There’s no point in acting surprised about it. All the planning charts and demolition orders have been on display at your local planning department in Alpha Centauri for 50 of your Earth years, so you’ve had plenty of time to lodge any formal complaint and it’s far too late to start making a fuss about it now.
That’s just prefect.
p.s.
Started out Grenache typical uber strawberry (why I really don’t care for Grenache), but two hours later there’s a lot of spice and something that I can only describe as “dusty, old baseball glove.” Much more interesting.
Last night on Ocracoke Island, NC… with a bit of Yeah after the beach, in the form of the 2021 Family Band.
• 2023 Summer Salters III Rosé
Last bottle of this splendid rosé. Loved it every time we opened one. Love the funky color. Loads of summer fun, strawberry, watermelon, thyme and oregano, juicy with great refreshing lift. Very Beatlesesque — “Twist and Shout”.
Balls of lighting riding along a river of silk. This is the most interesting bottle of Bordeaux variety wine I have had in a very long time.
Went to Stella in Kenwood last week for the first time. Like its sister restaurant, the (outstanding) Glen Ellen Star, the local wine selection is nicely curated and markups very reasonable. I glanced at the BTG list and right there at the top of the reds was EWCY! Innervisions II. The most exciting red on the list, it also happened to be the least expensive. I gulped down a fragrant, sumptuously flavored glass before the pasta even got to the table.
Thank you, David! This was so much fun and that wine is crazy good! Hope to get you all back out this way in better weather!
Yeah! Love it!!!
Dang! So glad you dug it!
Thank you- So glad you got to try the Innervisions II at Stella! I love that place. Cool thing is that vineyard is 100yds diagonally across the street behinds Swede’s Feeds. It is the most local wine they have.
If you are planning a trip to Sonoma Valley, Stella is new (same owners as Glen Ellen Star) and very very good. https://www.stellakenwood.com
2023 Full King Crab III -
Popped and poured at cooler than cellar temp. Cloudy golden color, almost looks a bit cider like. Orange peel, sea foam and a nice steely mineral note on the nose. Really intriguing palate, with some sweet orange fruit, a salty mineral note and lovely acidity. Not really doing a good job of verbalizing what is an intriguing melange of flavors. Really full bodied, but light on its feet at the same time. I think the bottle age has been good for this and it feels like it has room for further improvement. Hardy’s wines always surprise and make you think.
I also went Full King Crab yesterday. 2024. Not unlike the '23 described above. Just more of everything right now. Super loaded. Decant it or leave it for a while. Intriguing and complex
• 2020 Higher Love Zinfandel Blend
Well, this one is not done with its surprises. I totally get why @H_Wallace_Jr calls this the ultimate burger wine. But do yourself a favor and resist the temptation to make it a smash burger. This wine is not straightforward and deserves a good honest platform to show its stuff.
From CT review:
Second pass at this wine — for whatever reason it came across as a little less brooding and rustic than last time. Even more interesting this time out — a sharp red berry push (strawberry/raspberry) a touch of fennel seed, some black pepper and spearmint. If the last time the rhythm section was Sly and Robbie, this time it was Jaco Pastorius.
… or maybe, given that it is still pretty dense by EWCY! Standards, John Entwistle
Steve Winwood!
As I have told Hardy, Steve Winwood’s Back in the High Life album is basically the soundtrack to my early relationship with my wife. Higher Love, the lead single, was a sing together car song, and the title track was out first dance at the wedding reception. That will always be a special wine for us.