Heading out the door to see Tim Grimm perform in Columbus, IN.

www.timgrimm.com/calendar.html

I'm not sure what kinda "chuck" or how many "bucks" but I'll find something to imbibe. :-)

dln, why wait 'til 5:00? We should be on daylight savings time anyway! :-D

Mazel Tov, Carlos.

As most of you have probably left work for the day, I on the otherhand sit in my cube in Sunny Arizona waiting for the work day to come to an end. I am also surfing the Fodors site killing time and I must admit got sucked into this thread. I'm always fascinated by what others are doing across the world. I can't wait to go home relax and open a bottle of my favorite wine Santa Margarita(s/p?) and watch the olympics. I must admit I am an Olympic Junkie....

Got to get y'all on the Wine O thread(s). Big diff between 2 Buck Chuck and the sometimes really world class stuff Carmen has recommended from OR.
I'll be in MX for 6 weeks so I'll have little to contribute while there.
m

My yyellowtail chshardonnay bottttle and the little thaat is left of itss contents sayy that it si bottlde in Casella Estate, Wakely Rd., Yenda, Australia. OOps, one glass two, too many, I gyueswss!!!

Hey mikemo, that's something we can definitely agree on :) Love Panther Creek, Bethel Heights, Shea and Ken Wright too, but am not sure how "tour-worthy" their vineyards and wineries are. Maybe I should go find out and report back!!

Waiting for mr_go to get home from work, so that we can grill filets, sit on the back deck and enjoy this incredible 70-degree mid-August weather (for Chicago, this summer has been a real treat).

Funny you all should mention it -- I made a Trader Joe's run today, specifically to fill up with wine rack. No three-buck-Chuck for me today, but plenty of other reasonably priced goodies.

I'm at work (a university) getting ready for the new semester to begin. Still cramming in as much summer as possible!

Heading shortly to San Francisco (three plus hours away) for the weekend with friends to see the Geisha exhibit at the Asian Art Museum and eat some good food.

re: wine -- I also love the Bonnie Doon wines; Big House White and Vin Gris (a nice choice for those who love French/Spanish style DRY rose wine but can't find 'em in your local supermarket) are chilling in my fridge right now. A little more money than Yellowtale and Charles "2 buck" Shaw, but still inexpensive and delicious.

Question: How does one get a dinner invitation to Ira's house?

Enjoy your weekends, fodorites.
Annabelle

Sitting in the beautiful Northern California area near San Francisco. Getting ready to head home for another great weekend. Have fun, all!

It's a damp, muggy night here on Cape Cod. Work week is over, for me...YAHOO!!! I'm watching the Red Sox game on TV and came on line during a break...Boston's ahead 6 to 0!!! Go Sox!!!! :-)

ira, what excellent taste you have in Birthday dinners! I wish I had thought of that :)

Carmen, starspinners and pandaschu, thank you so much! I am making lists, please feel free to email me and direct me. Pinot Noir is one of my favorite wines so I am sure I will be very happy in Portland . (tonights wine was Mackenzie 2002-Russian River Pinot Noir)
The only place as humid and uncomfortable as Jax Fl is somewhere in the Amazon..so I am sure Portland will be wonderful!!
Thanks again. ((F))

I actually decided to have some good beer tonite. I was looking for Zywiec (Polish Beer) but the package store ran out of it and I ended up getting Pilsner (Czech Beer)....watching the Olympics.....still waiting for my fiancee to celebrate!

Hi from the north shore of lake Ontario. It has been drizzling for a while, at least I don't have to water my tomatos and cucumbers plants in the backyard tonight.

Just found out I could take two weeks off next month, wonder where to go:taking a long walk around Liguria? Or going to Budapest? Any suggestion?

Carmen, please don't bother on my behalf - I get all the tasting invites I can handle for a lifetime.
I have some '99 Ken Wright "single vineyard" PN in my cellar, but I think they may need more time - any suggestions? A recent '00 David Bruce RR PN was still an infant (surprising given the vintage).
Annabelle2, Agree, the wonderful roses of sw FR, SP and PT (also one or two from Chile/Argentina) are amazing - Lady "L" bought lunch in Baiona SP in July - a local hand-picked 1.6 KG grilled lobster with a no name SP Rose - perfectamente.
Sigel's (wine store chain) here in D has Bobby Kacher's roses (RP 88-89pt)and Fournier's SB for under $8. I had Fournier's '01 Fume Blanc VV Grand Cuvee on BA in July - simply stunning.
Riffic, when are you going to give us some feedback from your Franken tastings? Hey, there is life beyond die Pfalz.
Happy weekend mis amigos!
M

I'll have to give some of these other Bonnie Doons a try. It was new to us - a gift from good friends who were moving away and whp enjoyed it. Glad to know there are many more to try.

Mina,
I hadn't even considered that it might not be sold there, but you could well be right. I didn't see it in the local wine shop either (I don't think). I've had some great wines from the Yarra Valley in Victoria, where my wife is from, but for volume production, I'm betting Yellowtail comes from somewhere around Adelaide. Almost every Au wine I've seen here in the US is from S. Australia.

Not that there's anything wrong with that... ;)

Casella Wines, makers of Yellowtail, are indeed at Yenda, which is just outside the town of Griffith in southern New South Wales. I don't know if all the grapes are sourced locally though. I assume they're blends, in which case they could easily contain some South Australian (and other) product, and the mix would of course vary from year to year to maintain a consistent character.

I saw some Yellowtail in a local (Canberra) supermarket a while ago at I think AU$7.99 (about US$5.70) and tried it out of curiosity. I thought they were decent easy-drinking wines at a fair price.

I'd read about "Two Buck Chuck" - it beggars the imagination how they manage to make a profit!

That's good to know Neil...thanks!

Clifton, that's funny you say that...because it seems to me most of the Australian wines here I see are from South Eastern Australia (I keep an eye out for South Australian wines). Although I have seen a good sampling at Costco lately. Cost Plus also carries Yalumba...I like their Viognier for easy white wine drinking. I still have a good stash of stuff from the Barossa that I brought back though.

And no, nothing wrong with South Australia...I wouldn't mind retiring there someday! :)

Hi Riffic et al, I have had Yellow Tail Chardonnay and ira, thank you for a good idea. Sometimes I choose a restaurant specifically because they do a killer dessert, and then when it comes around to it, I am too full to even think of it. However, next time, I am going to order the dessert first, and if I still have room, I might order an entree (here in Australia, that is a starter preceding the main course).

I am at work, it is 5:20am and all is very quiet. I have been here since 11pm and will not go home until 11:30am.

I have taken a break to read Fodor's. Just copied off some Creperie recs in Paris. I had a lot of restaurant stuff but not any specific creperie info tucked away.

One more shift and my week is over. I work 12 hours every Friday and Saturday..then I have 5 wonderful days off. The best thing is, I can take one weekend off and have 12 days to travel. I leave for Europe on Sunday night and return Thursday of the next week.

>How does one get a dinner invitation to Ira's house?<

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