PEAY | “Pomarium” Estate Pinot Noir 2016
(Sonoma Coast, CA) $60
I once read that the monks of Burgundy considered the texture of a great pinot noir a spiritual experience. The way it glided airily over the palate. Slippery silkiness, as if the wine were a dancing elixir. I was reminded of that idea as I drank the 2016 Pomarium from Peay (pronounced PAY). The wine is exquisitely precise (not a molecule out of place) and has ethereal cool pristine fruit (not fruit that’s heavy and overripe). I can imagine the monks being entranced by such a beautiful wine. I was. (13.5% abv)
95 points KM
What was the most-planted white grape in the Napa Valley before Prohibition began in 1920?
A. Chenin Blanc
B. Sauvignon Blanc
C. Pinot Blanc
D. Riesling
Hangover Meets Homeopathy
I know this probably never happened to you, but others of us who drink wine have occasionally enjoyed ourselves a wee bit too much. That situation has given rise to a whole slew of morning-after remedies, including the charmingly named “hair of the dog.” Surely, not literal, right? Wrong. The expression originally referred to curing a rabid dog bite by placing hairs of the dog into the bite wound. This was just one example of the ancient medical theory similia similibus curantur (Latin for “like cures like”), which is the basic tenant of homeopathy. It turns out that using alcohol as a remedy for too much alcohol is a pretty universal practice. So, whether you’re in Rome or Romania, Kenya or Korea, chances are someone will be able to provide just the right “dog hair” should you need it.
Pick-up some good reds for the Fourth of July
FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA “Diamond Collection Ivory Label” Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 (California) $13
Soft and juicy with smoky oak notes. Hard to get better than this at this price.
GOLDSCHMIDT “Chelsea” Merlot 2015 (Alexander Valley, California) $19
A terrific, intensely flavorful merlot. Tastes like it costs $10 more than it does.
STEELE Merlot 2015 (Lake County, California) $20
If there’s a guy alive who knows how to make a steal, it’s Jed Steele (legendary as the first Kendall Jackson winemaker). This is Steele’s own brand, and BBQ is the right mate for this super tasty merlot.
The Sonoma wine region is known as the “Valley of the Sun.”
Answer: False. Sonoma is also sometimes known as the “Valley of the Moon.” Before the Spanish missionaries arrived in the early nineteenth century, Native Americans had lived in the Sonoma Valley for over 12,000 years. Legend has it that Sonoma derives from an indigenous word meaning “many moons.” Sometime in the 1840s, General Mariano G. Vallejo, who was the Mexican commander in the area, translated the term from a local Native American tribe, believing it to roughly translate to “valley of the moon.” The name stuck.
