Breathless.

There was a semi-interesting article from The SOMM Journal being circulated around TWWIAGE last week.  Dr. Paulo Lopes, Research and Development Manager at Amorim Cork, recently published the results of research he has been conducting into the merits of cork as a wine bottle closure.  Without going into the nuts and bolts of the process of oxidation, the gist of the article was that cork does not breathe; the only oxygen that diffuses into wine is the air trapped in a cork's nooks and crannies.  In a nutshell, or a screw cap, perhaps, the article asserts that it makes no difference if a wine is stored upright or lying on its side.  Furthermore, the article claims that it is very "liberating" when wine-myths are debunked by science.  Aah, I feel so free now.
Dr. Dick Peterson, an early California-wine industry innovator, has always maintained, well, at least since the early 1960s, that sound corks do not breathe air.  Dr. P even has a great quote about the breathlessness of cork, "Show me a cork that breathes and I'll show you a bottle of vinegar."  I'm a little sceptical of the whole premise, but I'll trust the good doctor on this.
My illustrative photograph is of a sparkling-wine cork that came out of a bottle of Chandon étoile that I popped open last Friday night.  I had assumed that the cork had done its job and had sealed the bottle perfectly, and anaerobically.  (The article states that, "the classic mushroom shape of a sparkling-wine cork is formed by its contact with CO2."  Now that's interesting.)  This particular mushroom-shaped cork had managed to transfer something to the wine though, not air but 2,4,6-Trichloroanisole (TCA).  I reluctantly poured the entire, tainted bottle down the sink.  Hate when that happens.  Still, there is a happy ending.  Celebrating Vinomaker's birthday last night, a day early, I ordered a bottle of étoile at a restaurant and it was delicious.
So what does all this fuss about the oxygen transfer rate (OTR) of cork mean to the average consumer?  In my opinion, not much.  None of the information in the article is going to change anything about my wine buying/storing/drinking habits.  Some people just love to do studies and write definitive articles about their findings.  And it always helps when their findings reinforce the science behind the product they are promoting.  Ta da!
Oh, and Happy Birthday Vinomaker!

All aboard.

For lunch today Vinomum and I decided to take a trip up the valley on the Napa Valley Wine Train.  It is almost two years since we last rode on the wine train together.  Last time we were on the train we basically had it all to ourselves, as lots of visitors to the valley had cancelled their reservations due to the very recent, and rather large, earthquake (that had rattled a lot of nerves) in August 2014.
It was a perfectly gorgeous day for sitting back, enjoying the views and being waited on hand and foot - for three hours.  I did not really have anything to drink, well, just a small glass of Chandon bubbles, because I was driving.  But I sure ate a lot.  A very enjoyable way to spend an afternoon.

Strings and bubbles.

Last night, a co-worker of mine at TWWIAGE, I'm going to call her the Balancing Queen (or simply BQ), the winery's bookkeeper, treated me to a show at the Napa Valley Opera House.  BQ is a huge acoustic/classical guitar enthusiast and if any guitarists happen to venture into these neck of the woods, she's there.

The Guitar Masters, the evening's offering, turned out to be three guitarists - Andy McKee,  Antoine Dufour and  Stephen Bennett - who each did a set of their own songs and then three songs together for the finale.  Now being of a certain age, when I think of guitarists I enjoy, the ones that most readily pop into my mind include such musicians as Johnny Thunders (may he RIP), Johnny Ramone (may he also RIP) and Angus Young (thankfully, he's still with us), thumpingly accompanied by their friends Marshall, Peavey and Vox.  The Guitar Masters were, all three, very talented and entertaining instrumentalists.

This was the first time I had ever taken in a show at this venue. Construction began on the Opera house in 1879 and was completed in 1880.  The first show there, on February 13th 1880, was a performance of Gilbert and Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore. Sadly, the Opera House closed it's doors in 1914 and remained closed for nearly 90 years.  In 2003, after extensive reconstruction, it once again opened to entertain Napans beginning with a run of, you guessed it, H.M.S. Pinafore.  The Opera House's auditorium is rather intimate and is probably best suited to certain performances over others.  I mean, I wouldn't want to see AC/DC perform there - it'd just hurt too much.

We arrived at the Opera House a little early, but BQ being a veteran attendee suggested we have a glass of sparkling wine before we take our seats.  One flute of Chandon's Brut Classic later, I was ready to rock 'n' roll, well, sort of.