Christmas beer.

Christmas cheer in a bottle, that's what I call the Anchor Brewing Company's Special Ale.  I am always a little worried that I will miss the release of this beer, however this year I needn't have been concerned.  Getting our wires crossed, Vinomaker and I both bought some Anchor Christmas ale (their 44th annual bottling).  I bought a six pack and Vinomaker bought one bottle.  But what a bottle it is.
Adorned with a Korean Pine (Pinus koraiensis) this year, the one, big bottle is massive, 50.7 fluid ounces.  Yes, folks, that is just about 1.5 litres of beer.  The bottle is heavy.  H-e-a-v-y!  It's huge.  We may have to throw a party to get rid of it.  At the very least, I see a pizza night in my future.

Winter Solstice, 2014.

As the sun was beginning to set today, I made my way almost to the top of Vinoland with Vinodog 2 to admire the view.  Of course a few trees got in the way but not one, solitary raincloud spoilt the vineyard-vista.  No, today I finally got to see the sun for the first time in what seems like ages.  And how appropriate that the sun reappeared for a little while on the shortest day of the year, (although I did feel like I was being rationed).
Funny story about the vineyard in the middle of the photograph (not that funny, actually).  The gentleman who owned this vineyard passed away last year and in his will he had bequeathed the vineyard to the UC Davis Viticulture & Enology Department.  But UC Davis didn't want it, they wanted cash instead.  Apparently, contrary to what a familiar proverbial phrase claims, beggars can be choosers.  The gentleman's widow is instead leasing the vineyard to Far Niente.
Happy winter solstice, enjoy, be happy...for tomorrow it starts to stay lighter, later.
Sing it Ian!

Cliff diving.

Erm, not the Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon one would usually find me quaffing, but an Oakville AVA Cabernet nonetheless.  This is another of Vinomaker's finds from our wine cellar and, as is becoming a very definite trend around here, he has no idea how he happened to be in possession of this particular wine.  What is known is that this bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon hailing from Vine Cliff Winery is a product of the stellar 1997 Napa Valley vintage.  Vine Cliff is located on a rather historic (for California) piece of property above the Silverado Trail in Oakville. Originally part of a Mexican land grant given to George C. Yount (for whom Yountville is named), the Sweeney family are the current owners and have been making wine there since 1985. The winery is considered a boutique winery, as they make less than 10,000 cases per vintage.
Good vintage here, good vintage there.  Blah, blah, blah!  All very well and good, but how did it taste?  Well, that depends on who was drinking it.  Vinomaker really liked it.  Me?  Less so.  I just couldn't get past the oak, lots and lots of the stuff.  Nice body and texture, but this wine is not aging very well.  In my estimation, this wine was overly oaked and out of balance back in 1997 and it's not like it's going to balance itself anytime soon: it's teetering on the edge.

True Wine Lover 12.

For my latest True Wine Lover, I have decided to showcase the nifty work of Dom Pérignon, a Benedictine monk, oft credited with the discovery of the sparkling wine production technique known today as méthode champenoise.  

Dom Pierre Pérignon arrived at the abbey of Hautvilliers in 1668 at the age of 30.  He immediately showed a great acumen for winemaking and soon became the maître de chai. Father Pérignon did not exactly invent Champagne, in fact he believed that secondary fermentation (which creates the bubbles that I love), was in actual fact a fault and referred to the resulting wine as "vin de diable".  I bet the old, tonsured monk was none too fond of the exploding bottles either - it's always better to have a full head of hair when there are exploding bottles around.  Yikes!

It is an Englishman, one Christopher Merrett, who actually holds the distinction of being the first to document the deliberate addition of sugar to wine to precipitate secondary fermentation - when the fizz happens - and then continued to refine the technique.  Furthermore, Merrett was a keen metallurgist and is accredited with inventing the thicker glass needed to prevent winemaking's most dangerous occupational hazard.

However, Dom Pérignon did pioneer a number of innovations in the production not only of Champagne, but of still wines also.  It is said that he was amongst one of the first advocates of natural and organic winemaking.  Pérignon was also a skilled grape grower and was adept at blending small lots of grapes before fermentation.

Moët et Chandon's Dom Pérignon bubbly is certainly not the greatest Champagne; and the supposed Pierre Pérignon quote, "Come quickly, I am drinking the stars!" turns out merely to be an early marketing slogan. But still, you have to raise your glass and toast an old monk whose name, to this day, is synonymous with good times, celebrations and festivities.

Tonnellerie greetings.

What do you get when you buy several barrels from a local cooperage at $900 plus each? A complimentary Christmas card.
Merry Christmas right back at 'ya Demptos!