Author Archives: Maurice

  1. A Love Letter to Cabernet Sauvignon

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    letter-to-cabernet-sauvignon

    My beloved Cabernet Sauvignon,

    I write this love letter to Cabernet Sauvignon out of frustration.  You are the king and have always been the king.  You sit almighty at the bottom of every wine list and to your right you have the highest price.   You don’t flaunt it, but you don’t have to.  You have every one under your reign and control.  The winemaker and sales team at the winery have no problem charging more for your juice than that of your best friend, Merlot.  The distributors have a dozen or more Cabernet Sauvignons and don’t bat an eye at selling you over $50/bottle.  The sommelier has come to expect to pay top dollar for you to sit in his cellar.  And the consumer believes that your name is a synonym for red wine.  You have really done it…you have supreme power over all.

    I used to date another grape you may know, his name was Nebbiolo.  In his homeland he is known as the king.  But can there really be two kings?  You and I have been acquaintances for many years.  Even from our first encounter, I knew that there was something very special about you.  You were strong, firm and so so manly.  You gave me chills when I sipped and swished your wetness in my mouth.  Those tannins were engaging, leaving my mouth dry and screaming for more.  Your fruits were of plums, blackberry and Cassis.  Yes, purple fruits, which match your majestic robe.  I must say, Nebbiolo is absolutely delicious, he has his own great attributes; however, in my heart you will remain my king.

    I started this letter by telling you that you have caused utter frustration in my sex life, and it is true.  Let me take you back to when I started dating you.  If you can remember I was a girl below legal drinking age, but that didn’t bother you.  I ran into you at the local supermarket on the bottom shelf while my friends and I were trying to find a libation to drink before our high school dance.  Your erect slim bottle with a price tag of $4.99 was exactly what I was looking for.  I ran outside the store and handed my money to a homeless man.  He went into the store and came back with you.  We were so excited!  My friends and I took you to the park, next to the tennis courts where no one would see  us.  How inexperienced we were back then, we couldn’t open you!  Your enclosure was a cork.  But that didn’t stop us.  We broke the tip of the bottle against the concrete, although we lost some juice, it was enough to reach our goal, we got tipsy.  We poured you into plastic cups and began to drink.  Although my friends would never admit it, but I think you de-flowered them as well that day.

    Now here is my frustration.  My first in counter with you was under-whelming.  All the hype and that was it.  I did get a buzz, but there was no real satisfaction.  From what I remember you were really aggressive, the taste was blah and the finish was quick.  There was nothing majestic about this king.  My first experience with wine was you, and you drove me to drink white wine.  For the next several years I indulged in whites and kept you out of mind.

    As I matured and began to get more experience, I decided to try you again.  This time I ordered you from a restaurant wine list, my boy friend at the time was trying to impress me and ordered you by asking the server for a Napa Cabernet.  My date that night was not that memorable.  He was a lawyer type who spoke a lot about himself and made several trips to the restroom.  That night was a re-awakening for me.  You were sumptuous.  The tannins were generous, masculine yet elegant.  Your musty aroma of berries and dark fruits mixed with what I remember as the smell of my father’s cologne.  Each time my date went to the bathroom, I sipped more and more of you.  I went so far as to order another bottle without him knowing.  My date that night was not with the guy across the table from me, but with you.  I remember hearing him talk.  All I could hear was Blah, Blah, Blah coming from his mouth.  What I listened to were your aromas and flavors which burst in my mouth.

    academic-wino

    That experience was great.  However, again I felt frustrated.  When I went to the store to buy that same bottle of wine I had indulged in that evening, I saw that it was way out of my price range.  Cabernet Sauvignon you were way too expensive for my taste.  It reminded me of the difference between a prostitute and a call girl.  At that time I did not have the money to indulge, but my wonderment led me to seek you out in a different form.  I trusted in some of my fellow women for wine for advice.  I went online and read Becca Yeamans’ blog, the Academic Wino’s who’s your daddy.

    karen-macneil

    She taught me that you were the son of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc.  I decided to go and meet your parents and I drank Chinon and Sancerre.  Boy were you different from your parents.  Your dad was aromatic and tart and your mom was super racy, she made me blush.  I then went and asked another female friend for advice.  I read Karen MacNeil’s book, “The Wine Bible”.  There I learned  that you were the predominate grape of the first growths of Bordeaux.  This only made me feel more helpless.  When I went to buy a Chateau Latour, I almost fainted.  My king was unattainable.  At this point I felt that I may have to sell my soul and continue to date lawyer types so that I could experience your tannins and fruit.

    alexandra-marnier-lapstolle

    Before I sold my soul, I came across another woman while reading an article in the New York times.  Her name was Alexandera Marnier Lapostolle.  She was a Chilean winemaker who was making Cabernet Sauvignon at a price I could afford.  I went on-line and ordered a bottle of Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon.  I was so anxious when it arrived.  I immediately opened the bottle and took a big whiff of your aroma.  Wow, plum, red berry, black fruit, eucalyptus, mint, chocolate and mocha were jumping out of the glass.  Your body was full, big and tannins were strong.  I immediately felt my womanhood swell and my saliva began running like a river.  I looked again at the invoice, and my heart skipped a beat.  I found my king!  You were a burly yet a sensitive man who could meet all my needs and you only cost me $20.   I never believed it before, but I guess there really is a difference between a lover and a Latin lover.

    For many years I trusted mans’ opinions about wine.  I read Robert Parker, I read James Laube and a whole other slew of prominent male wine writers.  I drank their choices but many times the Cabernet Sauvignons they recommended was too big, too alcoholic and left me plastered.  It took me back to my first experience with you.  You looked the part, talked a big game, but lacked sensuality.  As my financial situation improved, I began to trust in women again.  I drank the Cabernets of Heidi Barret-Peterson, Cathy Corison, Mia Klien, Karen Culler and Zelma Long.  They knew how to tame you.  Their wines showed your manliness yet refined your tannins and gave you a majestic elegance.  I thank my women friends for allowing me to continue this relationship with you.

    I wrote this love letter to Cabernet Sauvignon with the intention of letting go of my feelings.  I feel better now.  Although I am not able to experience you in all your forms, I now know that I can still indulge.  I have learned to be creative and search for you in different areas.  I trusted my female friends for advice and they led me to the right place.  Cabernet Sauvignon I love you, I lust you and I will forever be at your mercy…my king.

    Your once frustrated, and now at peace Cabernet Sauvignon lover,

    Mauricia DiMarina

     

  2. Has the Summer Left You High and Dry of Wine?

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    I know if you are like me, the summer was filled with grilling, dinner parties and lot’s of drinking with friends.  Although I had a grand time, it left me high and dry of wine.  Look, I cannot complain, having friends over drinking roses, Albarinos and some of my cellared bottles was a great way to spend the summer.  It has unfortunately left me dry of wine.   This led me to go back to work and start scouting some good wine buys.

    I met with my purveyors and started looking for wines I could buy and take home.  During this time I started to visit some of the other restaurants in my company and realized that they had way too much wine sitting around.  I twisted a few arms and convinced them to send their wines to Island Prime where I could sift through them and offer a ridiculous prices for our Prime Cru members.

    We are a week away and I have loads and loads of vino ranging from cheap California everyday drinking wines to old world staples, such as Barolo and  obscure ground breaking wines, such as Sadie Family.  There is something for every palate.  I know that when I get there in the morning and start to pull apart boxes I am going to pull aside some roses for myself.  Although summer has ended, we still have a few more months of sun here in San Diego.

    If you never been to a wine sale at Island Prime, then you are missing out.  It only lasts 2 and a half hours and wines move very fast.  When you arrive be sure to grab a box, a wine glass and don’t over think your purchases.  The moment you begin to contemplate a wine, and you let go of it, there is no guarantee it well be there when you return.  Wines go fast.  The moment the room gets a buzz about a wine we tasted, that wine is gone, gone, gone.  Yes I said tasted.  You get to taste while you shop.  We have samples of many of the wines for you to make a better choice.  While you shop, taste and get blown away by the view of the San Diego bay, you can also enjoy some light hor d’oeuvres.   These wine sales are the best way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

    When you finish shopping and you get the urge for a serious lunch, you can make your way over to the C-Level lounge and enjoy lunch on the patio.  The best part is you can take your new purchase and open it at your table without a corkage fee.  So if you are like me and summer has left you high and dry of wine, then this is the time to replenish your cellar.

    To be part of Prime Cru Wine Club Click Here

    For a sample wine list click here: wine sale sample list 9-13

    wine sale

     

  3. Interviews with Dead Celebrities: Jim Morrison

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    wine-interview-dead-celebrities

    A wine interview with Jim Morrison of the Doors.

    For some time now, I have tried to get wine interviews with some of my favorite musician, movie stars and other celebrities about their wine habits.  I have found it very difficult to get past their fan clubs and PR firms to just get a basic questionnaire filled out.  So I have diverted to plan B.  I found it to be so much easier to hone in on my psychic abilities and interview those celebrities that have passed away.  It seems as though they are more willing to sit through the interview.  Most dead celebrities do not want to lose touch with their fans.  They are so desperate that they are willing to answer the questions of a lowly wine blogger in San Diego.

    Since my dad has Mexican Huichol Indian blood, I felt as though I have a natural psychic ability.  So I searched deep inside, called upon my spirit animal, sought out my spirit place and took on my shaman name, Momo.  I finally found my psychic ability.  Ironically, my spirit animal was actually an insect, phylloxera and my place of power was my very own wine room.  Now that I am connected, my acidity balanced, my heart full-bodied and my spirit well-structured I bring to you my wine interviews with dead celebrities.

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    jim-morrison

    Momo:  I must start by saying that you, Jim Morrison, have always been an inspiration to me and my alter ego of wanting to be the greatest rock star.  Your poetry, your stage shenanigans and your propensity as a chick magnet put you at the top of my list of idols.  Many might say that your drug and whiskey use was pure stupidity, but we both know you were trying to obtain something more spiritual.

    Jim Morrison:  Yeah man, that is some really deep stuff you’re bringing up.  The majority of my actions were induced by drugs and alcohol.  However, when I “broke on through to the other side” I met my spirit guide, an old Indian.  He took me on a journey through my life and revealed how wine made me who I was.

    Momo:  That is fascinating.  By the way we now call them Native Americans.

    Jim: Oh how groovy, that is so cool…Native… American…Right on!

    Momo:  You once asked a question, “Did you have a good life when you died, enough to base a movie on?”  I’d like to rephrase that same question to you, did you have a good life when you died, enough to base a wine on?

    Jim:  Funny you should ask. Let me tell you what happened…”Is everybody in? The movie is about to begin…”  Sit back, turn off the lights, turn on the “rain storm audio” and let me tell you my story as it relates to wine.  When I “broke on through to the other side”, I met my “Native American” guide and he said… “You chased your pleasures here, dug your treasures there, but can you still recall that the best times in your life were influenced by wine”.  And like the ghost from Christmas past he took me on a journey through my life and in every turning point I saw the magic of wine.

    Momo:  Now this is getting interesting. Let me get this straight, every important moment in your life was influenced by wine, and you never realized it until you died?

    mouton rotghschild

    Jim:  Exactly Momo!  I did not drink a lot of wine, I stuck to whisky; but when I did it was momentous.  Unfortunately I was always out of my mind I could not remember what I drank. There was one time that I drank a French wine which had a picture of a naked woman on it.  My buddies told me it was one of the greatest French wines but the French never included it in the top wines.  Apparently they believed that only 4 wines were worthy of being called the best.

    Momo: Are you saying that you drank Mouton Rothschild 1963 with Bernard Dufour’s label of an orange woman?

    Jim: I guess so. So when I wrote “Five to One” I was hoping the French would include this great wine in the top five. “Gonna make it, baby, in our prime”.

    Momo:  I am not sure if your song had anything to with it, but in 1973 Mouton joined the ranks as one of the five 1st growths.

    Jim:  Wow, that is great to hear.  It really deserved to be there.  Here is another time wine lit my fire.  One day we were jamming in LA and we were sipping on this long skinny blue-bottle.  It had a picture of saint and with German words on it and was very sweet.  All day long we were struggling with one of the verse in “The End”.  After drinking about a case of that stuff, all the bottles were piled up in a corner.  I caught a glimpse of the pile and it dawned on me, the lyrics that needed to complete the song.

    Momo:  So you were drinking a Liebfraunmilch Riesling from the Rheinhessen? Isn’t that Blue Nun?

    Jim:  Yes, “the Blue Nun is calling us, the Blue Nun is calling us, driver where you taking us?”  I later changed it to the Blue Bus, cause I was getting a lot of flack from John, who always said I was too anti religion.  So I appeased him and said the Blue Bus.  To this day I really don’t know what I meant by it, but it was catchy.

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    Momo:  Yeah, I’d have to agree with you, I never understood those lyrics, but I did sing them over and over.

    Jim:  Let me continue, my Native American guide took me back to Venice when I met the most beautiful girl.  I got my wits together and said, “hello, I love you, won’t tell me your name”.   She said her name was Pam and that she didn’t speak to strangers,  because “People are strange and you will never remember my name”.  However, once I opened a bottle of red and offered to share with her, she relaxed.  I thought it was strange cause the wine was Spanish but the label was Italian. I think it was called the Sicilian Vegan.  Pam was a vegetarian back then, I think that’s why it caught Pam’s eye.

    Momo:  Wow, so when you met your life partner, Pamela Courson,  you drank Vega Sicilia Unico?  Did you ever wonder if it was you or the wine that won Pam over?

    Jim: I  don’t want to think too much about that, I don’t know if I could handle the truth.  What I soon realized that when I wrote some of my greatest poems and songs I was under the spell of wine.

    Momo: Give me some more examples.

    Jim: When I wrote “The Crystal Ship” I was drinking a brandy from an expensive glass bottle.  I finished it and starting pouring some white wine into it called “Carton Wine” or something like that.  And it had the name of a religious emperor.

    Momo:  The lyrics, “Crystal ships are being filled…” came from you drinking Corton Charlamagne from a bottle of Louis XIII?  That is ridiculous!

    Jim:  I guess so.  Another time I had just finished a thanksgiving dinner at our house with some friends and band members.  I went into the back yard and grabbed a bottle from the table.  From what I recall it was a light-bodied French red which had a Spanish name La Taco, or something like that.  Regardless, the wine was amazing and I wrote the lyrics to “Spanish Caravan…Carry me Caravan take me away. Take me to Portugal, take me to Spain”.

    Momo: Spanish Caravan was a result of you drinking La Tache, a grand cru from Burgundy?  Just when I thought this was the craziest interview, it just got crazier.  You are one of the greatest poets of our century and you had it wrong the whole time.  A French wine caused you to write about Spain!?

    Jim: Look Momo, my whole life I was searching for meaning.  And it was in those spontaneous moments that I happened to be drinking wine.  Of course I was so out of my mind on other substances, I never realized it.  Not until after my death did any of this make sense.  I could have had a longer life if I had just stuck to drinking wine.

    Momo:  That is crazy Jim, I worshiped you throughout college.  I tried every form of mind altering intoxicant because I wanted to be like you.  I thought that if I got super high and out of my mind, then I too could break on through the doors of perception in my mind.  And now you mean to tell me that the secret is wine!

    Jim: Exactamundo!  It all came together one day in 1971 while I was in a bath tub in France.    I was drinking a sweet white wine that Pam had left in the ice box.  I think it was called Chateau something with a D..Y..and Q.  I can’t remember.  But when I took that first sip I knew… “this was the end, my beautiful friend”.  My heart skipped a beat, and then stopped.

    Momo:  Are you saying that when you died in Paris you were drinking Chateau D’yqem?  What a way to go.

    chateau d'qyuem

    Jim:  Oh yeah, it was.  I think I had for seen my death because the lyrics of “End of the night” explained my death to the “t”.

    “Take a journey to the bright midnight,

     End of the Night, End of the Night.

    Realms of bliss, realms of light.

    Some are born to sweet delight”

    Momo:  HoIy moly, you’re right. I feel so better now.  All I do, is drink wine!  Maybe it is wine that has allowed me to hone my psychic ability and connect with you.  One last thing, can you tell us what heaven is like?

    Jim:  Certainly, listen carefully…”Can you picture what will be, so limitless and free, desperately in need…of some…red wine in hand, in an…angelic land”.

    Momo:  What an enlightening interview and thank you Jim Morrison.  It sounds like the music is over, let me turn out the lights and I’ll see you on the other side.

     

  4. How Are Oak Barrels Made?

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    Oak Barrel Making

    Have you ever wondered how oak barrels are made?  When I go to wineries and see rows and rows of oak barrels I can’t help but wonder, “where did they get all this wood from?  How did they form them out of wood?  Why don’t they leak?  There aren’t any nails or glue, how did they get put together?”  When you see the video below, you’ll see human ingenuity at its best.

    A few weeks ago the people at Jordan Winery invited a handful of wine buyers and sommeliers to visit the winery.  Yes, we were wined and dined and treated like kings.  But with all that, what stood out the most was the trip they set up for us at Tonnellerie Francaise Nadalie in Calistoga.  Nadalie has a long history in France for making high quality French barrels.  In 1980 they brought French barrel making techniques to Calistoga.  Instead of making French oak barrels, they only made American oak barrels in America.  They own and run Megnin Mills in Pennsylvania.  Megnin Mills provides most of the oak used at Nadalie.  It is a serious business!  It takes about 200 years for an oak tree to mature enough for barrel making.  It is hard to fathom and I still cannot wrap my head around it.

    Some wineries will actually pick the specific tree they want for their barrels.  Nadalie brings the oak from the mill and process the barrels in Calistoga.  The team of workers have been together for years which makes the factory run like clockwork.  Their goal is to produce 55 barrels a day.  Although Nadalie uses machines to make the oak barrels, there is still a lot of skilled labor and craftsmanship involved.  In order to keep the barrel making process moving, each person has to be on point.

    This is a job that involves a lot of hard labor and repetition.  The workers fall into a rhythm and fall into some sort of zen-like state.  Their pride in their work is clear and it is that pride that allows for such high quality workmanship.  The short video below will take you through the oak barrel making process.  I hope you enjoy it.

  5. What They Were Drinking in Mission Hills?

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    Mission Hills Wine

    Last year I went with the family to listen to music at the park in Coronado.  I was amazed to see so many people drinking wine.  My curiosity drove me to walk around and take a peak at what they were drinking.  Coronado is a well to-do community made up of military families and retirees.  One would expect them to have expensive wine choices.  This past Friday, my neighborhood, Mission Hills had a concert in the park.  My kids had the bright idea of making soap and selling it at the park.  My children are 5 and 7 years old so as you could imagine, selling soap was an easy task.  Who really needs home-made soap?  Apparently, the residents of Mission Hills do, they sold out.

    As we walked from blanket to blanket selling soap and giving out golden tickets which invited special customers to the soap factory, I noticed that everyone had a bottle of wine.  This was perfect, they had a buzz going, how could they refuse a 5 and 7-year-old selling home-made soaps.  Again my curiosity led me to investigate what the people of Mission Hills were drinking.

    I grew up in Mission Hills and have seen it change over the past 30 years.  Mission hills sits on the hills overlooking  Old Town.  It was on of the oldest neighborhoods in San Diego.  Many of the homes are national landmarks.   When I was a kid, the neighborhood had many retirees and families.  In the 1990-2000’s many of these families moved out and an influx of new money came in.  What used to be a well-off neighborhood lined with station wagons and mini vans was now lined with Porsche convertibles and Lexus SUVs.  Young professionals replaced the earlier inhabitants.  The houses became more modern and extravagant.  Long gone were the swing sets in the back yards, they had become replaced with man caves and built-in outdoor kitchens.  When the economy took a dip, many moved away.  Those that remained, married and started having children.  We have come full circle and now the neighborhood roads are once again lined with min-vans…but no more station wagons.

    Today Mission Hills has a similar demographic to Coronado, minus the retirees.  It is a well-off family driven neighborhood.  Today the houses here easily start at a million dollars.  So of course, as we were selling soap to willing customers, I had to see what they were drinking in Mission Hills.  Naturally, no one was dipping into their prized wine cellar and pulling out Mouton to listen to big band music in the park.  They had gone to the local wine shop or supermarket and picked out wines that were already chilled and ready to drink.

    Just for the record I too was engaging in the libations and was walking around with a bottle of Spy Valley Pinot Noir Rose.  I tell you this because it was my “in” with some of the people.  When I approached some people, they were apprehensive to show what they were drinking.  Their first thought was, “is he a police?”  When they realized that my kids were selling soap and I had a cup filled with wine in my hand they felt a more at easy.  However, the moment I asked to snap a picture, many started to make excuses.  “Oh well we just it bought it at the store” or “We liked the label.”  They said this to make certain that I knew that they had better taste than what they were actually drinking.  I just smiled at them and said, “don’t worry, I’m drinking pink wine.”  This put them at easy and allowed me to snap the pic.

    So here is what they were drinking in Mission Hills on a Friday afternoon in the park.  Do any of these brands look familiar?  Personally I was impressed to see some Spanish Cava and Rioja in some of the glasses.  Although there were plenty of “supermarket” wines, there were also some fun and interesting ones.  I think next time I will bring extra bottles with me and share some Brazilian, Greek and Slovenian wines with my neighbors.  I’d love to get their opinion.