viticulturally speaking

For lunch/dinner (or something in between based on the time of day), we went to Los Olivos Cafe, a very popular spot as it turned out.  It’s not hard to see why it was so popular.  Besides having become famous in the movie Sideways, the food and wine selection were also great.

My favorite part, although the whole meal was delicious, had to be the Cafe Baked Brie.  We’re talking about Choice Brie and Honey Roasted Hazelnuts in Cinnamon Puff Pastry with Port Syrup.  WOW!

2 vineyards and a great meal–we’re definitely satisfied.

The Brander Vineyard was very nice and its smaller scale very inviting.  I was a little less impressed with their wines; however, I realize that some of my opinion could be altered because I had already had a bit to drink by this time.

They did have a couple Sauvignon Blancs that were very nice.

These two wines were probably my favorites from our tastings at Firestone.

The 2008 Sauvignon Blanc reminded me of passion fruit (along with many other summer fruits).  But being someone who loves the smell and taste of passion fruit, I was sold on this wine the second I tried it.  Perfect for a hot sunny day and it definitely makes you bend at the elbow!

The 2005 Late Harvest Reisling was also a fun dessert wine.  The look and smell makes me think of honey straight away, and it even has a bit more of a viscous feel when tasting it.  The trick now is to find the right kind of dessert to complement this very sweet Riesling.  Also to note, it makes sense that a late harvest riesling would be sweeter because the grapes had a longer time to ripen and become sweeter–more sugar!

The Firestone Vineyard is a big, nice vineyard just outside of Los Olivos in Santa Barbara County.  The service was friendly, the wines were good, and the atmosphere nice (especially given the rather hot temperatures outside today).

If you’re looking for a big vineyard feel and not too expensive of a tasting, this might be a nice place for you.

I haven’t posted since the end of our wine tasting class in late May at Stanford, but I decided it’s time to post a little more consistently when I find wines I like, etc. So, here I am this labor day weekend in Santa Barbara and am about to go wine tasting today. Selfishly, this blog also makes it easy for me to keep track of wines that I’m tasting and that I’m enjoying for future reference (that is of course with a little help from the trusty iPhone).

The current plan is to go to Los Olivos in Santa Barbara County.

1999 Bollinger La Grande Annee

Now, this is a fancy bottle of wine– somewhere around $110.

94 points Wine Spectator: “A beautiful Champagne, from the complex floral-, coffee- and brioche-scented nose to the graphite, vanilla and citrus flavors. Light-weight and intense, with a lively structure and a long, lingering finish. Drink now through 2018.” (11/07)

Delamotte Champagne Brut.

I think we saw some golden raisin when looking at the color, maybe even some shortbread cookie (a description brought to us by danielle platt).  As this warms up, you might get some doughy quality on the nose.  It has a tendency to remind you of sourdough or breadcrust.  Tastes and smells like we’re eating lemon bars.

Pop Champagne

Ether Boy
Hey

How We Ball In The Club, I Know You Hate It
Mommy Dancing On The Floor, All Like She Naked
When She Lay Down With You, I Know She Fake It
All The Girls Give It To Me, I Ain’t Gotta Take It

Ooooooooooooh
Pop Champagne

Ooooooooooooh
Pop Champagne

Oooooooooooooooh
We Pop Champagne

Oooooooooooooooh
We Pop Ghampagne

We Need More Bottles, Tell Ma To Hurry Up
Tell Em Ron Browz Here, Hottest In America
Gimmie 16 Bars And You Know I’ll Tear It Up
Know Me When You See The Spurm In Your Area
And She Call Me All Night Cause You Cant Get Enough
On My Neck, On My Wrist, Everything Is Litted Up
Drinking Bottles With Our Clique Until I Spit It Up
Only Getting On Life So You Gotta Live It Up, HEY
If You In The Things Im In, Shawty We Could Be Friends
Shawty We Could Be Friends, But Right Now

I Wanna See You Dance, See You Dance
I Wanna See You Dance, See You Dance
I Wanna See You Dance, See You Dance
I Wanna See You Dance, See You Dance

How We Ball In The Club, I Know You Hate It
Mommy Dancing On The Floor, All Like She Naked
When She Lay Down With You, I Know She Fake It
All The Girls Give It To Me, I Dont Gotta Take It

Ooooooooooooh
Pop Champagne

Ooooooooooooh
Pop Champagne

Oooooooooooooooh
We Pop Champagne

Oooooooooooooooh
We Pop Champagne

Don’t Act Like You Ain’t Never Heard Of Me
Im In That 09 Enzo Color Burgundy
Doing Shows From New York All The Way To Germany
Imma Rep Harlem World Ma Until They Bury Me

Everyday I Wake Up
Its About The Currency
Past Get 100 Grand
Now Its Emergency
Ive Been Doing This For Years
Doing Shows For Courtesy
And Imma Turn It Up For The Whole World To See, HEY

If You In The Things Im In, Shawty We Could Be Friends

I Wanna See You Dance, See You Dance
I Wanna See You Dance, See You Dance
I Wanna See You Dance, See You Dance
I Wanna See You Dance, See You Dance

How We Ball In The Club, I Know You Hate It
Mommy Dancing On The Floor, All Like She Naked
When She Lay Down With You, I Know She Fake It
All The Girls Give It To Me, I Ain’t Gotta Take It

Suck Ma Cock U No U Wanna! Its not that bad its just ugly. I know u hate the mole……….Just ignore it baby and get sucking like a fat kid eating cake. Its like fucking ordeo cakesters.

Ooooooooooooh
Pop Champagne

Ooooooooooooh
Pop Champagne

Oooooooooooooooh
We Pop Champagne

Oooooooooooooooh
We Pop Champagne

I aint in the club with the mean screwed face
Im lookin for the girl with the mean cute face
body nice skills with the mean lil waist
give her shots of patrone and take it to my place
if u aint got money u can stay ur ass home
think to ride mine everything is all cloned
shawty is a winner and she got my mind blown
stop at the diner then at the disco

If you in the thing im into shawty we could be friends
shawty we could friends but right now

I Wanna See You Dance, See You Dance
I Wanna See You Dance, See You Dance
I Wanna See You Dance, See You Dance
I Wanna See You Dance, See You Dance

Ooooooooooooh
Pop Champagne

Ooooooooooooh
Pop Champagne

Oooooooooooooooh
We Pop Champagne

Oooooooooooooooh
We Pop Champagne