02.28.06
Posted in Travel, Wine Reviews
at 12:58 am
So as a gift I was given wine from Amazing Clubs, you may have heard about them and two bottles were delivered to me a few days ago and I finally got to try them. Also from the same company we were given chocolates that will come once a month for three months. While the gift is certainly appreciated greatly the wines and chocolate so far have disappointed. Last night I opened the Les Coteaux de Montfleury Syrah 2004 with great hopes of finding a worthy wine. The color was good though a bit light which made me suspicious for a syrah and the nose was somewhat light. The wine is astringent at best with a bit of fruit in the middle, some cherry that is trying to get out but not quite making it. The front of the mouth is fairly non existent and though there is something going on in the middle it stops fairly quickly and disappears. There is nothing really that pleasant about this wine though it is drinkable and is somewhat reminiscent of wines I tasted in the Loire valley in France on a tasting when I stayed there for a week. The wines were young and hard and there isn’t enough tannin to make this wine much better even if you wait.
Tonight I opened the second bottle, Azul Portugal 2001 Red Wine, that is the label and once again I was surprised at how similar in quality this was to the one from the night before. There was nothing to redeem this bottle, hard without enough tannin to grow this wine had possibly a bit more going for it though not enough to try and find its virtues.
The chocolate was a box of dark chocolate that was laced with some sort of brittle and as much as I love chocolate tonight I went for something completely as I was sipping my coffee. Basically for a club that hopes to have people order some of their product they have so far failed miserably and hopefully the next batch of wine and chocolate will not be a waste of a nice meal that had hoped to have some delicious wine accompany it.
I had my second lesson today with Dima, a guitar teacher from Russia and I just started with him to check out my technique which has been an eye opener. Its difficult to relearn how to play an instrument without using any tension after years of doing just the opposite. He is a lovely man with a gentle spirit and say, ‘you must never touch the strings with any tension” So now I sit for hours imaging how to play a note without the brute force I’ve learned to use in my playing. Its always interesting to go back to first steps and reexamine one’s life and patterns.
I went to Stan Strickland’s 60th birthday party a few nights ago and the evening was filled with music and friends of his from a long time ago. People played music and danced and ate and talked. It was great to be there and to share that evening with him and to see his kids who I haven’t seen since they were very small. I’m amazed at the cycles of life and how we are really all connected in some way.
Photos to come soon.
Its been very cold here for the past few days. In a few weeks we leave to go back to Nassau for two weeks and I’m looking forward to being there and working and then we go to Florida to do a few concerts with Voice of the Turtle and then to see Stephen Scott Young’s show.
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02.23.06
Posted in Travel, Wine Reviews
at 12:24 am
Well once again its been a few days not writing and meanwhile I’ve been sitting on a few wines to review, well in truth not sitting on them, I did drink them with great enjoyment.
First we are almost over being sick though Trish did get it worse than I and is having a longer time of being sick and getting better. We finally made it to a movie after not going to the theater for a few months and saw Brokeback Mountain which I loved and was a treat to see Ang Lee’s work again. We did finally get to see The Crime of Padre Amaro, a wonderful film that takes place in Mexico and was very controversial there and created some stir with the church. I tried to get it when we were there last but it was the wrong region and we couldn’t watch it on the dvd player we had.
These are a few photos that I took today having not taken photos for awhile. I seem to go through times of not taking the camera out and then I see things. One is from a spot on our outside table that we have covered up and there was a dip in the plastic that is covering the table and ice formed in that spot and I took a photo.
The other is of the pond where we walk and the light was just going as I passed by and I stopped to take a shot of the geese standing on the ice.
Last night I opened a bottle of Double Oak Zinfandel 1997 that I’ve had in the cellar for years. I didn’t know what to expect and thought it would probably be off by now for some reason. Maybe it was the label which leaves something to be desired or the dust on the bottle which can be exciting at times but I was very surprised upon opening it. This vineyard opened in 1997 and this wine received a gold medal. Filled with ripe fruit this wine has matured brilliantly, cherries and chocolate flavors surround this wine and it was one of the best zinfandels I’ve had for awhile. This was another reminder of why I buy wines and put them away for a number of years. I don’t remember where this came from or the price but wish I had more to open and drink.
Tonight I opened the Railroad Red Shiraz Reserve 2003 from South Africa for the second time. This Graham Beck at $8.99 a bottle is a must have if you like your wines full and rich with chocolate and spice. I’ve had his Cabernet before and Beck’s wines have a distinctive style, full bodied, thick and inky, almost chewy. This Shiraz is well made with lots of fruit and hints of black pepper.
A few nights ago I revisited the Pomerol 1996 Chateau La Criox St Vincent which once again did not disappoint and is drinking beautifully. I have a soft spot for Pomerol and wish there was more around at reasonable prices. I found this at TJ’s for $18.99 about a year ago and bought a few cases.
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02.16.06
Posted in Travel
at 10:11 pm
Today I finished a very short but productive residency at the Chestnut Hill School. Working with grades 2 to 6 is rewarding because they are fertile minds and excited about new things and even for those who seem to be not involved somehow they get into it and something magical happens. I worked with each class on a writing assignment that seemed to get them charged up to create some amazing plots and some worthy of fine films. My thought was that if these kids were living in LA they could send some of these scripts to an agent and do very well. Certainly some of the writing and ideas were much better than some of the stuff coming out of Hollywood.
The weather has been odd and erratic here, the last few days warm and spring like to change again tomorrow.
We have both been down with colds and the timing was not great for me considering I had to do six workshops in a day feeling like I wanted to die. Somehow being with the kids made it all tolerable.
This afternoon after the last workshop I went to do two performances at a Catholic school in Dorchester. A school of K to 8th grade and lovely children.
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