Bacon wrapped filet & Teusner “The Riebke” Ebenezer Shiraz 2004
Give a little whistle (bacon!) Try a little bacon (whistle!)
OK, yes, maybe I’m a little bacon crazy. A little.
But who could blame me after being at the Grateful Palate warehouse sale yesterday for almost three hours smelling the stuff cooking? And of course, sampling.
I came home with a huge need for bacon. I was tempted to fry some up right then and there, with some eggs maybe, for a late lunch.
Instead, I went to the grocery store where I scored two beautiful filet mignons–on clearance at 30% off! Just in case, I had the butcher check them over, and he approved, so with a warm loaf of french bread under my arms and a bag of russets, I headed home to wrap my filet in two thick slabs of clove and garlic bacon; the Big Monkey dribbled gorgonzola on his when it came off the grill. With baked potatoes and broccoli on the menu, the remaining dilemnawas which wine to pour? After all, I had two cases of the good stuff, fresh from the warehouse!
The Big Monkey loves those cab/shiraz blends, and I looked long and hard at the ones I bought. And I can’t wait to try the Stray Dog GSM, but I wondered if it would have enough pow for the filet and bacon. So what I opened was the Teusner Riebke Ebenezer Shiraz–if anything could stand up to that steak and bacon I figured it would be an Eb Shiraz–and I was NOT disappointed. Yummy! This wine typically retails around $20, and I picked up two bottles for $10 each. I should have bought more1
The color is gorgeous dark purple, and the nose is filled with lucious black fruit–cherry and plum, especially. It had good structure, and surprisingly low alcohol at 14%, which for us made it more balanced than some of the other shiraz we’ve enjoyed. There wasn’t a whole lot more going on other than that lovely perfectly ripe fruit (not jammy, not over-ripe but perfect!) and maybe a little dark chocolate–a bit of the edge of super dark chocolate, a bit of that richness.
We didn’t care really for the particulars in the moment–it was such a pleasurable, feel good, taste good wine with a wonderful rich meal.
Hmmn…but could we have gotten more out of it if we hadn’t enjoyed it so quickly? We opened it not long before we ate; maybe with a little more air time, more would have been revealed. Let’s see if I can make that happen with bottle number 2! (where might I hide it??)
The only disappointment? By August 2008, according to Michael Pollard, Grateful Palate dropped Teusner from their roster of wines (or was dropped, who knows). What a huge disappointment! I do know I want to know more and have more of winemaker Kym Teusner!
Art Predator Scores 2 Cases at Grateful Palate Warehouse Sale!
Art Predator Carries out 2 Boxes of Wine!
Yes, that’s me there, carrying out two cases of wine, 4 pounds of bacon, and two jars of jam that I scored at the Grateful Palate Warehouse sale today! Even though many of the prices were higher this fall than they were in the spring (from 10-20% higher…which I guess isn’t too bad considering the fate of the US dollar when compared to the Australian).
What did I get, you ask? Which wines will I be drooling over and writing about this fall and winter? Read more…
On the Death of Blogging, Bertrand Russell, Ben Franklin, Hugh McLeod & Jason Calacanis
cartoon by Hugh McLeod of Gaping Void
Hugh McLeod drew the cartoon above at the Blog 08 conference in Amsterdam last month as a response to the October 20 Wired article by Paul Boutin which tells people to pull the plug on their personal blogs because they just can’t compete with professionally written sites like Huffington Post:
Writing a weblog today isn’t the bright idea it was four years ago. The blogosphere, once a freshwater oasis of folksy self-expression and clever thought, has been flooded by a tsunami of paid bilge. Cut-rate journalists and underground marketing campaigns now drown out the authentic voices of amateur wordsmiths. It’s almost impossible to get noticed, except by hecklers. And why bother? The time it takes to craft sharp, witty blog prose is better spent expressing yourself on Flickr, Facebook, or Twitter.
If you quit now, you’re in good company. Notorious chatterbox Jason Calacanis made millions from his Weblogs network. But he flat-out retired his own blog in July. “Blogging is simply too big, too impersonal, and lacks the intimacy that drew me to it,” he wrote in his final post.
Instead, he suggests people use Facebook, Twitter and Flickr, and revel in the brevity of 140 character posts like this one which he wrote to summarize his article:
@WiredReader: Kill yr blog. 2004 over. Google won’t find you. Too much cruft from HuffPo, NYT. Commenters are tards. C u on Facebook?
I know from talking with bloggers and twitter users at the Wine Blogging Conference that not being on Twitter left me out of a lot of the converation. But while they were twittering, I was having face to face conversations, and there’s definitely value in that for me.
I disagree also with his basic premise that it is impossible Read more…
“Language Of the Birds”
LANGUAGE OF THE BIRDS Brian Goggin with Dorka Keehn 2006-2008(in progress) (A site specific sculptural installation for a new public plaza on the NW corner of Broadway where Grant and Columbus Streets intersect, San Francisco)
“Language of the Birds,” a solar powered zoetropic public art piece, will be be lit at dusk Sunday Nov. 23 in San Francisco near City Lights Bookstore in a choreographed presentation including music by the Extra Action Marching Band and more.
According to the artist’s website
“The language of the birds” was considered a divine language birds used to communicate with the initiated. Here a flock of books takes off from the plaza to fly the urban gullies of the city. The fluttering books have left a gentle imprint of words beneath them. These serendipitously configured bits of local literature reveal the layering of culture, nature and consciousness.
Language of the Birds is a flock of twenty-three sculpted illuminated books, which appear to have just taken flight from the plaza like pigeons scared up by a passer by. Appearing to be in motion, the books have flown open creating various wing positions with the pages and bindings. The entire artwork appears to be in motion with each book holding its position as a bird does in a flock. Read more…
Jason Bentley named new KCRW Music Director
KCRW
After 14 years of holding down the night time slot at KCRW hosting his show Metropolis and 16 years at the station, Jason Bentley will take over from Nic Harcourt who has served the past 10 years as Musical Director for the Santa Monica College public radio station. Read more…
Grateful Palate Warehouse Sale 11/22
A Grateful Palate
Slurp up some specials on wine, bacon, and other culinary delights perfect for holiday gifts and meals at the Grateful Palate Warehouse Sale in Oxnard this Saturday November 22! Read more…
Ojai Poetry Fest Cancelled
Just received the following disappointing news from poet/blogger/friend Robert Peake:
2009 Ojai Poetry Festival CANCELLED
18 November 2008Dear Festival Supporter,
The Ojai Poetry Festival Committee, on advice from the festival founders, has decided to cancel the 2009 festival. Due to a variety of factors, the Committee has decided to conserve its resources this season in hopes of bringing a great lineup of poets and poetry events back to Ojai in 2011.
Our website remains a great resource for information and photos from past events, and news of the future.
Thank you for your understanding, and your continued support.
Sincerely,
Robert Peake, Webmaster
on behalf of The Ojai Poetry Festival Committee
Big Sigh. I was looking forward to being involved with the Festival this year and was set to attend the planning meeting that was scheduled for tomorrow night…
an ee cummings poem for you
from film The Red Balloon
in Just-
spring when the world is mud-
luscious the little
lame balloonman
whistles far and wee
and eddieandbill come
running from marbles and
piracies and it’s
spring
when the world is puddle-wonderful
the queer
old balloonman whistles
far and wee
and bettyandisbel come dancing
from hop-scotch and jump-rope and
it’s
spring
and
the
goat-footed
balloonMan whistles
far
and
wee
-
e.e. cummings
It’s the birthday of one of the most generous and prolific poet bloggers around– gingaTao Paul’s birthday today! It is spring time in Australia, and there’s going to be a Grateful Palate warehouse sale of Australian wine on Saturday in Camarillo California (post to follow) so there is lots to celebrate no matter where you are with balloons and pan singing us songs of fecundity! So come dancing with us! A-bun-dance be yours in this puddle-wonderful uni-verse!
Go here to see the poem where I found it and with correct formatting.
Go here for more about the film, The Red Balloon.
Grow Food Party Crew Invites YOU
Grow Food Party Crew Garden Parties 11/21-23/08
Hey Beautiful People!
This is an official invitation to join in and create an outrageous party all weekend!
Is it possible to transform a town into an edible oasis in one weekend? Read more…
KCRW’s Top Tune Today: Toe Jam by BPA with David Byrne
KCRW has a cool program called “Today’s Top Tune”–it’s a free download. You can sign up below.
Brighton Port Authority: Toe Jam
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