Gabe Holmes's Blog

…

For all of you Petite Sirah lovers who crave what I like to think of as, "wine with balls", I recomend a trip on the Spain Train and into the hills of Rioja (Think Bordeaux of Spain and…

Like a New Yorker w/ no delivery options at four in the morning I needed a red wine that could stand up to a physical red duck curry dish w/ extra coconut and pineapple. In short: I needed a red wine with umph, but not a fruit bomb that makes u think of Austral…

Oldest winery in Napa Valley - check

Strong taste of dirt (good thing) - check

Enjoyed by others - check

I hate to waste my alcohol consumption on everyday red wine, but Beringer has allways been very enjoyable. It will not g…

I have had so much luck with Spring Mountain District in northern Napa that I spent a day checking out Howell Mountain on the other side of St Helena. Out of pure cha…

I am yet to see the movie (as well as literally all but one movie in the theatres in the last 12 months), but Adam Sandler gets down with…

Try their gilled lobster flown in daily from Maine or their Salmon sashimi and u will not be disspointed. I even was a fan of both Spatlese German Rieslings that were available for under 50 bucks a bottle. The view is great. The food is great. A little pricey,…

I'm torn. On one hand I crave meat after workouts. On the other hand studies show vegie people tend to perform better over time. Considering Prince Fielder (guy in picture) weighs almost 300 pounds and is a vegan, I think it is safe to say Vegetarianism d…

For the third time this year I was blown away with Wellington Vineyard's Noir de Noir. The grape is…

Sometimes it is good to have Karma on your side.

According to the San Jose Press, the Bonny Doon tasting room survives the drastic forrest fire north of Santa Cruz. Considernig their grapes are g…

After years of seaking out the "everyday red wine", I have found my magic touch. Like the Dutch crushing the Italians in Euro 8 I needed a wine that just flat out beats the competition. Serious tannin. Serious fruit up front. I would never guess this guy…

I use the word "tight" when describing wine as much as:

"dark fruit"

"serious"

"unbelievable"

"this guy"

In reality this guy is as tight as they come. It is so tight I cannot even drink it. I find a lot of Italian wine to be a bi…

A while back I mentioned Brunello di Montalcino wine producers were caught mislabeling their hot shot italian wine. Now our US government is giving them 25 days to get with the program. Personally, I love Brunello di Montalcino's (even though I usually go Rosso) and I am fine with a little bit of mislabeling if the product…

I had the luxury of having dinner with Liquidnet Founder Seth Merrin two weeks ago. (Think this guy age forty five.) Unfort…

This post is not me. In fact, i cut and Paste it from a buddies IM. I would not spend 4 grand on a bottle of wine. I would rather buy a 40 dollar bottle of wine form the 100 best wine producing countries in the world.

1997 Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon ($3900.00) 100 points Robert Parker:

"It doesn't get any better than 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon, a perfect wine. Representing the essence of cassis liqueur intermixed with blackberries, minerals, licorice, and to…

San Francisco's new soul food hotspot, 1300, brings the heat,…

Justin Hughes of Baraka tells me, "the wine is fantastic, but the label is a little off". However, the wine clerk at William Cross is fine with the label. He looked at me very wierd when I mentioned I found the label to be a little two-buck-chuckish as well.…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUZNw7h96WU&feature=related

Can anyone understand what the guy screams before throwing it?

Most wine store owners barely know where Slovenia is. It usually takes them a few seconds to think through other Eastern European wines they c…

A comparison of the 2008 presidential candidates to South American Red Wine

…

Norman Vineyards down in Paso Robles, (you may have heard of their "Monster Zin"), produces a "no nonsense" red blend, which is a bi…

Straight from New Orleans, Galactic brings the funk.

…

I went to a Wine 2.0 tasting a few weeks ago and the Cannonball stood out against thirty other California red wines. Very big and jammy with some serious red rasberry notes. If u like "California Zins" I would give the cannonball a shot. As two buddies and me…

http://news.aol.com/story/_a/girl-scout-sells-17328-boxes-of-cookies/20080515113709990001

OK, so 17,238 boxes may not add up to exactly 200K cookies, but it is still significant.

Only the NY Post would keep me this hip.

* textual relations: text-message dirty talk

* OMFG: oh my bleeping God

* a - - hat: a stupid person

* gnar gnar: even better than gnarly

* cowboy up: be a man

* wizard: cool

* toolbox: a bigger tool than a regular tool

* trunk full of crunk: a car trunk with alcohol

* dormcest: sex betwee…

The tasting evnet is supposed to only be for industry insiders, but I am sure non -industry people could get creative to get a pass.

Here is the link for more info:

http://explorer.oregonwine.org/events_industry.php?id=27&action=info

There will be literally 50 killer producers. The wines will mostly be mom and pop shops.

Justin Wines are big and crowd pleasing, but there grapes are mostly outsourced from other Paso Robles vineyards.

Carmody McKnight was one of the first Paso wineries and sold part of the vineyard to Justin about twenty years ago. The…

Yelpers are 50/50. I am 50/50. I thought the food was much better than, Limon. Yes - I think Limon in the Mission is way overated. Essencia is too small and there is n…

Now where can I buy this fella?

Try serving your red wine 55 degrees as opposed to the usual 65 degree room temperture and u will not be dissapointed. I allways thought the rule of thumb was colder tempertures will only bring out the acidity and subtle flavors in red wine. A cooler serving temperture will make even the big warm weather red wines taste that much better.

Michael Bauer agrees with me.

There are over eight grape varieties in this red wine blend, including Gewürztraminer. Why…

Biondovino, which is on Green and Polk, is pouring four top notch Chianti Classico's on Wed. William Cross, whch is four doors down, is also doing their usual Wednesday tasting. Anyone down for a Polk street wine crawl?

…

Alder, the man behind Vinography.com, says Screaming Eagle has skipped the latest Napa tasting event for industry and press. Are these guys too cult for their own g…

OK

So I hit up what I thought was every possible "good" winery in Paso other than Turley. Turley is a Napa Firm buying up a local vineyard because they like the old vines. But why did I miss Linne Colado? They have a blend called the Nemsis. Note to self: never disapprove of a Paso blend with the southern Rhone veriatals. I feel like I could order online and still purchase a home run. Just ask…

If you are not a fan of long blog posts I would skip down to my snippets below. It provides enough rand…

I am at this tasting event and the winemaker for Modus Operandi says, "that is funny, I take wine to the face all the time". This is the same guy who fully admits he is a "lush". I am diggin the fellow open minded wine nut.…

Murphy Goode is an old school label from Central Sonoma(Note to self- it is located right next to the Casino), which to me stands by the sweat of earth ethos of Sonoma. Why change the label and create a new marketing campaign? I am nervous. Will Murphy Goode…

If Chris rocked the Blackbird Cabernet blend in Night at the Rocksberry he would have more swagger, more vibe and yes - even more style. T…

I love Monterey. I love its aquarium. But when a Monterey wine is sponsoring a corporate mega star it is a little bit discomforting. You can see it for yourself.

I am chillin with the Leo Hillinger 2006 Zweigelt and I am starting to form an opinion.

Zweigelt is a grape related to the Blaufrankisch (I checked to make sure I spell…

I am used to the semi sweet sparkling wines of north west Italy that reek of fruit and are impossible to not like.

With a very big mouth feel and less flavor per bubble than the usual semi sweet wines I was no…

William Sonoma advertises Riedel’s for 120 bucks per glass. I am not sure if it is worth it. When I worked at Putnam Wine in upstate New York we consistently told customers to spend less on the glass and more on the wine. Think how many killer bottles u could buy for the price of one glass.

Something about reading over the…

Lehigh Valley, about two hours outside of Philadelphia in rural Pennsylvania has been given AVA status. AVA status is a quality designation - basically saying the region makes real wine not fermente…

The Drumming Magnate and central figure for Zildjian likes his red wine big. "Argentinian Malbec, Big California Zin's, you name it". Now the question becomes, how do u store these big wines in the Puerto Rican tropical climate.

Only store I have been to in the last two years with:

1.)Multiple bottles of Italian red wine from 1997 (though the shopkeeper told me they were “past their prime”. I love the honesty)

2.)As much Pinot Noir as Cabernet…

I never had a Saperavi wine (the grape). Almost cab like in color, structure and attitude. This guy impressed me with its length and strong red fruit. For nine bucks, I am gonna explore more wine from Georgia in the near future.

After being stuck in Vail, CO for an extra night I started perusing wine lists at all the restaurants.

The usual Cali reds were in full form: B.R. Cohn was offered every where as well as the slew of Mondavi’s and Beringer French grapes. Even the local pizza shop had both the Son…

This guy will get you away from "California Merlot". HUGE amounts of dark frui…

The ten buck Argentine Malbec has become synonymous with value. Throw in some Syrah and u can bring the Argentine's ten buck chuck to another level.…

I am always down to hit-up the local wine tasting opportunities outside of San Francisco. After rounds of free cheese in Writer’s square in downtown Denver’s new 16^th Street, I found myself in the local cigar shop to taste some local Colorado wines. Before I become negative on the experience, I have to give a quick positive shout out to Colorado wine.…

Like Cliff Bars?

The same people now "do" wine and have produced this guy. Nice wine. Has a bit of a zing to it. (probably from the Zin). The wine comes from a nice story. Makes me w…

After needing to kill an hour before my girlfriend and I could pig out on Zunni Cafe's potato strings and oysters we walked a whole ten paces and decided to split a Montefalco at CAV.

CAV is legit. Like m…

I view Pinotage as the Twisted Sister of Pinot Noir. Technically a cross between Pinot and Carigagne, Pinotage is grown heavily in S. Africa. I tend to get hints of tar and sour ap…

The food is top tier. Not too expensive and South has all the random entrees with meat u have never heard of. I just cannot digg the wine list. Australian wine tends to burn th…