More Nathan!!!

My baby

Smooootch.

Hey look, a thumb!!!

How you doin'?

I'm a duckie!

So I forgot to take a picture of this before recycling the bottle, so I just grabbed a stock photo, but I really did drink it...I just don't have the proof. Anyhoo...

As I mentioned before, this is our Sonoma wine that we drink in celebration of our wonderful puppy, Sonoma. I don't actually recall how Laura and I selected it, but I'm sure the region had a little to do with it. So how was it? Refreshing as always, especially in the summer. Not too oaky and light flavors of fruit - well it is fruit, so that doesn't really tell you much, so how about faint pear and honeydew melon (which to me barely has any flavor, so take that how you will). The honeydew melon is more after the fact. Laura has been buying a few melons after a melon comment I made. So after munching on some honeydew I was brought back to the chardonnay (no not literally, but that would have been cool - a melon time machine!).

Checking the back of the bottle suggests:

"Pleasing aromas of pear, mango and clove along with a hint of vanilla mingle on the nose of this classic Sonoma County Chardonnay. The well-balanced acidity wraps around a luscious core of pineapple, lemon and melon flavors and creates a creamy palate. The wine has a refreshing finish."

Well okay, I get some ponits for the pear and the melon, maybe bonus for being specific on the honeydew. Pineapple? Not sure about that, or the lemon, but creamy it was (-1 point). Given that this is a favorite of ours I will give it 5 bottles out of 5 - highly recommend!

Why Not Join In On The Next Wine Review

Each weekend the Wall Street Journal has a wine section where the authors review wines and this past weekend was California Chardonnay, which led to a hankering for Chardonnay, go figure. Laura and I probably drink red wine 90% of the time, but it's summer so a cooler beveage may be in order. Usually their reviews are for wines in the +$20 range, but this week had a few reasonably priced wines that I've actually seen in stores, so I figured I'd share.

***Clos du Bois (N. Coast) $12 "nice, light Chardonnay fruit; lightly toasted"

***Simi Winery (Sonoma) $14 "lemony and crisp, with a touch of cream...plenty of fruit-shows that you can have big oak if you have good fruit"

***Chalone Vineyard (Montery County) $10 "tighly wound fruit, intensity and sunshine-like acidity" - Not sure what any of that means, but for $10, I think I'll find out.

The only white wine we have on hand is our Sonoma wine (the wine we drink to celebrate our puppy, Sonoma). Of course it is a wine from Sonoma, and we landed on a Chardonnay from Chateau St. Jean. So look for the review here a bit later, but if you'd like to participate just pick up a bottle (about $10-12) and let me know how you like it. In the meantime, I'll be searching for the above for a future review, so if you pick one up, let me know how you like it.

Cable Propaganda

Just a bit of a rant. I don't know if any of you out there on the internets watch any of the cable "news" shows, but I feel that they have all gone off the deep end. I think there should be an FCC rule banning the use of the word news, unless you actually report news and not extremeist viewpoints to incite and alarm the people. It has gotten so bad that the pundits will take part of a quote to spin it how they like. Let me give you a for instance, ahem..."There are people who say I support the terrorists, but I do not" turns into "I support the terrorists." In fact, you can see that played out in the following clip from The Daily Show (around 4:20).

In addition to that, you have the hosts who condem an act in one segment and turn around and do the exact same thing in the next segment. See above Daily Show clip, the second segment where the lady host rails against the Eminem stunt only to go on to partake in a similar visual and call it the "best thing she's seen on TV." I don't know how these people keep a straight face.

I've come to the conclusion that Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert might just be the best interviewers on cable, plus they bring the funny. Seriously, they will have politicians, authors, and economists on as guests while Leno and Conan will have Paris Hilton or Tom Cruise. Okay, The Daily Show has actors too, but it is probably less than 15% of the time. The rest is interviewing people on real life issues. And while the "news" shows may have their politician and economist guests, all they seem to do is lob softballs at them if they share a similar viewpoint or scream at them if they don't. Probably the best interview I've ever seen is when Jon Stewart had Jim Cramer on as a guest. No softballs, no banter, and if he doesn't get an answer, Jon Stewart presses him on it. An actual real interview. You won't see that on Dateline or 60 minutes or cable "news."

I'll step off my soap box now...

More Nathan Pictures

Three Months!!!!

Nathan is 3 months old today!!! And real months too, not those weak February months, anyone can do that.

Baby Back!

So my D-backs haven't been doing so great (slight overstatement), in fact they have been finding new ways to lose almost daily now. At least I have my own little baby back to cheer for.

Clearance Wine: The Sequel

The second bottle of clearance wine was a 2006 Frei Brothers Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (Alexander Valley) for the low, low price of $12.58 ($18 regular Target price). This one, however, not as good as the other clearance wine, though I doubt it was the fault of the "clearance."

The first night I had this with some Orange Chicken. Yeah, I know, Orange Chicken and a cab?!?!? Well, you know what, you're absolutely right - It doesn't pair well. I kind of assumed that, but Laura didn't want wine and it was the only bottle that we had that she wasn't interesting in partaking in, so there you go. I was hesitant at first, so I started with some Muenster cheese and a glass while the Orange Chicken was cooking. I know what you're thinking, it's not even Orange Chicken from a restaurant. But you know what, Trader Joe's has a frozen Orange Chicken for $5 that is actually quite good. But I digress...

My initial reaction was this really isn't that well balanced - too much on the tannic side, so much that I couldn't distinguish any flavors. Pretty much tasted like a cab, but overly tannic, nothing special that would warrant $12.58. Maybe it will be better with night #2.

Nope, not so much. A night in the fridge didn't help, still too tannic, but it's wine so I'll drink it. I'm glad I didn't pay $18 for it. So the current score is 1-1 for the Clearance Wine Adventure. I'd still delve into the uncharted lands of the clearance aisle for a little adventure, because who knows when you'll find a new favorite.