{"id":129,"date":"2009-04-29T23:19:00","date_gmt":"2009-04-29T23:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.sostevinobile.com\/?p=129"},"modified":"2009-04-29T23:19:00","modified_gmt":"2009-04-29T23:19:00","slug":"please-dont-turn-these-rockstars-into-a-livingsocial-app-on-facebook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.sostevinobile.com\/?p=129","title":{"rendered":"Please don\u2019t turn these Rockstars into a LivingSocial App on Facebook!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Here\u2019s an intriguing conundrum: if you could somehow reassemble one great rock band, in its original incarnation, which would you choose? Of course, The Beatles<\/a><\/span> is too obvious a choice, kinda like ordering a magnum of 1947 Cheval Blanc<\/a><\/span><\/span> to accompany your last meal. Personally, I\u2019m torn. Blind Faith<\/a><\/span> might have been at the top of my list (after all, everyone is still alive)<\/span>, but then I heard the Cream<\/a><\/span> reunion and, hard as it is to admit, they sounded a bit\u2026anemic. But since this is a hypothetical query, I\u2019d narrow my selection to three bands at their now-defunct apex, based on sheer musicianship (so much for Led Zeppelin<\/a><\/span>, I\u2019m afraid)<\/span>.<\/span><\/div>\n

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The Band<\/a><\/span> comes first to mind. These guys weren\u2019t about making popular albums\u2014they set out to make great albums. Music from Big Pink<\/span><\/span>, Stage Fright<\/span><\/span>, and their self-titled second album, The Band<\/span><\/span>, still hold up as modern masterpieces. In music circles, many of the leading performers of the day held this quintet in complete awe, something readily apparent in the enthusiasm with which they contributed to The Band\u2019s epochal live albums, Rock of Ages<\/span><\/span> and The Last Waltz<\/span><\/span>. If only there\u2019d been a way to stop the feud between Robbie Robertson and Levon Helm\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
The Band was a hybrid of Canadian and New Orleans musicians. Another group that blend the New Orleans sound with contemporary California style was Little Feat<\/a><\/span>. Driven by the seamless slide guitar of the late Lowell George and the unmistakable barrelhouse blues rifts from Bill Payne\u2019s keyboards, there is little wonder why more bands named the Feat as their favorite band (apart from their own ensemble)<\/span>. No album gets more play on my iPod these days than Waiting for Columbus<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/div>\n
Alas, however, Little Feat must step aside for the ultimate band for which I\u2019d pay a Warren Buffett-sized fortune to hear just once in its original lineup. As Bill Graham<\/a><\/span> put it the night The Allman Brothers Band<\/a><\/span> closed the Fillmore East<\/a><\/span>, \u201cIn all my life, I\u2019ve never heard the kind of music this group plays\u2014the finest contemporary music.\u201d Perhaps he should have said \u201ctimeless.\u201d Listening to the live version<\/a><\/span> of One Way Out <\/span><\/span>as I pen this entry, it\u2019s hard to believe the sophistication and intricacy of their music, especially considering they were all under 25 at the time. Trying to imagine what they might have produced had both Berry Oakley and Duane Allman not been killed in separate motorcycle accidents simply makes one shiver.<\/span><\/div>\n

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Of course, I\u2019m keenly aware that readers are entitled to their own choices, but please show some restraint. This is a professional blog, after all, not a social networking site! This entry meanders, with my usual penchant for digression, because I could find no more apt analogy to describe my wonderment\u2014and pleasure\u2014at the rockstar lineup that came out to pour at Acme Fine Wine<\/a>
\n<\/span>\u2019s inaugural Atelier<\/span> tasting<\/a><\/span> last Saturday.<\/span><\/div>\n

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Here, in no particular order, was an assembly of a dozen winemakers who could make even an ardent Francophile take pause:\u00a0<\/font><\/font>Pam Starr,\u00a0Dave Phinney,\u00a0Russell Bevan, Craig MacLean, Andy Erickson, Philippe Melka, Sarah Gott, Mike Hirby, Robbie Meyer,\u00a0Mark Herold,\u00a0and\u00a0Heidi Barrett<\/font><\/font>. Drawing upon the sundry labels they either produce directly or act as consulting winemaker, this coterie poured over 50 different wines. As I remarked to Acme principal David Stevens, it reminded me of the D\u00e9j\u00e0 Vu strip club<\/a><\/span> chain\u2019s trademark: \u201c1000\u2019s of Beautiful Girls and Three Ugly Ones.\u201d Only I\u2019d\u2019ve been hard pressed to name even one ugly one from this lot\u2014each wine was a revelation to the palate.\u00a0<\/font><\/font><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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As such, I am almost hesitant to highlight the handful of wines I felt garnered special citation, especially considering the brevity of the notes I took. My taste memory may be long, perhaps even syn\u00e6sthesic, but the truncated entries I managed to record in the program guide we received barely merit the term \u201cchirographic.\u201d Or legible. And I challenge anyone to record their findings on 50 wines with a iPhone touchpad! Nonetheless, I did find standouts in Philippe Melka\u2019s 2006 Vineyard 29 Aida Estate Cabernet Sauvignon <\/span>and Celia Welch Masyczek\u2019s 2006 Scarecrow Cabernet Sauvignon<\/span>.<\/span><\/div>\n
Celia\u2019s indelible touch was abundantly evident in the 2006 Keever Cabernet Sauvignon<\/span>, a wine owners Bill and Olga Keever justifiably call \u201cthe best wine we have made to date.\u201d Similarly distinguishable was the 2006 Bialla Cabernet<\/span> from Craig MacLean and Pam Starr\u2019s 2006<\/span> Crocker & Starr Cabernet Sauvignon<\/span>. Rarely does a Cab winemaker excel on par with a Pinot, but her 2006 Adastra Pinot Noir<\/span> was every bit the equal of her Bordeaux varietals. Classic Bordeaux blends that tantalized included Mike Hirby\u2019s 2006 Roy J. Maier Cabernet Sauvignon<\/span> and Andy Erickson\u2019s 2005 Dancing Hares<\/span>.<\/span><\/div>\n
My truncated notes for Mark Herold describe his 2006 Kamen Cabernet Sauvignon<\/span> as \u201cpure chocolate.\u201d My assessment of the 2005 Barbour Cabernet Sauvignon<\/span> that Heidi Peterson Barrett crafted was no less lofty. Of course, there is more to the viticultural realm than great Cabernet; a most capable proponent of this tenet, Robbie Meyer, deftly offset the heat of the gathering with his proprietary\u00a02007 Peirson Meyer Chardonnay<\/span>. Also qualifying: Sarah Gott\u2019s 2006 Blackbird Vineyards Illustration<\/span>, a predominantly Merlot-based blend, with both Cabernets (Franc and Sauvignon) <\/span>rounding it out. No stranger to blends, Dave Phinney produced his 2005 Orin Swift Papillon<\/span> with the full complement of the classic Bordeaux varietals. Meanwhile, Russell Bevan offered his eponymous 2007 Bevan Red<\/span>, a blend of 45% Cabernet Franc and 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, balanced out with 10% Merlot. His 2006 Dry Stack Syrah<\/span> was equally pleasing.<\/span><\/div>\n
The true revelation of this event (reaffirmation, actually, for the many cognoscenti<\/span><\/span> in the crowd) was the amazing breadth and quality of the wines being produced here. It seems fashionable, particularly in certain dining circles, to denigrate California wines as lacking subtlety or, worse, adhering
\nto an indistinguishable conformity (see the comments appended to Michael Bauer\u2019s recent <\/span>Does buying local apply to wine?<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span>). <\/span>The Atelier tasting incontrovertibly demonstrated that these local vintages are anything but monolithic and can hold their own against any other wines.<\/span><\/div>\n
Before concluding, I would be remiss if I didn\u2019t pay tribute to the marvelous food that accompanied this event. David and Mimi Katz, the caterers at Panevino<\/a><\/span>, share the same building as Acme Fine Wines, and cranked out an abundance of chichetti<\/span><\/span> throughout the afternoon. I do hope, however, that my fellow blogger, Napa Man<\/a><\/span>, is premature in pronouncing the Atelier as the premier tasting of the year. I, for one, am looking forward to see how David and Karen might outdo themselves with Atelier II. But, as a long-standing Acme denizen who decried the lapse of their annual anniversary party at the Tucker Farm Center<\/a><\/span> while they located to this site in 2008, I can happily say that this tasting more than mitigated for the omission!<\/span><\/div>\n

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Here\u2019s an intriguing conundrum: if you could somehow reassemble one great rock band, in its original incarnation, which would you choose? Of course, The Beatles is too obvious a choice, kinda like ordering a magnum of 1947 Cheval Blanc to accompany your last meal. Personally, I\u2019m torn. Blind Faith might have been at the top […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[164,6,4,16,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bordeaux-blend","category-cabernet-franc","category-cabernet-sauvignon","category-chardonnay","category-syrah"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.sostevinobile.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.sostevinobile.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.sostevinobile.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.sostevinobile.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.sostevinobile.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.sostevinobile.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.sostevinobile.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.sostevinobile.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.sostevinobile.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}