barry Bonds is a great metaphor for what often happens when you pop the cork on a heavy hitter wine. It fails to impress. Barry's best years are long gone yet he still plans to play one more year. His name is worth everything...in Frisco. He couldn't interest any other team when he tried free agency a few years back. The owner of the HH wine cannot wait to show off his trophy...but his audience is necessarily limited to other trophy hunters. For the trophy hunter 10 to 20 years is too long to wait for the wine to mature and 50 years is far too long to proclaim the wine's "greatness" (another totally silly standard by which heavy hitters are judged). Sort of like the Babe's home run record. The Babe was good for 50 years then he gets busted three times in 15. Kind of cheapens the whole idea of the "heavy hitter". Why do we need these trophies? Because they ground us, providing a firm foundation from which we can approach the world?

Heavy psyching dude. Wine intelligence sez forget the heavy hitters. Go for singles, doubles, walks. Yeh. Coast in on something straightforward, simple, enjoyable...something that puts a smile on your face. A steady performer that costs less. The decent find is always worth the comparatively small risk, especially once you get better at picking out the best bets. Nothing worse than you and your pals hating the trophy wine you just opened. I recall a 1928 Pichon Lalande purchased from a reputable source. The murky pink-gray color was topped by the dead-mouse nose which was surpassed by the brackish bathwater liquid that could only be tasted by the poor fellow who paid well over $200 for the bottle. Perfect label.

Here are a few decent performers and one very underrated power hitter.

2001 McKenzie-Mueller Napa Valley Pinot Noir ~$40: Bob Mueller make great red wines. His pinot noir may be his best. Or it might be his Malbec or Cab Franc. The pinot is certainly steady. We reported on the 2002 a few weeks back. All Bob's wines are estate grown. This one is also funky on the nose. This is barnyard. The flavors are deep and rich. Not the berry style of pinot (which I also love). This is meaty but not grilled. Sinewy texture. 13.6% alcohol. The Carneros delta (I think of it as delta) has ideal conditions for growing pinot noir. Hot days and cool foggy nights. My power hitter bats clean-up.

1997 Windward Vineyards Pinot Noir ~$25: I subscribed for 6 years on principle. A nice couple intended to make world class Burgundian style pinot noir in Paso Robles. A noble pursuit but I end busting out this wine whenever I BBQ or dip a turkey like the wild Paso birds adjacent. It is all they would produce and it was all estate gown. This is called a monopole in France. Curiously there are only one or two monopoles in Burgundy. I waited for the vines to mature. It made no difference. You cannot grow great pinot noir in Paso. It is just too dang hot. The fruit gets too ripe and the juice is never anything like Burgundy. See Carneros. Now, this does not mean Windward does not make good wine. The 1996 and 1997 are both pretty nice. Sweet nose and flavors. Smells a bit like ripe tomatoes. Evenly balanced. Good weight. Not over-ripe. Just too ripe for pinot. 14.4%. Bats in front of the pitcher.

2003 Sunstone Viognier ~$18: This is a wine I would never buy. And it was not a gift but it was purchased on a trip to Santa Ynez Valley. Sunstone hits pretty attractive price points, makes decent wines from the region, and as a result they get good action in their wine club. This viognier is not terribly ripe which is interesting by itself. It has cool weather plum flavors. It is sufficiently balanced so as not to knock the glass out of your hand. Unremarkable and forgotten quickly. 14%. Pinch hitter when the game is not on the line and I am running out of batters.

None of these wines ruins a summer evening. One can make things transcendent and, like every power hitter, raises the others' level of play.

I'm a newbie to the wine thing. I'm one of those Johnny-come-latelys who were inspired by Sideways.

At my local wine shop, I discovered non-snotty counter personnel who know their shit and about 75% of the time, provide me with a bottle of something I've never heard of that makes an absolutely delightful accent to dinner and dates.

While tasting wines is a steady process of educating my palate to recognize the different components of a wine, it is my verbal sense that is the most inspired by some of Bacchus' (and others') comments about various wines that remain in my mouth long after my impeded anti-diuretic hormone has enabled the rapid excretion of said vino from my body.

As an example, from Wine Intelligence part 2: "dead-mouse nose"; or my personal favorite: "cat piss". Perhaps someday we'll find a wine described as "itchy & scratchy". A sweet mousy nose with a bloody cat aftertaste.

While one can and should begin by questioning the value of anything one would drink that tastes like something one would normally want to wash out of one's carpeting or upholstery, "cat piss" remains a sought after nose for some Sauvignon Blancs. Go figure.

The key point is this, while "dead mice" and "cat piss" remain low on my list of things that I want in my nose, I remain amused and amazed at how wine can inspire these perceptions in the first place. Wine-tasting has become a new way to enjoy poetry without all those dusty 'ole books and snooty academics in favor of dusty 'ole bottles and snooty academics.

-Dionysus

Blood and Wine: the Unauthorized Story of the Gallo Wine Empire
By Ellen Hawkes, Simon and Schuster 1993

This is not fiction. But a lot of it does claim to be fact. Who can tell? The witnesses forgot a lot of info…especially in court.

Getting through this book was a labor, and not of love. More like picking grapes in the Central Valley late summer. The writing style is journalism at its most dry. Dates, places, people. Just the facts. But it is the facts that kept me grinding away. Once the author gets to The Feud (chapter 11) the facts become essential to telling exactly who is getting shafted in which ways by whom.

I forgot how much I already knew about Gallo, including how, like every decent UC undergraduate of the ‘70s, I reviled the company and their products (they did not move into making fine wine as we know and review them until the 80s). We sneered at the Gallo name. We supported the boycott of Gallo wines in support of Cesar Chavez’ farmworkers union. We drank Boones Farm Apple wine at parties not realizing this was one of Gallo’s extended line of products that included Thunderbird (#1 cash cow), Night Train, Carlo Rossi wines, Ripple, André, Cold Duck, Eden Roc and Bartle & James along with a list of so many other silly blends. Ernest and Julio had the last laugh profiting enormously ($2.8B) from the so-called "misery market".

For my protesting, hypocitical part it was easy to miss the Gallo name on the label of these “street wine products” since Gallo removed their name in the early 70s when marketing surveys they contracted for revealed the public generally regarded their products as pond scum (seems apropos to bring out the best of the old 70s and 80s capitalist slurs).

The “modern” history of Gallo – as in 1960s through the 1990s – acts as a focal point for the history of those “turbulent times”. Gallo men served in the military. One died in Nam. Ernest Gallo, the maniacal genius who drove the company to become the nation’s #1 wine producer (millions upon millions of gallons annually of SUB-PLONK dreck), defeated Cesar Chavez in an extended court battle fought by legions of attorneys. In the process the Gallo label became even more strongly characterized as a rapacious corporation without heart or sympathy, willing to do anything to make billions. When Ernest died in March of 2007 he was among the 400 richest Americans.

The book has several narrative branches. Two captured my attention. The origins of the Gallo family and label, and the 1980s reckoning which, IMHO, seemed an inevitable reckoning given the earliest family history replete with betrayal upon betrayal including a mysterious murder-suicide. This karmic cauldron could only bring on the agony played out in the crippling lawsuit pitting brother (Joe the baby) against brothers (E&J). The Ernest and Julio history claimed they inherited the winery from Papa growing it into a corporate juggernaut from nothing. Nice story but Hawkes lays on the under-oath testimony from a stack of lawsuits started by Ernest. The "truth" is a story of greed, revenge and ruthlessness without bounds. E&J marginalized baby brother Joe over the course of 40 years until finally attempting to destroy Joe, his business and his family. Joe drew the line, assembled his own attorney brigade and went to war.

The second story line is the lawsuit Joe Gallo brought against his brothers in the mid 80s in retaliation for the suit the brothers brought against his cheese farm he dared to name Joseph Gallo Cheese. The courtroom drama and the preliminaries play out in blessedly rapid narration. The author crisply describes how Joe and his NoCal attorney team got beat by Ernest’s SoCal lawyers. Their secret ingredient was considerable local legal networking that stacked the deck against Joe. If you like lawsuits this is a primer on how even the best cases on paper can go wrong if the “connective tissue” is stronger for the other side.

Among the more interesting “facts” I took from the book:
1. The three tier system that places the broker between the producer and retailer originates with Prohibition.
2. Ernest’s and Julio’s parents died mysteriously in a murder-suicide after Ernest repeatedly failed to convince Papa to let him in the business.
3. The Gallos made and marketed wine like it was soda pop with a 20% kick, a commodity to be made in bulk, without any threat of contamination. Their facilities were state of the art then and now, but their products were bottom of the barrel.
4. They made their fortune selling the worst fortified wine products in the most vulnerable neighborhoods, twisting cold-hearted ghetto exploitation into the “old country”. They were no different than the other gargantuan scale California wineries, e.g., Italian Swiss Colony.
5. You can assume that all California winemakers broke the law during Prohibition; some more than others and Uncle Mike Gallo was one of the biggest and baddest, including time served in San Quentin.
6. Joe lost.
7. Ernest always won.

Among the less interesting “facts” that others might enjoy, I would include:
1. Ernest was a ruthless marketer who, along with a couple trusted executives, wrote the book on how to take over retail sales including moving competitors’ products to the shelf bottom and breaking the screw tops so the other guys’ wines went bad.
2. The various marriages, Moms, grandkids and ill will in the large and extensive Gallo family are boring.
3. The contentious relationship between Ernest and Julio, where Ernest is the bad cop and Julio the good one, is supposed to tell the reader something about the men. I missed it.

A worthwhile read if you want to know wine industry history in California. Before there was Napa there was Modesto, Fresno, Lodi. French Colombard and Thompson formed the basis of many wines. Along with pear and apple juice, too! That is correct sir. The inclusion of pear and apple juice in wine were among the best secrets of the Gallo formula. Here is the book they had written to counter the book I am reviewing. How Ernest!

Molto bene!

I found this NY Times link to an obit on Ernest Gallo if you want to read a little more. Notice how much attention little brother Joe gets! Ernest makes the rules all the way to the end.

My idea of an outing with the kids is to jump in the car, drive downtown in 95° weather, eat dim sum in Chinatown, browse through Alex Cheung’s cool Chinese antiques, observe the “renaissance” of hip urban stores like Realm, Ooga Booga, and Flock Shop in the Chinatown plaza where the Hong Kong Café used to be….then go watch the USC football team practice.
I am absolutely certain Bernie Mac would approve.

That’s right. Watch the #1 team in every preseason ranking put on shoulder pads, cleats and shorts and rough each other up – gently but firmly – for three hours. Yes it was hot. We probably burnt the backs of our legs. We did get hollered at by a coach for taking photos and even 2 videos (page bottom) which are all posted here for your delight. We mean no harm to the team and Idaho will learn nothing from our fan-shots. Not that it would make any difference. We love USC football…almost as much as we love USC basketball. But that season does not get underway until December.

How does our team look? BLPN great. Practice is efficient with 10 and 15 minute drills and lots of movement from the side to the main field. Offense in red. D in white. Here is how the conversation went while absorbing the meaning of it all…

Quarterbacks: Who is #16? Mike McDonald. Hey he throws a nice ball. Yeh. Who is #15? Aaron Corps. Freshman. He throws a nice ball. I know. Here comes McDonald again. No that is Mitch Mustain. He also wears #16. He throws a nice ball. Yeh he does. JD looks ready. See how Sanchez thumb is wrapped? CONCLUSION? USC QBs win Heisman 3 out of next 5 years.

Running Backs: Who is #39? That’s Broderick Green a freshman. Tall. Big. Who is #22? Who is #13? There’s Chauncey. There’s Stafon Johnson. Where is Moody? At least Joe McKnight can field a punt (no runbacks this day). CONCLUSION? Somebody got to go. Report next day announced Moody would transfer.

Punters and kickers: Two long snappers. One rifles the ball back. The other gets it there. Two punters. One bombs it 60 and 70 yards. The other boots it 40 to 50 consistently. The onside kick was skillfully executed. CONCLUSION? Kicking game is solid.

Linebackers: If defense wins titles then it is all over. How many shutouts is the question that comes to mind. I know it sounds pretentious but you should see the first and second defensive teams. The first team features (from left to right) Cushing, Maualuga, and Rivers. This crew could start for a pro team. Think (in the same order) Seau, Butkus, and LT. Rivers had the hit of the day. He barely threw a forearm into Ronald Johnson and he hit the ground with a pop. The crowd let out a groan on Johnson's behalf. For Rivers it looked like a routine notification, like the sign you hang on your door when you want to the maid to clean up the room. CONCLUSION? Big, fast, hit very hard.

D-backs: Killers. I wanted to see Taylor Mays, Josh Pinckard or especially Will Harris deliver a hit. Instead I saw Fred Davis catch one over the middle about 20 yards downfield and shed Will Harris like he was light rain. Harris did strip the ball and Davis had to run a lap…very casually. It was hot. And Kevin Thomas took his picture with PeeWee. Thanks Kevin. Run back 5 picks for TDs!

O line is big and D line is bigger. We had lots of fun and share our pics for your enjoyment.

I will try not to post another Trojan entry for a few months now that I have scratched that itch.

Lay the points against Idaho. This is what it is all about!! National football title #11 on the way!!

Here is the video of McDonald going long to Johnson!!!

McDonald lays one out to Bradford in the flat.

Not one of the three wines reviewed is under $20. Not my fault. And, as you will learn, I cannot say I regret it.

During these dog days of summer when the temps hit 100 in the LA industrial interior you need a really good reason to drive 50 miles one way just to see some old pals starting a new wine venture. As I passed the Commerce Casino on a stretch of freeway where trucks outnumber automobiles I considered what I was doing here...so far from my pool and bike trails.

I was on my way for lunch with old friend and wine biz veteran Greg Gilooly and his partner Alex Correa. Greg is like the Hoyt Wilhelm of wine, well traveled because he can still throw the drop ball. If Greg is the cagey vet, then Alex is Tom Glavine, the steady winner. Greg has been in every part of the business and more than once in each. Want to know more? Founding partner in the Wine House, arguably LA's biggest wine retailer. They carry everything you would ever want. He owned a distribution company, a wine shipping and storage and another more recent wine retail shop. Now he is back in the storage and shipping business with WineBridge. He graciously invited me to visit the facility in an industrial part of LA most people pass through. Seems like there are two trucks for every car on that stretch of concrete.

After we visited, toured the "airplane hangar" perfectly temp controlled, and talked about trucking strategies, it was off to lunch at ABC Seafood in Monterey Park. For those not from these parts Monterey Park is home to reputedly the finest Chinese restaurants west of Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Like Grampappy Amos used to say ("Luke...") "no brag just fact".

I was pleased to see that Greg's sense of direction was as bad as mine. Neither Alex or I offered advice being content to roam until we ran into the place. DokkerM would call this the way of men or something like that.

There are so many ABC restaurants in LA I have to wonder if the same thing happens in China. This is stupid of course since I cannot read Chinese script and Chinese people will say anything just to laugh at how stupid I am. Dim sum at lunch as one would expect. So good I tried to engineer a "special" birthday brunch for the subsequent Sunday for my daughter's 20th. But she saw through my ploy and we ended up eating pizza.

2005 Sea Smoke Ten: Brooding, serious, medium weight, one of the main the reasons Santa Rita Hills are a hot area for growing and producing pinot noir. There are tea flavors but mostly ripe SRH fruit. Winemaker Kris Curran is one of the important names behind the wine. The Ten is the high end bottling from 10 different clones in the estate vineyard. OK. 14.9% alcohol. Yow. At least it doesn’t burn. I’m probably a wimp in the eyes of SRH winemakers. http://www.seasmokecellars.com/sections/our_wines/tasting_notes.html

2004 Vocoret Chablis Vaillons Premier Cru: When did I lose track of these wines? I used to love Chablis wines. I think I memorized the Grand Cru vineyards. Maybe they got too pricey (likely) and I just burned out on white burgs (not likely). This wine was once sold by Greg G around $15. Today? $XX. It is not in the flinty style often attributed to Chablis. Has lemon nuance, ripeness, neither plump or lean. Was 2004 a ripe vintage? Absolutely lovely. 2005 village wine is $15. The Blanchot will run you $40 (but it is Grand Cru). You can still buy Vocoret at Heritage Wines in Pasadena.

2000 Uvaggio Il Leopardo: The question is whether the wine is tired. It is California Nebbiolo made by Mr. Jim Moore. The wine has sat in my cellar for a week with temp controlled. It is brackish red in the glass. The nose is delicate, suggesting something aged but not retired. The flavor is aged Barolo, lighter, delicate, familiar flavors of rose and tar. Delicate. We start lunch with this wine and finish with it 90 minutes later, still charmed.

All three wines were excellent with the dishes of BBQ pork, broccoli, shrimp and some kind of shellfish dumpling. I selected cubes of bean curd with sesame flecks for desert. It tasted like sesame gelatin and looked like opaque pepper jello. It was terrific. When do we go again boys?

So the LA Times ran an article in the August 7 Food section on rosé wines. Good for them. The theme is familiar to readers of tBoW....rosés are for summer. They connote fresh, sunny, summer splashy wines. The article went into how pretty rosé wines can be. We have seen shimmering orange the color of transmission fluid this summer in addition to salmon pink, light copper almost terra cotta and the more standard brilliant red almost ruby.

There was a second topic that was even more interesting...the idea that wines can correspond to the season. We posed this idea under Wine Intelligence Part 1: Time of the Season. Sure we love the Zombies too; we just don't have to act like one when selecting wine for the occasion...whatever it is.

Well of course wines match the season. But how can one be certain s/he is not bringing a dunderheaded wine to a special occasion (like dinner?) Why advertise your ignorance with the safe chardonnay and/or cabernet bets? Here is a chart I have developed to illustrate this basic concept and provide guidance to the dunderheaded oeno-snob-wannabe. Of course, I have made it a bit complicated but I hope in the end this will help illustrate how to match the wine to the season with corresponding foods and seasonal characteristics. Some of these wines cost more than $20...especially around those money-draining big holidays.

This is not terribly original. There are tons of sites with tasting instructions. Here is one that covers "cat piss". Worth a look for fun and info. Actually, before embarking on this project I had no idea how many of "wheels" are available for sale on the Internet. You have the Aroma Wheel developed by a UC Davis PhD (I have linked to her sniffing biz site); there is a BBQ wheel and cheese wheel and several food/wine pairing wheels - I have linked to the one I liked best. I even found two wine wheels at a German wine institute. How's your Deutsch? The most original is a wine industry wheel that is quite serious!! Yeh, I looked at lots of them. No, I did not rip any off. The wheel as metaphoric platform is downright ancient standard. Master webmeister Dr. Dionysus contributed graphics and suggested a color palate. He's good. Real good.

Here is what we came up with. With our wine intelligence egg you will always be the smarty-pants who wins praise from the wine-snob host because you will always know what wine to bring to the Xmas or July 4th party. Send praise and/or outrage as applies. Just remember, this one's on me! Click on the image to download the full sized version suitable for printing, framing, and placing on the wall where you store your vino.

Here in the dog days of August we cool off in the evening with an outdoor meal. The wine often includes Rosé or, when the fare commands, a summer red from the Languedoc. These are good reds for summer because they are not terribly bulky or muscular but they do offer something interesting in the way of flavors. The red grapes are typically a blend of grenache, syrah, mourverdre, carignane among others. And since SoCal is so much like SW France the fit seems natural. Best of all the wines meet our watershed criterion - under $20.

2004 Mas Carlot Costieres des Nimes Les Enfants Terribles $12: You can read all about the wines from this 40,000 case producer at their website, but you cannot read about this wine there. You have to buy the bottle or do your library reading in the wine shop - in this case local vendor supreme Woodland Hills Wine Co. Turns out the cuvée is a blend of old-vine Mourverdre and Syrah "Created by the winemaker, her hubby and Mr. Bobby Kacher. Robert Kacher is a primo importer who is a member of the virtual guild of select importers living the dream, traveling through Europe and discovering great wines which they import to the USA. Need an entry soon on this guild, I can tell. I am going to bet the majority grape is Mourverdre. Flavor profile is different from Syrah. Instead of deep fruit there is more bottom. That's right, I said bottom. Like an ample tuchus, think bubble booty. Flavors are more restrained. Plums. Tannins are mild to moderate. Syrah is in the background, kind of shy. Very pleasant with the local chicken shack meal. 14%.

2006 Chateau St. Jean de la Gineste Rosée de la St. Jean $12: A Corbieres rosé also purchased locally at WHWCo. They are doing the job there. Zees leetle wine is delightfully dry and just fruity enough to prevent zee mouse pucker. Great summer evening wine. Even the Renoir-inspired label says relax, enjoy, have some more cheese and cherries. There are so many wineries in the Languedoc region in and around Narbonne, Pezenas, Carcassonne, Beziers, Minerve and St. Chinian just like this one. Soon as the dollar/euro ratio improves I see traveling back there in my future. 13%.

I snapped some photos of the Woodland HIlls Wine crew recently. Here are pics of founder Paul Smith and the store's heart and soul, Joe. Now you know who to say hi to! A couple of teddybears who routinely bring wines for every fan to the store.

The summer is drawing to a close. As we hang onto the last warm evenings now mingled with some cool-ness we rush to determine which have been the greatest Rosés of our Summer 2007 Festival of the Pank. Here are a few candidates recently compared.

2006 Cotes de Provence Chateau du Rouet Cuvee Reserve Tradition $12: Good wine to start the evening. Orange copper color. Dry with strawberries in mouth. Easy drinker without much finish. 60% Grenache 40% syrah. 12.5%.

2005 L’Uvaggio di Giacomo Lodi Il Gufo Babera Rosato $11: Jim Moore’s almost beefy rosé is almost like something else – syrup! It is not thick enough for waffles but it might make a great cosmo! A manly rosé for all manly men (and stout women I suppose). This deep red, near-purple wine goes with BBQ as easily as it goes with a fruit cup. 12.5% alcohol. Bravo Jim!

2006 Nicodemi Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Gerasuolo $13: Another bigger than usual rosé, bright deep red color (without blue tones above), rich dry flavors. My first Tuscan rosé was a hit. Both of these wines deliver a kick in the cajones to the pink wine naysayers who complain about rosé simplicity. From North Berkeley Wines. 12.5%.

Time out for an observation (bitch-pitch). “Serious” wine drinkers who complain that rosé cannot be taken “seriously” because it is too simple ("not serious") cannot be serious themselves can they? To them I say…what about the legions of over-oaked and over-ripe cabs and chardonnays considered serious? Are these wines not simple in their own stupidly complicated, out of whack (i.e., unbalanced) ways? Puhleeeze. Think Rubiks' Cube and "Rube Goldberg". The Rube Goldberg machine takes something simple and makes it ridiculously complicated. "Serious" wines? Rubik's Cube takes something simple (block of colors) and makes it quite complicated. That is serious simplicity. Simple and serious are rarely antonyms.

2005 Verget de Sud Rosé de Syrah $15: A second appearance this summer and if it is up to me this wine will make a 3rd and 4th. Here is what my wife said as she sipped in the spa. “What I like about this wine is that it is dry and still has the hint of strawberries but not sweet”. And I always agree with my wife. In the salmon pink color camp. North Berkeley Wines. Lovely. 12.5%.