Jillyrh. Congratulations!
Go to the "Wines I'm Drinking" tab to see all 16 reviews.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Wines I'm Drinking: And We Have a Winner...
Jillyrh. Congratulations!
Go to the "Wines I'm Drinking" tab to see all 16 reviews.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Art I'm Looking At: Teaching Printmaking
Today was the last day of what ended up being a six-week course in printmaking I taught at the Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts. I hope the kids (fifth graders) enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed teaching it (they seemed to). I was extremely impressed by the work these first-time printmakers did. We covered a variety of printmaking methods including etching, styrofoam "etching," collography with found objects, block printing, and linoleum block printing. The kids learned the basics of each technique; how to roll out ink and ink plates/blocks (which went reasonably well despite the cheap tools and inks the school was forced to use because of lack of a budget for anything better); how to print and title, number, and sign an edition; and matting.Today, the last day, the students critiqued their work. The top photo shows the work of a single child using the styrofoam "etching" technique, a linocut, and a found object collograph in two colors. The second photo shows one of the most interesting linocuts the kids did. Entitled "Cat to Sun, Dog to Moon," this is by an 11-year-old printmaker that had had no prior experience. It's easy to underestimate what it takes to create a narrative work like this or the dexterity required to cut so intricate a design at this age. Very cool indeed.
Wines I'm Making: First Leaves on the Sangiovese Vines
Plants I'm Growing--First Blooms: Redbud
This is another plant that reminds me of Ohio. Everything seems to remind me of Ohio these days. We had one of these in the yard of my mother's house in Dayton. It fared much better there, shrugging off the cold and snow.
Wines I'm Drinking: Six Cheap Chardonnays
- 2006 Imagine Sonoma County Chardonnay
- 2008 Barossa Boxer Barossa Valley Chardonnay (Australia)
- 2007 Ventus Patagonia Chardonnay (Argentina)
- 2009 Aussie Vineyards "12 Apostles" South Eastern Australia Chardonnay
- 2005 Fonty's Pool Pemberton Western Australia Chardonnay
- 2009 Fly South Eastern Australia Chardonnay
Pale gold. Quite thin at the rim. Wood scents. Pear blossom. Fairly delicate nose. Nothing really distinctive at first, but later there were strong suggestions of toasty oak. The change on the nose with a little time was fairly dramatic. Rich and buttery tasting. Highly extracted. Has real presence. Acid is pronounced at first, but the tartness falls off fairly quickly and then comes back on a rather long finish also marked by toasty oak scents again and buttery flavors. Solid Chardonnay. Not great wine, but good everyday wine. My favorite of the group of six. Recommended. $6.99 at Grocery Outlet.
2008 Barossa Boxer Barossa Valley Chardonnay (Australia)
Pale gold again and likewise thin at the rim. Very different on the nose, however. Citrus scents. Gooseberries. Very strongly reminiscent of a Sauvignon Blanc. Hints of grapefruit and vegetation. I think any experienced wine drinker tasting this wine blind would call it a Sauvignon Blanc with little hesitation. Moderate to light in body, but good length with a dry finish tinged with a lingering acidity. If you can ignore the fact that this tastes more like a Sauvignon Blanc than a Chardonnay, this is tasty everyday wine. My second-favorite among the six wines. Recommended. $4.99 at Grocery Outlet. Perhaps the best value of the group.
2007 Ventus Patagonia Chardonnay (Argentina)
Fuller, deeper gold with a greenish tinge. Buttery, butterscotch nose. Scents of oil and cereal. Suggested flaxseed or a multigrain flax-rich breakfast cereal. Very unusual scent for a Chardonnay--or any wine. Not unpleasant necessarily, but different. Toasted grain scents. Tasted like toasted grain as well. Otherwise, not very distinctive. A bit flat (lacking in acid) and one dimensional. Short finish. I liked this least among the six wines, but none of these were outright bad. $4.99 a bottle.
2009 Aussie Vineyards "12 Apostles" South Eastern Australia Chardonnay
Palest of the six wines. Nearly colorless. Perfumey nose. Scented soap. Cinnamon. Sandalwood. Incense. Reminded me of a 1970s head shop. Later, melon scents, sappy scents. A hint of asparagus. Sharp attack. Acidic at first, but the acid falls away quickly, leaving a rather flabby impression. Not much length. No distinctive flavors. Not especially unpleasant, but not especially interesting either. $3.99 a bottle.
Very similar in color to the Ventus wine--a medium gold with a green tinge. Smelled like lemons, lemon cake icing, lemonade, then cereal or grain scents again. Later I began to get suggestions of pimento-stuffed olives and something suggestive of champagne, which usually means yeast and green apples, but the scents weren't quite as easy to pin down as that. Fairly concentrated and powerful on the palate, but not quite as assertive as the Imagine wine. Sweet, grapey, fruity mid-palate. Moderate to good length. Slightly tart finish. Not as good as either the Imagine wine or the Barossa Boxer wine, but probably my third-favorite of the group. I preferred the other two wines, but this is quite acceptable for everyday drinking. $4.99 a bottle.
2009 Fly South Eastern Australia Chardonnay
Pale gold. Thin at the rim. Floral on the nose. Most flowery of the wines. Honeydew melon. Tart, bright first impression, but the tartness falls away quickly. Moderate body. Moderate length. Some canned vegetable flavors on the finish. Not terribly distinctive. Not one of my favorites. $4.99 a bottle.
Conclusions: Looking back at the past week, choosing all white wines and rosés was a gamble on my part. The somewhat older wines Grocery Outlet often buys can be tricky in the case of whites; a little age is more likely to be a good thing in a red--but I knew something good would come of what I picked. There were several wines I liked well enough to recommend: the Bardolino Chiaretto and the Frias Family Vineyard rosés among the pink wines, and the Imagine and the Barossa Boxer wines among the Chardonnays, followed by the Fonty's Pool wine, the Blue Cove rosé, the Yering Station M.V.R. wine from day two, and the Clos du Bois rosé. I hope that gives you enough choices.....
I will announce the winner of the gift card tomorrow.
GIFT CARD GIVEAWAY: I'm giving away a $50 Grocery Outlet gift card this week as part of the promotion. To be eligible to win, all you have to do is comment on one of my Grocery Outlet reviews this week (March 22-26), Tweet about one of the reviews or post a message about one of the reviews on Facebook. The winner will be selected at random from all eligible readers. The winner must agree to blog or tweet about what the card ends up buying at Grocery Outlet. That's all there is to it. Good Luck!
(For more information about the promotion, see my initial post on the subject. See more wine reviews by clicking the "Wines I'm Drinking" label in the bar at right. While you're at it, feel free to explore the rest of my blog. I write frequently and about many topics.)
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Art I'm Looking At: Found Art--Lettuce (March 25, 2010)
Plants I'm Growing--First Blooms: Rhododendron "Double Eagle" (2010)
Rain: Beautiful Rainbow (March 25 through April 4, 2010)
[Update: Since last posting (above) we've had another 1.1 inches of rain. The 2009-2010 total is now 26.05 inches as of the evening of April 3--but more rain is forecast for tomorrow and Monday....]
[Further update: On the evening of the 4th and the morning of the 5th, yet another inch of rain fell, bringing the total to 27.05 inches.]
Wines I'm Drinking: Six Inexpensive Rosés (Continued)
- 2006 Blue Cove Rosé (South Africa, Cabernet Sauvignon)
- 2007 Julia Chivite, Gran Feudo Rosé (Navarra, Spain, Grenache)
- 2008 Clos du Bois, Sonoma County Dry Rosé
- NV Enjoie Dry Rosé Wine (Napa, California, Grenache/Barbera)
- 2006 Giacomo Montresor Brolo Alto Bardolino Chiaretto
- 2008 Frias Family Vineyard Napa Valley Rosé
Today I'm posting notes for the last three. See my previous post (yesterday) for notes on the first three. I enjoyed these wines with grilled herb-stuffed trout and herbed mashed potatoes, both made with chives, oregano, parsley, rosemary, and thyme fresh from the garden (left).
NV Enjoie Dry Rosé Wine (Napa, California, Grenache/Barbera)
This had such a strange and unpleasant smell that I immediately suspected something was wrong with it--that it had been damaged in transit or storage. Just to be sure, I took it back to the store and got a new bottle. I make wine. I know how much effort and love goes into every bottle. I would hate to dismiss a wine because of a single bad bottle--and bad bottles occasionally happen to just about everybody. The first bottle I tasted smelled of burned sugar and reminded me of those horrible candy corn things that people STILL give out at Halloween (yes, I know some people like candy corn; I don't). The scent was very unpleasant. It tasted much like it smelled--with a strange burned, oxidized flavor. Short, nasty, and sour. Rarely is a wine so unpleasant that it's undrinkable. The second bottle was much better, but not entirely different. The wine still had a slightly oxidized nose and there was still something burned about the nose, although the odd scents were less pronounced than in the first bottle. There were suggestions of vanilla and perhaps root beer--which is not terribly common in wine.... On the palate, the wine was a trifle better than it had been, but still thin, sour, lacking in fruit, and unpleasant. I hate to say it, but this is not worth even the $3.99 asked. I don't know what went wrong here, but something went wrong.
But, no matter. I've just saved you the trouble of buying it, and, more importantly, the last two wines in the group of six I tasted were very tasty. Read on.
This had such a strange and unpleasant smell that I immediately suspected something was wrong with it--that it had been damaged in transit or storage. Just to be sure, I took it back to the store and got a new bottle. I make wine. I know how much effort and love goes into every bottle. I would hate to dismiss a wine because of a single bad bottle--and bad bottles occasionally happen to just about everybody. The first bottle I tasted smelled of burned sugar and reminded me of those horrible candy corn things that people STILL give out at Halloween (yes, I know some people like candy corn; I don't). The scent was very unpleasant. It tasted much like it smelled--with a strange burned, oxidized flavor. Short, nasty, and sour. Rarely is a wine so unpleasant that it's undrinkable. The second bottle was much better, but not entirely different. The wine still had a slightly oxidized nose and there was still something burned about the nose, although the odd scents were less pronounced than in the first bottle. There were suggestions of vanilla and perhaps root beer--which is not terribly common in wine.... On the palate, the wine was a trifle better than it had been, but still thin, sour, lacking in fruit, and unpleasant. I hate to say it, but this is not worth even the $3.99 asked. I don't know what went wrong here, but something went wrong.
A very pale orange-pink. Perfumed nose. Tropical scents. Coconuts perhaps? Also some interesting barnyard scents (this is a good thing; think Burgundy). Later there were suggestions of vanilla and wood. Very interesting nose. Clean and very dry on the palate. The driest of the six wines. It had a certain astringency that I rather liked, although this wine may appeal less to drinkers used to a sweeter, more fruity style of rosé. The wine seems to fade away but then comes back with a slightly sweet, woody finish. Delicate and subtle. I liked this better the more I tasted it. Excellent with the fish. Probably my favorite of the six wines (but see below). Bardolino is the geographic designation here, by the way, indicating wine from the area around the town of that name on the southeast edge of Lake Garda in northern Italy (Veneto). "Chiaretto" is an Italian term for any pale red wine--or a rosé. Bardolino rosés are made from the Corvina, Rondinella, and Molinara grapes, the same grapes that go into Valpolicella, which is probably a somewhat more familiar name. Excellent. Recommended if you like very dry rosés. I will go back for more of this. $5.99 at Grocery Outlet.
Pale, rosy pink. Thinnest of all the wines but the most orange in hue. Had a nice, soft orange-marshmallow scent followed by strawberries and then something leathery--sandalwood, perhaps. Has presence on the palate. Offers fruity sweetness and has good balancing acidity, although I wouldn't have minded a bit more. This wine seems a little sweet coming right after the very dry Bardolino. Still, it was crisp and flavorful. Very tasty. Nice lingering woody, spicy flavors on top of the fruit. I enjoyed this one very much. Recommended. $4.99 at Grocery Outlet.
After tasting all six wines, I initially felt the Bardolino, the Frias Family Vineyard wine and the South African Blue Cove wine (see yesterday's notes) were the best. As I sat down to eat dinner (the herbed trout), I continued to taste the wines, thinking about how well they went with food. That changed my perspective a little. The Bardolino and the Frias Family wines remained excellent. The Blue Cove wine began to seem somewhat less interesting because of its relative sweetness (although the Frias Family wine has quite noticeable residual sugar as well). At the same time, both the Julia Chivite and Clos du Bois wines seemed to improve, particularly the latter. At the end of the evening, however, it was the Frias Family Vineyard rosé that had mostly disappeared and the Bardolino was almost gone as well, and that is perhaps the best indicator of quality and appeal; these were the two wines I kept coming back to. If I had to choose just one, I'd personally go for the Bardolino.
More wines from Grocery Outlet tomorrow--I'll be tasting more inexpensive Chardonnays.
GIFT CARD GIVEAWAY: I'm giving away a $50 Grocery Outlet gift card this week as part of the promotion. To be eligible to win, all you have to do is comment on one of my Grocery Outlet reviews this week (March 22-26), Tweet about one of the reviews or post a message about one of the reviews on Facebook. The winner will be selected at random from all eligible readers. The winner must agree to blog or tweet about what the card ends up buying at Grocery Outlet. That's all there is to it. Good Luck!
(For more information about the promotion, see my initial post on the subject. See more wine reviews by clicking the "Wines I'm Drinking" label in the bar at right. While you're at it, feel free to explore the rest of my blog. I write frequently and about many topics.)
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Movies I'm Watching: Jump Tomorrow
So many films described as laugh-out-loud funny simply aren't, but this had my sides aching, and it manages to incorporate a love story within the often hilarious tale of bumbling, uptight, clueless-yet-sincere George (Tunde Adebimpe) a young man who gets hopelessly sidetracked on the way to his own wedding, which is to take place in a few days (to a childhood friend he hasn't seen in years--a wedding arranged long ago in his home country of Nigeria by his relatives and hers).
He's somewhat dazed and confused from the outset; he's a day late for his appointment to pick up his fiancé arriving from Nigeria at the airport, where two chance encounters send him caroming in new directions. He bumps into Alicia (Natalia Verbeke), a sexy, vivacious Spanish beauty and falls in love at first sight. We get the impression he's never been in love before. He then bumps into Gerard (Hippolyte Girardot), a Frenchman who's just been jilted and left holding the flowers after proposing marriage to his girlfriend at one of the airport gates. We get the impression he's been in love far too often. The rest of the film is fueled by George's quest for Alicia, aided and abetted by the semi-suicidal Gerard who thinks he knows a thing or two about love, while George's wedding looms ever closer.
Jump Tomorrow's themes are familiar. There is much that's predictable here. At its core, this movie is about the struggle between the imperatives of love and lust on the one hand and the shackles of responsibility on the other--two conflicting forces that can and do scar lives when they clash. It draws shamelessly on our desire to see unfettered love triumph--to hell with responsibility--but it allows us to do so with a good conscience: Alicia's boyfriend is hardly a sympathetic character, George finds a path in life that appears to make sense, and Gerard comes to accept his situation. Yes, on one level there's nothing new here--the human struggle between love and duty is an old story, but it's a story we love to see play out.
The editing and visual presentation were striking. Particularly interesting was the use of plain backgrounds of a single (often primary) color with just a head shot or a single prop in a contrasting color that was common in the early part of the film. There is a quality about the design choices that brings Mondrian to mind. The starkness and plainness are perhaps intended to suggest the uncomplicated life that George has led so far. As the film progresses and George's life starts to go haywire, the device is used less frequently. Whatever the intent, it was visually arresting. While Jump Tomorrow is visually modern, the film's almost irresistible appeal to our desire to see George break free and follow his heart and the movie's ultimately hopeful, life-affirming message are reminiscent of films by Frank Capra like It's a Wonderful Lif and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Recommended.
Wines I'm Drinking: Six Inexpensive Rosés
I tasted six inexpensive rosés from Grocery Outlet blind today--more of the wines from Grocery Outlet I've been tasting ahead of one of that company's twice-annual wine sales (20% off all wines March 30 through April 3). The six rosé wines I tasted were:
- 2006 Blue Cove Rosé (South Africa, Cabernet Sauvignon)
- 2007 Julian Chivite, Gran Feudo Rosé (Navarra, Spain, Grenache)
- 2008 Clos du Bois, Sonoma County Dry Rosé
- NV Enjoie Dry Rosé Wine (Napa, California, Grenache/Barbera)
- 2006 Giacomo Montresor Brolo Alto Bardolino Chiaretto
- 2008 Frias Family Vineyard Napa Valley Rosé
A very pretty salmon color (a fairly deep orange-pink). The nose offered dusky strawberry scents and a hint of sulfur that was a bit worrisome at first but blew off quickly. With a little time I got the pleasant scent of linseed oil with the strawberries and a suggestion of cranberries. Medium body on the palate. Sweet but with a good balancing acid bite. Sweeter on the mid-palate. Gives an impression of richness. Quite long and with an interesting hint of tannin on the finish, including a little bitterness that was not at all unattractive. My initial impression of this wine was favorable, although with food, the comparative sweetness made it less attractive than some of the other wines. Perhaps best on its own? Still, this was among my favorites of the evening. Good value. Not especially nuanced, but recommended for everyday drinking if you prefer sweeter styles of rosé or if you're looking mostly for a stand-alone sipping wine. Good value at only $3.99 a bottle. To be clear, this is not a sweet wine, just a bit less dry than some of the others I tasted in this group of rosés.
2007 Julian Chivite, Gran Feudo Rosé (Navarra, Spain, Grenache)
Very pale rose pink. Looks quite thin. Powdered sugar scents. Raspberries. Raspberries and cream. Sweet cake-like scents. Not very distinctive on the palate, though. Fairly short. Crisp, but not a lot of flavor. A bit sour on the finish with tartness lingering on the tip of the tongue. Overall, seemed thin and somewhat sour. Not a favorite, although it began to seem more interesting later, with food. While this is not a bad value at only $2.99 a bottle, there were better wines among the six I tasted. I preferred both the Blue Cove wine and the Clos du Bois wine (below) among the first three. Again, hard to argue with this at only $2.99 a bottle, but not among the better wines of the group of six.
Very pale rose pink. Looks quite thin. Powdered sugar scents. Raspberries. Raspberries and cream. Sweet cake-like scents. Not very distinctive on the palate, though. Fairly short. Crisp, but not a lot of flavor. A bit sour on the finish with tartness lingering on the tip of the tongue. Overall, seemed thin and somewhat sour. Not a favorite, although it began to seem more interesting later, with food. While this is not a bad value at only $2.99 a bottle, there were better wines among the six I tasted. I preferred both the Blue Cove wine and the Clos du Bois wine (below) among the first three. Again, hard to argue with this at only $2.99 a bottle, but not among the better wines of the group of six.
2008 Clos du Bois, Sonoma County Dry Rosé
Pale rose pink again, but slightly deeper in hue than the Julia Chivite wine. The nose was vaguely suggestive of candy apples, but generally fairly closed. Light in body on the palate. Moderate length. Sweetish but with adequate balancing acidity. The lingering impression is one of simple ripe fruit. Sweetness made the wine seem a bit heavy on the finish, but later and with food, this seemed more focused and interesting. Not a favorite, but quite acceptable for everyday drinking. Fairly priced at $3.99 a bottle.
More wines from Grocery Outlet tomorrow--specifically, the other three rosés. Of those I tasted today, the Blue Cove wine was best, but my favorites of the six rosés were both among the second group (see tomorrow's notes).
GIFT CARD GIVEAWAY: I'm giving away a $50 Grocery Outlet gift card this week as part of the promotion. To be eligible to win, all you have to do is comment on one of my Grocery Outlet reviews this week (March 22-26), Tweet about one of the reviews or post a message about one of the reviews on Facebook. The winner will be selected at random from all eligible readers. The winner must agree to blog or tweet about what the card ends up buying at Grocery Outlet. That's all there is to it. Good Luck!
(For more information about the promotion, see my initial post on the subject. See more wine reviews by clicking the "Wines I'm Drinking" label in the bar at right. While you're at it, feel free to explore the rest of my blog. I write about many topics.)
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Plants I'm Growing--First Blooms: Purple crabapple, Solomon's Seal
Wines I'm Drinking: Three Wines from Yering Station
2005 Yering Station M.V. R. Yarra Valley Marsanne-Viognier-Rousanne
14.0% alcohol, $4.99, Grocery Outlet
Pale gold. Fairly forward on the nose. Scents of wood, pear blossom, and musk with a hint of something sappy, suggestive of fresh vegetation. This latter scent gained presence over time. Later, there were some nice flinty hints. Later still, I began to notice a rubbery scent--which was not as unpleasant as that may sound--it's a scent I've noticed before in wine, particularly in white wines from Alsace. Medium body on the palate, sweet, moderately long, with a slightly peachy astringency on the finish. Acid not very pronounced. Comes across as a trifle flat, but not at all unpleasant. I suspected this was the blend because of the peach hints (common in Viognier), but, having said that, this did not have a marked Viognier character. Probably past its prime, but enjoyable enough for immediate drinking and it is quite inexpensive. The best of the three wines in my view. I'm not sure I'd buy this again, but it's probably a good value at the sale price, when it will cost only $3.99 a bottle.
2005 Yering Station Yarra Valley Chardonnay
13.5% alcohol, $4.99, Grocery Outlet
Pale gold, but the deepest in color of the three wines. Fairly closed nose. Slightly musky. Hints of oak. A suggestion of honey. Medium body on the palate. Much crisper than the first wine. Moderate length. Some caramel flavors, but not terribly complex and the acidity seemed a trifle forced. Again, probably past its prime, but inexpensive and acceptable for everyday drinking. Preferred the M.V.R., however.
2006 Yering Station "Nell" Yarra Valley Chardonnay
13.0% alcohol, $3.99, Grocery Outlet
Palest of the three wines, but again a limpid gold. Flowery nose. Musky, perfumey scents--I've known women that smelled like this. Fuller body on the palate than either of the other two wines. Initial impression is one of sweetness. A bit low in acid, which makes it seem a little cloying. Ripe pineapples. Fairly short, and not especially complex, but, with some time, the wine developed suggestions of caramel and honey on the palate and mint on the the nose. Not exciting, but certainly interesting enough to buy at the sale price for everyday drinking. I found the slight minty character intriguing. I've noticed mint in a lot of white wines from Victoria--especially in the dessert wines from makers such as Brown Brothers.
These are some of the wines I'm reviewing this week ahead of the Grocery Outlet sale, looking for underpriced gems. (I'm still looking.) More wines from Grocery Outlet tomorrow.
GIFT CARD GIVEAWAY: I'm giving away a $50 Grocery Outlet gift card this week as part of the promotion. To be eligible to win, all you have to do is comment on one of my Grocery Outlet reviews this week (March 22-26), Tweet about one of the reviews or post a message about one of the reviews on Facebook. The winner will be selected at random from all eligible readers. The winner must agree to blog or tweet about what the card ends up buying at Grocery Outlet. That's all there is to it. Good Luck!
(For more information about the promotion, see my initial post on the subject. See more wine reviews by clicking the "Wines I'm Drinking" label in the bar at right.)
(For more information about the promotion, see my initial post on the subject. See more wine reviews by clicking the "Wines I'm Drinking" label in the bar at right.)
Monday, March 22, 2010
Plants I'm Growing--First Blooms: Michelia Yunnanensis, Creeping Phlox, Bosc Pear, Isopogon Formosus
I write about many subjects, not just the plants blooming in my garden. Use the tabs at upper right to explore other topics.
Music I'm Listening to: Santa Rosa Symphony
I attended an enjoyable Sunday performance of the Santa Rosa Symphony yesterday. The program included Christopher Rouse's Der Gerettete Alberich (Fantasy for Percussion and Orchestra), featuring Allen Biggs on percussion, Beethoven's Symphony No. 4 and Beethoven's Symphony No. 5. The guest conductor was Barry Jekowsky.
I enjoyed the Rouse, a completely unfamiliar piece by an unfamiliar composer. This was quite a sonic romp. The excellent program notes detail the inspiration behind the work--essentially, a musical exploration of what might have happened to the evil dwarf Alberich, whose fate is left unclear at the end of Wagner's Götterdammerung. The composer, quoted in detail in the notes, explains the thinking behind the composition, but music is music. No program and no amount of background information changes the fact that music must stand on its own (as Rouse concedes), and this stands fairly nicely.
Although my grasp of Wagner isn't good enough to have appreciated all the allusions in the orchestral part, I enjoyed the highly inventive music, which is sometimes raucous, sometimes soft and sweet, and frequently surprising--particularly when the soloist, Biggs (pictured above), suddenly starts playing on what looks like a standard rock and roll drum set and the piece suddenly veers into the realm of pop music, momentarily. And why not?
Having said that, the volume of the percussion in some of the earlier sections seemed to overwhelm the accompaniment. There were entire passages during which the strings were effectively inaudible. The music seemed most effective when the two elements were better integrated--when Biggs played softly with his hands (rather than with sticks), when he played the marimba (especially against the backdrop of a haunting oboe solo), or in the later sections of the piece when the orchestra was playing loudly enough to stand up to the percussion. Still, this was fun and the audience was very appreciative.
The Beethoven Symphony No. 4 left little impression, I'm afraid. I'm not sure why, but guest conductor Barry Jekowsky (left) took the performers through a brisk, nuanced performance of the Symphony No. 5 that highlighted the dynamics of the piece and showed what the Santa Rosa Symphony is capable of at its best, making it easy to forget the occasional wobbly entrance, the occasional false start, the occasional missed note elsewhere during the concert. Now, if only we could get the audience to stop coughing, talking, unwrapping candies, coughing, hacking, coughing......
(Performer publicity photos courtesy of the Santa Rosa Symphony.)
Although my grasp of Wagner isn't good enough to have appreciated all the allusions in the orchestral part, I enjoyed the highly inventive music, which is sometimes raucous, sometimes soft and sweet, and frequently surprising--particularly when the soloist, Biggs (pictured above), suddenly starts playing on what looks like a standard rock and roll drum set and the piece suddenly veers into the realm of pop music, momentarily. And why not?
Having said that, the volume of the percussion in some of the earlier sections seemed to overwhelm the accompaniment. There were entire passages during which the strings were effectively inaudible. The music seemed most effective when the two elements were better integrated--when Biggs played softly with his hands (rather than with sticks), when he played the marimba (especially against the backdrop of a haunting oboe solo), or in the later sections of the piece when the orchestra was playing loudly enough to stand up to the percussion. Still, this was fun and the audience was very appreciative.
(Performer publicity photos courtesy of the Santa Rosa Symphony.)
Wines I'm Drinking: 1999 Rutz Cellars Maison Grand Cru RRV Chardonnay
The 1999 Rutz Cellars Maison Grand Cru Russian River Valley Chardonnay ($4.99 at Grocery Outlet) was a bright gold--very pretty in the glass--but, ominously, rather dark. I was expecting it to be somewhat oxidized. The nose, however, betrayed very little--at least at first. With some time, it began to suggest melons and then floral scents such as hawthorn and linden. These were followed by hints of Play-Doh (I wish I had a more elegant descriptor, but Play-Doh is right on the money) and finally by mint. The nose was encouraging.
On the palate, the wine came across as rather sweet, with a somewhat heavy, butterscotch flavor predominant, but it was actually more lively (had more acid, that is) than I would have thought likely. The flavors were slightly suggestive of oxidation, but the wine was not at all unpleasant and it had enough complexity to keep it moderately interesting--suggesting melons, ripe pineapples, and later honey in addition to the butterscotch. Slightly bitter on the moderately long finish.
I don't think I'll buy this particular wine again (I'm afraid it's over the hill), but I enjoyed tasting it nevertheless and it makes me wonder what the Rutz Cellars Chardonnays are like when they are fresh. Probably well worth exploring. I enjoyed the wine with grilled chicken flavored with rosemary and Meyer lemons.
This is one of a group of wines I'm reviewing this week ahead of one of the two big wine sales Grocery Outlet holds each year (20% off all wines from March 30 through April 3), looking for underpriced gems. More tomorrow.
GIFT CARD GIVEAWAY: As part of the promotion, I'm giving away a $50 Grocery Outlet gift card this week. To be eligible to win, all you have to do is comment on one of my Grocery Outlet reviews this week (March 22-26), Tweet about a one of the reviews or post a message about one of the reviews on Facebook. The winner will be selected at random from all eligible readers. The winner must agree to blog or tweet about what the card ends up buying at Grocery Outlet. That's all there is to it. Good Luck!
(For more information about the promotion, see my initial post on the subject. See more wine reviews by clicking the "Wines I'm Drinking" label in the bar at right.)
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Movies I'm Watching: Bubba Ho-tep
I sincerely hope this is not indicative of the overall caliber of the films recommended. Surely we can do better than this, can't we? Bubba Ho-tep seems over-praised. It has one or two witty lines, but the humor is mostly vulgar and sophomoric.
The bare bones of the absurd story piqued my interest before watching the film: Elvis (or his soul trapped in the body of an Elvis impersonator, or just an Elvis impersonator that thinks he's Elvis, or maybe doesn't think he's Elvis--it's not quite clear) and a black man that insists he's actually John F. Kennedy discover that recent deaths at their depressing home for the elderly in East Texas have been caused by a re-animated Egyptian mummy that was lost years ago in a creek near the home. It seems the mummy now survives by sucking the souls out of debilitated patients (through the anus). For some reason, the mummy wears cowboy boots and other cowboy garb; he is Bubba Ho-tep--but none of this really makes sense. Ultimately, a superficially interesting story idea, a vague attempt to say something meaningful about how we treat our old folks, and one or two good jokes aren't enough to make up for the confusing plot, shoddy production standards, and mediocre acting. In the end, the most interesting thing about this movie has been trying to explain to people what it's about--and that's not much of a recommendation. I think I'm beginning to remember why I've never used Leonard Maltin's movie reviews. I will say one thing for Bubba Ho-tep. It's unique. I suspect, however, that it would have been best left in its original form, a short story by Joe R. Lansdale. Maybe I'll read the story. On second thought, maybe I won't.
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