Ravenswood Vintners Blend Shiraz 2003

Thought Ravenswood was in Sonoma? You're right! But the last couple of years has seen Ravenswood winemaker Joel Peterson (founder in 1976) travel down under to find wines that adhere to the "No Wimpy Wines" motto of Ravenswood. (Note that all logos, images, and catchy phrases are copyright or trademarked by Ravenswood.)I can understand why; according to the company website for purchases, Hartwick and Grove there are about 47 different wines from Ravenswood out of the last two years still available. These include 15 Zinfandels, Cabernet, Merlot, blends, and whatever else can be squeezed out of a grape. Way over 400,000 cases of wine. Blimey!

In fact the Peterson ability to manage a large assortment of different wines is probably what led him to go public in 1999, (RVWD:Nasdaq), and were then bought out in 2001 by Constellation Brands, "Leading producer and marketer of beverage alcohol brands". Now there's something to aspire to!

The Vintner's Blend Shiraz is a bit better than the typical Syrah in the low end of the price range ($10.99 BevMo and others). To me it actually embodies both the heft and taste of an Australian Shiraz, with the more refined, and less rustic style of Australia. A light nose of berrys and spice, dominate with a semi-day Syrah flavor that goes beyond it's price. A nice find. Apparently the 2002 is also available in locations. It may exhibit an even smoother consistancy from the extra year in bottle.

When you visit Sonoma check them out for tasting. While owned by a major corporation, the experience can be fun. Make sure to spit. Ok?

Ravenswood Winery
18701 Gehricke Road
Sonoma, California 95476
1-888-669-4679

Also, if you are looking for a good way to try an assortment of different California (and I guess Australian) wine, their wine clubs (they have two) can be interesting. Tell 'em Don sent ya'! (If you don't get thrown out, it's a new employee!) Just kidding.

Webcam capture du jour:

Blog Location Change Issues

Well.... I have changed the location that this blog is saved. From Blogger.com to webmarin.com/blog. Obviously, if you are reading this, you followed the right links. If you saved the link to a bookmark, you are lost..

Unfortunately, the programming from blogger.com is playing games as to where the photos are saved. So while I am sorting this out, things may become a little flaky.

Oh heck.

Keller Estate La Cruz Vineyard Pinot Noir 2001

The 2001 Pinot Noir is the inaugeration year for wine from Keller Estate, a family run business. Located in Petaluma, California, Keller was first planting estate grapes in 1989. It apparently took 12 years or so to finally produce fruit that was worthy of sale. After tasting the Keller Pinot for the first time last night, I can say the wait was worth it. A mid-priced wine (about $30) it exhibits all the qualities one comes to expect from fine Pinot. Beautiful color, wonderful aroma, and a smooth fruity taste of cranberry, cherry, and light oak in a well balanced wine. At $30 the '01 was certainly underpriced, and I'm sure the added year or two in my cellar helped contribute to the smoothness this wine has and lack of "barnyard aroma" described by Vinography.com wine blogger, Alder.

The current release is the 2003, still $30, (if you can get it) and still from the La Cruz vineyard.

Michael McNeill is the winemaker (picture left), (I don't believe he was there for the 2001 vintage) an alumnus of Chalone Vineyard, and several others on the central California coast and Santa Cruz mountains.

If given a chance, I would also try the Chardonnay, and Syrah. Great value wines from Keller Estate. I hope that the current winemaking carries the tradition forward!

Like many wineries with facilities outside the usual haunts, the Sonoma and Napa Valleys, they are open for visits and tasting, but by appointment only. If you're heading that way , make sure to give them a call at (707) 765-2117, or submit a request from their website. Once you've finished tasting and have left Petaluma, keep going north on highway 101 to Santa Rosa and check out Siduri and Carlisle wineries (by appointment) as well. These three stops will make a great afternoon of winetasting.

Carlisle Winery Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel 2002

Ok. Now this is Zin! Every once in a while I find I have to satisfy my need for quality wine. And Zinfandel is no exception. While there are fewer high end Zins then Pinot or Cab, there are some producers that make outstanding stuff. Mike Officer, owner and winemaker for Carlisle Winery & Vineyards and his wife Kendall are two people that strive for the best in what they do.

While Zinfandel, in my mind, is what they made a reputation on, they also supply Syrah, Petit Syrah, several blends like the "Two Acres" and some strange bird called "Mondeuse". A grape found mostly in Europe. (It may also be a hybrid of a Mongoose and Dr. Seuss. But that's another story.)

What makes his Zin so special? Deep dark concentration, smooth taste and finish, wonderful full flavor, and of course the incredible nose. There is no mistaking a Carlisle Zinfandel. His signature expression of Zin includes Petite Syrah for color and body in the Dry Creek Zin, or Petite Sirah, Alicante Bouschet, Grand Noir, Carignane, which he has growing in his vineyards along side the Zinfandel vines for his Carlisle Vinyard Zinfandel, and Petite Sirah, Alicante Bouschet, Grand Noir de la Calmette, in his Tom Feeney Ranch Zinfandel. All this variety, (and great winemaking!) make a Zinfandel that one whiff says Carlisle.

His winery produces something over 1000 cases of wine a year but the majority is sold by mail order or from his website mailing list. While not cheap by anyones standard, his wines are not expensive when compared to Napa Cab or quality Pinot Noir.

If you see it in the store you owe it to yourself to try a bottle. You will not be disappointed!

(All pictures stolen from the Carlisle Winery & Vineyards website. Forgive me Mike for I have zinned... ;-)

Twin Fin Cabernet 2002

Well, I'm sitting here at work killing time like the rest of you, and I figured I could jot down some info in the blog.

I found the Twin Fin California Cabernet [pdf] at Safeway $6.99 while shopping over the weekend. I got home, made dinner, and went to apply the ol' cork screw to the top. Since the Twin Fin people apparently decided to use metal screw caps, this was looking to be easier than anticipated. Nothing like an easy open bottle for the kids!

The Cabernet fruit (90% Cab), according to the website, is from the Monterey, Mendocino, and Paso Robles areas. None of which are noted for outstanding Cabernet. Cabernet grapes from these areas (except maybe Paso Robles) will tend to produce juice that would be lighter in color and body than we are used to seeing from Napa or Sonoma. Mendocino and Monterey are better noted for whites and Pinot, while Paso Robles produces some of the best Syrah and Zinfindel (IMHO) then many other areas. This is a climate thing and it affects how well the grapes grow. This would account for the 10% Syrah added to the wine which would improve both the color and taste of the wine by adding depth and concentration to the wine. Petit Syrah is frequently used in smaller percentages to do the same to Syrah or Zinfindel.

So how was it? Pretty good actually! It is one of the few low cost Cabernets that actually smells like a Cab. (Pretty much, though don't confuse it with a Napa grown wine.) It is fruity and smooth allowing easy drinking to the bottom of the bottle!

Add some Pizza or a steak, and you have a good time for all. (Weber grilling only, please!)

Feudo Zirtari Rosso - Sicilia 2003

Tonights wine is the Feudo Zirtari Rosso - Sicilia 2003 ($5.99 Trader Joe's).

While wondering the aisles at Trader Joe's today, fighting my way to the various delicacies, I stumbled over the stack of this wine piled about 6 feet tall. As most who buy wine at Trader Joe's know, they can find some pretty amazing buys. The trouble is if you don't go back soon enough, it may all be gone. I've heard some people buy a bottle to try in the parking lot, making it that much quicker to stumble back to the store and buy more if the wine turns out to be a gem. (If you're buying two buck chuck, you don't care about taste. Or hate your friends. Either way, who cares.)

So in this vein I am opening a bottle I bought today so I can go back tomorrow if it's really good... Property Taxes are due so I'm still relegated to five dollar bottles, instead of the $50 variety. But let's just say I'm sacrificing my palate for you. Ok?

This wine is composed of Nero d'Avola, Merlot, Syrah, and Cabernet Sauvignon, (I've linked the Nero d'Avola so we can all find out what it is...) and lo and behold there is NO OAK. Whoa! Only stainless steel and glass have touched this wine. (And probably a bunch of stinky feet, but let's not dwell, ok?)

I usually find most reds from Italy, er, Sicily, sorry, to be light in flavor unless your talking a Super Tuscan or a well aged Chianti. None of which are in the five dolla' range. But we'll see. I am always on the lookout for bargains.

Is it 5 pm yet? Ok! Time to open the bottle!!! Corkscrew please.

From the Feudo web site here are the optimum drinking Parameters:

• Serving temperature: 18°- 20° C. (64.5°-68° F.)
• Glass: large and tulip-shaped, with a lip that tapers slightly inwards so as to concentrate the wine's fruity bouquet.

I guess the ol' jelly jar is coming out!

The wine shows a nice plum color and a light nose of mostly syrah and cabernet, with slight musty notes overlaying it. (I don't know what Nero smells like so I won't include it.)

On the palate are smooth, light flavors, slightly tart and dry, with just enough tannins to say, "give me a big plate of spaghetti bolognese! I'm getting hungry now!

If you're a fan of red sauced Italian, er, Sicilian dishes and wines that are not overbearing, this wine may be for you.

At $5.99 it's a value.

Tonight's webcam capture

Penfolds Koonunga Hill Cabernet Sauvignon 2002

Australia, the Land Down Under. Warm sun, open spaces, beautiful women, topless beaches, kangaroo burgers, and spaghetti sandwiches. Oh yeah; also wine. While many people equate Australian wine with inexpensive, (cheap) it can also be quite expensive. Penfolds has been around for 150 years. No really. And if not the largest wine producer in Australia, it certainly is one of the biggest. It also makes one of the most expensive wines around, the Grange, which can run over $200 a bottle, for a Syrah mind you! They also do make inexpensive wines, like the Koonunga Hill lineup. Koonunga Hill can be found in Cab, Cab/Merlot, Shiraz/Cab, and Shiraz, in red wines, and three white wines also. But we don't really care about the whites, do we?

No we're her for the reds. The bigger, the better. The Koonunga Hill '02 Cabernet ($8.99 at Bevmo.com) was typical inexpensive cab with some expensive attributes. Let's start with the nose. It's hard to find. According to the blurb at Penfolds website, "The nose is ostensibly (eh?) varietal and ripe, without any suggestion of greeness." I'll agree. No nose means no greeness. "Dark Cabernet fruits and tomato leaf aromas combine with complex notes of spice, nutty oak and black olive to create an exciting aromatic lift." Hmmmm. I need to go out and smell a tomato plant I guess. All I can say is that they must have smelled the wine in barrel to get that much aroma. As I said, nada. Well, ok. A little small.

On the plus side however, the wine has firm tannins, giving it some aging potential, and some nicely excessive acidity, usually found in dry white wines more than Australian reds. Without a nose however, I wouldn't bother cellaring it. It has the usual resemblance to most inexpensive Cabernet in flavor. Some berry, oak and spice to complement most hearty meals. Available in Australia with a screw cap, it shows up here with cork, just to piss off the ADA people I suppose. Oh well.

Not a bad wine for the price, but I like wines with more smell and flavor at the start. If you have a cellar and fell like storing this for a few years you may be pleasantly surprised, but I wouldn't count on it. Get a Grange for storing. Invite me for drinking!!

Beringer Founder's Estate Chardonnay 2004

Tonight I am planning to make a fettuccine and prawn dish for dinner. Some lemon, garlic, pine nuts, Italian parsley, parmesan cheese and butter. Also, a dash of white wine. Now white is not something I drink unless the food so dictates. It's not like I would try to forget todays work by drowning my sorrows in Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc. They just don't give the satisfying buzz of a good red wine. Nor is the taste as fulfilling. But when you're making pasta in a butter sauce, you need white wine. Red goes in spaghetti sauce.

But I'm not going to pull out a $50 bottle of Aubert Chardonnay, am I. Nope. I need a lower priced wine if I'm pouring it into the sauce. Hence the Beringer Founder's Estate 2004 Chardonnay ($8.00 at Safeway as I recall). Now I'm not saying that you can't find a nice wine at this price, or that all I drink is expensive wine. Look at my other posts and you'll see the mortgage gets most of my money.

But I have to say, this is not bad stuff. Not too oakey, pear and lemon on the nose and a nice round mouth feel to it. I could drink this. And indeed my dinner is only going to use a small quantity, so.... Down the hatch!

I should note I have also tried their Pinot Noir and Cabernet and for the price they produce a pretty good wine!

Give it a try.

WebCam Update

Ok. I've replaced the power supply to the webcam and the video noise is gone. If someone wants to sell you a "switching" power supply for video, you may want to pass. At the same time I increased the image quality which increases picture file size three fold. If they are too large, let me know. They currently run about 177kb. If you have dial-up, you may want to quit while you're ahead. :) How's it in Boise Karen?

Paringa Shiraz 2002

Not to be confused with Paringa Estate, which I've never had, the Paringa 2002 Shiraz ($8.99 Cost Plus) from Australia's Hickinbotham family, is a nice rounded syrah (as we here "Up Over") call them. The wine has some great fruit smell and taste, which will stand up to both heavy meat and spicy dishes alike. If you like Syrah, this is an outstanding value.

But I'm not the only one to say this. Wine Spectator gave this wine 87 points which is fantastic for a wine in this range. You will also find other wine reviewers giving the Paringa lable high marks. WineExpressions.com has this to say about it, "The Paringa Shiraz contains plenty of blackberry fruit flavor; you can also pick up boysenberry and black pepper spice on the finish. Serve with steaks or beef roasts. Try a Raspberry-Marinated Flank Steak for something a bit different."

You'll need to move fast, because the '03 vintage is also out. I prefer extra age to youth. But push come to shove I'd take either vintage.

Oakley Five Reds 2002

The Oakley Five Reds ($7.99, Cost Plus World Market) was a surprising wine from Cline Cellars. These are the folks that make Red and White Truck wines, as well as wine under the Cline lable. Cline is located in Sonoma, but also have vineyards in Contra Costa County. These East Bay vineyards have produced some surprisingly delicious Zinfindels under the Jacuzzi lable. If you get a chance the winery is a nice visit, but try some of the better wines they have.

The Oakley Five Reds is a fairly dry, full bodied red that has the earthy, rustic overtones of Grenache combined with the smooth plum tasts of the Lodi Zin. The wine is made up with Mourvèdre, Carignane, Grenache, Zinfindel and Syrah from several California regions, hence the name Five Reds.

This is an amazing value, much fuller than the Red Truck I have had, just not as complex as some of their better Zins. Worth a try!

Webcam Down Today Jan. 18

Sorry folks, but we had a power outage last night. The webcam usually will not come back up on it's own and needs a manual reboot. I'll get to it around 6 pm tonight Pacific Time.

Here's a morning capture to pass the time until then.

Calina Reserva 2001 Cabernet

The Calina Reserva 2001 Cabernet ($7.99 Bev Mo) is from the Colchangua Valley in Chile. Since this wine was, a)cheap, and b)5 years old, I thought I would give it a shot. From the winery's website: "The nose shows mature red fruit combined with mint and black cherry. In the mouth, red notes are empowered by mature tannins, adorned with a hint of coffee and mocha imparted by 9 months of aging...in French and American barrels."

Before I taste this wine, let me comment about the the above paragraph so we know where to start from. When a company says "mint" I think herbal. Not a good sign. This may mean that in the crush process they kept stems and seeds with the result being the herbal ness. The term "red notes" may mean something to them, but not to me. I suspect that it may have been lost in translation....Which by the way inspired all men over 50 to lust after Scarlett Johansson. (Not me of course!) "Mature tannins", means this has wine has reached it's peak, so don't be foolish enough to cellar for more than a few weeks after buying. (Does not make me hopeful knowing the wine is older than most American Cabs that are hitting shelves now.) And the phrase, "a hint of coffee and mocha" speaks to the way the wine picked up the oak and barrel toast (note the flavors of the Heavy Aroma Toast on this link's page right hand side). I may be wrong but in many cases heavy oaking and toasting means the winemaker knows the fruit is lacking and is attempting to add flavor by overdoing it. Some people like heavy toast and many California Cabs have reputations made in Oak.

Enough about the bread, on to the meat... Subtle nose with Cab notes, soft mouth feel, as expected for an old cheap Cab, with slight alcohol on the palette. Not bad actually. Probably a good wine match for those foods known to pair well with Pinot Noir which is wholly unavailable (or undrinkable) in this price range.

I'll be having grilled pork chops in an asian influenced marinade so this wines flavor may be completely overwhelmed by the pork. A Syrah would have been a better pick, but I have a personal drinking priority which I follow almost always. "I'll drink what I open or throw it away."

----Update: Not a bad wine for the price. I'll probably buy some more!

Until the next bottle, keep tasting.

Here's todays website skyline post:

Two Tone Farms Cabernet 2002

Well I guess there is no water rationing this year. It has pretty much rained most of the winter so far. Towns have flooded, hills have collapsed, and cars have been stranded. And that's here. Not New Orleans!

Two new cheap wine finds this week.

From the Napa Valley, Two Tone Farm 2002 Cabernet Sauvinon. $9.95 at Mollie Stones Market in Sausalito. There web site is just a little sparse. Ok empty. Just a blank page. I hope they weren't charged too much for that web design. I've heard of "white space", but.... There are however a number of Google finds regarding the wine, like this one from ReviewJournal.com:

"In the glass, this Two Tone Farm Cabernet Sauvignon is a deeply opaque purplish-red color with a dense blackish core going out into a saturated violet-red rim definition with medium-high viscosity.

On the nose, this wine comes right at you, showing intensely concentrated black currant fruit, crme de cassis, eucalyptus leaves, boysenberry sorbet, vanilla, crme brulee, new oak references, violet pastilles and phenolics. It is like a normal cabernet sauvignon on steroids."

I couldn't agree more. This was surprisingly Cab like for $10. According to law, since the lable says Napa it must be at least 85% from Napa and 75% Cab. I think it may be. The article quoted above from the Review Journal says the wine is 91% Cab and the balance Merlot. It's not Screaming Eagle or Harlan, but it's $10!


A nice review from the wine blog Vinography.com provides a nice synopsis of the company and his experience with the 2001. Check it out.

The second bottle is BoonaRoo 2001 Shiraz-Cabernet blend ($5.99 Mollie Stones Market) from (where else) Australia. I love the names of wines coming from down under! This is 53% Shiraz (Syrah), and 47% Cabernet.

This wine is smooth fruity, semi-sweet, with very light tannins nicely integrated from 5 years of patient waiting. Considering that producers are releasing the 2004 vintage these days, I suspect that this wine is left over from some lost corner of the distributer's warehouse and sold to the store at a substantial discount. Better for me! I bought one bottled, which I opened over dinner. I went back after dinner and bought a case. Woh!

While there is not much to be found about this wine on Google there are some notes here and there. Like this one at winespecialist.com. It appears to be an import by the large wine company Stimson Lane Vineyards and Estates in Washington State, which a search leads to Ste. Michelle Wine Estates. I guess they are related.

In any event a nice wine that was originally priced at about 10 bucks. If you can find some, buy it. You're not getting mine!

Here's tipping a glass at you!

Marcelina 1999 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Let me start by saying, this link to the Gallo website is sort of pointless. Why they even bother I do not know.

However, poor websites aside, I purchased this wine from Safeway for $20 last week based on fond memories of the 1997 version of this wine. That wine was a delightfully drinkable wine exhibiting all the good qualities in a mid-priced Napa Cab that one hopes to find. Succulent fruit, ripe flavor, tannins well integrated from six plus years since pressing (it was available in '97), and at $12 a half bottle, a good value.

I just started noticing the '99 recently and figured, it must be time. So out comes the money and into the cart goes Gina Gallo's pride and joy. (Just guessing, Gina.)

The best place I could find to learn about this wine is at a website for the Sacramento, California distributor, the Lovotti Brothers Distributing Company, Incorporated. It's here for those inclined to care.

I need to start out by saying that most Napa area winemakers considered 1999 to be a phenomenal year for Cabernet. (Wine Spectator Magazine had this to say in 2000.) So far, (and I have a bunch) I have found them needing about 10 years in the cellar, or three days in the decanter. For the most part, whatever fruit they exhibit, is masked by tight, mouth curdling tannins. You know the ones I'm talking about. You can just tell that if you added milk to your mouth you would have cottage cheese... I am however hopeful that time will make these superb drinking. I hope I live that long. In my opinion, 1997, 1996, and 1995, were better years. So far.

In any event, back to Marcelina.... Three words; cherry cough drops. If you like these things you will love this wine. Personally, I wished I had a sore throat to test the wine with.

From the web site the description is: "exhibits classic and intense Napa Valley Cabernet aromas and flavors of blackcurrant and black cherry, balanced by hints of earthy richness and sweet vanilla." Hmmmm. The black cherry I got. I've never had blackcurrant so, maybe. Vanilla? Not that I could tell. Light tannins, weak flavor and black cherries. Ok. So for twenty bucks it has flavor and nose. And probably tastes better than many mid-pricers. But a lot of cherries. This wine may be better with foods normally reserved for Pinot Noir. Like... I don't know, maybe a mushroom chicken dish, or salmon. But I don't think it would fair well with the usual; red meats, red sauce, and red heads. (Just kidding.) Still if you got twenty dollars to spend, this might be a decent wine for the price. You will have to decide.

Webcam capture of the day:

Torbreck Woodcutter's Red 2002

Can you say Shiraz? I knew you could. This wonderfull, elegant red wine, made exclusively of syrah grapes is a delight to the nose and palette. Full bodied, smooth and a nose of cherries and spice. Sexy! The wine is currently sold as "Woodcutter's Shiraz" and starting in 2003 they are using screw caps. My 2002 however, has a cork. Eat your heart out...

I've had a number of reds from Australia, but this is one of the best I've tasted. Particularly in the low end of the spectrum, they usually seem to have flavors that I am just not used to tasting in a syrah. But the 2002 Woodcutter is a pleasant exception. About $20.00 at the time of release it can still be found on The Web for between $20 and $25. Score some and try it out.

The wine is from the Barossa Valley which if what I am tasting is an example, is an area that competes in both quality and flavor of the local California regions, but also excels in price. If I were into 15 hour flights I would be there tomorrow.

To all you winemakers in the Barossa Valley, I'm less than an hour from both Napa and Sonoma. Bring wine!!! I'll drive.

Tonights website capture:
Note the bright string of lights in the middle right side. It says, "Ghiradelli". Chocolate. Yum.

May your wine be wonderful, and your glass full.

Don

Folie à Deux Ménage à Trois 2004

Last night I revisited a favorite inexpensive wine, Ménage à Trois (pdf) red from Folie à Deux. Sorry, the site only shows the 2003, ($12) but the current vintage is 2004, usually available at Trader Joes for $10 or Safeway for a similar price. A blend wine, this is one of the few cheap wines that manage to have a smell of grapes, not chemicals, oak, or alchohol. Not that I hate those things, I have oak trees on my property, and use chemicals, and alchohol daily. In 2003 it was composed of Zin, Merlot and Cabernet. I suspect the 2004 is similar. Although it is somewhat high in sugar and can seem sweet when consumed alone or with some foods, it nonetheless represents a good value.

Get some. Now. Or not.

Castle Rock '04 Pinot Noir

Here's a picture of the bottle. Retail is $12. I found it at Safeway for about $10. Ok, once again I have to say that while drinkable, these cheap Pinots have just a small resemblance to a higher end wine. But that aside, according to the website, the wine is 100% Pinot, bottled in April, 2005. The winemaker is August Briggs who seems to work as winemaker for a number of wineries as well as his own brand under the lable August Briggs Wines. (Coincidence?I think not. ). At one time I was in his wine club and went to a nice barbeque at his winery in Calistoga. He does throw a nice BBQ!

While a capable winemaker, (and I'm sure I still have at least one bottle of his wine in the cellar) I have found most to be lacking in body and substance. For you "Burgundian Style" lovers, enjoy. His wines of course are much more pricey and limited in production. While the Castle Rock sells for around $10 and 5100 cases were produced, a Pinot from Briggs would be four or five times the price and quantity ranges from under 100 cases to around 500 cases.

The Castle Rock, nonetheless, is quaffable. Maybe better with 7up...

My website went through further mods today. I think I have something I can live with at this point. Nice having some extra time off! Just remember, the camera's not down. It's the FOG!

First of the year 2006

Here's a nice image I saved from the first of the year. This is winter here in the states. I wish I was in Australia.... Not really. We have great weather, beautiful views, snobby people... oops, that's another topic.

Updated Webmarin.com

Well I finally found a revenue stream for my website and webcam. I'll leave it to you to figure out what the changes are. After three days it has an average income of just under a dollar a day. That'll work.

Also the Weather Channel stuff is at the bottom showing the current weather here in Sausalito, (in case you wondered) and Google map and image links are included in the text. Kinda' cool.

Unfortunately, Frontpage hosed the design on my pc during the last upload, so I'll never be able to update it again without an entire redesign. Maybe in 2007 or 8...

Of course the power came back on yesterday afternoon. That was fun. My backup TV battery died. So off to a movie. Rumor Has It with Jennifer Aniston, Shirley MacLaine, and Kevin Costner. Two words: chick flick. Directed by Rob Reiner. Actually a very nice movie. Take a woman.

Well on to other things. May your wine be wonderful, and your wine glasses Reidel.

Don