Friday, February 28, 2020

Blood Of The Vines: Krazy Kidz

Kids have it tough.  Grouchy old mom and dad to deal with, school, endless soccer practice … all with no wine to help take off the edge.  They must find it terribly unfair that Mommy gets her medicine, but all they get is vaping and Tide Pods.

The Krazy Kidz in the movies featured this week on Trailers From Hell certainly didn't take any perceived injustices sitting down.  They, as the old expression goes, hit back hard.

The Children is a 1980 chiller which was caused critics to take their jobs at face value, criticizing nearly everything about the movie. From the writing to the acting to the special effects, scribes had a field day, using words like "nasty," "despicable" and "ugly" in their descriptions.  It was enough to drive a movie critic to drink. A yellow cloud of gas turns these Krazy Kidz into zombies for the new year, which might be where the idea for Dry February originated.  It's a whole different franchise, but some Walking Dead Red might make those zombies move a little quicker, to get to the bottle before it runs dry.

The poster for 1960's Village of the Damned states "Beware the stare that will paralyze the will of the world."  My only concern is that the stare will make Bronco wines even cheaper and more prolific than they already are.  By the way, the vomiting is supposed to happen AFTER you drink the Bronco wine.  These Krazy Kids use their glowing-eye superpowers to make other folks do horrible things - like stock up on white Zinfandel.

The Innocents made 1961 a little darker, with movie goers wondering if Deborah Kerr's character was scared, mental or just in need of a glass of wine or six.  One of the Krazy Kidz tells the governess early on, "Oh, we will have fun together, won't we?"  Not so fast, innocent breath.  Borrowing from another film, "Lady, you need a lot of drinks."  The lady worries that the estate is haunted by ghosts which have taken over the children.  That's right, she thinks they've been ghosted.

The easy pairing choice is for a ghost wine - a winery founded in the late 19th century and still operating in refurbished fashion.  And no, they do not operate with a skeleton crew.  That's reserved for Halloween.

Virginia's Gray Ghost Winery has a few white wines to uncork here, since faces are said to turn pale in the presence of ghosts.  Or after consuming a little too much wine.  The Innocents is an hour and a half long - pace yourself.


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Wednesday, February 26, 2020

A Nice Rosé From Hess

The grapes for the inaugural release of the Hess Select Rosé 2019 were specifically sourced and harvested to produce this debut wine.  The grapes were fermented in stainless steel, without oak influence in order to accentuate the crisp and expressive flavors.

Hess winemaker Dave Guffy says the pink wine goes best with food, and he recommends that you have yours with "sweet and salty combinations, like a prosciutto and melon salad."  The appellation appears on the label as "California," which doesn't tell us much about its origin.  Also, the winery seems tight-lipped about what grape varieties make up the wine, although I’m guessing it’s Pinot Noir.  The wine hits only 13.5% abv and sells for $12.

This salmon colored wine passes the "pretty test" - the first hurdle for any rosé - with no trouble.  The sniff test holds a bit of funky fruit.  Rather than simply ripe strawberries, there is a savory angle that is quite enticing.  The palate follows that path, but allows a bit more of the fruit to shine through.  It is a pleasant pinkie, with more than enough acidity for pairing with the usual suspects.


Monday, February 24, 2020

Hollywood's Musso And Frank Grill: Wine, Martini, Steak

In the heart of Hollywood, there is a restaurant which has remained a constant for more than 100 years.  Musso and Frank Grill hit the century mark in September 2019, while collecting an "Award of Excellence for a Hollywood Restaurant" from the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.

Musso and Frank has been a favorite watering hole for thousands of Hollywood stars, writers, directors, and studio executives, starting with the one and only Charlie Chaplin.  On a smaller celebrity scale, they also see my wife and I from time to time.

The celebration continues in 2020 with the unveiling of a new signature red wine now being served to diners, the 2018 Peake Ranch Syrah.  The new vintage was blended by Musso and Frank General Manager and Wine Director Andrea Scuto.

The restaurant reports that Musso's 2018 Peake Ranch vintage was marked by the Santa Ynez Valley's "cool temperatures in the late summer and early fall, which provided ideal weather to allow the fruit to have great concentration, with healthy acidity and a good depth of flavor."  The wine was vinified by star winemaker Kevin Law out of Challen Vineyard in Santa Maria.

The Peake Ranch Syrah has a powerful, if mostly fruity nose accented by cardamom and baking spices.  The palate is rich and robust and the tannins are more than able to handle one of Musso and Frank's famous steaks.

The new 2018 Musso and Frank Peake Ranch Syrah is available only at the restaurant, by the bottle ($70) or by the glass ($15) - as long as limited supplies last.  It's perfectly okay to have a glass of it in addition to their world-famous martinis.

Their martinis are possibly even more famous than their steaks.  I had one that was made with St. George Dry Rye Reposado Gin.  It's an interesting and offbeat gin, made with a base spirit of unaged rye, then rested in oak barrels which had previously held Grenache, Syrah, and Tannat wines.  The lightly tinted gin comes off a little spicy, with a hint of peaches and a whiff of wine.  It would probably be more suitable for an Old Fashioned or a Manhattan, according to head distiller Dave Smith.  St. George started small - as in "one guy" - in the California Bay Area in 1982.  Founder Jörg Rupf was that "one guy" and has since retired.  Master distiller Lance Winters now oversees St. George and its production.


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Saturday, February 22, 2020

Blood Of The Vines: Russ Meyer

The late Russ Meyer's films are the epitome of excess.  Pairing a wine with them seems unfair to the wine.  It couldn't possibly keep up.  Whiskey might be more appropriate, or a shot of tequila or three, or a bottle of Captain Morgan and a liter of Coke.  However, I am sure we will stumble across a wine that leans into life like Meyer did.

Russ Meyer's IMDB page nicknames him "The Fellini of the Sex Industry" and "King Leer."  The sultan of sexploitation liked big breasts better than anything else.  His stint as a Playboy centerfold photographer in the 1950s may have steered him in that direction.  Playboy wine, direct from their recently launched wine club?  Why not?  For starters, anyway.

Meyer rued the day he started working on The Seven Minutes.  He later called the film "boring and tedious" - like a life of nothing but Chardonnay.  He said, "What the public wants are big laughs and big tits and lots of 'em. Lucky for me that’s what I like, too."  And who are we to argue with a cinematic genius?  This movie is mainly a talky courtroom drama - think Perry Mason with references to women's orgasms thrown in.  Spicy Zinfandel is a good grape for a spicy director, so try this movie with The 7 Deadly Zins.

The one-sheet for Mudhoney describes it as "a film of ribaldry and violence made from the juice of life."  That’s great, but we're looking for the juice of grapes here.  Mudhoney is the second of Meyer's mid-'60s B&W quartet - a Depression-era tale of loners, wife beaters, whorehouses and an insane preacher man.  Isn't it ironic that America banned alcohol just when it needed it most?  Get Mudhoney going with a wine from L.A.'s own San Antonio Winery, which was able to remain open for business during Prohibition by making sacramental wine.  Peace be with you.

Let's say you want to make a movie about an all-girl rock band whose members go to Hollywood to make it big.  They sink into sex, drugs and decadence even before they catch the Uber out of LAX.  Hello?  Mr. Meyer?  Beyond the Valley of the Dolls was tailor made for Russ Meyer's special brand of sex kitten sadism.  As their album cover claims, they're "looking up at the bottom," so we want to pair a wine that makes us feel all rich and safe and WHERE THE HELL ARE MY PILLS??  No bum wine here, we've got to keep up appearances.  Maybe a Ménage à Trois, Decadence, would go well with the general vibe here.  Cabernet with a splash of Merlot.  Groovy, man.


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Monday, February 17, 2020

Wine And Whales - NZ's Waipapa Bay

New Zealand is known in the wine world for the country's unique Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir.  The cool, maritime climate lends a wonderful acidity, particularly to the white wines. 

Native New Zealanders Brent and Shirley Rawstron have a thing about white wine grapes, and they are currently releasing not only a Sauvignon Blanc but a Chardonnay and Pinot Gris as well.  They gave their wines the name of a favorite local surf spot, Waipapa Bay, which also happens to be a great place to go whale watching.  The area lies between their Canterbury home and their vineyards in Rapaura - on the northern end of New Zealand's South Island.

Along with the Waipapa Bay 2019 releases, the winery has announced a partnership with Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) - the nonprofit's first wine industry corporate sponsor.  WDC was founded in 1985 and now spans the globe to lead the charge on protections for whales and dolphins.  A spokeswoman for WDC says, "We are excited to receive the support of sustainably-focused businesses such as Waipapa Bay Wines."  The Rawlstons are just as excited about supporting WDC's efforts to end captivity, stop whaling, create healthy seas, and prevent accidental deaths in fishing gear.

Waipapa Bay Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2019

It is 100% Sauvignon Blanc, hits 12.5% abv in alcohol and sells online for less than $13.  This wine's nose bears the New Zealand standard for Sauvignon Blanc - grassy, herbal, grapefruity and a lanolin note thrown in to the mix.  The grapefruit comes on strong on the palate and brings the herbal stuff in through the back door.  Acidity is great and the finish is long and full of citrus.


Friday, February 14, 2020

Blood Of The Vines: Kirk Douglas

Blood of the Vines is a tongue-in-cheek wine and movie pairing done in association with TrailersFromHell.com

The life of Kirk Douglas took him from a childhood dominated by a hard-drinking junkman father to adult years in which he lived in a Beverly Hills home with a wine cellar.  He was one of the world's biggest movie stars and most noted actors, and Trailers From Hell remembers him this week after his passing on February 5, 2020.

In the classic Spartacus, we find wine playing at least a supporting role since nobody wanted to drink the foul water in the century before Christ.  Even though the Roman Empire's plumbing system was a miracle of its day, the lead pipes that carried the water to citizens would much later be shown as a bigger health hazard that gladiating.

Douglas, as Spartacus, worries that he and his men "look for wine when we should be hunting bread."  Nick Dennis, as Dionysius, replies that, "When you've got wine, you don't need bread," which is an interesting take on what may have been the earliest recorded drinking problem.  Eat something, Dionysius!

Australia's Karrawatta Wines makes a red blend called Spartacus, apparently just because the name is catchy.  Also, as a tip of the hat to the notion that Spartacus hailed from what is now Bulgaria, there's a Bulgarian Cabernet Sauvignon named for him.  It appears to be such a great bargain that it is out of stock on the website.

What is the best wine to pair with a movie night featuring Spartacus?  Let him tell it.  When his men were arguing over which region produced the best wine, Spartacus ended the squabble by telling them, "You’re all wrong; the best wine comes from home, wherever it is."  Spartacus said it, I believe it.

For Ace in the Hole, Douglas plays a New York newspaperman whose life comes apart, prompting him to quit drinking and move to Albuquerque.  He might have paraphrased Bugs Bunny to say that he made a wrong turn at Wichita Falls, but his sobriety seems to have robbed him of his sense of humor.  Anyway, he goes on to become Albuquerque's number one media whore, showing enough heartless conniving to qualify him for a MAGA hat.  He blew into town blustering that he was a $250 newspaperman who could be had for $50.  Here’s a $50 Champagne you can have for $250 - Armand de Brignac's Ace of Spades.  Not a great bargain, but if you need to bribe an elected official in Albuquerque, this might do the trick.

Paths of Glory has Douglas heading up a suicide mission in WWI.  French foot soldiers in the Great War were given a daily ration of a half-liter of wine per day - Pinard, according to the label.  Nowadays pinard is still a French synonym for plonk, or bad wine.

French soldiers attacking the German "Anthill" position make for some lovely pairing possibilities.  Rhône and Riesling?  Bordeaux and Blaufrankisch?  Beaujolais Nouveau and Blue Nun?  Or, anything from Sonoma County's Anthill Farms could suffice.

Douglas was directed by Stanley Kubrick in Paths of Glory (and in Spartacus) and the actor told Variety just before his 100th birthday that Kubrick was a bastard, albeit a talented one.  Lift a glass of Fat Bastard wine or a flute of sparkling plonk for this screening.


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Thursday, February 13, 2020

Wine Goes To The Movies: Blood Of The Vines

Now And Zin Wine is pleased to announce a new series of wine articles in conjunction with TrailersFromHell.com.

The series is called "Blood Of The Vines," and will appear each week on the Trailers From Hell blog and Now And Zin Wine.  Randy Fuller presents wine and movie pairings - in tongue-in-cheek fashion.  Here is the Blood of the Vines for Kirk Douglas week.

In case you don't know about Trailers From Hell, it's the brainchild of film director Joe Dante.  On the site, Joe and other movie "gurus" screen movie trailers and add some personal comments about the films in question.  It's highly entertaining, and highly addictive.  Browse the library of titles and see for yourself - betcha can’t watch just one!

Many of the movie gurus are wine lovers as well as film lovers, so this pairing of two different parts of the blogosphere came easily.  We hope you find the pairings entertaining, too.

Trailers From Hell began as a haven for horror movie fans, hence the hellish blood references and preponderance of horror movie titles in the trailer library.  Over time, the site has broadened to include other types of Hollywood offerings besides the horror genre.  It is there, though - in monsters and mayhem - where the roots of Trailers From Hell remain.

Now And Zin has dabbled in mixing wine and movies before - "never mix, never worry" - and we're starting to get a taste for it.  We'd love for you to check out "Blood Of The Vines" on Now And Zin Wine or the Trailers From Hell blog, From Hell It Came, as wine goes to the movies.


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Wednesday, February 12, 2020

Australian Winemaker Helps Fire Victims

Australia's recent trouble with wildfires - 42 of them the last time I checked, 17 burning out of control - have prompted an outpouring of love from around the world.  It has also prompted at least one Aussie winemaker to donate the proceeds of the pouring they do in their tasting room to help in the effort. 

Two Hands Wine is donating, for a two-month span, the take from their Cellar Door tasting fees to the victims of the Cudlee Creek fires near Adelaide.

Publicist Donna White tells me that Australian Red Cross has, since July, assisted more than 18,600 people affected by the fires.  The New South Wales-based Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service Inc., Australia's largest wildlife rescue organization, is accepting donations to fund the rescue and care of animals affected by the fires. Learn more at wires.org.au.

Two Hands Wine makes a bottling which they call Angels' Share Shiraz.  Medieval winemakers believed that angels watched over the wines, and that they took a share as payment.  It's a reference to the small amount of wine that evaporates from barrels while the wine is aging.

The Two Hands Angels' Share Shiraz 2018 was made from McLaren Vale fruit, in what the winery calls "a true Australian style that will appeal to both angels and mortals alike."  During the 16 days of maceration, the wine was pumped over three times a day to get the most color, flavor and tannic structure from the grapes.  Once the wine was in barrels, malolactic fermentation occurred.  The wine was unfined and unfiltered before bottling.  The wine aged for 14 months in oak which was 12% new American, with the balance being one to eight-year-old American and French oak.  Alcohol is somewhat typical for a wine down under at 14.2% abv.  The retail price sticker reads $30.

This wine is delicious.  It offers a nose of black and blue berries, shoe leather and a hint of black olives.  It’s a deep, rich bouquet.  The flavors are similarly dark, with berries leading the way again.  Black pepper and a nutmeg note also appear, with the fruit staying long on the finish.  There is a good tannic structure, easily enough for a steak or a beef stew.  The oak regimen was nearly all previously-used barrels, so the oak effect is quite nice, not a bit overdone.  Actually, the oak does exactly what oak is supposed to in a wine - accent it and highlight the grapes, not bulldoze them.


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Friday, February 7, 2020

The Wine Of The Sheep: Pecorino

Italy's Abruzzo region is known mainly for sheep and agriculture.  It is only fitting they would have a grape that marries both.  Pecorino is "the grape of the sheep."  The name of the Umani Rochi wine made from that grape, Vellodoro, means roughly the Golden Fleece sought in myth by the Argonauts.

Inside Abruzzo, nestled in the foothills and bathing in the waves of the Adriatic Sea, is the Terra di Chieti IGT.  White wines are the specialty of the region and Pecorino is the primary grape there, although Umani Ronchi grows largely Montepulciano in the deep, sandy clay soil of their Abruzzo vineyards. 

Umani Ronchi Terra di Chieti Pecorino Vellodoro 2018

The wine - a 100% Pecorino varietal showing the grape’s characteristic aromatics and high acidity - was vinified in stainless steel tanks and did not undergo malolactic fermentation, although it did rest on its lees for four months.  That contact with the spent yeast cells is what gives Vellodoro its weight.  Alcohol stays at 12.5% abv and it sells online for about $14.

This wine of the Pecorino grape displays a light floral note on the nose, but the show is its minerality.  Citrus aromas even take a back seat to the smell of wet driveway.  On the palate, lemon, lime and almonds play a bigger role amidst a ripping acidity.  Enjoy in the wintertime, but stick a bottle aside for when warm-weather foods take over.  


Wednesday, February 5, 2020

NZ Chardonnay Mimics SB

New Zealand is known in the wine world for the country's unique Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir.  The cool, maritime climate lends a wonderful acidity, particularly to the white wines. 

Native New Zealanders Brent and Shirley Rawstron have a thing about white wine grapes, and they are currently releasing not only a Sauvignon Blanc but a Chardonnay and Pinot Gris as well.  They gave their wines the name of a favorite local surf spot, Waipapa Bay, which also happens to be a great place to go whale watching.  The area lies between their Canterbury home and their vineyards in Rapaura - on the northern end of New Zealand's South Island.

Along with the Waipapa Bay 2019 releases, the winery has announced a partnership with Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) - the nonprofit’s first wine industry corporate sponsor.  WDC was founded in 1985 and now spans the globe to lead the charge on protections for whales and dolphins.  A spokeswoman for WDC says, "We are excited to receive the support of sustainably-focused businesses such as Waipapa Bay Wines."  The Rawlstons are just as excited about supporting WDC's efforts to end captivity, stop whaling, create healthy seas, and prevent accidental deaths in fishing gear.

Waipapa Bay Chardonnay Marlborough 2019

This wine is remarkable.  It is bottled under a screw cap, pings the alcohol scale at 13% abv and retails for about $13.

The nose on this New Zealand Chardonnay is so fresh and green that I thought I had inadvertently opened the Sauvignon Blanc.  Grassy, herbal aromas pop right out, with bright citrus, apple and stone fruit following.  The palate features lemon, grapefruit and apricot (!) with a racy acidity that adds to the freshness.  The wine has some heft to it - thanks to malolactic fermentation - so it plays well in the winter.  I am sure it will be just as welcome in the spring and summer.


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