Vintage Tuesday - Wine, Food, Travel and Insanity

What happened?  17 planes, 8 rental cars,  12 cities, 11 states, 13 different hotels and there are only 31 days this month!  May is one big huge blur.  Kind of like having way too much wine except there wasn’t much wine involved this month, just a whole lot of travel.  Seeing everything from the Rocky Mountains to the “low country” of South Carolina, Toronto, Canada, Nashville (where it all began) and a whole lot more.  As Johnny Cash would sing….  “I’ve been every where man, I’ve been everywhere”    A screaming kid in seat 15b, a very large person next to me in 17C, delayed flights, airplane wine that doubles as toilet bowl cleaner…

During what seemed like a quasi-crash landing, the pilot thought the earth was a few hundered feet further below than it really was and we hit the runway with a horrible bang.  -  Oops - My Bad!   Having made thousands of flights I never had a landing like that and apparently neither had the flight attendant.  She had this very worried and panicked look on her face thinking perhaps the nose wheel was damaged.  When we hit the runway (slammed into the runway) all the passengers gasped and from the smell a few also loaded their underwear.  Since the flight attendant’s job is to keep us all calm during times like this, she picked up the 1950’s CB radio looking microphone and with her shaking, cracking reassuring voice says, ….  “I guess you noticed we landed”   Oh.. that’s what that was, I mentioned on my way out the door.  Doesn’t the captain know objects in the mirror (including the earth) are closer than they appear?  - next time read the little sticker on the mirror. 

During my travels this month, I also had to drive to Toronto which was an adventure.   Entering Canada was easy and they must have known I was coming because there was a welcome sign for me. A Bigger Better Angus has Arrived! How cool! 

Returning to the United States was a different story.  “What do you mean you were slaying corks in Toronto?” Asked the customs official at the border.  That’s what I do for a living I said with a sheepish grin.  (knowing I probably gave a bad answer) He just looked down at me from his omnipotent perch in his power booth scowling at me in my little rental car while I was attempting to head home.  Who were you seeing there? he barked, trying to intimidate me.   A fellow cork slayer that flew in from Switzerland.  This time he just starred in total disbelief.  He looked at my passport, looked at me, looked at my passport, looked inside the car again and finally shrugged his shoulders, grunted and motioned me on.  And so goes another day of life on the road with Angus, cork slayer extraordinaire.   

After the blur of May, I am safely back at Vintage Tuesday’s corporate headquarters’ (home) and it’s time to do a little catching up so off we go to see the Wine Wizard.  As we approach the wizard, she said in her wizard voice “Step forward Angus and Trixie, you dare to ask for a good bottle of wine do you?”   First bring me the cork screw of the wicked witch of the North.   Excuse me kind wizard, there isn’t a wicked witch of the North.  Only the border agent between Canada and the U.S. and the TSA took my cork screw. 

I told her I have been traveling every where this month and this is really a Big Ass Place.  Without skipping a beat she said “then you need a Big Ass Shiraz”.   As soon as Trixie heard this, she grabbed a glass and shoved me out of the way.  “I love Shiraz” she said with a big grin holding her glass out for the wizard.

The Big Ass Shiraz was a 2005 from Southern Australia and was just under $10.  It had a big ass flavor as well with hints of berries, I think it was blackberry and it had some spicy taste as well.  Adding this to our evening barbeque (no more travel food) and it topped off a great evening.

Auntie Em, Uncle Henry, where the hell am I?

Oh yea, there’s no place like home.

Angus

Every now and then, a friend will ask “how do you do it?”  Puzzled, I ask “do what?”  They continue, “I have read your blog, I have heard the stories, I’ve even been involved with some of your craziness.  How do you and Angus come up with those ideas?”  I don’t know - it just happens.  Sorry to say, our best stuff is usually pretty random.  Kind of like a comical Karma.  Humm…. Karmical ^tm  Oh no there is another term to add to the Vintage Tuesday dictionary.  Karmical - a combination of comedy and karma or…  a description of Angus and Trixie’s life.

We’ll as fate may have it, or Karma as it is sometimes called, or “Karmical for us” we were on our way to St. Joseph, Michiganwhere Angus had a few more corks to slay and there it was.  Passing by Caloma, Michigan we saw Karma Vista Vineyards and Winery.  You can’t be serious.  Is this Karma?

Of course we can’t mess with Karma so we had to pull off and check it out!  Wine Rockers Joe and Sue met us as we walked through the door.  They are the wine gurus that created Karma Vista and they are also a couple of royally rowdy rock and rollers like Angus and Me.  Their wine carries names like Stone Temple Pinot after the great band Stone Temple Pilot, Pink Side of the Moon in honor of one of the greatest albums of all time and Cabernet Funk a salute to George Clinton and Parliment Funkadelic. (No relation to Bill, Hillary or Monica).  Alrighty, we are waiting for the wine of AC/DC lovers everywhere - Whole Lot of Rosieor perhaps Rose’ - Is this Karma or Karmical? 

Many mid western and great lakes wineries import a lot of their grapes for the heavy reds.  However since Karma Vista is located on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan and tempered by 80 miles of Lake Michigan water, they grow it all right there.  How about that, growing their own!  After talking with Joe and Sue about everything from B. R. Cohn who was the manager of the Doobie Brothers and California winery owner and excellent maker of olive oils, to our favorite concerts from the past, we were waiting to see if Pete Townshend would come walking through the door.

If you are ever in the Western part of Michigan (the big piece of the state not the upper peninsula) stop in for a blast from the past with Joe and Sue.  Some people build ships in a bottle, they create good Karma in a bottle!

May you all have Karmical lives!

Cheers!

Trixie

Angus and I headed off to San Francisco where he had to slay a few more corks this week.  Since the cork slaying does not begin until Monday and we arrived on Friday, we had the weekend to do absolutely nothing.  So of course we had to do absolutely everything.  Starting out on foot, we wound our way through Union Square where we saw a high school choir from Bakersfield, CA playing a lot of cultural music.  It was a great way to begin the day. 

We hiked our way towards the Embarcadero along the piers and found an enormous outdoor market.  This place had thousands of people checking out everything from asparagus to zucchini (I think that covers A through Z).  It is a foodie’s paradise.   Street performers filled the air with music and the samples of produce being shoved at my face were amazing.  After picking up a plate of cheese with a little wine, we took a break and sat along the bay taking in the view of the water front and the Bay Bridge.

The hills in downtown San Francisco are notorious.  Sidewalks seem to run vertical rather than horizontal and can be quite a challenge for the casual tourist. (and me!)   The cable cars in San Francisco are the only way to travel up.  The cars grab a cable that is moving under the street at 9 ½ miles per hour.  The cable under the street pulls the cars up the very steep hills so you don’t have to do big city mountain climbing.  Taking the cable car straight up hill from the embarcadero, we made our way to Chinatown which has the highest concentration of Chinese in one location in the United States.  Strolling through their shops was an event all to it’s own.  Grant Street is where most of the tourists go but we went off the beaten path where all of the locals live.  I think we seemed to be the only English speaking people on these streets, we could have mistaken this for a back street in China.

China town ends at North Beach where some of the best restaurants in the city are located.  After a full day of walking the streets (and cheating with the cable cars) my feet were hurting so it was time to kick back and relax.  Pulling up a couple of chairs outside on the sidewalk of a quaint Italian bistro (we walked from China all the way to Italy! - 3 blocks) we camped out with a few glasses of Gavi watching the scenery.  Actually we call this “watching the movies.”  Something Angus and I began doing several years ago. 

To “watch the movies” you need a great place to sit that has music playing in the background.  Sitting back with your favorite glass of wine, you listen to the music and watch the people on the street.  I don’t know how they do it but people’s lives seem to be choreographed to whatever music is playing in the back ground.  People get out of their cars right as the music changes, a skate boarder goes whizzing by right as the music transitions to a faster tempo.  This is almost as good as watching the Wizard of Oz synched to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon Album.

Today’s  movie included listening to an Italian opera in the background, sipping Gavi wine and watching the world through wine filled glasses.  Gavi wine comes from the Piedmont Area of Italy and is a fruity yet dry white wine.  It was soooo crisp and refreshing - just perfect for the near 80 degree temperature outside.  This was absolutely one of those best days ever, and makes slaying corks all worth it!

If you go to San Francisco, spend the day hiking around on foot to get up close and personal with the city.

Peace, Love and Good Wine for All!

Trixie

What a formula!  The East coast’s largest outdoor wine festival, a beautiful Island, sandy beaches and sunshine - this is one of those “It doesn’t get any better than this” kind of days.  Continuing our road trip from Orlando to Charleston, SC we spent the weekend at Hilton Head, SC for the Hilton Head Wine Festival, Tasting and Auction held at Shelter Cove Park.  When we got there we saw a never ending sea of white circus tents housing zillions of bottles of wine with their vintners and distributors all trying to impress us with their selection.  And impress us they did.  A great blues band was playing, wine was flowing, the sun was shining (although it was quite windy) and we got to try some really great wines.

Plungerhead?  Now there is one we have to try to get things rolling.  It was a Zinfandel from Lodi, CA and was great.  With hundreds of wines and dozens of tents we felt the pressure to try and taste them all.  We roamed from tent to tent like a couple of wine seeking vagabonds tasting as we go.  During mid afternoon, we found ourselves taking a break and camping out at a large table with ten other wine lovers sipping from the vine and watching the people and crowds.

We also made a new friend that day.  Pouring wine at one of the tents we met Jen Foulke who along with her sister own Stripes Restaurant - an American Grill. Angus and I did not have any dinner plans and thought - why not?  So we wandered into her place later that evening.  Stripes has been an island tradition for 18 years and it is well known to the locals.   We walked inside and everyone one was quite cheery and friendly -  I think it was either that Southern Hospitality you hear about or perhaps it was just an island thing - it was probably both!  The first thing I noticed were the loaded wine racks right as you walk in.   That’s a good sign.  Then I saw the wine list which was quite impressive. (Of course I would notice this!)  The menu made us both very indecisive.  Everything sounded great - where do we begin.  I know!  With a glass of wine!  I finally decided on the Petite Filet with a gorgonzola creamed custard on the side.  Angus had the salmon that he said was one of the best he has had in quite a while.   Being big veggie eaters (Mom would be proud) we also ordered a side of Asparagus.   It was presented with a layer of shredded parmesan on top.  Wow, I almost cried when I took the first bite it was sooooo good.

The locals know where Stripes is located and now you do to.  Head down the main highway Rt. 278 and go to the traffic circle near the end of the island at the intersection of Rt. 278 and Pope Ave.  It is located at 32 Office Park Road on the Southeast side of the big traffic circle. 

Thanks Jen, it was quite a memorable dining experience.

Cheers!

Trixie

The alarm went off at 5:30 AM.  Ugh!  This was the day I fly to Orlando to meet up with Angus who was off slaying corks again. (see Cork Wars posting)  The shuttle bus stopped by Vintage Tuesday’s corporate headquarters and I was off to the airport.  Probed, prodded, questioned, scanned, searched and finally I was able to walk onto the airplane.  Looking for seat 29A as I go down the aisle, I pass row 10, 11, 12….  Are there even 29 rows on this plane?  Is this the seat that flushes?  Finally, the last row and my seat is jammed against the window.  Three screaming kids strategically planted around me and one very large person next to me.  I am trapped against the window.  Maybe I can just look out the window at the clouds and see what shapes I see.  But all I see is the side of the engine at the tail of the plane.  29A has no view, no room, no sanity.  AND THIS WAS TUESDAY!  Tuesday’s are suppose to be my favorite day.

Several hours later I land in Orlando.  They almost have to scrape me off the seat and carry me out in a bucket.  Dazed and confused, I head to baggage claim and the shuttle to the hotel at the Disney theme parks.  Finally about 9 hours after the alarm went off this morning I am there….   … but Angus is not.  He is still out slaying corks with a mouse and a duck  What a strange land.

When Angus finally returned, he opened the hotel door and saw my suitcases laying in front of the door where I dropped them, and me collapsed on the bed babbling something about the plane and screaming kids.  He propped me up and walked me to the balcony.  “Where do you want to go for dinner?” he asked.  All I could do is mumble and point from the balcony to the Olive Garden down below  Are you kidding me? He said.   We came all this way to go to a restaurant that we have back home in the state of Denial? 

So we walk through the front door of the Olive Garden and the person asks how many in our party.  We just pointed straight ahead and said “Bar” and kept walking.  That’s when we met our new friend “Stella”  She had seen this travel condition before and knew exactly what to do.  “We have four dollar drink specials until 7PM” she said.  Wow, I saw the time and it was only 5:30.  I asked what kind of wine they had (already my speech was returning) hoping not to hear “we have both kinds, red and white”  I was stunned.  They had a wine list with some pretty good selections.  Suddenly my choice of places to go seemed like a good idea after all.  The bar was quite nice, it is not as I remember Olive Garden bars.  She said they had gone through a major renovation.   I saw a Super Tuscan on the list for $9.50 that looked promising.  $9.50 a glass is way out of the Vintage Tuesday budget.  Is this wine really only $4.00?  “Yes it is” she said.  Things were beginning to return to normal as we each had a glass (maybe two).  The wine was really great.  It was a 2003 Villa Antinori blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot & Syrah.  I always love a good blended heavy red, and this wine did not disappoint.

It was a nice evening outside and everyone was at the theme parks so we had the bar to ourselves and got to talk quite a bit with Stella.  We learned she was smarter than both of us.  She had the wisdom to escape the great white north in New York and seek greener (and warmer) pastures living in a land that people suffer long plane rides to get to.

Thursday night was our last night in Orlando so we walked next door to say hi to Stella - and have another glass of our $4.00 Super Tuscan. It was raining outside and the place was packed.  She looked up at us and said “two Super Tuscans?”  As much as we travel, I always remember bartenders that stand out.  We have been to a few places, that even after several days or even months, the bartender remembers you as soon as you walk in.  They call you by name and know exactly what you want.  Even though they serve hundreds of drinks a night to zillions of people they are the real stand outs.   That particular Thursday night Stella had her side kick Manny working with her as both of them tried to keep up with the growing crowd.  As we talked a little longer we realized, they both had quite a few stories of their own, but we’ll leave those stories for them to tell.

Thanks Stella for helping me recover from Tuesday’s “Travel Hell” and keep doing what you do – you are one of the standouts!

Cheers!

Trixie

When you walk into a restaurant and ask what kind of wine they have, if you hear “we have both kinds - Red and White”, it is time to order a club soda.  Over the years we have found this answer usually means old jugs of bar wine that have probably not been opened in a while.  We have heard this line on many occasions especially in Mexican restaurants.  I guess these places are geared up for the tequila and Corona drinkers of the world not the wine type of crowd.  Over the years Angus and I have gone to some great Mexican restaurants with food that puts a little tear in your eye it is so good.  But when it comes to drinks - “I’ll have a club soda please”.  

Just a couple of months ago we took our wine trail adventures to the extreme.  We crossed the U.S. Mexico border for some authentic Mexican food.  We park the car on the U.S. side and walked through customs (I think that’s what it was, the agent on the Mexican side was just happy to see us - “come on over Welcome Welcome my American Friends”.

Crossing into Mexico was easy.  Running the gauntlet of merchants on the street wanting to sell you anything and everything, made the venture more interesting.  “Hey Meeester, Hey Ladeeee,  you buy my Cheeep junk?”  I thought there was sales pressure in stores back home, they have nothing on these guys.  One of the master salesmen was so smooth and worked me over so well that I am now the proud owner of a small clay pot made in Mexico.  I thought this would quiet down the situation.  It did… with him.  But I noticed everyone else eyeing up the very American looking Trixie and realized, hey she buys stuff.  It was like something out of an Indiana Jones movie.

We found a restaurant but knew the likelihood of good wine (or water) was non existent so about once a year we have a sacrificial beer.  We ordered Tecate which I never heard of.  Not being a beer drinker, I guess it tasted OK - how’s that for a review.  “It was OK”  The food was excellent - I guess when in Mexico, order the enchiladas.   

On our way back to customs, Angus was determined to buy a bottle of tequila.  He walked into a store and the person behind the counter was eying him up probably thinking  “Hmmm.. how much of a tourist is this person?”  He asked for a bottle of Tequila and they said it was $15.  He looked at the bottle and said I would like one with the worm in it.  Ah, a mega tourist!  the price just went up to $20.  Angus always had the best negotiating skills. 

It was time to walk back across the border and pick up the car.  We got to the U.S. customs and things were a little different.  “How long were you there” the agent said with a bit of a scowl.  Angus said “Ahh?? A few hours to look around.”   I wasn’t sure we would ever see our families again at this point.  Angus looked a little worried.  The agent then asked “did you buy anything while in Mexico?”   Angus just blurted out “Tequila and pot” being so nervous he forgot the “A”  as in Tequila and A Mexican pot, pottery, clay jar  come on Angus get it together.  I have seen Midnight Express - I want to see my family again!  The agent just looked at him, then he looked at me.  I think both of us looked like the ultimate panicked tourists.  Again he scowled and just mumbled “go ahead”. 

Huh?

After driving back to the Phoenix area, we arrived at the hotel by early evening. Still a little cranked up over today’s travels we walked across the street to a little Mexican restaurant. We asked the server what kind of wine they have and she said proudly, “we have both kinds - Red and White”  After an adventure like today, Angus and I looked at each other and at the same time said “We’ll have the Red“

Peace, Love and Good Wine for All

Trixie

Before moving to the State of Denial years ago, Angus used to live close to Chicago, so we go back to visit as often as we can.  Last fall we were looking for things to do and I found Winefest Chicago.  I was not exactly sure what this would be like but it was awesome!  When you travel north from downtown Chicago on the train “The L” as we call it (or the CTA as it is officially called), you go from neighborhood to neighborhood.  We had a great walk from the Irving Park station on the Brown Line, as we found our way into the neighborhood of Northcenter where the festival was being held.  You paid $25 for admission (or a starter kit as they called it) and received a lot of tickets for tastings, a wine glass and loads of music.  They also had various speakers teaching about everything from different wine regions, to how to pair wine and food.  We actually learned a few new things about Champagne and sparkling wines.  Pretty cool!  There were many distributors representing wines from all over the world, as well as many local artists selling their works, and local food vendors selling their specialties.

We did our fair share of tastings and found some great wines to buy.  By the end of the evening, we had about 100 new best friends, you know that wine drinking crowd, friendliest bunch of people you could ever meet.

As we walked back towards the train with well used wine glasses in hand, we strolled by the many cafes and restaurants along N. Lincoln Avenue - most with outdoor seating.  It was one of those perfect nights so we decided it was time to check one out.  We chose Mrs. Murphy & Son’s Irish Bistro, who doesn’t love an Irish Bistro?   I had the Roast Amish Chicken with Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes, and Angus had the Grilled Sea Scallops with Vegetables.  It was all very good!  As we sat outside with our new wine glasses parked on the table, we noticed a steady stream of people walking down the street with their wine glasses in hand.  Based on the number of people, we apparently found the “must do” event of the weekend. Lots’ of happy people and lots of empty wine glasses!

We will be back this year once again for Winefest Chicago and maybe we will see you there too!

Cheers!

Trixie

Say it isn’t so - I’m in a fight with a cork!  On one of my recent travels to Portland, Oregon, I picked up a bottle of Columbia Crest Merlot www.columbia-crest.com after I landed at the Portland Airport and was on my way to the hotel.  I have had this wine many times over the years and Columbia Crest is always a safe bet for a decent every day wine - especially when traveling to strange lands (Portland is not really all that strange but there are some interesting characters in the heart of downtown)   It is actually a beautiful city and a great place to walk around.   

Settling in for the night in a strange hotel in a strange land I was ready to pop the cork.  Reaching into my suitcase I realized OH NO!  I FORGOT MY CORK SCREW!!!  I was starring at the bottle and it’s amazing contents with no way to access it. How was I to free the imprisoned nectar and let it escape into my glass? (actually it was a plastic hotel room cup that had just been freed from its cellophane wrapper - nothing but the best for me!)  It was getting late in the evening and I was not ready for a late night hike through the city trying to find a cork screw at a store.  

Being the ever resourceful one (Trixie says it actually borders on insanity) I reach into my bag and found a screw driver.  Yes, the old “push the cork into the bottle” trick!  Cork screw - screw driver - Coincidence?  This seemed very logical.  I placed the bottle on the floor and begin to push down with the screw driver.  YES - success, I push right on through - this was easier than I thought.  Then I realized the screw driver pushed right through the cork but the cork did not move.  Failure is not an option - I must be victorious in this battle!  Suddenly I felt like I was in an old cartoon that I remember where the cartoon character was trapped with only a can of food but no can opener.  This can’t be happening. 

In a stroke of genius (or insanity - I get the two confused), I see the famous hotel stationary with a pen sitting on the desk.  The pen has a fatter tip that might not make a hole in the cork and actually push it through - could this scheme really work this time? Again I push down on the cork this time with my trusty pen and….. SUCCESS! the cork goes into the bottle.  However, I forgot the laws of physics, volume displacement etc.  When the cork went into the bottle there was no longer room for all of the wine and the cork.  The cork had it’s revenge shooting some of the wine straight up out of the bottle onto my shirt.  With the help of gravity the rest of the airborne wine quickly returned towards the floor and of course, did not go back into the bottle.  A few hotels towels were turned purple that evening - oops!  

Getting ready to celebrate the fruits of my well fought cork battle, I began to pour the wine.  The cork decided it was not going down without a fight.  It kept floating towards the opening of the bottle determined not to let me win the “Cork Wars”  Finally with my trusty pen, I held the cork down, aimed for my plastic cup and finally, victory was mine!  I really was smarter than the cork!  The Columbia Crest Merlot was worth the effort!

- Sir Angus, Cork Warrior Extraordinaire