"i'm not drinking any fucking merlot!"

[rone]

Mom and Aunt Martha flew in last week to visit, and Kim and i brought them along on our 10th anniversary trip to the Santa Ynez Valley, which we've been wanting to visit ever since we saw Sideways.  It's absolutely beautiful down here, and so is Santa Barbara, which we visited today.  Today we also had tasty æbleskiver for breakfast (i also had medisterpølse and eggs).

Yesterday in Los Olivos, we went to taste at this one room that collects wine from vineyards that don't have their own tasting room.  It was run by a man whom i dubbed the Pinot Noir Nazi, perhaps like Sideways's Miles but gruffer and without the somehow charming dysfunction.  He declared that cabernet franc was a blending grape and was wasted when vinified on its own, and the same went for merlot, dolcetto, and tempranillo.  I just nodded and said, "I see."  He did pour us an absolutely fabulous pinot noir from Fiddlehead Cellars, and i passed his snob test by correctly pronouncing Meritage and Lompoc.

Comments

Italian Wine maven here...

[wolffire.livejournal.com]

Dolcetto is *not* a blending grape. It is used to make varietal wine meant to be drunk in its youth as a table wine in Italy. The Pinot Noir Nazi should stick to French varietals, methinks.

As for Cab Franc, it has a distincive flavor profile to be sure. It's rare for me to come across a varietal version that I love, but it happens. Certain Bourgeuil & Chinon will do the trick nicely. And, there's one I've come to rather like from up here in WA.