winewaves

Where's Winewaves? Gone West.

My August story appears to be my deliberate attempt to escape the oppressive 100-degree heat in my home town of Nashville, or to keep moving to avoid thinking too much about having lost our little Opal (see my last post).

Before telling where I've been, this is a good time to thank those who left sympathetic comments about the loss of our dear companion cat. My sympathies are returned to you for your losses.

At the same time I'd like to scold those who are leaving spam comments. I'll just have to keep deleting them I suppose, in the interest of keeping this forum open to legitimate comments.

I've also noticed many people are still looking for Bitch Barossa Grenache. Unfortunately I cannot help because Winewaves is neither a wine producer or a retailer. Please retailers: If you have some Bitch, let the readers know.

Since Sturgis I've been to Boise in Idaho, Sacramento, Napa, Sonoma (see Kenwood grapes just above), Amador (the top picture is Montevina under an August moon) and El Dorado in California, to Edmonton and Calgary in Canada. I've tasted wines from all these places and unearthed some finds back home as well. I will share these value packed finds soon, but meantime here are three pictures from my trips.

My escape act worked! It's clear blue and actually cool enough for a jacket outside tonight in Canada.

The town of Placerville, home of Boeger Vineyards (pictured above) used to be known as Hangtown. It's just up the road from Nashville, California, not to mention Cool, California.

Biker Zin and The Road to Sturgis

My guess is a lot of bloggers have experienced what I'm going through. I find myself covered up in more lucrative work and the time left over for updating my blog suffers badly. Especially this summer, Winewaves has taken a back seat.

Take this week: I'm in the Sturgis, South Dakota area working for one of my "clients", a family company started by my brother and cousin, Diamond Gusset Jeans. G. Gordon Liddy interviewed me about our motorcycle jean called the Defender, which has Kevlar reinforcement to protect you in case that day comes when (heaven forbid) you hit the pavement. The Sturgis Rally is a spectacle for those not acquainted with it. There are hundreds of thousands of mostly Harley riders commencing on western South Dakota, with the little town of Sturgis being ground zero.

Shameless Promotion: Diamond Gusset Jeans are 100% American made, unlike just about any other jeans out there today, and they have a diamond shaped gusset sewn into the crotch for comfort and freedom of movement. I really like my pair of DG Carpenter jeans.

To get to Sturgis, I flew into Denver and drove up. I spent the night in Torrington Wyoming and discovered the Chicken Hut, which is a refreshing alternative to the national fried chicken chain restaurants. They purport to offer southern fried chicken, but I detected a hint of cumin which I've not come across down south. Still, the Chicken Hut makes truly outstanding fried chicken and it's worth going out of the way for. The crust isn't overly thick or greasy, and the meat is moist, tender and nicely seasoned. Even the typical side dishes: fries, cole slaw and a biscuit were tasty.

There is some wine involved on this trip, too. I brought a bottle of Four Vines Biker Zin 2005 with me. It hails from Paso Robles. I like the 2004 that I picked in Denver on the way to last year's Sturgis Rally, and I like the 2005 at least as much. I drank it in my hotel room with a really good carry-out bacon cheeseburger from the All Star restaurant in Hot Springs, South Dakota.

Very nice value ($23). Closure: Real cork. Alcohol content: 15%.

Style: Boldly fruit forward, unabashedly lush, with moderate oak spice and polished tannins.

Photo is from 2004 vintage, but the '05 looks the same.

Comment: To heck with the terroir-ists who say they want to do away with all high alcohol fruit bombs. Sturgis is all about freedom of expression and this wine expresses freely.

The other event that has put a damper on my blogging this summer was the passing of Opal, our feline companion who ruled the house for 18 years. She passed July 31st at 1:11 PM with my ear pressed against her chest the moment her heart stopped. She showed up on our door step back in 1989 and I can't believe she left us. Opal is sadly missed.