Mmm Mmm Good.

It's been such a crazy two days - I missed my post yesterday because I shot a Campbell's Soup commercial and was being tortured by 2 five year old boys all day. It was great! Not sure when it will be running, but keep an eye out, I'm the mom playing pirates with her two adorable blond boys. Can I be more WASPY? (don't answer that).

So... I love today's wine... La Spinetta, Barbera, Ca' di Pian, 2005. I look forward to the release every year and it seems that the span of time it's available is getting shorter and shorter. So my advice is to buy a few bottles and keep it around for a while. It's $24.99 at the Wine House and you can get it at Palate too, though I'm not sure of the price (Steve?). La Spinetta is one of the modernistas in Piedmont, and I love this Barbera because it shows really soft new oak without all the hardcore rustic elements that Barbera sometimes exhibits. (And the dark rich color leads me to believe maybe there is a little roto-fermentation going on??)

I've been using it as a door stop for about 2 months now and thought it was finally time to blog about it! It tastes great and the empty bottle does indeed hold a door open even in high winds.

Oh, and after eating about 16 bowls of Campbell's chicken noodle soup over a four hour period, I needed a real dinner last night. My hubby look me to the Langham in Pasadena (formerly the Ritz Carlton) for a serious 8 course meal. The chef came out to the table to talk to us about our likes and dislikes - totally unexpected and personal. Dinner was fantastic, the food is just so good. They have a live acoustic guitar player (which was very hip and romantic) and the service is young and fresh. Matt, the sommelier, and Robert, the big boss, hooked us up big time with an esoteric wine and beer with our courses (Retsina anyone??). Tre cool!!

So... if you still have that check from George Bush lying around, go out and treat yourself to some Mmm Mmm Good cooking at the Langham.