Cow Bombie

Cabernet Merlot 2008

What a classic piece of Margies wine marketing. Any local will have an insiders chuckle at the name, Cow Bombie being one of the biggest breaks off the Margaret River coast line. The wines are a bit more approachable than the juggernaughts rolling off the deep sea reef, smooth easy drinking reds and atypical clean balanced Margaret River whites. Great Lable! Unlike some of their competition the current release reds achieve their ‘drink now’ status without any greeness or rough tannins. A problem encountered far too often in the New World is  young wines being released prematurely and being marketed to drink as soon as they hit the shelves. Cow Bombie is one of the rare gems under $15 that is young but still has primary fruits and integrated tannins.

The Cab Merlot has the leafy eucalypt nose of margies cab with mixed forrest berries down the middle of the pallet. A slight cigar box  nose hinting at just a touch of oak.

The aroma is one aspect lacking in this wine, no pronounced primary fruit to speak of. However it must be kept in mind that this wine definately achieves its purpose of being a social wine.

Its designed to be drunk after release with friends and enjoyed in good company………. or maybe for dutch courage before paddling out into the watery monster its named after.

This wine will go well with tomato based sauces or a even bette,r a Napoletana pizza down at Sea Gardens (the local pizzeria overlooking the ocean, beautiful spot). Priced at $15.00 a bottle you can’t look past it for value. Found at most independents and also Dan Murphies. Appearence: 3/3 Aroma: 5/7 Palate: 7.5/10 Total: 15.5/20

10 dias de Ubuntu 10.10

A escasos dias de haber salido la beta de Karmic Koala, un usuario, Tanner Helland, ha hecho una serie de posts (10) donde presenta 10 caracteristicas que (a el) y muchos mas, les gustaria que se incluyeran en la version 10.10. Quizas sea algo temprano para ello, pero los puntos que expone son ciertos, aqui un mini resumen:

1.-Una mejor experiencia al agregar y remover programas:
Tanner habla de 4 puntos sobre este tema: Cambiar el nombre de la software store (ya hecho), un manejo aun mas sencillo de los paquetes, busqueda simple de aplicaciones (por ejemplo al buscar excel arroje resultados como OO.o Calc, Gnumeric o Kspread) y un listado standard que tenga reseñas, capturas de pantalla, tamaño del archivo y asdf.

2.- Un reproductor de musica que no apeste
Esto ya es desde hace varias versiones. Rhythmbox no es precisamente muy popular, y casi siempre es cambiado por otros como Exaile, Banshee, Amarok o Songbird. Es este ultimo, que es puesto como el posible candidato como reproductor por default para la version 10.10, aunque le faltan caracteristicas como ripear Cds, pero que el autor espera que ya esten, antes de la release.

3.- Mejorar la estetica
La primera impresion cuenta dicen, y esto es lo que se refiere, se necesita un cambio en la interfaz y no, no se refiere al fondo de pantalla, sino como efectos de escritorio configurados a tu hardware (KDE lo hace), y que los efectos ya configurados se han de utilidad. Y aqui toca un trollpunto muy importante:

Idiota, de eso se trata el codigo abierto-puedes configurarlo como quieras

Si es cierto que se puede cambiar, y poner a punto, pero por que no se provee un tema que se vea bien.

4.- Mejor integracion con Wine
Una propuesta que se considero en Karmic, ofrecer a los usuarios que vienen de otro sistema una experiencia mas fluida al utilizar Wine.

5.- Un editor de video solido
Aqui se aborda la situacion sobre los editores de video donde se cita, “Linux ofrece muchas posibilidades, pero no se sienten completas”, y se ven 5 editores de video que pueden llegar a desmentir ello (Yo me quedo con Kdenlive)

6.- Herramienta de respaldo sencilla e integrada
¿Y donde esta la Time Machine de Linux?, ademas de poder hacer backups en linea con servicios como UbuntuOne o Dropbox.

7.- Fraternidad
Si, parece que a muchos les gusta odiar a Ubuntu, porque, no se la razon. Aqui se mencionan 3 puntos: Mujeres en FOSS (por algunos comentarios ofensivos hechos por Mark Shuttleworth), Usuarios Debian (si hay unos cuantos que no toleran Ubuntu), y usuarios de otras distros <–I didnt start the flame war

8.-Mejor experiencia en video en linea
No podria estar mas de acuerdo. Quizas para cuando la version 10.10 llegue podramos tener un disfrute real del tag video por HTML5 sin necesidad de flash, que le ha causado dolor de cabeza a mas de uno.

9.- Marketing
Ermm…Creo que lo dice todo

10.- Detalles, detalles, detalles
Quien dice que 100 paper cuts no funciono, esas pequeñas molestias en la interfaz de usuario, algunas han sido corregidas. Aunque parezcan insignificante esos detalles son los que la gente aprecia a la hora de usar un SO.

Que opinan?

Articulo Original: 10 days of Ubuntu 10.10 features requests

{all drinks} booze vacations

If you are looking for a great way to spend your next vacation, have loads of time and money to spare, have a great travel buddy, and love adventure/drinks, why not take a tour of the best wineries, distilleries and breweries around.
I found some valuable top 10 suggestions here ranging from Jalisco Mexico for Tequila, to Loretto Kentucky for Bourbon and Martinique West Indies for rum! Way to go.

Malbec on My Mind

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from Bin Ends Wine in order to participate in the Wines of Argentina Twitter Taste Live.

Now, I”ll be the first to admit that Malbec doesn’t usually float my boat.  I often find them to be overoaked, tannic beasts that just don’t seem balanced for me.  (And this coming from me, well known to appreciate BIG wines.)  We tried many Malbecs in the course of the Argentina Twitter Taste Lives and I found some that I really enjoyed! Including this one, the 2006 Trapiche Federico Villafane Malbec.  It had a real cork closure, clocked in at 14.5% alcohol by volume, and I see it available for about $40.

I would pay $40 for this.  I found it to be intensely concentrated with complex layers, well worth the price point in my opinion.  On the nose I got blueberry compote, berries in the hot sun right off the bush, pencil lead, spice, dusty tannins, cedar spice, cloves, and chocolate.  In the mouth I found blueberry, blackberry, black cherry, chocolate, spice, earth, smoke, and vanilla cream. Overall, the wine had a juicy quality but with plenty of structure to spare. Like dessert in a glass!

Life is just not Fair

A month or so after entering the Trade, and the largest annual event was coming to town, The London Wine Fair. Now for those of you that have never been…..it’s Massive!! Tables full of bottles for as far as you can see, with wine from all over the globe. Many from new winemakers, whom are desperate to find an importer into the UK market. For me, it was purely an exercise to experience new aromas and familiarise myself with all the different varieties. Obviously!!

I was accompanied to the event by a friend Ed Burnett, who was at the time an influential seller of Charles Taylor Wines. As a result I spent most of the morning hiding behind him like a little boy. However after visiting several of the Argentinian tables, dutch courage kicked in (I wasn’t really spitting for reasons I’ll explain in a later post).

I began to wonder off, like a bird fleeing the nest for the first time. Finally, I found an empty table and was engrossed in conversation for about fifteen minutes with a Portuguese winemaker. His wines were pretty good, and I was just so excited to be holding my own. The chat was flowing, and we were laughing at each others jokes whilst I complimenting his wines, he was complimenting me on my “shop assistant” role in my shop (it was written on my name badge). It was a kind of business flirting.

Ed suddenly appeared and before he had introduced himself, he had a half glass and the winemaker’s complete attention. And before I could say “Ed, back off! I saw him first!” The pair of them were swapping business cards. For a split second, I felt like the ugly friend. Then realisation hit, it’s all about who you are and who you know. I lacked on both!

Although I did manage to get one business card from a German winemaker, called Mr Kuntz….so I was happy.

On More WestSide Paso Wines

As stated in an earlier post, Paso Robles’ west side offers a bountiful list of tasting rooms to visit. When the Adelaide Inn offered us complimentary tour and tasting at Justin and knowing their reputation, I knew this was something we had to do. Since Justin was a 30-minute drive, we planned this day around this first stop. On the downside, some of the wineries we hoped to see we had to pass because of they were closed on this day.

Justin
Jim, our guide and taste leader, was outstanding. Given harvest and production was in progress, we tasted production-ready grapes and 4-day old juice, observed grape sorting, toured the wine cave, and received a clear explanation of the processes used to make Justin one of the finest wines anywhere. We bought here and will consider joining their wine club.

Halter Ranch
Jim (from Justin) recommended the stop. Halter Ranch sells 70% of its grapes, but makes fine wine from what it keeps. Growing 19 varietals allows them to produce both blends and single varietal wines. Very good, but we didn’t purchase.

Opolo
Since 3-4 sources recommended Opolo, it was a must stop – and it didn’t disappoint. I loved the tasting barn’s casual ambiance and their zinfandel had the taste I wanted. Buy!

My thoughts of zin grapes falling from the sky must be a dream.

Four Vines
We stopped at Four Vines because they are noted for their big zinfandels. Since they were out of the ones I wanted to try – plus we can get some Four Vines wine at home – we didn’t taste. Besides, they were in the midst of remodeling.

Peachy Canyon
As another noted zinfandel producer, I was looking for another zin that I couldn’t find at home – besides, we were running out of time. Tasting 5 zins and a petite syrah was such a pleasure, I called my friend Bill (at home) just to find out what he was doing at the time. Snow and Especial zins were outstanding! We bought here. By the way, their Incredible Red is a very-reasonably priced daily wine with a wide distribution.

Nut Groves & Oils
No, this is not a winery, but walnut, almond, and olive grooves are located throughout the region.

West Side Wineries to Visit Next Time

• Dover Canyon
• Minassian-Young
• JanKris
• PasoPort
• Jack Creek
• Booker
• Tablas Creek
• Thatcher

Other Posts about this Trip

• On a Paso Vacation
• On Paso Wines
• On Downtown Paso Wines
• On Paso East Side Wines
• On Rustling Paso WestSide Wines

Foggy Bridge - 2006 Bien Nacido Pinot Noir

So here it is after some anticipation, The 12 Days of Pinot Noir has arrived to welcome in October. Over the next 12 Days quite a few Pinots will be covered and recommended  here. But where to start? Back in July I was out at the Wine Blogger’s Conference and had the opportunity to taste a Chardonnay from an urban San Francisco Winery. That Chardonnay from Foggy Bridge made an impression and when I was rounding up wines to taste for possible inclusion in the 12 Days of Pinot Noir, I checked to see if they made a Pinot, and sure enough they do. So theirs will be the inaugural selection for this 12 Day Pinot Fest.

The 2006 Foggy Bridge Pinot Noir is made from fruit sourced at the well known Bien Nacido vineyard in Santa Maria Valley. This wine is 100% Santa Maria Valley fruit and all Pinot Noir. Oak aging was accomplished over 12 months in French (90%), and American (10%) oak. 426 cases of this selection were produced and the suggested retail price is $38.

Wild strawberries and bing cherry fill the nose of this wine along with touches of crème fraiche and vanilla bean. The palate which gently coats your taste buds is loaded with medium dark fruit; cherries dominate. These are joined by subtler mushroom and earth characteristics. Light chicory notes lead a lingering finish that also has cinnamon, chocolate and solid flourishes of sour cherry. Soft, supple tannins and good acidity round out this wine.

This Pinot Noir provides a ton of varietal character which is particularly important to note when there are a lot of examples out there that don’t. This wine is a classic case of a Pinot that will pair well with a wide array of food. Don’t hesitate to drink it on it’s own though as it’s delicious solo too.

If you want to read more about Foggy Bridge head over to my other site Drink Dry Creek where we recently wrote about their 2007 Zinfandel.

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