The Young Dolcetto d'Alba

Work is a little busy lately, and I was unable to find the time to update my blog, but I think it is now long overdue for a new blog. I guess one of the things about working a lot is that you learn to appreciate the time that you have away from work and you start to notice little things that can cheer you up from the depressing working life of having me coming home at 2am in the morning on Friday night / Saturday morning. Of course, after coming home that late, it would not be right for me to just waltz into bed, that would be wrong. I got to watch a little tube, be comfortable, drink a little wine, and unwind a little bit before I climb into bed and become unconscious. Surprisingly, the wine I choose for that occasion was one I had not tried before, but turns out to be quite a good choice - Dolcetto d'Alba - an Italian wine. More specifically, it was Dolcetto D'Alba 2004 Bruno Giacosa.

I never had the pleasure of trying wines made out of the dolcetto grape, or for another matter, I just don't really try that many Italian wines to begin with. The usual red Italian wines that I find myself drinking are the Barolo, Barbaresco, Chianti and Super Tuscans, which I guess, are the more "prestigious" kind of wines. Dolcetto are more of a easy going, everyday wine that I think someone had describe it as so easy to drink, it is gulpable.

What made me decide to write a blog about this wine was the reaction I had to it. It was around 2am when I first opened the bottle, watching some stupid show on TV (I forgot what I was watching, perhaps it was Ready to Rumble, the movie about wrestling). I had just taken a shower, and was somewhat tired and I was thinking how work sucks and how life has become somewhat dull and boring, and we are essentially doing the same thing everyday without much fanfare or excitement. Because of work, there is no time to go on dates, no time to go to fancy restaurants or plan a weekend getaway or just to hang out with friends, since all plans might be cancelled at the last minute. Work is fine and all (which I appreciate more and don't complain as much now after they gave us a raise . . . .), but I thought work just lack a certain excitement (perhaps if I am on the other side, if I am our client and makes millions out of the transaction, then perhaps there will be tons of excitement). I remember someone at another law firm said to me that during their first day orientation, one of the partners at that firm said "when the deal closes, and at that moment when money changes hand between the parties, if that is not exciting, I don't know what is." I am not sure how I understand that statement. How can money exchanging hand between other parties (that does not even go through you), be exciting? I mean, is that person insane? It is like if you are the person selling the lottery, and someone you sold it to won, or that if you are a poker or blackjack dealer, and someone on your table won, and damm, that is exciting for you. Money never comes into our hand, we just receive a fee for our service, I mean, seriously, how can money exchanging other people's hand be exciting?

Anyway, I am getting off topic. Back to Dolcetto d'Alba. I thought it was fresh and young wine, with fragrant note of currant and a very pretty cherry red color, slightly rosé. The flavor follows the note, with currant and perhaps a little bit of cherry. There is a little spiciness too. The wine is so young and fresh, so full of energy that it immediately picks me right up from my slumber. I thought the wine is like a teenager's vibrant youthful energy (curious and innocent), but with the mischief nature of a teenager too (the spiciness of the wine). The youthful nature of the wine really brightens up my mood and reminds me that there are still a lot of interesting things going on besides work, there are a lot of excitements in life waiting to be explored, and I should retain the youthful energy that I once had, and go out and have an adventure. The wine carries me back to my high school and college days, and brings somewhat of a smile to my face. I thought the wine is sort of like a Beaujolois (which I think a lot of you probably had during and around Thanksgiving), but more firmly structured, with a spiciness flavor and not as grape syrupy tasting. I think this is a good wine just to enjoy after a day of work, and I would imagine to be a good wine with a variety of food. So if you had a long hard day at work, go pick up a bottle of Dolcetto d'Alba and be immersed by its youthfulness that transport you back to your good old college days (or whatever other time in your youth that is memorable to you).

NBA All-Star Weekend

NBA All-Star Weekend happend this past weekend, but unfortunately, I only saw the Saturday night's event live, and didn't get to see the All-Star Game on Sunday live or the Rookie-Sophomore Challenge on Friday night because of work. I always like watching the NBA all-star game and activities, and it was always something that I could look forward to. However, unlike years past, the all-star game really is not as exciting as it used to be. The game itself seems messier, the rookie challenge gets a little boring, and most of the Saturday night's event are pretty dull too. The slam dunk competitions in the past couple of years were not what they used to be, with only a limited number of people willing to participate. The 3-point shootout is still pretty good though, but I think they cut down on the number of people participating too. The other event are kind of idiotic, not exactly fun to watch.

However, I think, with a few real athletic players coming into the league in the past couple of years, the dunk contest is again getting kind of exciting. I mean, I was getting quite into it this past Saturday with some amazing dunks. Andre Iguodala's pass behind the backboard dunk is probably one of the most innovative and exciting dunk I have ever seen. Too bad the judges ruined the night for all of us. Yes, it is nice that Nate Robinson jumped over Spudd Webb and dunked, and yes, it is true that he is only 5-9 and his last dunk of passing the ball in midair between his leg and then catch it dunk was pretty good either, but there was no way that Nate Robinson's dunk beat out Andre Iguodala's. I thought that, before the competition, people were making such a big deal about Nate Robinson that the judges just gave him the award. I agree that they probably should be in the dunk-off, but I do not agree how you can give someone a high score if it took them 14 (I think only 14 . . . . . perhaps more) tries before Nate finished his dunk. The crowd was getting a little annoyed, and it is not fair to Iguodala. People become stiff waiting for 20 mins before getting to their attemps. The judges then gave Iguodala one score but then changed their score midway so that he lost by one point. The judges should just let it continue, let them continue to innovate, let them prove their worth. Iguodala was pretty good with his attempts all night, but Nate was not, it took him many tries to get in most of his dunks. Compare this to real life. If you are working and someone gives you a task, would they judge you the same if it took you 14 days to finish that task, or 14 failed attempts to finish that task, if the other person can do it in 2 days or 2 attempts and the result is almost equally good, seperated by a 1% difference. Who do you think would win in that context? Nate Robinson's dunk contest title should have an * next to it, explaining what actually happened.

Vault the Drink

I tried this new drink yesterday, called Vault, since I saw their commercial pretty often lately, and they are some strange commercials. It's a new drink put out by Coke, supposingly a combination of energy drink and soda. It is not as intense as an energy drink and I think it is suppose to taste better too. I actually noticed a lot of ads on my sister's blog that feature this drink, so I figure, why not, so I bought a bottle to check it out. (So I guess advertising on blogs actaully kind of works . . . . .)

It turns out to be kind of nasty. The drink definately has caffeine in it, so as to make you more awake (but not as much as in other energy drinks like Red Bull), but the taste is like a wierd combination of Mountain Dew and Sprite or something, and I am never a big fan of Mountain Dew to begin with. This is something that I would not buy again. I mean, I would just either drink Coke or Diet Coke or Red Bull instead of this.

Also, just added an Time Warner DVR and I have to say it is pretty cool. Given that there are too many shows that just happen to be on at the same time, and I am often not at home for some shows (not by choice . . . .), but now I can just watch it whenever and at my leisure. Very very cool and convenient.

Dieting Confusion

Can you gain weight while you are asleep? I am puzzled but what I found out today morning. Last night, prior to going to bed, I drank some water, and weighted myself. Today morning, I woke up, brush my teeth, went to the bathroom and all that other morning rituals, then I weighted myself, and hey, I gained about 2 lbs. Yes, yes, 2 lbs is not a lot, but I just wondered how that is possible if all I did was sleeping. Did something I ate last night became processed in my body overnight and turned into fat that caused me to gain weight? It is not like I drank a bunch of water when I woke up this morning . . . . This is puzzling, but does anyone have an answer?

Trockenbeerenauslese

Wow, I had just drank one of the world's most amazing wine the other day, the German dessert wine trockenbeerenauslese, or TBA for short since the name is sometimes a little too long to pronounce. The particular wine was: Dr. Bürklin-Wolf Riesling Ruppertsberger Gaisböhl Trockenbeerenauslese 2002.

I am not sure how I can start describing this wine . . . I am lost for words. I don't think there are words in the world that can be used to describe the amazing experience that I had the other night, but I can try. When poured, the wine mesmerized me with this beautiful coppertone color, and the wine seems a little thick in nature, unlike most of the other wines. I thought the color was quite beautiful, just see the picture to your right. The note of the wine is amazing, wonderful fragrance of apricot and grape juice, and the intensity of the wine is really showing through. It took me a while, looking at the wine, taking in the fragrance of the wine, before I took my first sip. My first sip of trockenbeerenauslese . . . . . . . . . . . how do I describe this feeling? How do I describe this sensation? I think I felt dumbfounded, I felt numb, I felt like I just had my first kiss, the very first kiss, when you felt nervous, but at the same time excited, and thought, this was wonderful. I was literally frozen for the next 5 minutes, trying to digest and comprehend what I am feeling, what I just drank.

The flavor of the wine is an intense sensation of apricot, peach, blood orange. The finish seems to last forever and the wine presents a little bit of raciness, a hint of spiciness that balances out the sweetness of the wine. Good acidity too, which provides the wine with a beautiful balance. However, these are superficial descriptions of the sensation I felt while drinking this wine. Yes, the wine tastes like sweet nectar, but that is not what you will feel when you dare to embark on the journey of drinking this wine. First, when the wine enters your mouth, you felt the wine’s concentration as it glides onto your tongue like a ball of nectar bomb, ready to explode. However, at the same time, the bomb was surrounded by a fluffy coating that is airy, like as if the wine was wrapped around in a thin layer of cloud. The wine has intense flavors and concentration, but in your mouth, the wine felt so light, so airy, fluffy, and seems weightless on your palate, like a feather. Also, like a cloud, the wine floats on your palate slowly until the flavors burst and your tongue is completely covered with the intensity. The wine is also not just about the intense sweetness, it is unlike many of the gloppy, viscous, sugary world of so many dessert wines. Instead, this wine is sweet in a pure, graceful and elegant manner. The sweetness of the wine seems so unadulterated, like our innocent first kiss when we were young (rather than most of our “motives” behind our kisses now). One sip of this wine will stop you on your tracks and leave you speechless. Drinking this wine made me felt I was frozen as if time is magnificently suspended. I remembered the first time I felt this way, which was back in 1996 while I was walking down Time Square. I looked over to the girl next to me, and for some strange reason, I felt as if the world has stopped turning, the massive crowd of people around me had disappeared or stopped moving, the giant screen in Time Square became motionless, and the only thing I can see was this girl in front of me, the only voice I hear is hers, and the only thing I felt was her hand gently holding on to mine. Moment like this happens rarely in a lifetime, but somehow, drinking this wine can reproduce the same marvel.

Perhaps it is the company I was with, my wonderful girlfriend, perhaps it was the fact that it was snowing outside and warm inside. Perhaps also, it was the presence of chocolate fondue and some very good cheese, that all combined together, caused this sensation that made me felt more romantic, like in a dreamy state. Nonetheless, the mystic of this wine and its hypnotic effect cannot be denied. You should probably just drink this wine by itself as everything else will just seem to ruin the purity of the elegant sweetness. Also, this wine, although only in half-bottle, will no doubt last over 4-5 hours and good for an intimate night at home with your love. Imagine the possibilities. One sip of the wine is enough to leave you fixated for eternity.

Dieting Pain

Dieting is so much pain. On Sunday night, I scared myself while weighing myself before I went to bed. I realized that I gained 10 lbs since last June. 10 lbs . . . . that is unacceptable and makes me quite sad, since it took me a lot of effort from the summer of 2004 to lose 20 lbs, but then just within the last 7 months, it went back up 10 lbs. I think, because I started working, and all I do all day is sit on my chair and read/draft documents, I don't really get the exercise I need. The gym in my building, although great and I love it, closes at 10pm on weeknights and 6pm on weekends, which doesn't give me a lot of time to go to the gym and work out unless I am able to leave work around 6:30pm as that would give me enough time to eat, rest a bit, and work out for an hour. True, I can go work out before I eat, but usually around that time, I am pretty hungry that I would wan to eat first before I go exercise (excuses).

Yes, it is also true that the gym opens pretty early, and I can go work out at 6 or 7am in the morning before work. But seriously, I am not an early riser. I can work and stay up all night and be fine, but for me to wake up early, especially around 6 or 7, I just do not have the discipline to do so. Even the fact that I gained 10 lbs wont motivate me to wake up at 6 or 7 in the morning.

Therefore, it would seem that the only solution is to eat less. I think this whole sudden massive weight gain started two weeks ago during the superbowl weekend. That was a night of sitting around watching football, watching the superbowl commercials, and also eating lots of pizza from Dominos and eating chicken wings from KFC and Dominos. In addition, there are ice cream and desserts too, plus beer and wine. Just lots of food overload, and I can say, these are junk, unhealthy food. That night along, I think, I gained 5 lbs. But the following week, with the more balanced and normal diet, the weight gain from the superbowl feast slowly dissapeared, until this past weekend. I think it is because of the snow and cold weather, makes me want to eat more. I ate lots of cheese, hotpot, chocolate fondue, yakiniku from Gyu-Kaku, ice cream cake, sorbet, 3 bottles of wine, duck breasts, homemade chicken bites and chips, all add up to another weekend of eating binge. But on the plus side, I did go work out, but apparently not enough.

So, my solution for this week, is to control my diet, eating only vegetables, fruits and minimal meat (meaning like only small amount of fish and no beef) until the weekend, then I can return to a more normal and balanced diet and work out on Saturday and Sunday. However, this process is really hard. Yesterday, as my friend was eating two large piece of fried chicken for lunch in front of me, I really really wanted to strangle him and tell him to stop it. He was licking his fingers from the grease, while at the same time, I was eating a bowl of not so delicious vegetable. I couldn't even look at him through most of the meal, that is how painful that is. I hope I can keep this up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Per Se

Per Se, the highly touted Thomas Keller restaurant in NYC, one of the hardest restaurant to make reservations for in NYC (perhaps the entire US, along with his Napa restaurant French Laundry), was . . . . . . disappointing.

Granted, the food was good, and the decor beautiful (serene almost, sort of like a hidden paradise in the middle of all the hustling and bustling of the Big Apple, elegant is perhaps another word to describe it), and the service very attentive, but it just does not live up to the standard and the hype of having to go through mountains to get reservations, and also not for something that cost $240 per person including tips just for food.

The evening started off pretty well, we arrived at 9:30pm on a Friday night, and the decor was very elegant I though, with a hint of Asian modern touch. We were lead past a very well designed wine cellar (I would love to put one of these wine cellars in my own apartment one of these days when I am very rich and my apartments is very big) to a lounging / bar area where each table of guests have their own section to sit around, order drinks, before they finish setting up the table for us. We ordered two glass of Dr. Loosens Riesling Kabinett to pass the time while waiting for our friends, and the wine was . . . . pretty horrible, kind of tasted like sugar water with no purpose of being there, while being charged $13 per glass, but then, I wasn't expecting too much when I ordered this wine anyway, and it was not Per Se's fault. The menu was simple, only three options, the 7 Course Menu, the 9 Course Chef's Tasting Menu and also the 9 Course Vegetable Tasting Menu (right . . ., I am going to spend $210 for veggie . . . very smart choice indeed). We all choose the 9 Course Chef's Tasting Menu, with the $30 supplement to add foie gras to our list of options. Let's just run down the courses:

(1) Oysters and Pearls - Sabayon of Pearl Tapioca with Island Creek Oysters and Russian Sevruga Caviar
Good dish to begin our dining experience. I like the combination of oysters and the pearl tapioca sauce mixed together. The caviar added quite a lot of saltiness into the mix, but I thought the combination was creative, the oysters tasted integrated into the dish. The portion was small but a good start to wet your appetite for more exciting dishes to come.

(2) Terrine of Moulard Duck Foie Gras - Quince "Coulis", Marcona Almond "Crumble", Flowering Quince Relish and Frisee Salad with Toasted Brioche
Thumbs up for this dish. The terrine of foie gras is one of the finest I have ever tasted. Most of the time, I prefer seared foie gras a much more than terrine of foie gras, just because well made seared foie gras often melt in your mouth like smooth butter, with a texture of creaminess and richness that cannot be compared with any other food in the world. Terrine of foie gras often does not achieve the same kind of sensation and falls flat as being cold, chunky. with a raw animal taste that many of my friends do not appreciate. However, this was different, completely different. The foie gras tasted so fine, like little tiny pieces of magic that through some miraculous reasons, were forged together, which, once you put into your mouth, melts away into its individual little pieces. Like a seared foie gras, it was buttery, it was creamy and rich, with a hint of sweetness that works beautifully. The toasted brioche was wonderful too, I keep on chowing down on them. Again, wonderful dish that raised my expectations of good things to come.

(3) Sauteed Fillet of Mediterranean Rouget - Confit of La Ratte Potatoes, "Haricots Verts", Yellow Wax Beans, Nicoise Olive "Rounds" and "Creme d'Ail Doux"
This dish is where things started to turn a little wrong. The fillet is dry, with a hint of a certain foul taste in your mouth, which, if eaten with creme d'Ail Doux, will disappear. It was strange why a chef will create a certain dish that, if you just eat the fillet by itself, tasted rather disastrous, but only with the accompanied sauce, will the fillet become livelier. Did Keller created this on purpose?

(4) "Fricassee" of Nova Scotia Lobster "Mitts" - Apple Wood Smoked Bacon "Lardons", Hen-of-the-Woods Mushrooms, Glazed Pearl Onions and "Sauce Homard au Vin"
The lobster was plain and did not stand out, especially after the previous dish, this dish did not save the feeling of the evening spiral downhill. However, the saving grace of this dish is the extremely delicious Hen-of-the-Woods Mushrooms. I mean, oh my, didn't know mushroom can taste this good. Usually, I HATE mushrooms, but obviously, that depends on the variety of the fungus that is served to me, as some mushrooms I will tolerate, but most of them NO WAY. This mushroom is a surprise, it is tender, emits a wonderful aroma that carries into your mouth. However, the mushroom is not the main feature of this dish, and does not seem to work or integrate with the lobster.

(5) "Rillettes" of Hallow Farm's Rabbit - White Wine Poached Asian Pear, Parsnip "Puree", Field Mizuna and Rabbits "Jus"
Differing opinions on this dish. The girls did not like it, thought it was too salty. The guys enjoyed it, tender, soft, flavorful, and perhaps the best rabbit I ever had. I thought the purpose of the Asian pear is to tone down the saltiness of the dish, and created a nice, harmonious balance for the entire dish. However, after the two lackluster dishes that were served previously, the rabbit just seems too little to uplift the energy at the table.

(6) Snake River Farm's "Calotte de Boeuf Grillee" - Crispy Bone Marrow, Braised Swiss Chard, Black Winter Truffle and Turnip "Gratin" with "Sauce Perigourdine"
Apparently the Boeuf Grillee is a cross between Kobe and Black Angus, which means it has the texture of the latter with the rich taste of the Kobe. It was delicious, as the meat is tender and rich, cooked just right and melts away like butter in your mouth. Nonetheless, beef dishes tend not to impress me as much, as the main factor in deciding whether the dish will turn out well or not, is the meat itself. By using quality ingredients, little garnish, sauce or other ingredients are required to bring out the flavor of the beef. You can actually try it out yourself. Go to your corner store and buy a random piece of steak, then go to a gourmet grocery store and purchase the finest steak they have. Go home, season with salt and pepper, coat with olive oil, then grill or sear it. Then, without adding anything else, taste the two, the difference is amazing. Not to take away from anything Thomas Keller is presenting here. This is a fine dish, but not a dish that impresses and blow me away, especially not after not foie gras, or even the rabbit that I just enjoyed.

(7) Cato Corner Farm's "Hooligan" - per se Coleslaw, Caraway Seed "Tuile"
Cheese . . . I started to really enjoy cheese in the last couple of months and tasted several that are quite delicious. This one is good, with mild flavors that didn't really stands out for me. The coleslaw, tasted better than regular coleslaw, but did not stand out.

(8) Blood Orange Sorbet - Blood Orange "Supremes", Orange "Pain de Genes" and Yogurt Cream
I alway loved blood orange sorbet and I can eat this everyday for dessert. I enjoyed the blood orange sorbet offered here too, but I expect more. I expect the dessert to be creative, to be different, otherwise, why should I spend that much money, go through all these trouble, to come here. Also, this blood orange sorbet is about on the same par as the one served at Craft.

(9) "Snickers Bar" - Milk Chocolate "Cremeux", Chocolate "Sacher" and Salted Caramel "Gelee" with Spanish Peanut "Nougatine" and Nougat Ice Cream
This is what I am talking about, creativity, beautiful dish, harmonious flavors that works. This is their so called de-constructed Snickers Bar. It contains all the ingredients in a snickers bar (obviously higher quality ingredients), but laid out in different ways on the dish. It works wonderfully, and I find myself become quite taken with the ability to form the taste I want in my mouth. Perhaps this is one of the best desserts (in terms of appearance, creativity and taste) I have ever enjoyed.

(10) "Mignardises"
Some parting flavors, including different truffles and macaroons, presented in an elegant manner. Good, not great.

So eventually, this is 10 course in total, and took us a little over 3 hours to enjoy. Perhaps it is because our reservation is at 9:30pm and we all worked on Friday, perhaps the wine added in the factor as well, but it was quite an exhausting experience. The food was uneven, some disappointing, some worked well, but did not stand out, while some were excellent. Perhaps the main problem with the tasting menu is that, there does not seem to be continuity from one dish to another, the previous dish does not relate or provide a transition to the next dish, no correlation. There are just no "WOW" factors involved in this experience (perhaps the expectation is too high?) I remember going to Buchon, Thomas Keller's bistro in The Venetian in Las Vegas, and I was "WOW"ed by the perfectly cooked duck, the tenderness of that dish, the way the skin of the duck remains crispy while the meat was tender, juicy, and melts away in your mouth. Per Se lacks the "WOW" factor . . . excepts perhaps I was "WOW"ed by the beautifully constructed wine cellar and the space, and perhaps a little bit by the foie gras . . . but not much else. Given that it was about $300 per person, and needs 2 months in advance reservation, it did not live up to the standard. I rather spend $200 more for $500 a person, and go to Masa instead, as I was often “WOW”ed by the food in about every 10 mins in Masa than the entire time I was here in Per Se. Masa offers, I think, the best food in New York City, and the two times I went, the food was consistently amazing.

Wine Online

Sometime I wonder what are some good resources to look up information as to wines, or where to buy certain bottles. Your average corner wine shop does not always carry the certain type of bottle that you are looking for, or that you read about in a magazine or some other sources. Sure, you can always pick up another bottle, but what if you want to look up specific information on a certain wine, because someone had raved about how good that wine was? I think the following 2 websites are very helpful (they also compare prices and you can look up wine shops in your local area):

www.wineaccess.com
www.winezap.com

However, that website is still only limited, and there are various occassions where I cannot find a certain wine mentioned (for example, some of the 2005 top 100 Wine Spectator wines) on that site. Then, I try this website: www.winecommune.com, where you can find wine auctions online. Also, the following three stores carry a large selection and they ship, with pretty fair prices:

www.sherry-lehman.com
www.samswine.com

The below is also one of my favorite wine stores, and especially if they have their weekly Tuesday wine sale from certain regions, where I thought the prices are somewhat of a bargain:

www.astorwines.com

I also think, that you should probably not buy wine from www.wine.com, since the wine listed on that website are often more expensive than your local store, the selections not as comprehensive, and unless you live in the middle of nowhere near no wine shop, then should you shop there. Nonetheless, Wine.com does have some redeeming qualities though, being that they offer pretty extensive information on some wines and vineyards. Speaking of information on wines, this website is pretty awesome: http://www.epicurious.com/drinking/wine_dictionary. You can look up information on various grape varietals, various regions and other good information. Of course, there is always www.winespectator.com and www.erobertparker.com, but you need to subscribe.

If anyone knows other places to buy wine at a decent price, let me know??

Wines for Valentines #2

Here is the second wine that I think will work nicely for Valentines Day, and this time, I decide to choose a wine closer to home, a New York wine: Martha Clara Vineyards 2002 Ciel.

I picked up this wine, composed of 40% Chardonnay and 60% Viognier, after tasting it last fall in my trip to the Long Island wineries. I choose this wine because of the memorable sensation the wine left both on my palate and also the images that the wine evokes. Drinking this wine is like experiencing two different sensations. First, the wine attacks your palate like a tidal wave of intense nectar sweetness, tastes like apricot. However, the sensation quickly retreats after a couple of minutes, and turns into a more mellow, calmer, round and smooth caramel flavor. The transition is seamless, and the mellow flavor of caramel is pleasant and leaves a lingering memory of the initial intense sweet sensation that makes you want to go back for more. Drinking this wine often makes me think of scenes from romantic movies. Scenes such as when the guy picked up the girls from her house, where the girl, beautifully dressed, walked down the stair for the first time. The guy cannot help but stare and become mesmerized by the beauty, the elegance that radiates from the beautiful girl in her gorgeous gown. This is like the first sensation of intense sweet nectar that you experience when you first drank the wine. Then, as the date between the couple progresses, the guy is falling in love with the sweet, mellow nature and personality of the girl. The girl does not try to be too flashy, but instead, is just being her fun loving self. This is like the second wave of sensation you feel when you drank the wine, the mellow, round, smooth and elegant flavor of caramel. The guy is enjoying spending time with the girl and remembers how fun their date was, but, can never forget that first moment he saw the girl walking down the stair, and that moment plays again and again in the guy’s memory, causing the guy to think about the girl constantly, wanting to experience the entire sensation again, or something to that effect, hahaha.

In any event, a good dessert wine is always a pretty good choice. It is easy to drink, the flavor are usually more palatable for the average individuals, as it reminds people of juice or sorbet or those cider sparklers. Of course, drinking sweet wine will also leave some sugar on your lips, which perhaps makes the kiss that much sweeter.

A good place to try to pick up this wine is from Vintage New York, where they have a store down in Soho. The store concentrates on wines made in New York state only, and you can go down there for tastings for only a couple of dollars. It is quite an experience to try different New York wines. I think the wine offers good value, roughly $30 (for half-bottle), so it is light on your pocket.

On another note, don't know if the 2002 Ciel is still around (can probably still find it), as the winery now released the 2003 Ciel. But I know you can still buy the 2002 online from the winery's online store. Not sure how many you have to order though. Haven't had the chance to taste the 2003 yet, so don't know how good that is, but I definately would want to give it a try.

Wines for Valentines #1

Since Valentine's Day is approaching in like 11 days (or even sooner if you plan on celebrating the weekend before), why don't I put on this blog some wines that I think will be a good choice for Valentine's Day, whether you decide to take the wine to a restaurant with you (if it is an expensive enough bottle, you at least save some money, otherwise it is not worth the trouble), or if you are planning a romantic dinner at home, or perhaps it is just for drinks by the fire. I think I can do one every couple of day, until the 14th. So let's start with the first one, an Oregon Pinot Noir: Domaine Serene Evenstad Reserve Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2002.

Pinot Noirs are usually a mellower and lighter styled red wine that tends to please most people's palate. If you ever have to buy wine for a group of people, and you are not sure what they prefer, Pinot Noir is usually the way to go, as the sensation of drinking Pinot Noirs are somewhere between drinking white wine and drinking red wine. Domaine Serene Evenstad 2002 is a very charming wine, soft, well-rounded and smooth on the palate. The wine is unassuming, subtle, and shows nice note of earthiness. What merit this wine as a Valentine's Day selection though, is the amazing transformation that takes place in your glass. You will start to notice, after a couple of minutes, a sweet aroma floating around in the air. You will think to yourself, as you gazed into your lover's eyes, what is this seductive perfume she is wearing. As you move closer to your love trying to get a whiff of her perfume, you realized, no, this sweet sensation that is starting to fill up the room, the aroma that is rendering you powerless, is actually coming from the subtle, unassuming glass of Pinot Noir next to you. You pick up the glass, and the scent of brown sugar is exploding out the glass. You take a sip of the wine, and the ripe fruit with a hint of mintiness will gently coat your palate like if it was wrapped in silk. The finish offers a gentle touch of pepperiness, which when intermixed with the subtle hint of mint, will leave you with a memorable aftertaste. Drinking this wine evokes the imaginary of falling in love, the imaginary of the first time when you were standing close to the girl of your dream, and you realized how good she smells. The aroma of this wine induces the though of intertwined and melting together with your love on a bed of silk. The aroma of the wine and the flavor of the wine will inflame your romantic desires.

This is truly a wonderful Pinot Noir without flaws, and a wine that I keep on thinking about several months later. Of course, people have different taste and likes different flavors and different wines, and perhaps this wine might be too soft and not individualistic enough for some people. Also, perhaps I exaggerated a bit, or my imaginations has gone wild, but then isn’t that what good food and good wine suppose to do to us, evoke images. Wine is a living, breathing thing, and can taste different depending on the occasion, the people we are with, the surroundings, the type of glass used, the food we accompanied the wine with, and etc. Therefore, if you set the right mood, tell the right story, with the right person, then this wine can further enhances the magic that you have created for that one special Valentine’s Day.

It's Raining

My girlfriend went to the Rain concert last night, and apparently it was quite good. I have no idea who he is really, just know that he is a Korean star who sings and I think sometimes act in movies (don't know if that is true??) So I decided to look him up, given that he is causing quite a sensation in Asia with his concerts and also here. Do you know that he is covered in the New York Times as well (link) for his concert in New York? He was also invited to the MTV Music Award 2005 in Miami, and guess who I was told appeared at his concert last night???? P. Diddy, that's who. I think he was also called the Asian Justin Timberlake or Usher all rolled into one or something like that. I have included several pictures of him below, in case you don't know who he is (I don't before 3 weeks ago). Apparently last night at the concert, there were fans from all ages. There were little teenage girls, college students, fresh new grads, people in their late 20s, and also fans in their 30s and 40s. Wow, so I guess his fan base travels more than one generations. Never heard of his song though, want to give it a listen, anyone has his music? Or his MTV? Now I am intrigued.

This Girl

February is a shorter month, but it is often a very exciting month for me just because Chinese New Year often happen during this month, NBA All-Star Game always happen this month, the SuperBowl is this month and of course, Valentine's Day happens this month. Speaking of Valentine's Day, personally, it is a day of mixed feeling. I think it is because, when Valentine's Day rolls around and you don't have anyone to celebrated with, and with all the commercialism around you, it just kind of sucks, especially if the weather is cold too and it is depressing outside. If you do have someone to celebrate Valentine's Day with, then it can wonderful, but the planning often falls on the guy, and often times, elaborate plannings are necessary to suprise the girls (they seems to have a sixth sense of what we guys are doing all the time . . . or maybe it is just me, I don't hide stuff very well . . . ) However, sometimes, the planning can also means $$$$$$$$$$$$, so . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Since it is Valentine's Day Month, let's do something fun, so first, please check out the picture of the girl below. What do you think? Do you think she is pretty? cute? hot? cool person? comments? Let's give her a rating? Since I don't have any cool tracking things on my blog, please leave comments so we know what you think of her. She wants to know too.