Enviado por email del Club Torres Online: Los buenos viajes son los que comienzan desde el mismo momento en que uno recupera la maleta del altillo y al cerrar la puerta de casa se tiene esa increíble sensación de VACACIONES… Un buen viaje, como no, aporta experiencias y sensaciones que nunca dejan indiferente, incluyendo aquí los vinos. La verdad es que depende donde viajemos y cuando lo hagamos, conocer y probar nuevos vinos puede convertirse en un placer o un horror. Damos por seguro que en cualquier región vinícola tradicional, encontraréis excelentes vinos pero también otros que& no tanto. Podéis ser osados y arriesgaros pidiendo uno al azar, pero aquí os damos unos consejos para evitar desgraciados errores. En primer lugar hay que dejar claro que no todas las zonas pueden producir buenos vinos. La vid tiene unas exigencias climáticas que recomiendan cultivarla entre los paralelos 30 y 50 de ambos hemisferios. Fuera de estas zonas, la vid no se aclimata y los resultados, digamos que, suelen ser bastante mediocres. Luego está el tema de las variedades: hay muchísimas. Pero no todas son iguales: las hay mejores y peores; las hay que soportan mejor el frío, o las lluvias, o el sol& Las variedades autóctonas son las que a lo largo de los siglos mejor se han adaptado a un determinado suelo, clima& son originales, distintas y representan ese territorio más allá de tecnologías y modas. Por último, tened en cuenta que los elaboradores con cierta tradición, las bodegas familiares tienen la ventaja de la experiencia y el conocimiento de la tierra que se ha ido transmitiendo de padres a hijos durante años; por eso, suelen ser vinos que expresan perfectamente la tierra de donde vienen y el espíritu y la filosofía de la familia que los crea.
Nos recomendamos visitar la página web PFV, una asociación de familias de todo el mundo con una pasión común elaborar vinos que representen sus orígenes. Con seguridad, no os decepcionará.

He’s been here for a couple of weeks now. Posh’s show was on TV, and we found out just how much his ankle has not healed. David Beckham visited the MLS All Star Game versus Celtic F.C. last night and was interviewed on ESPN. He eluded the his ankle injury lingering to a point to where he was hoping to get some playing time in the much anticipated exhibition against Chelsea F.C.. Well, guess what, Alexi Lalas, the former maned star of the 1994 USA World Cup and current President of the Los Angeles Galaxy announced this morning Becks will not play. Wow. What a let down. Just what MLS didn’t need. We’ll see how the British like American media will react to Becks missing the bus. One good thing has come out of Beckham’s first days. He loves In-N-Out! I’d buy this guy a Boddies just for that. Welcome to America Becks, but you gotta have a Carne Asada burrito from Roberto’s.

There is almost always so much hype when the Vicorinos come to town. Yet, despite all the hype the usually dissapoint. There are many fans of the Victorinos, but the feeling is the once dreaded ganaderia is going through a more docil time. Also, you’ll hear of many Matadors not particularly like them, you do see the same Matadors fighting them. The mornings final run of the Feria de San Fermin was also hyped up for the dreaded Victorinos, but like last year it turned of almost without incident. The corrida with Pepin Liria, Antonio Ferrera and Fernando Cruz was anticlimactic to a very dramatic week of Encierros.

Here is the video. Watch for the runner in the Ayutanmiento. He gets it in the back of his leg right below his butt, and than kicked on the way down…

Two very impressive pictures from yesterdays chaotic encierro. Christopher Neiff of Norway was plucked from the barrier by the stray Marqués de Domecq bull and gored in his shin. The TV cameras didn’t catch the severity of the goring but the pic below certainly does. Also a bit of Pamplona Trivia. Name the only brothers to be gored by the same bull, at the same time. Brothers Lawrence and Michael Lenahan from Hermosa Beach, California were cornered by the same Marqués de Domecq bull and gored in their respective keisters simultaneously.

I couldn’t of sung it better myself. BTW, I don’t sing.

Nothing spectacular in this mornings run. Alot of sloppy first time runners and a couple of great carreras, especially by the one mozo in the green and white shirt. In the days corrida, there was nothing of note except for the tossing El Cid suffered. He was caught in between the horns and had to finish the lidia with his cheek hanging out. He spent the night in the hospital because of the beating he took during the cogida.

Here is the video while I try to upload mine…

Today was bad. The bulls were let lose from the corral and started at a very rapid course. The bulls started to section off, and soon they started looking and charging mozos. At the first turn off at Santo Domingo and just past the Ayutatmiento a couple of the toros tripped over fallen runners. It was during one of these spills a black toro was tripped up, got up and found himself alone. he started charging the crowd while the pastores tried in vain to lure him down the course. The toro was confused, so he started attacking. He picked out a 23 year old Mexicano from a doorway, gored him in the abdomen, slammed him to the ground and gored him in the leg. The bulls then continued towards Estafeta, but first charged a cluster of mozos, picking out a guy, goring him in the ass, and moving on. The bull continued down Estafeta, stopping and charging as mozos and pastores tried to guide him to the plaza. At one point the bull tossed without incident an older gentleman high in the air. In the callejon the toro plucked a mozo off the fence and gored him in the shin. The bull was finally lured into the ring, but not before leaving with a little bit of help from his brothers leaving 13 total injuried mozos, seven with gorings. It was the most violent run since the Jandillas from three years ago. In the Corrida later in the day, Jesulín de Ubrique (silencio y ovación tras aviso) Sebastián Castella (silencio tras aviso y ovacióntras aviso) Alejandro Talavante (silencio tras aviso y silencio) faced the Marqués de Domecq toros. Jesulín provided an emotional farewell performance and Castella lost awards for failing with the sword.

Having trouble with my vids. Here is another

So a couple of days ago I posted video of TVE interviewing a father and son who were enjoying the San Fermines. In the interview the father stated he was prepping his son to run when he was eighteen. Later that day the father decided to have his son run in front of the oxen who follow the main run to herd any staray bulls. It was all over the news in Spain. Well, the law says they gotta be eighteen to run, so Pamplona police are looking for the dad who is an regular runner and will levy a €150 fine ($206). Read the Article.
Multado un padre que corrió con su hijo de 10 años. Por: Agencia EFE ,Jueves, Julio 12, 2007. La Policía Municipal de Pamplona va a sancionar con 150 euros a un corredor habitual de los encierros de San Fermín, que en la carrera del martes sacó a su hijo para correr juntos en la cuesta de Santo Domingo ante los mansos de cola. Pese a que ambos corrieron ante los mansos de cola, no ante los toros, que ya se encontraban en la plaza en ese momento, incumplieron la normativa municipal que prohíbe a los menores de 18 años participar en el encierro, por lo que el padre, natural de Madrid y corredor habitual, va a ser sancionado. Así lo indicaron hoy a EFE fuentes municipales que precisaron que a partir de ahora se va a vigilar este tipo de actuaciones y “si se constata que esta conducta se extiende se aumentará la cuantía de la sanción”. El bando dictado por la alcaldesa de Pamplona, Yolanda Barcina, en el que se establecen las disposiciones para el buen desarrollo de las fiestas, cuenta con un apartado específico dedicado al encierro, en el que, entre otras cuestiones, se prohíbe la participación a menores de 18 años. En él se recuerda además que “el encierro de los toros es un acto peligroso y, por ello, las medidas de seguridad que lo regulan han de ser cumplidas con la mayor voluntad y exigidas con la mayor firmeza”. Asimismo, se establece la prohibición de situarse en zonas del itinerario que prohíba la policía, esperar la llegada de los toros en portales o ángulos muertos, tener abiertas las puertas de los edificios dentro del recorrido, y permanecer dentro de éste en estado de embriaguez, bajo los efectos de las drogas o de cualquier forma impropia. Entre las prohibiciones figuran también citar a las reses, correr hacia o detrás de ellas, pararse en el itinerario, o sacar fotografías desde el recorrido, así como llevar vestuario o calzado inadecuado, arrojar objetos en el trayecto o portar objetos inconvenientes. English.

In 1995, American Matthew Peter Tassio was backpacking through Spain when he decided to go run the bulls in Pamplona. Tassio ran the bulls, but as is the case of the tens of thousands who show up each year in Pamplona, he had never done it before. Tassio got in the middle of the run and found himself in front of on rushing bull at th e Plaza del Ayuntamiento just past Calle Santo Domingo. As Tassio ran away from the herd of on rushing bulls, he broke the number one rule. If you fall, do not get up. Tassio rose from falling at the presise time a toro put a horn through his chest. Tassio died and what ensued was a backlash of negative press and a re-emphasis of the number one rule. In today’s run, a mozo tripped and stood up in front of the on rushing group of unusual tight herded Jandilla bulls. He never saw the bulls coming, or grossly under estimated their speed. Needless to say the mozo was blind sided. It was chillingly reminiscent of Tassio’s fatal goring. Homeboy lucked out though. He was not one of the two Mozos who were gored in the encierros. In the day’s Corrida Francisco Marco (oreja y saludos tras aviso), Manuel Jesús ‘El Cid’ (oreja y dos orejas) and Salvador Cortés, (ovación con saludos y oreja tras aviso) faced the Jandilla bulls from the mornings run. The judge continued to pass out ears generously, El Cid benefiting more than his counter parts. It is El Cid’s first triumph in Pamplona in four tries. Interestingly, the Jabonero from Jandilla who literally and deliberately tried to stomp a mozo in the callejon after failing to gore him, caught a banderillero during the fight and had him at his mercy under his snout too.

Look closely for the guy who stands up and gets his bell rung.

The Toros from Cebada Gago ran through the streets of Pamplona with the quickest time so far this Feria. There was only one cornada which happened on Estafeta and turned out to be only a puntazo. The story of at least the telecast was the interview with a father and son. The Dad commented how he was showing his son the way to run the Encierro. The boy was only 10 years old but you could see the anxiousness of having to wait until he was 18 in order to run in the actual Encierro. Later in the day, on the news wires, the father ad son appeared in a series of photos practicing running with oxen to the delight of the crowd (pictured above). Kind of a Spanish version of tossing a baseball in the backyard. The corrida later in the afternoon featured Domingo López Chaves (silencio tras aviso en ambos), Juan Bautista (silencio y silencio) and Alejandro Talavante (oreja tras aviso y silencio) who made his debut in Pamplona as a Matador de Toros. Talavante drew the best animal and started his faena en los medios, four Estatuarios and ended up cutting a well deserved ear.

Video of Tuesday’s Encierro below…

The Encierro Monday morning with the Fuente Ymbro bulls was quick and clean. As week days are usually not as crowded for the encierros, there were less people to run over, and the animals for the most part stayed together during the run. The only incident of note was the Jabonero from the Fuente Ymbro stumbled at the Curva de Mercaderes and into the plywood wall. Three other bulls piled onto him, while a mozo tripped up besides the bovine pile and literally lost his shorts and mooned all of Spain and the world watching. During the days Corrida, Antonio Ferrera (silencio y ovación tras aviso), Matías Tejela (silencio en ambos) y Salvador Cortés (dos orejas y oreja tras aviso) face the Fuente Ymbro herd. Cortés cut three ears on two emotional faenas where the judge was very generous in his awards. The story of the day was Antonio Ferrera’s appearance after being gored through the chest two weeks ago in Badajoz. Ferrera’s life was spared when the horn hit his rib, and diverted the trajectory past his heart within 1/2 an inch. Yet, after the tremendous goring Ferrera killed his two bulls, although cautiously. Ferrera said fighting in Pamplona was the best therapy he could have. Tomorrow is day four with the dangerous Cebada Gago.

Look closely as the toros collide into the plywood wall…

Day two proved to more dangerous and full of moments of terror and desperation. As the bulls from Miura exited the corral, they looked a lot faster than the Dolores Aguirre bull from day one. The first notable accident was at the Curva de Mercaderes onto Estafeta. Known for its danger not only with the dewey cobble stone streets, the sharpness of the curve inevitably sends the bulls into the temporarily plywood wall. Today two Mozos were pinned in between the horns has he nailed them into the wall. The second and more eventful moment was just past the Curva de Telefónica on the Callejon descending into the Plaza, two bulls collided into themselves and a group of mozos. One rose and continued down the Callejon but the other turned back and headed into the on rushing mass. What followed was what seemed like hours of gorings, tossings, near misses and confusion. The bull finally made his way into the ring but after leaving a path of destruction, including a fence! In the days Corrida Luis Miguel Encabo (silencio tras aviso y silencio), Rafael Rubio Rafaelillo (ovación tras aviso en ambos) and Fernando Robleño (silencio en ambos) with Rafaelillo turning in the best performance of the afternoon but losing awards because of his sword work.

Check out the action below…

Too much drunks and too much litter delayed the start of the first Running of the Bulls in Pamplona’s Feria de San Fermin 2007. On this 7/7/7 commemorative celebration, the police and organizers were forced to start late, but after eight anxious minutes the fire cracker was lit and the gates swung open. Besides the tardy beginning, the run was basically uneventful. The bulls from Dolores Aguirre did separate but managed to run the course and only gore two mozos (runners), an Australian in the leg and a Spanish mozo in the butt. Most of the days injuries were from falls and stomping from the huge, drunk crowd. In the days Corrida, Uceda Leal (ovación y silencio), Iván Vicente (silencio tras aviso y ovación) y Serafín Marín (silencio tras aviso y silencio) fought the Dolores Aguirre bulls with no great happenings. Serafin Marín did barely escape a serious goring while evading the bull behind the burladero. Tommorow, 7/8/7, the dreaded and often overrated Miuras run.

I stumbled across this bunch of great wine stories from the Napa Valley Register:
Disney’s in the wine biz. Friday, July 06, 2007. “Ratatouille,” a Disney film about Remy, a rat that creates fabulous food in a Paris restaurant, is one of the most hyped films to open this summer. The hype will be helped even further with the introduction of a “Ratatouille” wine at Costco stores starting in early August. Naturally, it’s a French wine, a white Burgundy that will retail for $13. It’s not the first wine connected to Disney — Silverado Vineyards in Napa Valley is owned by Diane Miller, Walt Disney’s daughter, and her husband Ron. (If Remy wants to change his profession from food to wine, he’d be the perfect cellar rat.)
Wines survive Katrina. A couple weeks ago we wrote about some folks in France who put wine under water for a year to see how it would age. It did and they claimed it actually was better than the same wine stored the traditional way on land. Reader Ron Schneider of Napa wrote to tell us he had a similar experience, but his was accidental and the result of a tragic occurrence. He and his wife were living in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina struck and their home was under seven feet of water. His wine collection was on the first floor. When they returned, they found the place a shambles, but no wine bottles were broken and they were cool to the touch, he said. “They were, however, disgustingly filthy from the residue left from the drainage canal a block from the house.” He rinsed each bottle, washed it and rinsed it again. Ron said the wines survived, and some old ones tasted just as good as they did when he had them before. Many labels were soaked off and couldn’t be identified until the capsule was removed and he could see the cork. (He concluded his e-mail: “Apparently cold wet storage can be a good thing, but I wouldn’t recommend it.)
The iPhone and wine. No one really knows the full potential of the iPhone, but Dan Dawson of Back Room Wines in downtown Napa says it has a wine tasting capability. He wrote that apparently a person can answer a series of questions about wine preferences, and then if you’re shopping for wine, you type in a particular wine you see, and the iPhone will tell you if you will like it and if you should buy it. “In fact, you don’t even have to drink it anymore … your iPhone will tell you what it tastes like, how much you liked it, what you had to eat with it and with whom you dined,” he wrote. “Finally, it will generate your rating on a 100-point scale. With the iPhone, who needs to drink any more?” (It’s hard to drink wine when your tongue is in your cheek.)
Red card means you’re 86’d. People who visit Finger Lakes, N.Y., tasting rooms may be carded, even if they look far older than the legal drinking age. Vintners there are using red and yellow cards, just like those used for soccer violations, to keep unruly customers under control. Problems occur when groups who take wine tours drink too much. Wetmtv.com in upstate New York reports that if visitors act inappropriately, they can be given a yellow card, which is a warning. If the behavior persists, a red card is issued, which denies access to wineries remaining on the tour. (And, like a soccer ball, you can get kicked out.)
More celebrity wine. Wayne Gretzky, one of hockey’s greatest players, is lending his name to a line of wines made in Ontario, Canada, which will carry the number 99, which Gretzky wore throughout his career and which has been retired by the National Hockey League. The initial wines will be a meritage, a chardonnay and an ice wine. At present the wines are made at Creekside Estate Winery, but a Gretzky winery is planned for 2009. Lorraine Bracco, who played Dr. Melfi on “The Sopranos,” also has her name on wine bottles. She doesn’t have anything to do with making it but she does choose the wines — eight of them, ranging from Bracco pinot grigio to Bracco barolo and Bracco Chianti classico reserva. (Buy it, or she’ll sic Tony on you.)
Quote of the week. “Wine to me is passion. It’s family and friends. It’s warmth of heart and generosity of spirit. Wine is art. It’s culture. It’s the essence of civilization and the art of living.” — Robert Mondavi

This is some real Liberal shit, and I like it. On the same day his son was again arrested for drug possession, Al Gore posted on YouTube a new angled campaign on the Global Warming crisis. Gore is asking for all the world citizens to join the Party on 07/07/07, watch some concerts, take a pledge and make a difference. I dig this stuff. I just hope they aren’t affiliated with PETA. Read an expert from Avaaz.org website. On 7/7/07, two billion people will see the Live Earth concerts–and hear a call to action to end the climate crisis. It is the first moment in history that so much of humankind has focused, together, on how to confront this threat. To succeed, this moment must become an unstoppable global movement. The first step is for millions of people worldwide to take the Live Earth Pledge–a commitment to stop climate change by acting in every part of our lives, from our own homes to our political systems. If enough of us pledge action, we will have the numbers we need to reverse the climate crisis and preserve the planet for future generations. Visit Avaaz.org.

It less than 12 hours for the gates to swing open. The Feria de San Fermin in Pamplona will run the bulls once again. For seven straight days DBB will bring you all the action and commentary. I’ve got my Pamplona Countdown Widget on my desktop and the TiVo is set to tape TVE, so tune into DBB for all the action. Remember the chant too, “A San Fermín pedimos, por ser nuestro patrón, nos guíe en el encierro dándonos su bendición. A San Fermín pedimos, por ser nuestro patrón, nos guíe en el encierro dándonos su bendición. Viva San Fermin, Gora San Fermin”

Manipulating elections, waging war for unjust causes, unconstitutional practices, bipartisan witch hunting and now commutation of a prison sentence handed down by a Federal Judge. A Third World Dictator? A rouge African President? A Middle East religious wack job? Answer: All of the above! Meet George W. Bush, your American President. In what is a slap in the face to all who are judged in this country, all who believe in the Justice System, all the guilty and innocent who serve their sentences, Bush stepped in on Monday July 2nd 2007 and commuted the 30-month prison term of the vice president’s former chief of staff, Lewis “Scooter” Libby. Libby received four felony convictions for lying to federal investigators about his role in a White House leak of a covert CIA officer’s identity. And to add to the gull of this SOB, Bush has stated he is not ruling out the full Pardon of Libby at a future date. So there you have it. With the same disregard of Law as the Los Angeles County Sherif who let Paris Hilton out of jail, George W. Bush continues to conduct himself with the self-immunity and disregard for Federal and International Laws as his silenced nemesis, Saddam Hussein. Read More.

Mexican Matador de Toros Alfredo Gutierrez in Tlaquepaque, Jalisco Mexico on 6/30/07. This is what great Taurine paintings are made of. Olé. Fotos de Fernando Barrera para Burladerodos.

In what has to be the biggest duh of the Bush Administration, George W. summoned scholars to the Oval Office to ask “Why does the rest of the world seem to hate America? Or is it just me they hate?” Pinche Güey. Contributed by DBB’s National Affairs Correspondent.
The Imperiled Presidency Inside the Bunker. A President Besieged and Isolated, Yet at Ease. Bush, Grasping for Answers and Fixated on Iraq, Remains Resolute. By Peter Baker, Washington Post Staff Writer.
At the nadir of his presidency, George W. Bush is looking for answers. One at a time or in small groups, he summons leading authors, historians, philosophers and theologians to the White House to join him in the search. Over sodas and sparkling water, he asks his questions: What is the nature of good and evil in the post-Sept. 11 world? What lessons does history have for a president facing the turmoil I’m facing? How will history judge what we’ve done? Why does the rest of the world seem to hate America? Or is it just me they hate?These are the questions of a president who has endured the most drastic political collapse in a generation. Not generally known for intellectual curiosity, Bush is seeking out those who are, engaging in a philosophical exploration of the currents of history that have swept up his administration. For all the setbacks, he remains unflinching, rarely expressing doubt in his direction, yet trying to understand how he got off course. Read More.