• Kim Crawford 2006 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. I've found these NZ whites to be great values in recent years, though like everything good they've been getting exepensive. A bit softer than many of the ones I've had but excellent with some grilled swordfish.



• Eroica 2006 Columbia Valley Riesling which is produced by Washington State's Chateau St. Michelle in collaboration with Dr. Loosen, one of Germany's premium producers. I've always enjoyed the better German Rieslings, particularly for warm summer days. However, those better Germans have soared well past the $30 mark, so I have not been partaking much. This wine is an interesting attempt to bring German production values and techniques to an American-produced wine, and does a pretty good job of capturing their spirit.. Compared to many of the premium German wines it's a bit drier with much less of a sweet finish. Actually a very nice combination for an American summer. Starts off with a nice acidic tartness which fades into yummy fruitiness. Would make a nice wine to go with spicy food, as well as a wonderful hot afternoon sipper. I opened this one late Wednesday, after a pub dinner, which followed a tiring day of helping my brother move appliances into his new place.
• Only one red, a relatively old Joseph Swan 1991 Cabarnet Sauvignon, from their Steiner Vineyard on Sonoma Mountain, which I opened last weekend. This is one of the bottles that I've had in storage for many years and recently retrieved. My older stored wines have been somewhat a mixed bag, in part because some of them are just too old and in part because the storage was a bit spotty for a couple of years when I was moving quite a bit. I was concerned about this bottle and it's "twin" from 1990, because Swan has had a somewhat spotty history in my experience and I have known them mostly for their high-quality low-production Zinfandel runs which have not aged all that well. In addition, the this bottle and the "twin" were both orphans. I don't know what they tasted like a decade ago, so they were a crapshoot today.

  But this cab was all that an old cab should be. Nice aged fruit with not too much acidity and tannins that have faded into beautiful velvety softness. The kind off red wine that would be perfect for people who get headaches from red wine. It was perfect with a lightly peppered thick cut sirloin on the bone.

  And after all that, I still have the "twin."

• Yang Chow, in downtown LA, is still the best reasonably priced Chinese food in the area. Well worth the drive from the westside so long as I go after rush hour. Sadly, good Chinese is rare anyplace west of Beverly Hills anymore. My brother and I had a great meal of basic items: moo shu, noodles and their famoust slippery shrimp. Very little on the menu is bad except for the soups, which I find a bit watery and flavorless. Not a place you go for Beverly Hills elegance, lots of space or suburban-style sanitized spaces. It's cramped, noisy and times, and well trafficed. But as I said, well worth the trip.
• Saturday brought the last two Chicago sirloins out of the freezer, accompanied by an inexpensive Spanish red that was recommended by my local wine store. Coto de Hayas, 2005 Granacha Centenaria (Grenache) from Campo de Borja. Not much different from what I had expected. Soft, unremarkable Grenache fruit, not a lot of tannin or acid. Struck me as a bit too sweet right out of the bottle, but that seemed to subside a bit after a few minutes. For $10 it was nice drinking right now, and would be a very comfortable wine for those people (segfault, that means you!) who find reds to be bitter or get headaches as a result. This wine will win no awards, but is a nice value if you're looking for something to drink right now.

Next week I'll probably be going light on both food and wine, getting into a bit better shape and detoxing a bit before my next trip which will include a quick stop in Utah for my birthday and five days in New York.

-btc