2006 La Bastide Saint Dominique Cotes-du-Rhone

OK, OK...stop gettin' your knickers in a twist. I finally had a decent red to review, so here you go. Pulled this little bottle out last night for something to pair with boneless pork ribs on the grill. They'd been in a salt brine with herbs de provence and a bit of pimenton for a day and I thought the Cotes du Rhone would make a super pairing. Bra-Vo!

I found this wine at the local wine shop in HMB and have had it aside for a few months, waiting for the typical summer HMB weather to arrive...well, it finally has and last night was a perfect time for a sultry glass.

It's mostly Grenache with 5% each of Syrah, Mouvedre & Cinsault and took some time to open up; about 15 mins did the trick. I was patient and was successful at taking something that was tightly tannin-ed up, to a nice relaxed, drinkable glass, or two....or the whole damn bottle. 

If you enjoy a deep inky-hued Cotes Du Rhone with a decent base structure, moderate tannin with a raisined nose and notes of blackberries and currants, then this is your ticket!

Retail ~$17

88 points

You too can play the mandoline!

People ask me all the time.....they say, "Jase, can you teach me to play the mandolin?" and I say, why in the world would you think I can teach you to play an 8 stringed difficult to learn instrument? Now, if you'd like to master the mandoline, I'm your go-to guy! 

The mandoline can be intimidating for many, with it's razor sharp mouth-like opening, ready to devour everything that gets within 2cm of its grasp! 

Fear not! 

It's just a mandoline and it's ready to help you make wonderful things. It slices and juliennes, but it doesn't dice.... sorry, its not a Popeil pocket fisherman, "The biggest thing in fishing since the hook."

I suspect the best advice I can give on using the dusty thing in the back of the bottom shelf that you've been saying you need to use for several years now, but hasn't see the light of day since the last time the 49ers had a winning season is: Yagotta Use It!!! 

It's pretty much the same as most things that are not common things, but with a sharp edge :-) Be respectful and remember your knife skills. The worst thing that can happen is an unscheduled manicure.

So to that vein, here's a simple recipe I mentioned the other night at the wine bar to a new friend who's mandoline needs some lovin'. Try it out!

Prawns and Apple in Cucumber (serves 4)

1 english cucumber

1 firm semi-tart apple ie: pink lady, braeburn or similar -- no red delicious or on the other end, granny smith!

1/2 lb (approx 10) 16-20 count raw wild prawns

4T calvados

1t sugar

cinnamon

unsalted butter

olive oil

S&P

..and although it's not an ingredient, you'll need a 3" ring mold ( a large cookie cutter will substitute....well, kinda)

Wash, then cut the ends off of an English cucumber, so the cuke is approximately the same diameter and doesn't taper at the ends.

Using your mandloline set for approximately 1/8", lengthwise slice 4 pieces of cucumber & reserve

Skin and medium dice the apple

Saute the apple until softened a bit (3-4 mins on med.) with butter and a bit of cinnamon. (Now, I know you're saying "How much is a bit?" I dunno. It's more than a shake and less than 1t. Maybe 2 or three shakes?? Try it. If it's too much, then try it again with less!)

Add the shrimp and 1t of olive oil and continue until shrimp are pink (approx 1 1/2 mins). 

Once shrimp are pink, remove the pan from the fire, add the calvados, then back on the fire and reduce for 1 min. Remove from heat.

Line the inside of the ring mold  with a slice of cucumber as if the cuke slice is standing on its edge inside the circumference of the ring mold.

Spoon 1/4 of the shrimp and apple mixture into the ring mold and remove the ring, leaving the cuke standing in a round on its edge.

Season to taste.

I'd serve this with a nice Pinot Blanc or Pinot Noir Blanc.

Have fun and remember, it's not going to be used if you don't use it...right C???

Happy Monday my friends!

Traveling plays havoc...but gotta keep it goin'

One thing that's nice about life right now is consistency. Consistency of my workouts, especially. While the workouts themselves are quite varied, I know that on Mon, Wed & Fri, I work strength with kettlebells, on Tues & Thurs, it's cardio on the treadmill at the office gym then Sat or Sun is a bike ride.

When I'm on the road for work, the change in scheduling makes things challenging to keep to my consistent routine. Last week I was in Raleigh, NC on business and tried to keep things progressing as much as possible.

...so, as usual, I meet up with Tim Anderson (link to his blog called "Life is Movement" in my "Thoughts by Friends" section) at least once. Tim lives about 45 mins south of my RTP office, so after work, I try and get a workout in there. 

Luckily, I was able to get 2 workouts in with Tim this trip, on both Tues & Weds, so I had to shift Monday to Cardio at the office gym for a few miles, then KBs with Tim. Thurs was a travel day back to SF and Friday I was so toast from the travel day that I rested. Sat was a 2 hour ride and today I'l do a short ride just to spin the legs a bit.

Tues workout: (wtXrepsXsets - each arm)

One Arm Swing

24x25x4

Clean

24x10x3

Guard Press

24x10x3

Triceps

16x10x5

Weds workout

Windmill

16x5x3

Double Snatch

16x10x3

SeeSaw Press

24x10x3

Press

40x1x1

Assorted Rope Work  (Tim, can you help out here)

So it was great to press the 40 again...this time on both arms. I've done it a couple of times before, but not very easily....mainly due to my rotator cuff issues. the RC is feeling a bit better now, so this was a nice return to the heavies.

Also, Tim showed me a bit of Z R-Phase, both some general stuff as well as an exercise to specifically target the bicep/tendon issue that's been going on. It's feeling quite a bit better now. I'll keep up the Z for a while and see what happens....and thanks for the nice "attaboy" in your blog, Tim :-)

it's a great Fri night ...and a bummer night, at Hellyer

Last Friday, we trucked down to Hellyer (the velodrome...see previous posts for details) for the first Friday night fiesta in quite some time. It started out great...several match sprint heats, a senior scratch race ....it was like summiting a nice climb....but then it turned ugly. 

In the first women's ride, a 30 lap scratch, there was a fairly low speed accident involving 4 riders. One got up, but the other three stayed down for some time. Not sure how it happened, but it really doesn't matter. What does matter is the three, albeit with some broken bones for each, are not very seriously hurt. Sure, broken bones are not trivial, but I was really concerned things were much more serious. From what I hear, everyone will be OK after a bit of healing.

..so our heart and thoughts out to the gals who are recovering..and to the ones who love them who were right there, TCB.

..beautiful night tonight? What are you freakin' nutz?

..so I'm pullin' into the hotel parking lot last night and one guy says to his buddy " beautiful night tonight, eh?"

Beautiful night? Are you kiddin? It's like 88 degrees and 95% humidity. What in the world is beautiful about that?

Sure, there are lot's of other things that are beautiful....I took a short drive down to Fuquay-Varina and got a great workout in with Tim....learned alot about Z today. Good stuff. I'm working on it tonight. Cool.

Also, the new road bike is doin' great for me. Gettin' some new pedals this weekend and I'll be ready for the 50K ride I'm planning in Sept.

..and geez, what else is NOT going well?

..well, only one thing. The weather in Raleigh/Durham. This beach dude is not used to this silly heat and humidity.

Racing 2Nite --- HELL-yer

Woo Hoo! Track racing tonight at Hellyer Velodrome.

It's been WAY too long and we're UBER happy to get back to watch Michael Hernandez & his "One Ring Circus" as we like to call it. Michael is the Friday event producer/announcer/bottle washer. He & his enthusiasm are not to be missed!

Friday nights always bring a nice bit of free food and beverage (it's been a keg of FatTire lately!) that are generously sponsored by local cycling teams/clubs. Tonight is sponsored by the nice ladies of Velo Bella.

..or like us, bring a nice bottle of home made sangria, some jamon and a bit of manchego and enjoy the fiesta!

2006 A to Z Pinot Blanc - Oregon

Ok, so don't get on me 'cause I'm doin' another white review. It's been hot here...STUPID hot. Of course, for me stupid hot = anything north of 85 degrees, but anyways, it's still hot and I just can't think of anything better than Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris or Sauvignon Blanc these days. 

Get over it, will ya?

So, for those of you who DON'T know, Tina and I are going to Stockholm for vacation this summer. Luckily,  I reconnected with a great friend from Stockholm recently and last night, we had dinner with Henrik and Ylva @ Pizza Antica in Mill Valley. They're in the middle of a 3 week journey driving from Chicago to Seattle, via the Dakotas, Wyo, all the other stuff in the middle, Yosemite, and SFO.

We ended up with a couple of great appetizers including house made mozzarella and antipasti and the A to Z Pinot Blanc did a great job of keeping up with the varying notes and textures.

The winemaker notes mention:

" ...walks a taut line between the Old World mineral driven aromatics (talc, wet stones, chalk) and New World fruit (melons, nectarines, tangerine, and white grapes overlaid with honey, lime blossoms, and hazelnuts)." and "The wine's richness and weight is held in place and balanced by crisp ripe acidity that gives focus and integrity" 

I have to disagree with the first and agree with the second. Don't get me wrong, I liked this wine, but the fruit forward sweet nose and tongue drive it over any mineral aromatics that might be involved in the party. To the second point, it IS quite rich and the crisp acidity provides a platform for the weight of the richness. 

I'd definitely order this again with seafood that wasn't rich (ie: lobster in butter or anything with bernaise), or with spicy Asian such as Vietnamese or Thai.

Also, A to Z is big in the "wine for the rest of us" game. That's they're mantra. Check them out!

Retail ~$15

88 points

The Tour, The Tour, boss

I'm nearly squealing that the Tour starts today.  Really like to watch the evening wrap show that Versus does for 3 hours nightly, so that's where you'll see me for the next 3 weeks.

I'm certainly disappointed that the best stage racing team in the world is sitting in front of the TV as well, but not surprised, given the politics involved here.

...so let's throw all the love behind Team Columbia, nee: HighRoad as well as Team Garmin/Chipotle, nee: Slipstream (and hey, I'm a Felt guy, too.)

It's just not a Friday without Hellyer

With the recent AVC past us now, I'm really missing getting to Hellyer. Certainly, there's racing on weeknights, but Friday is about the only convenient time for us to get there and spend the evening watching some great competition.

Unfortunately, the last Friday night fiesta staged by Michael Hernandez and gang was a couple weeks ago and the next one isn't until 11 July. Ouch...I think I'll try and head down for the Omnium this Sunday. It's not the same as a fun-filled Friday, but It'll have to hold me over.

Uber congrats to a new friend, Jen Triplett, who made the record books when she won the first Woman's 6-day event held at Alpenrose in PDX last week. That's quite an honor. I met Jen at the AVC a couple of weeks ago where she won the miss-n-out and did quite well overall. She's a really talented rider. Kudos, Jen!