Lots of Love for Lot 35

Two weekends ago at Costco, I came across a food demonstration person not offering the usual cheese tortellini, bratwurst or lunch in a cup tuna salad kits but rather wine. Not just any wine it turns out but a specially produced wine from Cameron Hughes. These wines explained the knowledgeable Costco semi-sommelier were produced from excess grapes from various noteable vineyards in Napa and Sonoma Valleys. The Lot 35 Cabernet Sauvignon was the wine being demoed on this day though the Costco Vinophile did say they had several other varietals from multiple vineyards throughout the region. Also, she mentioned that the wine had recently been reviewed and awarded a 90 point rating from Wine Spectator (or was it Wine Enthusiast?)...didn't matter because at the $9.99 price point and the described heritage, I was already sold.

Well tonight I am trying the Cameron Hughes Lot 35 and can say it goes quite well with garlic meatloaf and angel-hair pasta. The nose is subtle but of fruit and a hint of oak. On the initial taste I got a pleasant but strong grape juice and hints of raspberry and more oak. The tannins are evident but controlled and the wine is fairly concentrated. As the wine sat through dinner it seemed to improve from the initial taste right out of my wine cooler. With the evident concentration of juice, this age should age nicely and mellow. The Costco salesperson suggested best aged 5 - 10 years and I believe it.

I would definitetely pick up the CH Lot 35 again or try another Cameron Hughes wine from Costco in the the future. You might want to do the same for your next big or small dinner.

Vinometer Rating







4 out of 5 corks

Rise and Fall of Mondavi

There have been several interesting articles and now a new book based on the Mondavi Family, the winery and the amazing rise and somewhat sad fall post sale to Constellation Brands who also own Corona Beer and Black Velvet Canadian Whiskey.

The family though sounds to be in better shape than ever and are starting up several new boutique wine brands including Folio a well regarded brand being put out by Robert Mondavi's son Michael. There are also talks of once estranged brothers Peter and Robert producing a single barrel Cabernet Sauvignon to be sold at auction for, based on the long and rocky history of Peter and Robert, should fetch a very nice price.

I plan on reading the book as well to learn more of this interesting family and business saga.

Money Article

Copia in Napa

We visited Copia in Napa a couple of weeks ago and it was a pleasant 'edutainment' museum type experience. The price was right at only $5 per person and they offered a wine tasting from Wattle Creek Winery (pretty decent Shiraz) and a food and beverage sample (a goat cheese dip w/ a small cup of strawberry lemonade)...I went back for seconds on the lemonade. We took the 30 minute volunteer docent led tour of the facility with a knowledgeable and entertaining docent (many famous and not so famous wine quotations were offered during or short tour).There were two exhibit halls with both permanent and rotating exhibits on the history of food and beverage and some good displays on what people eat and food memories told in small dining room type rooms with good audio-visual effects. One of the highlights was a photographic exhibit on what families eat around the world in a week. The differences and similarities were startling and we interesting to see how much prepared food the typical(?) United States family consumes in a week.



The 'Edible Gardens' were nice and offered some good examples with samples of some berries and fruits that pair well and taste similar to different varietals of wine. We spent about 30 minutes cruising the gardens and looking at the different plants and trying some of the fruits/herbs. For lunch we had made reservations at Julia's Kitchen, the only restaurant endorsed by the Julia Child Estate and the food lived up to the name and reputation. The highlight was the basket of breads and muffins that were still warm and very good. Overall the food was above average but the service was somewhat lacking. We ordered a couple of glasses of wine and they arrived after the food and we needed to remind the waiter to bring them. I would recommend Julia's Kitchen for the food and hopefully the service was an isolated case. Overall it was a nice 3 hours spent at Copia and I recommend it to others wanting a museum like food and wine experience.



Copia: http://www.copia.org/

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Performancing (ScribeFire)...a very useful Firefox Extension??

I just loaded performancing for Firefox and I hope I will be able to post Wine and Travel related articles more frequently...this is my first attempt, fingers crossed...



Hey, it worked and is a pretty slick interface too...Check back for new posts soon.

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