We had an organizational meeting for the new community garden this
afternoon where we discussed tilling, irrigation issues, soil
emendations, and who's doing (or not doing) what. Turns out it's me,
mostly, on all counts except spreading the compost.

After the meeting D and I took a drive down TX Hwy 66 to Rockwall and
then a bit north to the San Martino Winery
(http://www.sanmartinowinery.com/) which we'd heard about for years,
but had never visited. It turned out to be a pretty civilized place.
D got a glass of Zinfandel and I had some of their Tempranillo, which
I quite liked. At first the Zin in D's glass was a bit rambunctious,
but it settled down after a few moments. Big red wines sometimes need
to breathe a bit.

The owner sat down at our table and chatted us up, a personable and
agreeable Spanish expat who's now an administrator of some description
with one of the area community college systems. It turned out we had
a number of mutual friends and acquaintances.

After our vino, we drove to a Rockwall supermarket to see what we
could find for dinner. It turned out that a flat iron steak was the
thing to get, along with some broccoli. Back home, I set the broccoli
to roasting in the oven and rubbed the steak (half of it, actually -
the other half went into the freezer) with smoked paprika and salt. I
seared it on each side and finished it in the oven. Then I set it on
a plate in the warming drawer and built a pan sauce of minced
shallots, stock, a little soy sauce, lemon juice, and a tiny dash of
galangal powder.

With rice and the broccoli, it was a good dinner.
--
modom

ambitious when it comes to fiddling with meat

On 2009-01-26, modom (palindrome guy) > wrote:

> With rice and the broccoli, it was a good dinner.

What!? No BBQ?

"modom (palindrome guy)" > wrote in
:


>
> After the meeting D and I took a drive down TX Hwy 66 to Rockwall and
> then a bit north to the San Martino Winery
> (http://www.sanmartinowinery.com/) which we'd heard about for years,
> but had never visited. It turned out to be a pretty civilized place.
> D got a glass of Zinfandel and I had some of their Tempranillo, which
> I quite liked. At first the Zin in D's glass was a bit rambunctious,
> but it settled down after a few moments. Big red wines sometimes need
> to breathe a bit.
>



Zinfandel is not a 'big wine' in any sense of the word.


--
Peter Lucas
Brisbane
Australia

"People are more violently opposed to fur than leather because it is safer
to harrass rich women than motorcycle gangs."

On Mon, 26 Jan 2009 02:41:01 +0000 (UTC), PeterLucas
> wrote:

>"modom (palindrome guy)" > wrote in
:
>
>
>>
>> After the meeting D and I took a drive down TX Hwy 66 to Rockwall and
>> then a bit north to the San Martino Winery
>> (http://www.sanmartinowinery.com/) which we'd heard about for years,
>> but had never visited. It turned out to be a pretty civilized place.
>> D got a glass of Zinfandel and I had some of their Tempranillo, which
>> I quite liked. At first the Zin in D's glass was a bit rambunctious,
>> but it settled down after a few moments. Big red wines sometimes need
>> to breathe a bit.
>
>Zinfandel is not a 'big wine' in any sense of the word.

"Zinfandel as a red wine can be made light and fruity, much like
French Beaujolais, or lively, complex and age worthy, like Cabernet or
claret. It can also be made into big, ripe, high alcohol style wines
that resemble Port. Zinfandel is also a component of most California
"jug" wines, since it is the most widely planted red wine grape."

Source: http://www.winepros.org/wine101/grap.../zinfandel.htm

This one was big.
--
modom

ambitious when it comes to fiddling with meat

On 2009-01-26, modom (palindrome guy) > wrote:
> On Mon, 26 Jan 2009 02:41:01 +0000 (UTC), PeterLucas
> wrote:
>
>>"modom (palindrome guy)" > wrote in
m:

>>> I quite liked. At first the Zin in D's glass was a bit rambunctious,
>>> but it settled down after a few moments.

>>Zinfandel is not a 'big wine' in any sense of the word.

> "Zinfandel as a red wine can be made light and fruity, much like
> French Beaujolais, or lively, complex and age worthy, like Cabernet or
> claret. It can also be made into big, ripe, high alcohol style wines
> that resemble Port. Zinfandel is also a component of most California
> "jug" wines, since it is the most widely planted red wine grape."

WTF are you ppl talking about? What the Hell is "rambunctious". "Big"?
"Jug wines"?

Somebody outta smack you both upside the head. If you're gonna use
pretentious wine terms, the proper term for "big" is "huge", which means it's high
in alcohol content and is very full bodied. As for being a "big" wine,
Pete, zin is probably the biggest wine around. Oz got no equivalent, so you
got nothing to say. As for being the most widely planted varietal, I doubt
it. Even if it was, who would be stupid enough to waste it on jug wine when
good zin gets premium prices. Don't even mention white zin, as it's a bogus
crap wine make for wine pussies.

nb.... gauntlet down!

In article > ,
PeterLucas > wrote:

> "modom (palindrome guy)" > wrote in
> :
>
>
> >
> > After the meeting D and I took a drive down TX Hwy 66 to Rockwall and
> > then a bit north to the San Martino Winery
> > (http://www.sanmartinowinery.com/) which we'd heard about for years,
> > but had never visited. It turned out to be a pretty civilized place.
> > D got a glass of Zinfandel and I had some of their Tempranillo, which
> > I quite liked. At first the Zin in D's glass was a bit rambunctious,
> > but it settled down after a few moments. Big red wines sometimes need
> > to breathe a bit.

> Zinfandel is not a 'big wine' in any sense of the word.

Even in my short life (and it's pretty short compared to how long wine
has been made) and my only occasional interest in wine, I've been
shocked at how much things have changed. My wife and I went wine
tasting in the Napa Valley (that's two valleys over from us) some years
ago. We stopped at Louis Martini. They were pushing merlot. Now at
that time, the major wine makers used merlot in their generic reds and
for blending. Martini used it for 100% vintaged varietals. Zinfandel
in the Napa Valley and other quality areas was similar. Lots used for
jug wines. Now some is 100% vintaged varietals, and those can be quite
expensive.

If you plant merlot or zinfandel in the Central Valley, and irrigate the
hell out of it, you will get a big production of watery wine, suitable
for the jug. In a different climate, with no irrigation, you have the
potential for good wine.

--
Dan Abel
Petaluma, California USA

On Mon, 26 Jan 2009 03:40:03 GMT, notbob > wrote:

>On 2009-01-26, modom (palindrome guy) > wrote:
>> On Mon, 26 Jan 2009 02:41:01 +0000 (UTC), PeterLucas
> wrote:
>>
>>>"modom (palindrome guy)" > wrote in
:
>
>>>> I quite liked. At first the Zin in D's glass was a bit rambunctious,
>>>> but it settled down after a few moments.
>
>>>Zinfandel is not a 'big wine' in any sense of the word.
>
>> "Zinfandel as a red wine can be made light and fruity, much like
>> French Beaujolais, or lively, complex and age worthy, like Cabernet or
>> claret. It can also be made into big, ripe, high alcohol style wines
>> that resemble Port. Zinfandel is also a component of most California
>> "jug" wines, since it is the most widely planted red wine grape."
>
>WTF are you ppl talking about? What the Hell is "rambunctious". "Big"?
>"Jug wines"?

"Rambunctious" is something my people say when we're being polite
about a wine that's pretty harsh. I meant the wine tussled with the
tonsils a bit on the way down. Not in the league of, say, Dave Barry
who's on record describing the "Episcopalian presumptuousness" of a
bottle he once tried, but it amuses me at least.
>
>Somebody outta smack you both upside the head. If you're gonna use
>pretentious wine terms, the proper term for "big" is "huge", which means it's high
>in alcohol content and is very full bodied. As for being a "big" wine,
>Pete, zin is probably the biggest wine around. Oz got no equivalent, so you
>got nothing to say. As for being the most widely planted varietal, I doubt
>it. Even if it was, who would be stupid enough to waste it on jug wine when
>good zin gets premium prices. Don't even mention white zin, as it's a bogus
>crap wine make for wine pussies.
>
Hear about white zin. It's an abomination before the eyes of...well
somebody's eyes, anyway. I see your line of reasoning about the issue
of how widely planted the varietal is and its use in cheap wines, and
I have no idea. I didn't write that stuff above, just quoted it.

>nb.... gauntlet down!

I found this gauntlet on the floor. Should I give it back? Or wait
for its mate so I can have a pair?
--
modom

ambitious when it comes to fiddling with meat

On Mon, 26 Jan 2009 02:20:01 GMT, notbob > wrote:

>On 2009-01-26, modom (palindrome guy) > wrote:
>
>> With rice and the broccoli, it was a good dinner.
>
>What!? No BBQ?

Not today. But I do have about 10 lbs of pork belly in a cure in the
fridge.

Tomorrow: Bacon!
--
modom

ambitious when it comes to fiddling with meat

In article >,
"modom (palindrome guy)" > wrote:

> On Mon, 26 Jan 2009 03:40:03 GMT, notbob > wrote:

> >good zin gets premium prices. Don't even mention white zin, as it's a bogus
> >crap wine make for wine pussies.
> >
> Hear about white zin. It's an abomination before the eyes of...well
> somebody's eyes, anyway. I see your line of reasoning about the issue
> of how widely planted the varietal is and its use in cheap wines, and
> I have no idea. I didn't write that stuff above, just quoted it.

The story I heard, was that there used to be a glut of zinfandel, and
somebody was wondering just what to do with it? Well, how about making
a white wine out of it? And so white zin was born, except, of course,
that it's really pink. Chill it well, pack it in a picnic basket with
some mediocre food, and give it to your wine-dead kid to get his date
half drunk with.

--
Dan Abel
Petaluma, California USA

"Dan Abel" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> "modom (palindrome guy)" > wrote:
>
>> On Mon, 26 Jan 2009 03:40:03 GMT, notbob > wrote:
>
>> >good zin gets premium prices. Don't even mention white zin, as it's a
>> >bogus
>> >crap wine make for wine pussies.
>> >
>> Hear about white zin. It's an abomination before the eyes of...well
>> somebody's eyes, anyway. I see your line of reasoning about the issue
>> of how widely planted the varietal is and its use in cheap wines, and
>> I have no idea. I didn't write that stuff above, just quoted it.
>
> The story I heard, was that there used to be a glut of zinfandel, and
> somebody was wondering just what to do with it? Well, how about making
> a white wine out of it? And so white zin was born, except, of course,
> that it's really pink. Chill it well, pack it in a picnic basket with
> some mediocre food, and give it to your wine-dead kid to get his date
> half drunk with.

I am shocked, SHOCKED, I say, that a man of your character would even begin
to suggest giving it to a kid to get his date half drunk with.

Seriously. Ending a sentence with a preposition. Simply APPALLING!

TammyM