2004 Pascual Toso Cabernet Sauvignon

2004 Pascual Toso Cabernet Sauvignon.
Argentina.


This is the best low end bottle I have imbibed in a very long time. I was very impressed by the multi dimensional yet smooth flavors and finished the bottle in a very short period of time with another person. In fact, I enjoyed this bottle so much that I got lost in the state of enjoyment, and made very few descriptive notes to write about. The slightly out of focus label is also indicative of my Bacchian state of mind at the time. Damn, I guess I will have to buy another bottle....

2003 Neyers Cabernet Sauvignon

2003 Neyers Cabernet Sauvignon Neyers Ranch, Napa Valley.

I have nothing but high praise for this little gem from Napa Valley, CA. All the fab Cab characteristics were present, but what makes this wine stand out is its smooth complexity. Smooth complexity may sound oxymoronic, but there are so many dimensions and flavors to this wine, and at the same time the flavors are balanced. This is the kind of wine that one should buy a case of, drinking two bottles per year to note how the wine changes each year. This wine is well worth the $50 price tag.

2005 Ferrari-Carano Fumé Blanc

Everyone knows I am not a big white wine fan, with the exception of a couple that make my heart flutter such as Honig Sauvignon Blanc. Last night I found another white wine that also makes my heart flutter: 2005 Ferrari-Carano Fumé Blanc from Sonoma County, CA.

FC has a wonderful yeasty bouquet. Its elegant buttery smooth Chardonnay-like beginning is followed by a "rougher" Sauvignon Blanc-type finish (which is proper as "Fumé Blanc" is simply an alias for Sauvignon Blanc) bringing out notes of lemon. I had the FC with shrimp and scallops in cream over angel hair pasta, and it was a good companion to the last drop.

Lo Tengo Malbec

This is one of the coolest labels I have ever seen. When the bottle is tilted, the dancer's legs move. This is also a prime example of how a cool label does not equate to good wine.



When I purchased Lo Tengo Malbec from Argentina, I was expecting a typical Malbec with the qualities of earthiness, mushrooms, and fall leaves with this wine. Instead, I found a smooth plum that was rather one-dimensional and not full of Malbecian bling. Although this is by no means an undrinkable wine, such as the Cecchi, the day after I opened it I had a choice to finish it or move on, and I decided to move on.

2003 Cecchi Orvieto Classico

Cecchi Orvieto Classico This wine had the most off-tasting notes with chemical overtones that rendered it undrinkable.

Thank goodness I had an extra bottle of 2004 Bogle Old Vine Zinfandel sitting around. It at least, was excellent and its spicy tones went well with tom kha gai and curry crab rangoon.

2005 Red Guitar

2005 Red Guitar
Navarra Old Vine

55% Tempranillo, 45% Grenache

This very spicy medium-bodied wine from Spain tastes like a hot, dry day in Madrid, and conjures up images of Piel de Sapo melon, the corrida on the TV in the afternoon, and the flamenco guitarist in front of the cathedral of Salamanca. The spiciness is, in fact, so pronounced, that it mounts into the nasal passages and warms up the entire face. The smooth body is either absent of fruit, or otherwise cloaked by the spiciness. This is a good inexpensive wine for "Old Vine" fans and fans of spicy wine.

Pirate's Lady

Hello my friends, I am back from a wonderful week in the Bahamas, and passed one of the best weeks of my life. Our ship, the Pirate's Lady of Blackbeard's Ilk*, took us on 18 dives at various sites between Grand Bahama Island and Bimini. Some of the dives were spectacular, all were fun.

The Pirate's Lady was not the most luxurious boat. My berth was small, and the only thing separating me from the common room table was a curtain. There was no privacy at all. The shower consisted of all the salt water you wanted followed by a thirty second fresh water rinse. The food passed at best. Monkey Posh would not have approved to say the least. Still, the environment forced the passengers to spend time together, and as a result, I made many new friends and not even a week home, we are already planning other trips together.

The author and friends play Scrabble on the bow of the Pirate's Lady.

So, what did I learn on this trip?

Eats:

I ate the Bahamian national dish, conch (pronounced "conk") prepared in various ways. Variations on this dish include cracked conch (cracked means fried in Bahamian), conch fritters, conch gumbo, raw conch on a salad, and conch pizza! I thought it was much better than the mountain oysters and chicken fried steak so lovingly prepared in my home state.

Drinks:

I discovered Bahamian beer too: Kalik (pronounced Ka-lick, with the accent on the lick), which is a well-known brand. A new beer being brewed on Grand Bahama Island is Sands. Sands has a wheat beer taste, and is excellent. I asked for Sands at both bars in the harbor area of Alice Town, Bimini (End of the World and Big John's) and no one had heard of it. Although Kalik is the classic, I loved the rich taste of Sands.

The author does the cha cha at Big John's on New Year's Eve. Every little ting was alright 'til early da next morning.

Dos:

Although my compatriots and I drank a lot, too much, the main focus of the trip was diving. Instead of detailing each dive, I will tell you we saw spectacular and beautiful fish, including Angelfish, Trumpetfish, Grouper, Stingray, Barracudas, Moray Eels, Jacks, Lionfish and of course, Sharks! We also saw three different wrecks from the Sapona which is a shallow wreck, to the 100 foot deep Theo's Wreck which was seen in the film Halloween.

The beautiful but venomous Lionfish**


The author swims with a new friend**

While my body may be back in the States, my mind is still in the Bahamas.

* Word learned from Scrabble game which the author still finds questionable.
** Photos by VG