Lately, I’ve been reading a lot of books and listening to cds on meditation and spirituality. One of the common themes that comes up is the power of intention. I tried an experiment yesterday. I had ordered some vintage ports that were going to be delivered last Friday. Unfortunately no one was home at the time the Fedex delivery person arrived. I know, I know, I should have used a business address. I found a notice stating the failed delivery attempt (an adult signature was required).

                On Monday, I feared a failed delivery would happen again since I was working and no one would be home. I started looking up the customer service number for Fedex etc… And then I thought to myself, I will be home for lunch from 12:30 to 1:15pm, why not use the power of intention to time the delivery of the vintage port at the same time. I visualized the delivery and firmly believed that it was going to happen. I got on with more pressing matters, like creating my viticulture lecture for today.

                I arrived at my house later than I wanted, at 12:45pm. I grabbed a quick lunch and was leaving the house at 1:20pm. No sign of Fedex anywhere, I was disappointed. I opened up the garage and looked longingly once again for the delivery truck, no truck in sight. I got in my car, released the parking brake, and looked in the rear view mirror to start backing out of the garage. Lo and behold, in the rear view mirror was the Fedex logo! I jumped out of the car excitedly and retrieved my vintage port. Power of intention at work or just pure coincidence, I’ll believe the former. J

                                                                                                -Billo

The second night of tastings was a slightly lesser form of insanity. This was because the host, a preeminent cardiologist in the great state of Texas (whom we shall refer to as Dr. T), had to work the next day.  However, let it be stated that Dr. T has hosted more than his fair share of wild and crazy wine events.

For Dr. T cooking is as much a passion as is medicine. He is a truly great amateur chef. Dr. T made a melt in your mouth, to die for beef tenderloin, along with some heavenly mushroom risotto. Of course, I had to go for seconds for both (I didn’t want it to go bad! J).

NV Yann Alexandre Brut

NV Yann Alexandre Rose

2006 Black Kite, Pinot noir “Redwood’s Edge” – This is really good, and it actually tastes like pinot, not a cab wannabe. I cannot remember the last time I had a pinot from Cali that I liked this much. This wine had finesse and delicacy, just what a good pinot should have. I recommend getting a bottle or two.

1998 Brancaia – This was disappointing, the bottle was sound but not much going on here. It was fairly one dimensional with a short finish. I suggested using it for cooking wine which nearly got me slapped.

1994 Tinto Pesquera “Janus” (Magnum) – Sadly we got a less than stellar bottle here. This should have been a killer wine, a true 100 pter. But sadly it was not to be, the wine had seen some heat damage. It was enjoyable but not what it should have been.

1994 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon (I brought this and it was slightly corked. This is the fourth bottle of a 2 case purchase, of which about 18 have been opened, that has had TCA. Chuck Wagner owes me bigtime!)

1996 Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve – I was among the minority who really liked this wine. Lots of black currant, blackberry with a bit of green pepper with a nice, medium finish. I think some people get turned off by any signs of herbaceousness in a cab, but IMO good cab should have some hints of bell pepper/herbaceaousness (however, I agree that these flavors should never dominate).

1998 Ojai Syrah, Roll Ranch Special Bottling E. H. [This was absolutely beautiful. 95 pts]

After the last of these wines, I made the following smartass comment to Dr. T, “Hey Dr. T don’t you have anything really good to drink?”  He hurled obscenities at me (something about me being a rat bastard blah, blah, blah), and then I got what I was patiently awaiting, “Billo, get whatever you want from the cellar”. YES! The keys to the kingdom, it was going to be a spectacular night after all. I have the greatest friends in the world, don’t I?

You are probably wondering what I selected, patience dear reader, patience. First of all, Dr. T has a beautiful cellar. It truly is a marvel to behold. The cellar has beautiful archways and racks for magnums and places for really big bottles. He has over 2000 bottles in there, each one better than the next. Dr. T’s cellar is a work of art, an obvious expression of his love for wine. An amazing array of Chamagnes, CDPs, Burgundies, California Cabs (more Peter Michael than you can shake a stick at), Bordeauxs, Aussies, Barolos, and on it goes…

As I was wandering in sheer awe, I espied one of my favorite Bordeaux houses, Chateau Leoville las Cases. It was a 1990! Even more amazing, it was a magnum! This is a complete no-brainer. Oh, wait a minute, what is that over there, with such a lovely golden hue? Mother of all elixirs, it is the infamous Chateau d’Yquem, the 1998. Alas, not in magnum, but it will have to do. After all, we need to have something to drink with dessert.

I tell Dr. T what I have chosen, he hurls even more obscenities at me (apparently he has a penchant for the term Rat Bastard!).  Who could blame him, I’m taking him for an unbelievable left bank and the quintessential Sauternes. He yells at me some more (something about me not having a conscience blah, blah, blah), smiles, and tells me to go for it. What a great guy!

1990 Leoville Las Cases (Magnum) – This was stunning! It is very typical of a great left bank, 98 pts.

1998 Chateau d’Yquem – Liquid gold, absolutely yummy, 96 pts.

I stumbled upon some tasting notes from previous events. I have a great bunch of avid wine collector friends in Austin, TX. This is from a tasting event last December, and yes I was hurting big time the next day!

Austin Insanity December, 2008

I try to visit Austin as often as I can. I always go to Austin for a pre-Christmas trip to catch up with old friends. When I lived in Austin, I used to help run a wine tasting group which was rather appropriately named “The SOBs”. This is short for The Sons of Bacchus, although many people we encountered suggested that the more traditional interpretation of the acronym was more apropos. Nonetheless, the SOBs had numerous, insane fine wine tasting events. Some of our past tastings have included the following: 82 First Growth Bordeauxs, 90 Grand Cru Burgundies, 63 Vintage Ports, and wines that rated 100pts from either Parker or Wine Spectator. As you have probably inferred, we like over the top tastings. Our philosophy in a nutshell, the more great wines the better, and too many great wines is never enough. Like I said before, insane! J

This trip to Austin was no different; there were lots of great wine tastings and dinners. Many a night did I revel in great company and great wines, and many a morning did I wake up swearing off alcohol for good! I have given up alcohol so many times that I am getting quite good at it. J  Let’s start with the first of such tastings on this trip to Austin.

One of my great friends in Austin is a very successful, highly intelligent, and completely generous sort of fellow. Oh, did I also mention that he is absolutely nuts! By nuts, I mean in an eccentric professor type of way not the Charles Manson kind. Let’s call my friend Dr. Sunshine for now.

Dr. Sunshine has been an avid wine collector for many, many years. He has amazing wines from every region of the world. When I lived in Austin, Athena (my ex) and I used to have an annual Champagne Holiday party. Now that I have moved away from my beloved Austin, my fellow SOBs have taken up the hosting duties so that the Champagne Holiday party tradition continues. This year, Dr. Sunshine volunteered (perhaps there was some gentle coercion here, I’ll never tell) to host the event.

Dr. Sunshine needed some assistance reorganizing his cellar prior to the Champagne party. He offered to open up a 1990 Latour for those willing to come a couple hours early and help with the cellar. Yes, I showed up early, and the rumors that I just stood around drinking the Latour while others labored are totally false. I helped, honest I did. But the 90 Latour was fantastic! This is the epitome of great wine; it has great complexity, perfect balance, and length. The wine had beautiful earthy, slightly meaty notes which were interlaced with black currant and bell pepper. The texture on the palate was silky, and the finish lingered for several minutes. In short, the wine was decadent and perfect. This wine will easily hold for another 10-15 years, so there is no rush to drink it but I would understand if you did.

As is tradition at the Champagne party, each person brings a bottle of Champagne and, optionally, a red wine to be served blind later. I’m a big fan of blind tastings but this year we dispensed with serving the red wines blind. Below is a complete list of the wines consumed. The Champagnes that stood out for me were the 89 Krug, 87 Pommery Cuvee Louise, 74 Deutz Vinoteque, the 93 Bollinger, and the Heidsieck Rose Non-Vintage.  Almost all of the red wines were pillaged from Dr. Sunshine’s cellar. He gave his fellow SOBs carte blanche in his cellar, I did say he was completely generous. Here is the carnage (quite the list indeed!):

NV Besserat de Bellefon Blanc des Blancs

2002 Henri Billiot

2000 Henri Goutorbe

2003 Bollinger

NV Nicolas Feuillatte Rose

1988 Schramsberg Late Disgorged, Blanc des Noirs (Magnum)

1970 Dom Perignon

1995 Perrier Jouet Fleur de Champagne

1989 Krug

1986 Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs

1998 Launois, Les Mesnil

1999 Perrier Jouet Blanc de Blancs

2002 Roederer Cristal

1987 Pommery, “Louise Pommery”

1995 Moet et Chandon

2002 Roederer Blanc de Blancs

1996 Pierre Gimonet Blanc de Blancs

1995 Krug

1974 Deutz Vinoteque

1989 Woodward Canyon Cabernet Sauvignon

2007 Paco and Lola, Albarino

1995 Dal Forno Amarone

1989 Haut Brion

1990 Latour

1986 Gruaud Larose

2006 Cayuse Cailloux Vineyard

1990 Chateau Tertre Roteboeuf

1993 Rayas

1999 Araujo Syrah

2005 Chateau Lascombes (Magnum)

1991 Philip Togni

1994 Harlan

2004 Donnafugata Ben Rye, Sagrantina

2006 Saxum Syrah, James Berry Vineyard – An over the top style of Syrah. Plenty of ripe fruit

2002 DuMol Syrah, Eddie’s Patch – Flawed bottle, tons of ethyl acetate. I couldn’t believe that people were drinking this and liking it, yikes!

1989 Chateau Belair

2007 Rasa QED

1995 Tili Gaudium

1995 Tirucul La Gradiers Cuvee Madame

1992 Ridge Late Harvest Zinfandel

1992 Fonseca

1977 Warres

I know, I know, this tasting was way over the top. But true to SOB form, thanks Dr. Sunshine!

I’ve been in Austin, my favorite city in the world, for the past couple days. I will be here another week or so. I have a lot of great friends down here, one of them is Dr. Tom. He’s a totally great guy, but he is a bit of a nut too! His wine cellar is amazing, easily one of the most beautiful and well stocked wine cellars I’ve seen. We met at one of our favorite restaurants in Austin, Wink.

Wink has great food and even greater desserts. The chocolate soup is absolutely amazing, and is definitely one of my favorite desserts. We feasted on mini-burgers with foie gras, mac and cheese with truffles, house cured salmon, and a very nice cheese plate.

Tom hadn’t tasted the 07 Rasa QED yet, so I brought a bottle down for him to try. My buddy Kevin joined us as well. The QED was showing really well. Tom liked it as did the folks who work at Wink. Tom brought the 97 Livingston Moffett CS and the 01 Lewis Syrah (the 97 Cornerstone Beatty Ranch CS he brought was corked, major bummer!).

The 97 Livingston Moffet CS was at its peak. Notes of currants, tobacco, and earth with soft, silky tannins. The wine could have been more complex but it was very good nonetheless. I’d recommend drinking up if you have any.

The 01 Lewis Syrah was a bit disappointing. Nothing but oak on the aroma and palate. Where did the fruit go? I hope this is an isolated instance, this bottle should have been fantastic.

It was really cool to catch up with a good friend and hear all the exciting things he’s doing and all the cool wines he’s purchasing. This reminds me, I still need to find a way to sneak into Dr. Tom’s cellar and raid his 59 and 82 Bordeauxs!

I had the pleasure of meeting with Dan McCarthy a couple weekends ago. He is one of the owners of McCarthy and Schiering Wine Merchants in Seattle. His store has a great selection of wines from all over the world.

Dan was kind enough to meet with me on short notice. I wanted to pour the 07 Rasa Vineyards QED for him. Dan is very enthusiastic about wine, he obviously loves what he does. I love meeting people who are passionate about what they do. He has an amazing palate, his comments about the wine were spot on.

At the end of the tasting Dan said something that had me jumping up and down, “Billo, this wine has the structure of a great Hermitage.”  This is exactly what Pinto and I have been striving to achieve, a beautifully balanced wine with great structure. I was so happy to hear that from Dan.

The QED will be available in a couple weeks at Dan’s store. He is also going to write about the wine in his next newsletter. Check out www.mccarthyandschiering.com, thanks.

I was visting a friend tonight. We shared a great dessert Muscat from Buller Winery, Rutherglen, Australia. It was thick and rich on the palate with beautiful floral aromatics. It had a stunning finish. Afterwards, on my way through the lobby at Marcus Whitman Hotel (I’m staying at a hotel for a few months while my house is being built) I stopped by to tickle the ivories on their vintage Chickering baby grand. I was playing a Beethoven piece when a young couple walked through the lobby. They were a little loud and I get distracted easily. I lost my place in the piece and stopped playing. The young couple sat on the couch and wanted me to play something for them. I usually get nervous playing for people, my tone and expressiveness gets off. The young gentleman insisted that I continue playing, and jokingly asked me to play something romantic, “something that will make her come closer to me.”

This was a rather tall order. I played one of my all time favorite pieces, the Spanish Dance #5 by Granados. To my surprise, I was actually able to play well for them, with nice expressiveness and tonality. The young gentleman loved the piece so much that he insisted on giving me a tip. I was really taken back by this, so I told him that it wasn’t necessay. He said that the piece was too good and he had to give me something. He threw the money he had in his pocket onto the piano and apologized for not being able to give me more. I was a bit stunned and before I could say anything the couple left. I felt kind of bad taking the money, but I didn’t want to leave it on the piano. Thus, I received my first tip, five crisp $1 bills. Well, he was a really nice guy, and I hope he gets lucky tonight!

Hello Everyone,

It is official, I am finally starting my blog. I’m only about 3 months behind schedule. I wanted to start blogging in February but something more pressing was always coming up. Blogging will just have to become a  priority.  I think it will be fun.

A little background, my brother and I started Rasa Vineyards in 2007. We just released our first wine the 07 Rasa Vineyards QED this weekend. It is really good! I think you will be pleased. Prior to becoming a winemaker, I worked in the computer consulting industry. You can read more information about my brother and me on our winery website, www.rasavineyards.com. BTW my brother has been doing a blog for quite some time, his blog is at www.winerasa.com.

I also have a twitter account, my username is ”winenut”. I think that username appropriately sums things up!

My blog will be very much like me, eclectic. I have a lot of interests and I will probably be talking about them at one time or another.  I hope you like the blog, and I look forward to reading your comments. And most importantly, I definitely want to hear about your tasting experience when you try any of the Rasa Vineyards wines. Thanks,

 -Billo

Sample post from: http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/homestyle/02/12/mr.wine.chocolate/

Red wine and chocolate are a darling pair these days. With all those deep, dark chocolate notes right in a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon, this wine seems like a natural match for an intensely-flavored, dark chocolate dessert.

Warm chocolate soufflé cake with raspberry sauce is heavenly Valentine Day treat.

But are the two perfect together? Maybe not, according to Sara Schneider, Sunset wine editor.

“Along with those sweet-seeming chocolate flavors and dark berries and plums, good (young) Cabernet Sauvignon has a backbone of tannin that can suddenly taste harsh and astringent when you put it with chocolate, especially if the chocolate is quite sweet,” she says.

“Merlot, on the other hand, tends to have softer, rounder tannins under its cocoa and mocha layers; it’s often a more seamless partner for chocolate,” says Schneider.

“Consider Zinfandel too. It’s a variety that often goes way beyond “hints of chocolate” to practically being chocolate coated–and it rarely has the tannin level of Cab and Merlot (Bordeaux varieties).”

Tips for pairing:

• The chocolate shouldn’t be sweeter than the wine.

• The darker the chocolate, the more likely it will be to taste good with red wine (partly because chocolate with a higher percentage of cacao has less sugar).

• The darker chocolates, with deep-roasted flavors, pair well with wines with dark, toasty notes themselves.

• Port-style and sweet late-harvest reds tend to be the best matches for chocolate desserts.

An ideal couple

Here are some of Schneider’s favorite chocolate desserts with her suggestions for the perfect wine partner.

• The flavors of warm chocolate souffle cakes with raspberry sauce explode when paired with a late-harvest Sauvignon Blanc or a late-harvest Chenin Blanc.

• A sweet sparkling rosé adds extra sparkle to chocolate fudge cheesecake.

• A tawny Port or an orange Muscat are the perfect match for bourbon pecan tart with chocolate drizzle.

• Give chocolate-chip shortcakes with berries and dark chocolate sauce a try with a late-harvest Zinfandel.

Taste the magic

• Try a new line of quality chocolate introduced at the San Diego Fancy Food Show in January 2008. Brix: Chocolate For Wine Lovers are milk and dark chocolate bricks specially designed to complement the various varietals of wine. Watch where to getaway in wine country »

• Get saucy with two wine-flavored chocolate sauces from Caramoomel, Wine Lovers Dark Chocolate Sauce with Merlot and Wine Lovers White Chocolate Sauce with Riesling. Both are smooth, silky, and perfect for a drizzle on ice cream, cake, or fresh fruit.

• Next time you’re in St. Louis, enjoy a wine and chocolate pairing at the dine-in location of one of the forerunners in the chocolate biz, Bissinger’s Handcrafted Chocolatier. Culinary and wine experts Margaret Kelly and Dave Owens are responsible for pairing their decadent chocolate confections with various varietals at Bissinger’s: A Chocolate Experience.