Postcards from the Trail

God, I'm getting old. We spent the weekend in Sonoma with friends and I'm exhausted.

We flew down to the Bay Area this weekend for an extended getaway. It all started when Ramkins published their Winter schedule and Judy Witts Francini aka Divina Cucina was teaching a Winter Tuscan Dinner class. Several of us on SlowTrav had said we would take the class. I signed up right way which was a good thing since it sold out.

We also hadn't seen our friends in Bay Area for a while so we made arrangements to stay with them and we would spend the weekend in Sonoma.

Pauline fron SlowTrav found an outstanding rental, Cottage Sonoma. She said it would be big enough for two couples so we wented it. It was outstanding. I loved the Asian/Island style decor. It has two bedrooms, two baths, hard wood floors, a large open modern kitchen, patio, BBQ and hot tub. It was foggy and cold so we didn't take advantage of the hot tub, but the deck and tub would be great in the Spring.

We flew into Oakland. We decided to tour a few of the gardens on the East Bay. Our first stop was the Lakeside Garden at Lake Merritt in Oakland. It has a metal lath house for Vireya Rhododendrons. Many of them were in bloom. It was kinda run down but nice vireya. Great for plant geeks.

Next we headed up to Berkeley and the Fourth Street shopping area. Our destination, Tacubaya, an upscale taqueria. Yummy. G had a mushroom-cheese chile rellano and a fish taco. I had a pork tamale and a beef taco. All was outstanding. I loved the chile aioli on the fish taco and the mole sauce on the tamale was a perfect blend of sweet/bitter chocolate and hot spices. We'll go to Tacubaya again.

Next door is the Pasta Company. I picked up some porcini ravioli, sauce and a piece of Selle sur Cher goat cheese for dinner. At the wine store, we picked up a yummy Chianti from a producer I hadn't heard of but was located in Panzano.

On the way back to the car, I ran into a former co-worker who had moved back to Bay Area several years ago. It was so strange to run into someone you know.

Our dinner that night was fun. We spent the evening talking politics and wondering about the future.

Friday, we lounged around while B worked from home. We did take in back to back viewing of Kill Bill and Kill Bill 2. Tarantino is not one of my favorites. I also don't care lots of violence even over the top stylised violence.

We left shortly before 4pm and made it to Sonoma just around 5:30pm. We dumped our bags and headed out to Cafe La Haye for dinner. Boy oh boy was it good. G had a wild greens salad and taglattini with clams. It was spicy but good. A had mussels in a pernod-fennel sauce and a filet mignon spiced with pepper and lavendar. B had a green salad and the filet mignon. I had the endive, golden beet, dry jack cheese salad. It was great but unfortunately, the pale belgian endive and white cheese ended up not being very appetizing in appearance. My entree was a lamb shank in a great sauce. It was a red wine, broth, and tomate based and was the perfect sweetness to go with the lamb. But was the best was the mustard cooked cabbage. It was wonderful. Along with this we had a bottle of Flora Springs 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon.

We skipped dessert and headed back to the cottage. They had Trivial Pursuit 6. We always play TP when we are together. We play men against women. Several years ago, the women would always win but again is taking its toll. The women were ahead but we didn't finish it so who knows who would have won. We opened a bottle of Robert Craig Affinity and had it with Fran's chocolate truffles. Oh that was good.

- more to follow -

Wow! Is this already the 5th WBW?

Okay, I have to admit that I wasn't crazy about the selection of wacky-named wines for Wine Blogging Wednesday 5. Too often cute named wines are some strange blend that not are ... to be honest... pretty bad.

I decided one of my personal criterias for the selection was to choose a wine from Washington State. I asked my local wine expert at work for a suggestion. He thought Sinister Hand by Owen Roe might be a good choice. Yeah... try to find it. This year's supply seems to be sold out in the Seattle area.

I spent a few days cruising the local stores. Hubby came across the Frontier Red by Fess Parker but I couldn't get myself to buy it. Too cute. (Did you know that Frass Winery in Sideways is the Fess Parker winery? And did you know that frass means excrement produced by insects?)

But I did find my wine for the tasting; Three Legged Red 2003 by Dunham Cellars in Walla Walla. Walla Walla is an outstanding region for serious reds like Cabernet Sauvignon. I was anxious to give it a try.

The wine is named as a tribute to the winemaker's Eric Dunham's dog, Port.

It was a sunny day in the summer of '94 when I met Port. Outside I heard the distinct sound of an animal in distress. It took only moments to realize what was happening across the field from my house - a very small animal had fallen into harm's way and was being attacked by a Pit Bull. I ran to the scene, broke up the fight and found that the small animal was a puppy that was very badly injured. Instinctively, I wrapped him up and took him to the veterinarian. I agreed to pay for the emergency surgery and recovery. The puppy had lost a leg, but found a home. With only three legs, and two on the port side, I named him Port, and he is my best friend.

Being a cat person, I didn't realize there was such a dog following in the wine business. A little sniffing around on the web dug up this article from the SF Chronicle about the dog friendly wineries and wines named for dogs. I wonder if anyone found "Chateau La Paws Coats du Bone Rone" from Rosenblum?

Wine Spectator rated the 2002 release an 87.
"Open, generous style has a layer of floral flavors around the generous plum and berry fruit, all mingling nicely with toasty notes on the round finish. Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Drink now through 2005.

The StatemanJournal from Salem Oregon recently wrote up an article on second labels and says the following on the wine:

"Dunham Cellars of Walla Walla, Wash., purveyors of high end wines, mostly cabernet sauvignon, first created a mid-level tier of wines with Trey Marie.

And then they dug a little lower to find this winner, Dunham Cellars, 2003 Three Legged Red, $15. It's a tough little thing, almost as tough as the three-legged dog on the label (if you have 150 or higher reading glasses, you might want to read the heart-wrenching -- or heart-warming -- story on the back label). Aromas start with earth, ash, and high-pitched berry aromas, leading to flavors of raspberry, blackberry and spice. Substantial tannins."

The winemaker, Eric Dunham, pedigree is also pretty good. He interned at Hogue Cellars and then was assistant winemaker at L'Ecole No 41 for four years. He has been producing award winning Cabernet Sauvignons including a "Best of Show"! Dunham Syrahs are also showing promise.

Dunham's Three Legged Red is quite good. It is a blend of Cabernet, merlot and syrah. I can definitely taste the syrah spicing up the blend and the merlot softening it. Hubby felt it was good but not complex. It definitely has a strong berry flavor but there is another taste that I can't definitely identify. Several of the reviews mention items like ash and smoke. That might be it. At $16, it also a great value.

I served it with a spicy puttanesca style pasta and my favorite winter salad; Oranges, radishes, onions, olives and avocado served on a bed of lettuce with a light sherry vinagrette. A nice way to spend a mild NW winter night. Ruff!