Meeting another Berserker Inmate

I had the pleasure of meeting Peter ‘Roasted Penguin’ Cargasacchi tonight, during a tasting of 4 of his wines at a local wine shop. Fortunately, he’s as insane in person as he is online, so we know he’s a good fit around here!

We tasted a fantastic '07 Rose of Pinot Grigio - yes, a pink Pinot Grigio - that he says is designed for those vegetables that basically can’t pair with anything, i.e. asparagus, artichokes, etc. They pull the fruit off and do some fermentation with the skins. I enjoyed this wine quite a bit, and bought a bottle to take home and test his theory. It has a tannic structure - albeit slight - that really makes it stand out as a Rose.

Two Pinot Noir pours on tap - '05 Point Concepcion Cargasacchi Vineyard Pinot Noir Santa Rita Hills and '05 Cargasacchi - Jalama Vineyard Pinot Noir Santa Barbara County. (I hope I have the dates correct - I neglected to grab a printout). I preferred the Cargasacchi Jalama quite a bit more than the PC, but still a lot of oak for my personal taste. Still, both were easily approachable now, and brilliantly LOW in alcohol!

Two Syrahs were also poured - the '04 and '03 Point Concepcion ‘Encantado’. Both were excellent, and quite different. The '03 had some Viognier in it, and was a bit more fruit-forward, but I preferred the spice and depth of the '04 - a bit more rustic. Another wine that should go great with food, as it has a relatively low ABV - 14.4%!

Peter, thanks for the great stories, and for the chance to meet you and chat you up! Hope it’s not the last time.

Wish that wasn’t so far south. I wanted to go. Pete es muy loco.

I hope you didn’t actually believe any of them!

Of course not - he did get most of the folks to believe his penguin story, though…lol

Recetnly had the Rose at a Rhone Ranger dinner. It was excelent, perhaps the best wine of the night and it was the appertif.

P.C. is crazy like a fox

He’s beyond that. With the work he put into making his ‘penguins’ and ‘gophers’, he’s a certifiable mad scientist

where was the tasting at?

Cheers!

Muy loco, and keep tequila away from that one under a full moon!

Word. You mean the penguin story isn’t real?

Off course? They were real, I made them myself.

They were real… FRANKENPENGUIN!!!

The venue is called “The Lacey Hamster.” (I kept my eyes averted most of the time when the namesake act was on stage.)

It’s a gentlemen’s club/pet shop in Laguna Niguel. A unique business model, very avant garde and very very racy…!

Peter, you are a Beserker among Beserkers!

I definitely have to meet you one of these days!

Body of a penguin, head of a goat? Does that make the sacrificing easier?

T-Bone the multi-tasker, as I recall from that full moon midsummer night back in January (that got down to 23 f.) it was you that was both muy loco and a hero!

After all that wine and tequila, despite being unable to speak or stand, using only hand signals and gestures, as the bonfire dwindled and the fire walking ended, you had the presence of mind to organize your minions into search parties to find the fallen rookies in the woods and drag their limp bodies back to shelter. Otherwise those poor drunks would truly have been found stiff and frozen to death the next morning… (A scary thought.)

Drinking with you makes me feel safe!!! When are we gonna do that again?