TWIB Notes

Well it wouldn’t be a Summer of Steve weekly feature without it first missing several weeks in a row.  I’ve finally taken a break from drinking to sit down and update my progress in destroying most hepatic function.

Obviously much booze was consumed in Seattle.  I had my fill of Manny’s Pale Ale and several nice beers from Maritime Brewery.  Their Pilsner was particularly good.  Cocktails were also on the menu.  The highlights included a Dark and Stormy at Pie Bar* and The Southpaw at Zig Zag Café.  And if you’re looking for the dive-iest of dive bars,  we’ll there’s Bernard’s. You can have a cheap, inexpensive $2.50 well and wash that down with an Irish Car Bomb.

 

Wine School Update

You are now reading the blog of someone who has passed Wine FUNdamentals Level I.  I only scored 98.3 our of 100.  I guess that’s ok.  It’s one to Level II.  Sadly, while in Vermont this weekend, I’ll be missing the best class of the whole course, the one that goes over both Burgundy and Bordeaux.

Wine of the Week:  2013 The Dreaming Tree Chardonnay

This is what wine school has done to me.  I’m drinking Chardonnay.  Actually on a recent trip to Total Wine, I picked a bunch of varieties I would not normally purchase.  This was one of them.  I promise next week I’ll go back to Two Buck Chuck.

Appearance: Clear medium intensity yellow** with a clear rim.

Nose: Clean, with lots of sour apple and pear with a hint of vanilla from the oak bleeding through.  Pure aroma.

Palate: Dry with a medium high amount of acidity.  Medium alcohol and body with a similarly medium finish.  The sour apple is still there on the tongue, but the pear has been replaced with a bit of oak.  There’s also a strange soapy flavor.

I liked their Pinot Noir and thought I would give their Chardonnay a try.  It’s not terrible and probably does a good job representing a midlevel lightly oaked California Chardonnay, but that’s just not something I’m going to go out of my way for.  And at the mid $20s there are bound to be better options, I’m sure.  I’ll keep looking.

 

 

* Pie Bar may be my favorite place on earth now.

** I would call it vitamin piss yellow

I Am Now Accepting Applications to Help Me Drink All This

 

My last three travel adventures along with a more prolific than usual spring brewing season has left my booze fridge almost full.

Walkabout 2013 Day 3: Reims and Rilly-la-Montagne

What a perfectly beautiful day for a bike ride through Champagne, even with an unintended detour through Ludes*.  The French don’t believe in signs that tell you where you should go to reach your destination.

We started the day biking over to the open market to stock up on charcuterie and cheeses, then had tastings at the following Champagneries (is that a thing?) in Rilly-la-Montagne.

• Champagne André Delaunois (Good)
• Champagne Michel Fagot (Very Good)
• Champagne Stéphane Herbert (OK)

By the way, those beautiful fields of yellow are rape fields.  The seeds of these flowers produce rapeseed oil which the Canadian government has marked in the US as Canola oil.

We then finished up the day with a dinner of the meats and cheeses we purchased at the market earlier washed down with a magnum of Michel Fagot in celebration of one our party’s new job (not me, so please don’t ask).

Walkabout 2013 Day 3 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

 

* The original date-rape** drug

** Sorry about the rape theme of this posting.

The Idiocracy Reaches Scotland

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What’s next? Passion fruit flavored Cigars?

Okrapalooza

Okrapalooza VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

And drinks at St. Ann's afterward.

View Okrapalooza in a larger map

It’s Time!

A Festivus Feast

If you haven't already done your Festivus grocery shopping, you should check here for some ideas.

I would add a Junior Mint Martini for dessert.

1 shot Creme de Menthe

1 shot Creme de Cocoa

1 shot Vanilla Vodka

Hmmmmmm. Maybe I should bring a batch of these to Festivus.

Pass the big salad, please.

Dallas' Most Useful Webpage

HERE

Drinking Dallas: Swan Court

So the obvious question is what I am doing in a bar that only the very old frequent. Well, back in the day -- 10 years ago, when i first was hired at Nortel -- we worked in the building that houses Swan Court. Many was the time that our meetings either started or ended up there -- but usually both. So, since my services at Nortel were no longer required, I thought one final visit to Swan Court would be nice. So, how was it?? Despite the abundance of the ultra geriatric, the place isn't that bad. It surprised me with Red Hook ESB and Broken Halo IPA on tap. For that alone I give this place a pass. It also had the usual suspects of bottled beer and a bar staff that knows how to mix up any drink. While waiting for my ex-co-workers, I had my obligatory crab cakes (hey, I love crab cakes). They were very nice with huge lumps of whole crab on a spicy aioli. Overall I give this place a solid B+. I'm not sure I would ever go there for any reason other than nostalgia. But with a nice beer-on-tap selection and some solid crab cakes, you could do worse.

2435 North Central ExpresswaySuite 102, Richardson, Texas 75080