Can Dubya fuck it up anymore? I wanna buy a new car, I can’t. My wife and I are thinking of moving to a newer house, we can’t. My wife’s cousin was killed in Iraq. My President wants to help his Good O’l Boys Corporate buddies while I peek out my window and see foreclosed properties all down my street. To top it off, a wrinkled old man I use to be a fan of because he had a “fuck off” attitude, picks Tina Fey as his running mate because she has a vagina and lives across the street from Russia! I’m pissed. George Bush has fucked up this country, and now the world will suffer in there pocket books as we have. One question: George senior, was it worth stealing the election in 2000? Are you proud of your son? As a reminder for the time we have left with this fucked up ex-cheerleader cokehead, I offer my BushBeGone Countdown Widget.

I truly believe the unpredictability (“maverick” if you will) tendencies of John McCain are surfacing. First he has the balls to bail on Dave and head to D.C. because the U.S. Economic Crisis needed his attention and therefore he was “suspending the campaign”. As if. Isn’t having the ability to multi task US and World affairs a requirement for the office of U.S. President? So the McCain roadshow shows up in Washington and causes havoc amongst House Republicans. Can you say “implosion”. Gotta love it!

Two different films. Two different stories. Two different grapes. What the new film, Bottle Shock boiled down to was a weak movie reminiscent of a fast paced made for television movie about a hugely important event in California Wine History. Plus how can you really fall for a film which actually celebrates the buttery taste of a Chardonnay. I enjoy an earthy Pinot Noir much better. Malolactic Fermentation in Chardonnay drives me nuts. Eva agrees with me on the corniness of the film as we both left the theater thinking “it wasn’t even close to being in the same class as Sideways”. I did however enjoy Alan Rickman’s “wine snob” Englishman role. Recommendation: See it for yourself, you might like it. Have a glass or two before you do. Advice, try not to fixate on Bo’s fake wig. I couldn’t get past it.

Phantom 2005: Bogle Vineyards. I picked this up at Wine Loft in Carlsbad ($19.95). This stuff always sells out at Wine Bank (San Diego). Not as good as couple of vintages ago but still a fav. My regret is my taste buds are shot because I have a cold. My wife says its as good as expected. A blend of Californian Petite Sryah, Old Vine Zinfandel and Old Vine Mourvèdre.

Comments from the field: Joylene, “I like the smell”

José Tomás cut an ear from his first bull of the afternoon.
Tomás’ and Idílico from Nuñez de Cuvillo faced each other on the historic afternoon in the Monumental de Barcelona where 2 years ago bullfighting was supposed not popular, being protested and dying.
The maestro once again proved his dominance in the 2008 Spanish temporada.
Idílico returned to the corales still wanting to fight his opponent and having earned his life.
In the end, the aficion of Barcelona, José Tomás and Idílico proved bullfighting is alive and healthy in Cataluña. Check out the video of Idílico historic indulto. Don’t miss some lady yelling “musica” and the “Shhhhhhh” which follows.

There is an on going debate at work what the difference is between cupcakes and muffins. Frosting versus nuts. Muffin tops versus paper cups. Flour versus premix. Either way, the above cupcakes have to be the coolest cupcakes ever!

On Sunday August 31st, we harvested 125 lbs. of Grenache wine grapes. Once again and with anticipated adolescent resistance, the family pitched in and picked, destemmed, berry sorted and crushed the 2008 Picina Vineyard harvest. After initial crushing and one week fermentation, the harvest yielded about ten gallons of wine. I removed the skins after one week of fermentation and color extraction. It looks like we might get a little more than 9 gallons of finished wine at about 12% alcohol. After bottling we should end up with four cases of Hacienda Valdez 2008 Picina Vineyard Grenache. The wine turned out a little lighter than planned, but not as light as a Rosé. Grenache is considered a pinker than normal grape, and not editing down clusters might have contributed to the light color. After bottling the 2008 should be ready for consumption in about 10 months. Its been a great learning and fulfilling experience. Its just been a long time coming. I first planted our first vineyard in 2003, but we suffered through 3 bad years of Powdery mildew. I will more than likely graft Mission or Tempranillo onto those Cabernet Sauvignon vines next year. I actually tried to graft Grenache this spring, but it did not take. Needless to say, it takes a great amount of patience to plant, grow, maintain a vineyard and to eventually make a wine. But, as everyone who knows me knows I’m a very patient man,… NOT!

I use to live in Tucson, Arizona. I remember reading about and admiring John McCain’s reformer agenda despite him being a Republican. Although his politics were from the right, he definitely was not a Bible thumping whack job. So I thought. Well after a couple of unsuccessful campaigns to be President of the United States, the political whore which John McCain would become and is now on the Republican ticket is best illustrated in the report below. Enjoy.

She’s a better aim though.

We visited California Gold Country wineries and were quite surprised by the quality of wine being produced in the Northern California region. We stayed in Sutter Creek which is just south of Plymouth and many of the top wineries in the whole Sierra Foothills region. The region is dominated by Old Vine Zinfandel and Sangiovese. It was actually quite a surprise to see the amount of Rhone varieties being produces in Amador County such as Viognier, Roussanne, Mourvedre, Syrah and Grenache. This is in addition to the top notch Sangiovese being produced at Spinetta, Vino Noceto, and Amador Cellars. The best winery of the visit was by far Vino Noceto with the biggest surprise in being Nine Gables and its Mission grape wines. Best Zin winery, Renwood. Biggest disappointment was Montevina. Not the same since the Trinchero Family bought them out. The worst winery, Bella Piazza. Overdone wines attempted in the big Italian style, but just plain bad. Overall, the Zin region wide was pretty tame. We were never overpowered by any jammy Zins. Jammy is good but we found the best Zins we did taste were medium bodied.

I stumbled across this video of Julian Lopez “El Juli” and his repertoire of lances. It left me speechless.