2003 Oberschulte Syrah.

The owners of the building were hovering all week. By Friday I figured maybe a little wine would help, giving me the opportunity to open this bottle of Syrah from the Monte Rosso Vineyard that had come my way (by way of the aforementioned path of bewildering generosity). It was a last minute ordeal that allowed for no research as to how to best present it, so I went with the basic cheese, bread, fruit thing, a pure shot in the dark, not quite the stuff of lamb chops.

This was one big, fat, juicy glass of wine, let me tell you, and when my next bacchanalia occurs this is definitely the wine for it. But, you know, (ahem), the boss-people are fun, too.

Event: White Trash Wine Tasting, 2009.

Here is the copy from the Colorado Wine Company on Colorado Blvd. in Eagle Rock.

"White Trash Wine Tasting 2009 Has Arrived It's amazing how every food critic worth their weight in cheesewhiz has dubbed WTWT '09 (pronounced "wuht wuht oh nine") the food event of the century, only to change their minds the following year when we do this event again. It's that stupendous. In the past you have tasted such solid gold hits as "Charcuterie de 7-Eleven" (SlimJims) paired with Malbec and "Gâteau au Chocolat en Plastique" (DingDongs) paired with 10 year Tawny Port. Well, after you attend WTWT2009 on Saturday, September 12th, get ready for the rest of your life to completely suck in comparison. The menu...

We begin with the palate-cleansing "Ecorces Frites de Porc" (or friedpork rinds), paired with Bastide Blanche Bandol 2005, France. Smokyand piggy mixes with lovely, earthy, gamey mourvedre. Ridiculous.

Followed by "Fromage Liquide Sur le Pain Blanc" (or cheese whiz rolled in wonder bread), a dish so simple and smart it is legally considered a member of MENSA, expertly paired with Vinedo de los Vientos EstivalWhite 2007 from Atlantida in Uruguay. This Gewurztraminer blend makes Wonder Bread and spray cheese taste like...victory.

And then our most ambitious dish of the night, "Cocotte en Terre Fritede Cube en Pomme de Terre" (or tater tot casserole), a flavor medley so devastating that 45 people have already cancelled their RSVPs for fear of taste over-stimulation. Wusses. This main course will be paired with the Ken Brown Duncan's Cuvee Pinot Noir 2006 from theSanta Rita Hills in California.

And finally, the coup de grâce of this enchanted evening, "Sucrerie deCitron Enveloppée Par Bacon" (or bacon-wrapped lemonheads). Says onetaste tester, "...it's like one of those kick-ass David Blaine stunts....but...like...in my mouth."

This salty sweet dessert course will be paired with the HM Borges 10-Year Old Reserve Malmsey Reserva Madeira from Portugal. While even garbage would taste good with this nutty, marmaladey heaven-sent dessert wine, the citrus, fat and salt of our white trash dessert selection makes me just want to shut the hell up and eat.

* -- run, don't walk - this event sells out every year -- *

WTWT '09Saturday, September 12th, 5 - 8pm
$20/person
RSVP to info@cowineco.com or (323) 478-1985"

The F-Bomb Salad with Chardonnay.

This came my way recently. It's a 2004 Cornell Alto Adige Chardonnay.

Recently I mentioned a salad that seems to be my standard summer fare in variations, but here's the basic contents:

Frisee

Fresh Fennel

Figs

Feta

Non-F-Word ingredients are red onion, cucumber, a can of garbanzo beans, and a warm hard-boiled egg. It gets a good squeeze of fresh lemon, some olive oil, and S&P.

This is the simplest version, the base to any variations. Tomatoes in season, I dumped a pint of mixed cherry's into a pan with a ton of garlic, olive oil, lemon zest,and a light curry until the tomatoes were just soft, then tossed the mixture into some cooked quinoa. That with the egg on top of the salad is killer.

The wine was really lovely, in a summer-fruity kind of way. The previous wine (August 1) was like shaker furniture - which I love - this one was more like that Ernest Quost painting in the Musee D'Orsay, you know the one. My only regret is I while the F-Bomb Salad is indeed the bomb, I sort of got the feeling the wine could have been better challenged, better utilized - a nice piece of grilled salmon on top and dressed in a lemon-mustard-dill-garlic-olive oil drizzle.

Here's the painting.

Schedule FYI.

George will be sitting for me on Sunday. George used to sit for Vern before I did, so he's qualified. Because I'll be out of town, no appointments will be offered Saturday evening through Wednesday morning.

"I'm not drinking my wine fast enough."

This is the comment I most hear from the people who cellar here. Unlike collecting stamps, coins or beanie babies, wine, sadly, has days that are numbered. There are a few ways this can be remedied, all in the works and seeking input from those who matter: you.

Many reams of red tape plus licences, fees, insurances, and more are required to become a wine storage facility that is legal to also sell through. The goal is to be able to offer this service in the least expensive and easiest manner. There are a few options being investigated, like piggy-backing with a wine storage facility that already does this. We can also establish an account through which anyone can then sell their wine with, say, Winebid.com, a $2,500 minimum that then allows single bottles to be sold here and there through their monthly auctions .

As we continue to look at all this, I can offer a more immediate option/resolution: while we have people who aren't drinking their wine fast enough, we also have people who are interested in that wine. The Cave is not licensed for sales on the premises, but we certainly can amass and offer for perusal any lists of wines available, leaving the details of trade up to those interested.

Not drinking your wine fast enough? Leave the list with me and I will make it available.

Wine Beyond the Bottle.

I get it, really I do, this wine thing, how it's not just about a bottle of liquid though it is, how it's about the food with it, and the people with that and the conversations with that and the community of it all... by way of that bottle of liquid.

Troglodytes by nature are not so communal, but the generosity of those who are, neither expected nor necessary, has forced me to actually acquire friends to help me with some of this wine that has come my way. Here's my report.

Main Course: soft shell crabs marinated in olive oil, garlic, and anise seed on the grill, served as sandwiches with lime, cilantro and mustard. Salad: frisee, fresh fennel, endive, and figs with lemon and olive oil. The Conversation: the Tour de France, of course. (We all ride.)
The Wine: 2004 Chablis 1er Cru "Les Forets."

The wine, my first white, was really good. It was completely honest and it was austere in a simple and unadorned kind of way, the wine that walks into a room and you sit a little straighter just by the space it commands, minus anything else.

Dessert: honeydew, apricots, blueberries with a small array of soft and blue cheeses, breads, nuts and fennel green olives. The Conversation: the dentist in Beverly Hills who has a woman giving foot messages while your teeth are being worked on. The Wine: There is a gentleman who cellars here who makes his award-winning wine from that which is indigenous to his home Norway - various berries and, in this case, kumquats. While I could very easily have encountered an item one might find in a canister at IHOP amongst the boysenberry and blueberry syrups, this wine was really a beautiful balance of all things contained. It was delicately proffered and gently present, a lovely bit of regard.

I'm working on the menu for the next total solar eclipse when I again venture to the earth's surface; will report back accordingly.