It's too dam' hot!
How hot is too hot?
The dam' dog days of summer are upon us, and this scorching, unrelenting heat tests the tastebuds of red wine lovers. I like my red wines to warm my belly -- with flavor, both subtle and big. Hence, I favor Zins and Petite Syrahs and elegant blends, like the 2002 Omaggio we scored at Seghesio Vineyards in Healdsburg. That's in Sonoma County, above San Francisco, and it was one of our favorite wineries on our late June vacation. We had a great time with friends who've just bought a Victorian rowhouse on the Castro - you know, one of those classic turn-of-the-century houses used in movies as an INSTANT symbol of San Francisco? That and the swarms o' gay men -- more than usual, as we unwittingly planned our summer sojourn in California to coincide with Gay Pride. Unless you've been to New York, you don't know from Pride until you've seen hundreds of thousands of wildly-clad gays bumpin' like ants spilling from an anthill. . . the hill being the Castro. It's quite a hill: Climbing back to the rowhouse from our morning walk to fetch coffee from Spike's was a calfburner.
But back to the Omaggio (which means "homage," I think). That's a Super Tuscan (a Sangiovese and Cabernet blend, in this case) first made by Seghesio back in '95 to honor the 100th anniversary of the winery. A century of great Zins, and the Seghesio family has only had three winemakers in all that time. We had a splendid premium tasting there, trying just about everything but the ubiquitious "bluecap" Zin that made us fans of Seghesio in the first place. The bluecap, around $20 at retail outlets, is a fine fine Zin, esp. the 2002 and 2003, but it's so popular they had none left at the winery. The Omaggio, at $40, was Andie's choice for our first anniversary wine. She also fell for, and purchased, an Arneis, an Italian white, mineral and clean, perfect for summer, and a nice surprise for both of us, as she has not previously warmed to whites.
Warmed to whites. Heh. It's the reds that are generally served too warm in restaurants, room temperature these days being quite different from former centuries. I still have to overcome snotty server attitude, or at least a dubious look, when I courteously request a chiller to take a red wine down to 64 degrees, anyway. Even places with good wine lists often serve the reds at least ten degrees too warm. Dulls the taste. Like this Kansas City heat dulls everything: appetite, energy, motivation. . . I ask again, as I always do about this time of year, Why do we live in Kansas City?
Used to be we could answer, "cost of living." Our property taxes skyrocketed this year, we longtime supporters of fringe neighborhoods getting socked with the bill for the city choosing to waive taxes on new developers and the yupsters who can afford to buy the condos multiplying in Midtown and downtown. But hey, even though San Fran has Wine Country, it also has housing prices that truly beggar belief. Our friends pay 60 percent of their combined salaries on an interest-only loan for what is actually HALF of a rowhouse. The location is killer, but with a mortgage like that, they can't afford much wine. And yet, and yet: It's ALWAYS wine-sipping weather in San Francisco, with the locals having the temerity to COMPLAIN about cool summer days that require sweatshirts and jeans. We loved it.
The dam' dog days of summer are upon us, and this scorching, unrelenting heat tests the tastebuds of red wine lovers. I like my red wines to warm my belly -- with flavor, both subtle and big. Hence, I favor Zins and Petite Syrahs and elegant blends, like the 2002 Omaggio we scored at Seghesio Vineyards in Healdsburg. That's in Sonoma County, above San Francisco, and it was one of our favorite wineries on our late June vacation. We had a great time with friends who've just bought a Victorian rowhouse on the Castro - you know, one of those classic turn-of-the-century houses used in movies as an INSTANT symbol of San Francisco? That and the swarms o' gay men -- more than usual, as we unwittingly planned our summer sojourn in California to coincide with Gay Pride. Unless you've been to New York, you don't know from Pride until you've seen hundreds of thousands of wildly-clad gays bumpin' like ants spilling from an anthill. . . the hill being the Castro. It's quite a hill: Climbing back to the rowhouse from our morning walk to fetch coffee from Spike's was a calfburner.
But back to the Omaggio (which means "homage," I think). That's a Super Tuscan (a Sangiovese and Cabernet blend, in this case) first made by Seghesio back in '95 to honor the 100th anniversary of the winery. A century of great Zins, and the Seghesio family has only had three winemakers in all that time. We had a splendid premium tasting there, trying just about everything but the ubiquitious "bluecap" Zin that made us fans of Seghesio in the first place. The bluecap, around $20 at retail outlets, is a fine fine Zin, esp. the 2002 and 2003, but it's so popular they had none left at the winery. The Omaggio, at $40, was Andie's choice for our first anniversary wine. She also fell for, and purchased, an Arneis, an Italian white, mineral and clean, perfect for summer, and a nice surprise for both of us, as she has not previously warmed to whites.
Warmed to whites. Heh. It's the reds that are generally served too warm in restaurants, room temperature these days being quite different from former centuries. I still have to overcome snotty server attitude, or at least a dubious look, when I courteously request a chiller to take a red wine down to 64 degrees, anyway. Even places with good wine lists often serve the reds at least ten degrees too warm. Dulls the taste. Like this Kansas City heat dulls everything: appetite, energy, motivation. . . I ask again, as I always do about this time of year, Why do we live in Kansas City?
Used to be we could answer, "cost of living." Our property taxes skyrocketed this year, we longtime supporters of fringe neighborhoods getting socked with the bill for the city choosing to waive taxes on new developers and the yupsters who can afford to buy the condos multiplying in Midtown and downtown. But hey, even though San Fran has Wine Country, it also has housing prices that truly beggar belief. Our friends pay 60 percent of their combined salaries on an interest-only loan for what is actually HALF of a rowhouse. The location is killer, but with a mortgage like that, they can't afford much wine. And yet, and yet: It's ALWAYS wine-sipping weather in San Francisco, with the locals having the temerity to COMPLAIN about cool summer days that require sweatshirts and jeans. We loved it.
posted by Winetaster | 1:25 PM
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