agxo3

agxo!

Well, I've been away from the site for far longer than you. So, you were in Barca. I should have scheduled our trip there this year so that we could have met and have some wines. What a setting sana - drinking there with you. Didn't have any wine drinking there last year. Just lots of beers hehe..likewise with the trip last April

in the City of Lights. No wines, as I was with my non-wine drinking brothers-in-law. Again just beers, and some doobie in Amsterdam which gave me quite a scare afterwards hahaha. Should have just stuck with beers.

Speaking of verdelho, the Australian wine which I distributed ten years ago had a divine verdelho. Also the first time I tasted that varietal and it was such a surprise to have discovered that. Now I miss it. It was a Margaret River verdelho, and it compared very favorably with their semillon and sauvignon blanc, though for the money, their semillon is the clear winner.

 

Cheers!

Well, then, welcome back!! Too bad we didn't coordinate - would have been nice to just sit around Placa Reial enjoying the warm evening and sipping wine. Since my wife doesn't drink, I was limited to what I could get by the glass.

Nice whites in Spain and Portugal, perfect for the warm weather.

Just got home from the second day of the Livermore Harvest Festival. I ended up picking up yet ANOTHER case of Wood Family wines - 6 bottles of the 2007 Hansen Ranch zinfandel, 3 of the 2008 Cabernet Franc, and 3 of the 2007 McGrail Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon. Not that I needed another case. What will I do with all this wine? You have to come over and help me drink it!

I'm a film guy but when traveling, a digicam is much easier to bring. No hassles with x-ray harming film, etc. Not the same as a full frame DSLR but one third the weight and bulk. And 1/4 the weight of the Hasseblad. And the 4x5 doesn't travel well at all.

So when I went to Spain last month, I took the little Lumix G2. Here's a link to a panoramic assembled from 4 frames shot with the G2. The 20mm lens is very nice.

https://picasaweb.google.com/pointnshoot/BarcelonaLisbonAndMadrid#5643441480638578002

Can't post the whole picture here because it's way too large.....even the Picasa image is reduced resolution, but it's not too bad.

Labor Day weekend coming up - and with it, the annual Livermore Valley Harvest Festival. Lots of wineries joining the festivities, with wine tastings, food, and local artists showing off their wares.

We'll be pouring at Retzlaff again this year. Masi, Storm and Bods all know my fondness for Retzlaff - I've brought over a bottle or three that we've all enjoyed. (And I'm due for another trip and another wine tasting. Now if I could just find the time......certainly no shortage of good wines to share!)

For spending a Sunday afternoon pouring wines and talking about them, we get two day passes to the event so before and after our shift we can enjoy the wines at the rest of the wineries. And we get a bottle of wine as a thank you - and we get to hang around and drink the wine when our shift's over. After all, we gotta finish off the open bottles, eh? Let the morning shift start off their own bottles!

If anyone's in the area this coming weekend, do come and join us, and introduce yourself to me! I'll give you more than the obligatory 1 oz. pour.

Sorry I've been away so long. Thanks, Bods and FD for the greetings.

Wayfare Tavern was very good - great food, nice location, comforting ambiance. I understand why it's always so booked and hard to get reservations at.

We were off to Barcelona, then Lisbon, then Madrid on our first real vacation in many years. The food and wine were awesome. I want to go back just for that! I didn't know that El Bulli was closing the end of July - if I had known I would have tried to make reservations and then built my trip around that. Best restaurant by the best chef in the world, or so it's been touted. $388/person for a prix fixe dinner - but that's as many as 52 (yes, you read right! 52!) courses. Once in a lifetime dinner that I would have gladly paid for.

For a red wine drinker, the whites in Spain and Portugal were a revelation. I found them light, refreshing (great for a summer's day) and they paired well with most of the food. I still had some reds - can't tear me away from that - but I came away with a new-found appreciation for albarinho, verdelho, and the other white varietals we don't see much of over this way, and when we do see them, they are old and tired. Did you know vinho verde isn't just one varietal but describes whites from a specific region in Portugal and can be any one of seven varietals? I didn't - shows you how much I know about wine!

I'm writing up my food adventures and will post them shortly. I've put up the first of the series on my daughter's food blog site - www.foodiesecrets.com

I'm working on the next but with work and all, I am finding it hard to get the time to get it done. Maybe this weekend. The last of 3 will be the art of tapas, and that won't come until a couple of weeks from now.

I am getting my net Rubicon Estates shipment soon - can't wait! And Retzlaff releases in another 3 weeks. And Michel-Schlumberger will resume shipping in October. More wine!!! Time to go pop open a bottle and go get on my conference call.

This is a month of celebrations. First my birthday the end of May, then last Sunday my brother's 25th anniversary. We went to dinner at the Parkside Grille in Portola Valley - small, out of the way place with good reviews. For me a nice place, a bit more expensive than it should be for the quality of the food (but then again, it's in Portola Valley where people ride their expensive horses to the restaurant), but all in all a pleasurable evening. I brought a special bottle for the celebration - 1999 Rubicon from Francis Ford-Coppola's Rubicon Estates (and from what I hear, soon to be renamed back to its original, Inglenook Winery) - from the depths of my wine fridge. Deep purple in color, hearty tannins giving great smooth mouth-feel, deep red fruit, with a hint of tobacco and a surprising tiny, but refreshing, hit of mint on the finish. Layers upon layers of flavor. Very nice!

I also had a VERY dry martini made with Hendrick's Gin. One of my favorite gins, full of berry and juniper flavors, a floral hint to the nose with a violet or lilac note. Not a gin to dilute with any extraneous flavorings, it stands on its own.

Next up, our anniversary at the end of the month, followed by the annual July 4th meat smoking, BBQ'ing and grilling party with lots of good wine to keep everyone well-lubricated. I made reservations last night for our anniversary dinner at an informal place in SF called Wayfare Tavern, run by one of the celebrity chefs - Tyler Florence. I've tried a couple of his recipes and given my pitiful kitchen skills, it turned out pretty well! So let's see if he lives up to his reputation.

Nice bits of trivia! Thanks, pare. For all of us who may never get to see U2 in our lifetime here in Manila, those trivia are precious for their vicarious value hehe.

 

Does The Dead still perform even without Jerry Garcia now? Anyway their music is too loopy for me but I got most of their classics in my record collection.

 

Neil Young is Canadian so I guess he does not live there like his former bandmates.

 

Does Greg Kihn play their hits on his radio show? The Break-up Song and Jeopardy are regulars in my ipod hehe.. Great songs...

Neil Young lives in Santa Cruz, just over the hill from San Jose. He puts on a concert every year to benefit special children - the Bridge Concert, usually at Shoreline Amphitheater.

The Dead still perform but not under that name. Can't remember off-hand what name they perform under. Still play the Dead classics, tho.

Greg Kihn does play his own hits sometimes. He also puts on a yearly concert called the Kihn-cert also as a charity benefit.

Didn't know that the Greg Kihn Band and Green Day were SF regulars. Anyway the Bay Area spawned a lot of great bands in the 60s/70s. Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, Santana, .....were you already there at the time?

Greg Kihn now hosts a morning radio show on KUFX (also called K-FOX) in the Bay Area. Classic rock format. With a heavy dose of anecdotes from his rock star days and interviews with the rock performers who come through the area on performances. He lives in Lafayette or MOraga - somewhere in that area.

I've caught a few of the performances in the area over the years, but tended to stay away from bashes like the Grateful Dead New Year concerts which were way too crowded. U2 performed just the other night and the roads were so crowded and backed up some people were stuck in traffic for over 4 hours, and never even got to the arena for the show. I'd be pissed off too!

I did drive by to inhale! Crosby, Stills and Nash are also BA regulars - Graham Nash has a house in SF, and David Crosby lives in Marin County. I think Stephen Stills also has a house in the area but not sure where. I drive through Marin County on my way to the Sonoma County wineries and saw a few years back that Grace Slick's house had a fire! I hope she didn't lose too many bits of memorabilia.

Green Day performed at the Bammies a few years running and had an early career in the SF music scene but I don't think they are really from the Bay Area.

It's Slim's, but yes it was a long time ago

and as with these things, he's probably not the owner anymore. He performed with Michael McDonald at the Araneta last year. Of the two performers, it was Boz Scaggs who stood out. Still got the voice and decent guitar-playing.

 

 

 

 

 

Hey that looks like a good project - celebrity wineries. We're looking forward to your reviews.

 

So Cabo Wabo is still up and about. I've been hearing about it since about 2004 when a fellow overseas-based mtc member promised to bring me one. Sadly, hindi kami nagkita. I wonder if it's available here.

Back when the Bammies (the Bay Area Music Awards) were still a big event, the newspaper where TC worked at the time would give us tickets. Always a great show. Carlos Santana (another Bay Area great - he now owns a chain of Mexican restaurants called Maria-Maria), Sammy Hagar, Greg Kihn, Green Day.......Anyway - Cabo Wabo was always featured at the bar. If, of course, always hit the B.R. Cohn red wines. Yes - B. R. Cohn, another celebrity winery (he manages the Doobie Brothers) in the Sonoma Valley.

So that's why you were on a binge.

Belated wishes, pare!

 

Speaking of SF restos, I read a long time ago that Boz Scaggs owned a restaurant there. Is it still open? I forgot the name. He also dabbled in wines.

He was here for a concert last year....

Is that the Blue Light Bar and Restaurant? It' still open but I don't know if he still owns it. Then there's Slim's, another bar he opened, but like the Blue Light I don'[t know if hes still involved. But he is into wines, I hear. I saw Boz Scaggs a few years ago at the Sonoma Jazz Festival. A great performance. We were lucky enough to get seats in the fourth row, and it was a VERY small venue - a tent that held no more than 500 people.

Lots of celebrities are now into wine. It's the best way to make a small fortune - start with a big fortune and open a winery! Went to the Mario Andretti winery in Napa some time ago. Nice place, great venue, middle-grade wine. Mybe I should make that my summer project - hit all the celebrity wineries and write reviews about them!

Then there's Sammy Hagar and his Cabo Wabo tequila. I'm not a tequila connoisseur, but I hear it's actually pretty good!

Time to get a visa. LOL

Happy drinking!

Drink, buy, drink, buy, drink, buy.......

I juat had a 2004 Stonefly Vineyards cab. Bought a case of splits (half-bottles) a a wine warehouse sale for $100. $9/btl for a split! But I was promised it would be good = and wow! Dark red fruit. Leathery tannin to hold it all together. Smooth apricot on the back end. Worth EVERY penny!

Last weekend was my birthday weekend so my wife and daughter took me out for dinner - Prospect in SF. Owned by Nancy Oakes of Boulevard fame. Foie gras torchon. Crispy shaved pig's head terrine. Seared scallops with uni risotto. A perfectly medium-rare rib eye. Duck three ways )the most melt-in-your-mouth confit you ever had, seared roasted breast, a terrine of thighs and legs that defies description. Excess meets decadence - and it was memorable. I brought a Rubicon Estate 2007 cab franc. Red berry flavors, a hint of smoke and leather, smooth rounded tannins and a plum and fig finish. Yup - a great dinner! More! More!

And to end the holiday (yup, my birthday is a national holiday in the US! LOL) weekend - Tomales Bay kumamoto oysters followed by fresh (never frozen) Maryland soft shell crabs, panko breaded and deep fried. You don't know crab until you've had soft shell blue crab from the Maryland/Delaware Bay shallows.

I'm a happy, sated, overstuffed guy..........now for some serious dieting over the next couple of week before I go see my doctor.

I keep saying I have too much wine and I should drink more and buy less......then I go buy some more!!!

I went to a wine warehouse sale - lots of good stuff at really good prices. And I ended up picking up a case of Flying Winemaker (aka Cameron Hughes) tempranillo (2008). Nice.....just had a bottle with BBQ baby back ribs. Went really well with the tomato-based sauce. Nice acidity playing off each other with the slight sweetness of the BBQ sauce rounding off the tannins.

Then I went to yet ANOTHER wine sale the following week (check out www.invino.com - but if you decide to sign up, let me know! I will forward an invite to you.) andpicked up a really nice half case of mixed pinot noirs, ranging from Windward Estates, to a Miura from Spain.

And then there are my regular wine shipments - 2 Pennino zins, 2 Cask Cabernet, and 2 single vineyards cabs all from Rubicon Estate (formerly Francis Ford Coppola - he still owns it but split off the lower end wines to FFC Presents in Sonoma). BTW, you will see the old Inglenook label making a comeback. Francis (I get call him by his first name since I an one of his "most valued" wine club members - LOL) bought the label back from Continental and will be bringing the label back to its old glory. One of the first high end cabs I ever tasted was a 1972 Inglenook cab - and it was memorable.

I also picked up my Michel-Schlumberger shipment - a nice, crisp, very dry rose that will go really well with the annual July 4th meat and wine excess, and really nice cab/syrah/petit sirah blend. I'm a happy guy with waaaaayyyyy toooooo much wine! I'm back to over 30 cases! Come over and help me drink some of it up!!!!

Time to do a vertical of Rubicons - '96 to 2006 - 10 wines, every vintage except for '98 (when they DIDN'T make a Rubicon because the grapes weren't good enough). Time for a trip over this way, guys!!! I need at least 15 wine lovers to sign up......

The operative word there is "at least". The winos will be looking for something like this:

 

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Close! But not quite. Look up Zichichi Winery.......

Or maybe a Boaventuras Caires cab from the southern part of Livermore.......

or both!

tell me how is it, the wine I mean hehe.

Pasyal ka uli...

Hey Bods! I won't make it there in the next month or two....sorry However, there is a rumor that my project will go ODM. If it does then there is a good chance I will be out that way a bit later in the year. In the mean time I've given my miles to my daughter who will head over to HK to visit some friends.

If I do get to go I will bring at least one bottle - maybe two. I have some really great zins for you to try - from a small winery in Healdsburg that only sells through their tasting room at the winery. Not available in any retail stores anywhere.

Before I bought my equipment I did some research and asked a couple of friends who were pros. One of them told me whatever lenses I buy make sure it's 2.8 or faster. I checked the different websites and compared lenses. For walk around on crop bodies the best was the 17-55 2.8 is usm from canon. It was an L-quality lens in an efs shell. And it was wide enough with just enough tele for everyday use (27-88 equivalent). The kit lenses were either 15-85 or 18-135(?) and both were f3.5 - 5.6. Too slow. I wanted to be able to shoot in low-light or use available light without flash as much as possible. True enough the 2.8 allowed me to take a lot of shots indoors and outdoors without using flash. No regrets talaga. The camera stores will keep recommending the more common lenses but my vote goes to this one. Next target 70-200 2.8 is2 sum

So why 2.8? What sorts of pictures do you shoot?

One thing to note, guys - it's not all about the equipment you use, although at some point that becomes important. But most ofyo are not at that point yet. It's all about the photographer.

Lenses, bodies, printers - those are just tools. Nothing more than that. You have to learn two things - one, how touse your tools to your best adavantage, and how to SEE. Bright, over-saturated, overly contrasty, over sharpenened images - yes, there's a WOW! factor tothem, but they are no better than commercial-grade photos. ANY monkey with a decent set of equipment can produce those.

Show me REAL photos with emotion, feeling and depth. Tell me a story with those images. Make me feel what you felt when you decided to shoot that image. Not another dramatic sunset - so what? Those happen every day. Not another red umbrella on a sea of grey. That happens every time the rain clouds come out.

Yes, I have a lot of cameras, and some of them are really great cameras. But I only have them because they are the best tools around for me to tell my stories with my images. And I am lucky enough to be able to afford them. But I started with a Yashica 35 - a cheap fixed 45 mm f3.5 lens 35mm camera. And I won two photo contest with that - against pros using Nikons and Hasselblads. What does THAT tell you?

Camera equipmentitis will only get you one thing - poor. It won't get you good photos. You doubt me? Take a look at what Dominique James shoots with his iPhone. Look it up on Twitter. With a simple iPhone camera, he shoots images that are haunting, poignant, powerful. I wish I could shoot like that. BTW, Dominique is a Pinoy photographer who's moved to NY and now works in the fashion photography industry.

oh i see leica very expensive lenses even the camera also

Not so expensive if you buy them used as I did. They're built like tanks and as long as you care for them, they will outlast you. The newest of my lenses was built in 1972, and it still outperforms most new lenses I've tried recently.

Imho mas maraming issues ang 17-55 f/2.8 ... errr sigma lens is slow on focusing... even 24-70 70-200 di sharp....

 

Sigma is the cheapest lens around that's true.. pero kung wide lang im going for tamron 11-22 f/2.8 Bakal pa

 

@glock19 - what made you buy 17-55 F/2.8? (just want to know your thoughts)

 

@agxo3 - pentax owner what model? Question lang.. what made you buy pentax?

I have a Pentax DS1. Old model digital, have had it for over 5 years now. Still a great camera for how I use it. Mostly manual focus, mostly manual exposure setting. Picked it because I like the way Pentax lenses render images. Great tonality, nicely sharp, nice patina to the B/W images in B/W. I've always liked Pentax for their glass, even though I have way too many cameras.

2 Leicas (M3 and M6 - and Leica lenses are legendary for sharpness and tonality as well, but different from the Pentax lenses), a Hasselblad 500CM (extremely sharp lenses - maybe TOO sharp? - and very high contrast), 2 4x5 cameras (with 4 lenses to go with them, a 90mm, 120mm, 180mm, 300mm), an old Yashica 635 (120 roll film camera with a 35mm adapter. Lens not too sharp but good balance of contrast and tonality), a Nikon FM2n (the 55mm micro-focusing lens is great. Now all I need is the 85mm for a good mid-length prime). And more - 27 all told, at last count, although many of them are collectors items, not for regular use.

But, my daily user right now is a Panasonic G2 that I use my Leica M lenses on. All my film cameras are manual focus, and I rarely use outoffocus (no, that's not a typo!) even on my digitals.

agxo

I wonder why they don't sell the two-buck chuck here. Logically it should sell here for about a hundred pesos. Even at two hundred that's still a bargain, but I guess you won't be caught buying it hehe. The nearest jug wine her I believe is that Carlo Rossi they sell in what I think is a 3 liter bottle? Yung may tenga pa. Sometimes I admit I'm tempted to buy it when I'm scrimping on money. But good reason still prevails hehe...

Floppy

Masarap nga yang Lindemann's Cawara. I remember about a decade ago, si Jacky Chan pa ang poster boy nyang Lindemann's. Quite strange I should say. Last Christmas I saw in Rustans a Cawara which came in what I think was a 1 liter bottle but which was priced the same as their regular 750ml. Mahaba pila so I deferred buying that day. When I came back for it several days later, ubos na! Sayang!

Bronco Wines knows nothing about the Philippines - they're concentrating on China. They also don;t discount 2 buck Chuck for overseas distribution - it's 2 bucks whether you buy a bottle or 1,000 cases. Strange......

Not familiar with Lindemann's Cawara - maybe not available here? Other Lindemann's labels are available here.

Went to Retzlaff winery last Sunday for Noah's zin and oysters event. 2009 Lake County zin barrel tasting prior to bottling around June. $140 a case - not bad! And the wine is quite good so I split a case with my brother. Oysters and BBQ tri-tip went really well with the zin. Then on to Boaventuras Caires where I ended up buying a bottle of 2007 cab from their upper vineyard and a bottle of 2008 Red Mutt (petit syrah, syrah, zin blend) that I opened that night to go with our roast pork dinner.

agxo

I wonder why they don't sell the two-buck chuck here. Logically it should sell here for about a hundred pesos. Even at two hundred that's still a bargain, but I guess you won't be caught buying it hehe. The nearest jug wine her I believe is that Carlo Rossi they sell in what I think is a 3 liter bottle? Yung may tenga pa. Sometimes I admit I'm tempted to buy it when I'm scrimping on money. But good reason still prevails hehe...

Floppy

Masarap nga yang Lindemann's Cawara. I remember about a decade ago, si Jacky Chan pa ang poster boy nyang Lindemann's. Quite strange I should say. Last Christmas I saw in Rustans a Cawara which came in what I think was a 1 liter bottle but which was priced the same as their regular 750ml. Mahaba pila so I deferred buying that day. When I came back for it several days later, ubos na! Sayang!

Bods, email me, please. Remember that idea I had a few years ago? It's back and a bit more alive. But I need a bit of information that I am sure you can help me get (or that you already know). Trying to line up a couple of local investors there to fund it. My brother will probably be our front man there if this works out.

The best ang Sigma lense.

Mahal nga lang sa Pinas...

Sigma overall has a terrible reliability record. And their out of box quality is inconsistent. I looked at a Sigma SD1, thinking th Foveon sensor would be really good. Never got to look at the image quality. When I opened the factory-sealed box, it was full of dust, even on the mirror. Gave it bck to the sales clerk and went on to look at other brands. Ended up buying a Pentax.

Sigma is not the most expensive lens around - in fact, it's rather cheap compared to other brands.

So it's like rolling a dice when you get to open one of these 2-buck chucks. Parang yung mga jug wines yata ito before, di ba?

Are they really still sold for 2 bucks?

Still being sold for 2 buck at Trader Joe's. In New York, it's 3 bucks.

Jug wines are about the same price when you factor in the volume. A gallon jug is about $10, and that's 3.8 liters, or about 5 bottles. I think jug wine quality is actually more consistent - consistently mediocre, but consistent nonetheless.

The article paints a doomsday scenario that is certainly possible. But, as has been pointed out, the US is remarkably resilient and there is a depth and a resolve that has not been tested in recent generations, 9/11 notwithstanding. The future is unknown, and the dangers that the article points out certainly should not be ignored, but I don't have a crystal ball, and neither does the author of the article. There is a need for the Chicken Littles of the world, but a greater need for the risk takers and visionaries who lead. The only question is - are the American people smart enough to choose the right leaders?

Hehehe. Miss your wines pare. When will you visit Manila?

 

The Chilean wines are quite popular for events here in Manila. Good value for less.

Chile is really coming up in the wine world. Even here, they're considered good value wines.

I hope to visit Manila later this year - before it gets too hot, I hope!

Pwede na, kasi mura lang yun. Mas okay ang Terra Vega

With 2-buck Chuck, you pays your money and you takes your chances. Some are drinkable (barely), a few are actually not bad, but most tend to be rather stinky. The reason is Bronco Wines (bottler of 2-buck Chuck) buys bulk wines from a variety of wineries, basically buying up their excess - typically the wines that the wineries don't want to put their name on - and bottles it. They blend by varietal - that is, all cabs go into a large silo with other cabs, syrah with other syrahs, etc. So even within the same vintage, you may get a good cab followed by a real loser, depending on when they were bottled. Cheap, yup. But this is a case of "you get what you pay for" - and no more, sometimes less.

agxo3 belated happy thanksgiving

 

Was able to score some 2007 cliff lede cab sauvignon and a 2006 cliff lede cab sauvignon poetry just a week before thanksgiving. We went to Yountville. We had the 2007 for thanksgiving and I made a crown roast of pork with cornbread stuffing. I was not in the mood for turkey. hehehe I'll fly the 2006 with me and 2 2007 to NY for a family gathering this Christmas. I might make cochinillo for the event if my brother can secure a suckling pig.

 

You really enjoy Livermore wines.

Hi IB!

Livermore is close by to me and I know some of the winemakers.

Christmas was ablest. My brother and fAmily came ore for dinner. Opened a '96 Rubicon, a '03 Rubicon Estates Cask Cabernet and a '05 Turnbull Petit Syrah. For dinner we had horseradish crusted prime rib, ham, creamed spinach and savory bread pudding with Parmesan cheese and prosciutto.

Dessert rang red from apple pie to kakanin to homemade cannolis.

All in all a great evening.

Tonight was my wife's g'day so we went to dinner in San Francisco - RN 74, a Michael Mina restaurant. Grat food and a very good wine. DetaiLs in another post.....

Another Thanksgiving come and gone.......my wines are aging gracefully but with the continuous unbridled growth of my inventory it was time to start enjoying the older stuff, before it goes over the hill and down that slope to certain mediocrity.

Daughter visited from Lalaland, flying in Wed. Morning. So we had rib eye steaks for dinner - medium rare, of course - and I opened myLAST bottle of '97 S. Anderson cab Sauvignon. Smooth, rounded tannins giving way to velvety fruit. Plum, dark cherries, a hint of cocoa and leather, and a dose of espresso. Too bad I'm all out now! That was one great bottle.

Yesterday for Thanksgiving at my brother's place, I decided to bring my '95 Opus One to share. First bottle of the night, and clearly the highlight! Firm but well-integrated tannins, vibrant fruit. Leather and a tiny bit of smoke. Great mouth feel and body. Thank goodness Ihave one more.....this one will go down into the back of my wine fridge, there to hibernate another 3 years or so.

Christmas is coming up - time to bring that '96 Rubicon up from under that pile of magnums to join the '90 Retzlaff on front shelf.......