Election night and Mr. & Mrs. tBoW are at Casa Dotoré watching the inevitable results roll in. Teary eyes brimming with joy as compulsive critics made assessments of TV bombast; each network attempting to capture more viewing eyes with "spectacular" sets and grander gimmicks.Kind of like trophy wines!!

The most "spectacular" TV piece was Wolf Blitzer's hologram interview of Will.I.Am. Sorry. I could only find Jessica Yellin. Not sure what this accomplished other than "cool". Remember when Wolfie broadcast from the roof of his Baghdad Hotel in 1990 as Desert Storm kicked off? Low-of-the-low tech videos with a night vision camera looking out his hotel room window...and it was riveting. Hmm.

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In 2008 Wolf worked the CNN and CNBC shared set. The photo at top does not do justice to the red white and blue color scheme that was probably best appreciated in the company of Hunter Thompson. But he's dead.

The "big winnah" was CBS who tricked out the Rockefeller Center ice rink as an election map. Now that was a cool idea. It is good to know some creative folks find a way to do something fabulously goofy on a national stage.

It was a night to remember for the outcome...and the wines...but it was all over before we popped the champagne. We went ahead with our plan anyway. Y'know we had a feeling.

2003 Clape Cornas $80 to $100: Been holding onto this one awhile. Dotoré said bring something that would celebrate and commemorate the Obama Rama Lama Ding Dong. This was tBoW's selection. And it did not disappoint. Syrah from one of the top three Southern Rhone winemakers, and possibly the least known in the USA but well known inside the neighborhood. Read about Clape here. Extracted says Dotoré. A soft wine at peak level. Very well developed. Slightly tannic and even somewhat rustic. Not much of a nose. Unpolished but with depth and appeal. Top of the crest. Will open and can still go further. I would like to find it again. Worthy of the evening. 14%

2000 Ridge Montebello $120 today: The classic Bordeaux blend - 75% Cab Sauv, 23% Merlot - from Santa Cruz and their flagship [ed. premium] label. The 2000 vintage disappointed those who wanted "commemorative" century wines, but not at Ridge. His top brand was one of the best among the notable Cabernet blends in 2000. The wine is showing mentholatum with lean and intense flavors. The wine is high toned as usual. Perfectly balanced. A California wine all the way and the best our state has to offer. When wine writers wax nostalgic about Napa reds they always include Ridge Montebello as a "first growth". tBoW and Dotoré have been blessed to taste Montebello in many vintages and it never disappoints. Even works with the BBQ. 13.4%

Michel Turgy NV Blanc de Blancs Réserve Selection Brut $45: Yeasty nose, citric flavors. Has vanilla cream. Toasty quality which is always nice. Creme brulee and lemon rind. Perfect for dessert. Liked this bottle alot. 100% Chardonnay.

So that was election night. Now all we have to do is get through the next 24 months.

Some might say the wines reviewed below are wonderfully diverse covering the world of wine tasting. Let's get real. These wines are from unusual places, even off the beaten path. tBoW hopes that is one of the reasons you visit this blahg.

2006 Bruna Le Russeghine Pigato $25: As strange as wine gets. This Ligurian white wine from Pigato is Vermentino AND it is aRobert Chadderdon Selection. Can't get pedigree much better than that. Nevertheless, the wine is downright challenging and tBoW does not use that much-abused term in the [fill-in-the-industry] sense. I had to return for several tastes just to be certain I was not fond of it. Like Terrel Owens. He needs a couple of seasons to convince the faithful he is unlikeable. Not even the sickest Cowboy fan wishes TO had stayed. Such is it with this wine. Bright and acidic almost spritzy. Furniture stripper flavors covers the saltiness and the impression of feline discharge. This fellow wrote about the 2005 version of the wine on his own wine blog. He liked it alot more than the tBoW team. He did a very nice job of describing the Ligurian coast which IS quite lovely and majestic. We usually like Ligurian wines but this is an exception and an unusual miss for Chadderdon. 13%

2003 Clautiere Estate Grand Rouge $26 (club price): Clautiere had the good fortune of buying up a 57 acre ranch with vineyard from an old-time Paso-Templeton Italian farmer. While the place is known for wigs and art they also make nice wines at fair prices. This is their flagship effort, a field blend of 49% Syrah, 22% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Grenache, 10% Counoise, 3% Mourvedre, and 2% Viognier. That is a lot of Cab even with a non-traditional blend. All estate grown. Sophisticated, soft. The blend works very nicely especially nudging aside the vegetal qualities often found in Paso Cabs. The Syrah is rich and dark berried. Gives the wine its best flavors. Aging well. Still Paso, still tasty. 14.8%

2004 Vinisterra Syrah Mourvedre $40: Bought this wine in theBaja's Guadalupe Valley before the narco battles killed that trip. Cannot wait for that to end as we really like visiting there and staying at La Villa del Valle. This is the first Languedoc/Rhone style blend we saw. It is pricey but tBoW needs to know so we popped for the very low production bottle. Ripe fruit, bright fruit. Without the tell-tale saltiness. We like it. Goes very nicely with the food. I guess the point is that certain wines from the region are showing better and better. Now if the government - any government!! - can guarantee tourism safety...13.8%

2007 Estancia Pinot Noir Monterey County Pinnacles Ranches $12: This is classic supermarket wine. Probably a couple hundred thousand cases made. The wine is so incidental and without any style that it is impossible to find a decent sized label image online! The label image is everywhere just never more than 6 kb. That says something about the wine. We can discuss label politics at another time. The wine is immediately recognizable as Pinot Noir...which is good and not so good. This is bland wine without any character. The winemaker might described it as any community school superintendent might characterize her student body, above average. PAirs with anything including ice cream. 13.5%

If you like Pinot Noir and you are going to be in Portland Oregon May 1st and 2nd you will want to check out the Portland Indie Wine Festival. The event features 40 Oregon winemakers selected by panel (Pinot Noir of course) who produce less than 2500 cases annually. Everybody dreams of finding that unknown under-the-radar winery. At least the dreams of tBoW and Dotore' are haunted by the elusive discoveries. We found Paul Lato didn't we (stuck in the corner in the back room next to the storage closet of the now defunct Wine Cask Futures Tasting)? If you cannot make it not to worry tBoW will be covering the 5th annual event. Stay frosty.

Independence Day produces the usual parties, BBQs and libations. July 4th is not necessarily a wine event like, for example, Thanksgiving. Burgers, dogs and potato salad call for robust reds so tBoW expects to see plenty of Cabernets while hoping to encounter some Rhone style wines as well. And if someone should pop the cork on some frothy fruity high acid white wines, well, that makes blowing off fireworks even better. Here is what we tasted over the holiday.

2007 Moulin de Gassac Guilhem $10: Brought here by Beaune Imports which is an importer to put on the radar. This wine fooled me. It is a traditional regional blend from Mas de Gassac, a Languedoc house notable for its cab wines. This tastes like Cabernet Franc but is a classic southwest France blend of Grenache (the Cab Franc masque), Syrah, Carignagne and CInsault. Somewhat sweet for an old world wine, mild flavors and light weight, almost minty or citric as in orange. Which suggests an Argentine Malbec from Maipu. But make no mistake this is not New World style. 2007 is a lighter vintage. The region is ~3000 feet in l'Herault which is rugged country. Nice U20 value wine. 12.5%

NV Michel Dervin Champagne $26: Acquired from K&L. A blend of 80% Meunier and 20% Pinot Noir. Citric, lemon like, good acid. Very nice. Bright and fresh the way we like it. 13%

2004 Massa Pertichetta Croatina $25: This bottle comes with pedigree and some buzz as an insider's wine. Local vendor WHWCo sold out of 13 cases in a couple days to "Euros". It is high alcohol with the ripe and rich flavors that must accompany high ethanol wines. Zin-like in flavor from the obscure and once nearly extinct Croatina grape (thus the buzz). Tastes Tuscan but it is actually from a lesser known region north of Piemonte. Not our style but a nice wine nonetheless. 14.5%

2007 P2 Pinot Noir Brousseau Vineyard $22: Low production wine made by newcomer under supervision from Brian Loring in Santa Rita Hills. He makes a red, green and blue label signifying different vineyards. This is Chalone AVA which is Monterey. Smoky nose, whiff of bricquets. Hits the upper register and when it opens up it tastes like Pinot Noir. This is lean by Santa Rita Hills PN (while the juice is not SRH the style definitely is) but fat by 2007 Oregon standards. Not the tBoW style but at a slightly more than U20 price it will please many. 14%

1999 Williams Selyem Rochioli River Block ~$100 online: Bologna on the nose, sweet and silky in the mouth. Long finish. Delicate.

2005 Williams Selyem Weir VIneyard $56 (on release): Sweet sweet and sweet, deep tomato red color. Vineyard in Mendocino. It appears these guys have to go further and further to find juice to meet the demand. Am I mistaken here? I think I am losing my flavor for WS wines. Maybe it is the summer season. 14%

2007 Cameron Hughes Los Carneros Pinot Noir Lot 10 $14: Interesting story; these guys are effectively negociants in the tradition of Jadot and xxxxx, buying small lot juice, bottling it under their line(s) and releasing them to market. Light but smoky nose and flavors. Nice enough wine. Easy to take the price. 8000 cases. 14.5%

Due to circumstances beyond our control we spent some time recently in Hawaii. tBoW's Island wine bruddah Kealia Poke (KP) filed this special report.

Hey aloha and here are some tips for where you can find wine in da islands. First, you never know where you are going to run into a Leroy 1986 Mazis Chambertin [ed. online price ~$200]. I sit down for a homey Chinese meal at Little Village in Honolulu's Chinatown near Hotel Street and dis guy next to me pulls that very bottle outta his canvas wine tote along with crystal stemware. No kiddin. Lucky me I know da label and he is so impressed he pours me not one but two tastes. Maybe becuz I pointed out 86 was off vintage but even in off vintage Leroy Mazis is going to be ono. Still fruity although past da crest but not slamming me into da reef. You never know bra'. Wow. And da food is incredible at Little VIllage plus dey get own parking lot.

If you traveling to Kauai you may think you got to ship your own bottles over for $175 a case. And maybe I would have agreed dis decision 2 years ago. But no more. The most beautiful island has at least two wine shops where the vinpire can pretty much satisfy wine craving beyond Clos du Bois. In Lihue you get Wine Garden which carries a decent domestic and international selection at fair prices. Ask for Colette. They also carry Kauai-grown cigars rolled in Honduras. If you further north like Princeville or Hanalei you should check out Kilauea Town Market & Deli. Rosie and Stan have assembled a very impressive assortment of California and old world labels. KP was stoked to see the Vermentino and Rose' from l'Uvaggio di Giacomo at $14. Hey, good price anywhere. And great wine too.

So save your bucks to play da Prince golf course or take da trip down Na Pali coast. One more ting - if you like Hawaiian coffee but tink only choice Kona den you should try Wailua coffee from Daga Hawaii. Al roasts and Dan packs. But you gotta pay Noreen. Dis stuff ono grinds and dey ship to you. Aloha buggas!