Hospice du Rhone 2009, part 1

The world's most prestigious celebration of Rhone varietals, or America's at least, has now begun. The Syrah Shootout just ended, with 45 wines judged, of which the Stillman clone 877 came in 4th; the Four Vines One Tree Hill was first, which is not exactly hard to take as the owners and winemakers are good friends . . .

WET ZEPPELIN Sept. 25, 2009 in Cayucos CA

As some of you know, I like to throw parties; this will be the biggest in several years (since Black Velvet Voodoo in April '01, in fact!) and possibly the best. Some of the information is on the poster, shown above; to get a pdf of it for printing yourself, send me an email at StillmanB@aol.com. Yes, you're invited.
This is the wildest winery party you'll ever attend, period. Next to the pier in beautiful Cayucos, California, an extravaganza of music and wine. The dress code? Impress, improvise, disguise. Think of a surfing Elvis, tikis in Vegas, and a Mardi Gras masquerade ball all rolled into one and served hot. Featuring our official band, the one and only Dread Zeppelin, the great Dario Rosa, the dangerous Sexy Time Explosion, and an open wine bar hosted by Red Zeppelin Winery! $20 donation benefits local surf and wine education charities.

Facebook won!

Well, you know the story; between my travels and my absurd ADD, both this blog and even MySpace updates have fallen off the tractor and into the weeds. I really oughta put up one more Wine and Roses picture, though . . .

Sioux City Wine and Roses

The lost member of the Lewis and Clark expedition?

Scene from a back road to Las Vegas

White Zeppelin

The 2008 White Zeppelin, a blend of 83+%Viognier with Roussanne Grenache Blanc, and Picpoul Blanc, is ready for bottling. But the label is not designed yet; as there are more people involved in the process than usual, and they are never all in the same room, it's draggin' on and on. Here is Version VI, it's not there for me.

Wine bar joke

So this guy walks into a wine bar, and says “How about a nice White Zin?” The bartender, who is moonlighting as a sommelier (or is it the other way around?) offers him a dry Rosé, and lets him try a sip to see if he likes it. Well, the guy doesn’t like it, or the next wine, or the next one. Riesling, Chardonnay, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Syrah, he hates ’em all. There’s a line of glasses on the bar in front of him with a little bit in each one. So what does the guy do? He pours them all into one glass and drinks it off. “Now that’s what I call wine,” he says, “I’d like a full bottle, please!”
The sommelier gives him a long look, and then reaches under the bar and presses a button. Out of the back room steps a huge man with hands the size of Grenache clusters. The sommelier points his finger at the door and says, “Wilhelm . . . show this gentleman a nice Yellow Cab.”