100 point wine, Sanctuaria

Yesterday afternoon and leading into last night were really a lot of fun. at about 5:30, I dropped by Sanctuaria for my first time there. This is one of those restaurants that I sort of made fun of when it opened- I thought the logo was goofy, and that the whole tapas thing had really jumped the shark. Certainly, there was no way they could make it in the Grove. Then I started hearing all the local cocktail geeks talk about how good the drinks were there. In the name of honest investigative reporting, I dropped by. The food was great, and the cocktails were even better. Dare I say- I really like this place, and will be taking Mrs Sippinstl there sometime soon! Go check it out!

I then moved on to the "main event". Our wine group got together for the final leg of the "Tony and Janet Farewell Tour" that has been happening all week- we all took over 33 wine bar, along with about a dozen tortas from La Vallesana, and 4 amazing bottles of wine- included in which were 05, 06, and 07 Deus Ex Machina from Clos St. Jean in Chateauneuf Du Pape. The 05 was literally in the top 5 wines I have ever tasted in my life. It had so many layers of ripe red fruits, leather, tobacco, soy, meat, and about a dozen other flavors. The finish on that bad boy literally lasted over a minute! This, my friends, is what a 100 point wine is supposed to taste like!

So, we look forward to seeing our friends in the future in Houston when we visit the in-laws. For now, I need to get back to "Words With Friends", where my wife is stomping me.

Cheers!

Saucy Soiree

Last night, Mrs Sippinstl and I headed down to the Four Seasons for the annual "Saucy Soiree" held by Sauce Magazine. This is the event where they give a pre-release view of their "reader's choice" issue. Many of the local restaurants and breweries/wineries had tables set up where you could sample to your heart's desire. Then, everyone moved to the roof deck patio/pool area of Cielo to listen to music, and drink free beer. It was a fun event- lots of old industry friends and some new acquaintances were there. In all honesty, I was going to leak the "list", but I grabbed the wrong issue of Sauce when I headed out the door to my Global Headquarters.

As far as things are progressing at Epiphany, we're simply waiting to get labels registered. As soon as I can place orders, I will get wine into your hot little hands.

Until then, enjoy this summer weather reprieve, and drink something delicious.

Cheers!

Delicious, but doesn't age well

Last night, some of us wine geeks got together to go through a vertical of Elderton Command Shiraz from Australia. We opened 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2005. I must say that I love these wines, and have enjoyed all of these vintages in the past. However, the general consensus last night was that they simply don't hold up over time. The 2000, which was a Spectator 97-point wine was either slightly flawed, or way past its prime. The best of the lot was the 2001, and the 2005 was drinking pretty nicely. However, I would be reluctant to buy anything older than 05 based on the tasting.

Other wines that we opened were the 04 Mitolo GAM (didn't show well), the 06 GAM (pretty nice little wine) some Two Hands Sophie's Syrah (really nice!), and a really interesting wine- Rudi Schultz Syrah from South Africa- Definitely the most surprising-in-a-positive-way wine.

In all, it was a fantastic evening with the guys- lots of good wine, grilled meat, and no veggies.

Saying goodbye to a friend, first news release

Last night, some of "the guys" got together to toast our dear friend Tony, who is leaving town. Tony is a doctor, and he found a great job opportunity in Houston, so he and his wonderful bride are leaving next week. He will truly be missed, as he is instrumental in keeping our "Saint Louis Wine Therapy" group going. We toasted him with cocktails at Taste, then some nice wines at 33- '07 Papillon, '08 Beau Freres Pinot, Elderton Ashmead Cab. So, Tony, this is for you:

Ah, takes me right back to Sophomore year.

In other (literal) news, check out the press release published on STLToday.com:

http://interact.stltoday.com/pr/dining-restaurants/PR06231003074025

That's all for today. Have a great weekend!

Cheers

A new grape

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to do something that I rarely get to do- Try a wine made from a varietal that is completely new to me. The wine that was tried was the 2009 Zestos Blanco, from Madrid, Spain. It is made from the varietal Malvar. Maybe I'm behind the times and all the kids are clamoring for Malvar, but I don't think so. I looked it up in Wine Lover's Companion and Sotheby's- nothing. The Oxford Companion to Wine had two sentences about it. There's not even a Wiki page about it. I mean, there's a Wiki page about EVERYTHING, but alas- no Malvar.

So, that being said, check this wine out when it comes into the market in the next month or so. Tasting it, I would compare it in weight to an unoaked chardonnay, and in aromatics to viognier. It was slightly crisp, had some acidity without being searing, but also had some nice viscosity to it. I would drink it with most spring and summer-types salads and white fish. It would also be interesting to try it with avocados.

That's all for now, off to pay bills and try some more interesting stuff to bring into Missouri to ensure that your glass is never empty!

Cheers!

The place where cliches abound, and the children are scared

It all started out so innocently. A friend of mine sent out an email to a group of guys that get together and hang out on a regular basis. He wanted to organize a night where we all go grab a bite to eat and then watch the new A Team movie. However, this friend is a vegetarian, and the rest of us aren't. His suggestion was that we meet at Red Robin, grab a burger (or in his case a veggie burger) and then proceed to the movie theater. "Well, okay" I thought. This couldn't be too bad. I had never set foot in a Red Robin before- all I knew about it was that it is my 7 year old niece's favorite restaurant. I assumed that it would be kind of like Applebee's or Chili's or something of that nature.

Let me step to the side for a minute here, and discuss chain restaurants. I have no problem with the existence of chains. I understand their place in the American food industry- it's where millions of people go to get adequately prepared food at a nominal price. Heck, I started my illustrious food and wine career at a TGIFridays, followed by Houlihan's. (If you are a parent of a teenager reading this, don't let your kid work at one of these places- I guarantee they will be exposed to drinking, drugs, and sex within about their first 30 minutes of their first day of work). However, I very rarely eat at a chain. My wife and I have decided that, if we have a certain amount of money to spend on eating out, we would much rather support locally-owned, independent businesses than chains. Plus, I think the food at these places is often wildly unhealthy, and mediocre in quality. Stepping down from soap box now.

So, we decided to meet at Red Robin. The first thing I noticed was the gaggle of unhealthy looking folks crowded around the door. Surely there can't be a wait at 6 pm on a Tuesday! Nope, just folks smoking outside. The hostess (who looked like she was no more than 14) was cheerful, but looked confused when I said I would wait at the bar for my friends. The bartender gave me a "What's up man, get you something to drink?" and threw a menu in front of me. He then walked away- nice close on the sale, bro. I looked at the drink menu- plenty of snazzily named fruity drinks, and milkshakes and stuff. Nothing I would partake in though. Their vodka choices were pretty pitiful- Absolute, Absolute Citroen, and Smirnoff. Wine- yeah, right.

About that time, the rest of the group showed up, and we took our table. Let me say right now that our service was excellent. The waitress was spot on in all of her points of service, and didn't roll her eyes about split checks.

This is where some of the funny stuff came into the scene. She was going around the table, taking orders, and one of the guys ordered the "Burnin' Love Burger". She then proceeded to ask "Do you want some pink, or no pink?" He replied with "as much pink as I can get". She didn't get the euphemism, but a table full of 30-something guys giggled. Evidently, this is their method of asking how rare to cook the burger. User friendly, I guess, but very corporate sounding.

The other amazing part of Red Robin is the atmosphere- oldies playing loudly, lots of neon, red, and yellow, and "vintage" movie posters on the wall. I don't know which was more fun to watch- the 5'6" Robin walking around, scaring the hell out of little kids (By the way, why does he wear a vest, but no pants? Creepy), the group of high school cheerleaders, one of which had a baby with her, or the couple that the woman had really short denim cutoffs to reveal the tatoos of sparrows and hearts running down her leg.

The food was okay- the other guys got burgers (one of which weighed in at over 1400 calories, 97 grams of fat, and 5600 mg of sodium), I got a caesar salad with a piece of salmon that had been beaten to death, frozen, then over cooked.

In retrospect, I can see why families go to this place- it is a physical definition of the word "cacophony" with plenty of distractions, noises, colors, balloons, and birthday songs. I just won't be going back anytime soon.

A correction, What do you want to see in the state?

A friend in the industry shot me a text today- I made a mistake in my wine listings from Saturday. We actually drank the Four Vines "Heretic" Petite Syrah that night. Oops.

Another thing that I would like my friends and trusted industry folk to weigh in on- Is there a certain wine or boutique spirit you would like to see in the market here in Missouri that isn't currently sold here? I have a "hit list" of sorts that I'm going after, and I want to know what you want to drink. If you think of anything, shoot me an email at Kyleharsha@yahoo.com

Thanks, and Cheers

Tonight- we hit the new A-Team movie. Word.