First of all is anyone else totally irritated by this season of America's Next Top Model? Tyra is killing me with all the acting scenes. My index finger is hurting from fast forwarding through all the crap! Give me models! Give me models that hate each other! But don't give me Tyra acting like a space age robot!
The only thing good about this past Wednesday night with ANTM is the recommendation by Cobras and Matadors' own Bill Fernandez.
La Rioja Alta, Rioja, Reserva, 2001. I blogged about the 1995 last week.
The wine helps to ease the model malaise. Bill gives a nice description, he says the wine exhibits lots of tobacco leaves, cedar and orange peel flavors that you get from hanging out in new American Oak.
I had the same experience with the wine, although it was far more advanced in age than I expected it to be. That's not a bad thing, it's just that it had an oxidative style that I associate with a wine at least 5 years older. Bill is the expert on la Rioja Alta, so perhaps he can fill us in on why this is the case (something about Reserva really being a Gran Reserva?)
I bought it for $28 at the little wine shop next to Cobras on Beverly which looks a fright right now due to some serious remodeling. Still, Bill is ever present peddling his Spanish goods for the tapas loving crowd.
8 comments:
Which is more "colorful" - the label, or the bottle-holder?
The bottle holder definitely. Colorful in a that fem lumberjack sort of way.
I know the guy. He comes in regularly. He'll typically wash down 24 sliders with a picture of budweiser. He burps really loud. When 6pm rolls around, he gets really bossy and tells us to switch over to Home Improvement. "Al Borland is God," he says. Cliff is in charge of the remote control and not once has given in.
One time he called us a bunch of neo-Jacobins. I don't even know what that means. The guy has issues.
Dear Seth, how is Claimjumpers holding up in the difficult economy?
We have a 20% discount coupon running in Sunday's paper. If the customer is cool, I'll comp a glass of Murphy Goode fume blanc. Do you have any Murphy Goode at AOC?
Meet Sommelier Seth Kagy
As youth, general manager and 1st level sommelier as well as being an owner of One Restaurant & Lounge, Seth Kagy watched his grandfather grow a butcher shop into a multi-million dollar meat processing plant. Since that time, he has understood entrepreneurship, hard work and the skills needed to succeed in business.
Seth always wanted to be in the hotel/restaurant industry and to further his preparation, he attended Penn State University, one of the top schools for hotel restaurant management, and graduated with a BA in Hotel Restaurant and Institutional Management.
Setting his sights high, Seth's first opportunity after graduation was to begin with the very best, The Ritz Carlton Chicago. As a beverage manager, room service manager and manager of the Greenhouse (an upscale lounge serving lunch, afternoon tea and cocktails) Seth honed his skills and perfected his "Mobil Five Star" service background.
Seth was most recently a manager with the Grand Lux Café Chicago boasting responsibilities for day-to-day operations of $12 million sales per year restaurant. He has managed and served Hollywood's super-stars with Movie Premier Parties for Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Harrison Ford. He has also organized parties for Julius Walton, The Goldman's and Oprah Winfrey.
Seth feels most fulfilled when working with Charitable Organizations such as Share Our Strength and the Terry Fox Run for Cancer Patients. He is looking forward to becoming involved with local charities in Southwest Ohio.
www.aroundcinci.com/gen_includes/article.asp?articleid=3588
Murphy Goode Fume Blanc and Clos de Bois Merlot are two of my personal top selections. Maybe I'll blog on those next week.
Amy...the Alberdi usually has just 'Reserva' on the label. The 2001 vintage in Rioja Alta was so prodigious, that it allowed the winemakers to make a younger wine from grapes that go into the 890 and 904 Gran Reservas. Hence, the "Seleccion Especial" label.
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