Napa Valley 2023, the Next Frontier

A Shout out to Dave Del Dotto and his Family and Team

I was honored to attend my first Del Dotto White Truffle Dinner and it was a once in a lifetime event. Nothing but the highest quality food and wine available. But what made the weekend most special was talking with Dave and meeting and talking with his family. The entire family, Dave, Yolanda, Desiree, and Giovanni are 100% passionate and committed to making the greatest wines available today. For decades Dave has led the way with innovation in wine making striving to find that secret sauce that will bring tears to your eyes when you drink his wines. I heard a story that when Dave first moved to Napa to make wine he ask around how people were making wine and often asked “why are you doing it that way, why not try this other way” and the answer was “we don’t know, it is just how it has been done around here for years and we never even considered any alternative methods”. Where Del Dotto’s wine greatness lies is Dave stepped up to the plate and did the unthinkable, something different. And what differences. His marquee Cab The Beast over the past 10 years has been rated 100 points by the most famous wine critics year after year. A bold, and yet well balanced Cab with massive body and fruit and nothing overwhelming. The jury may be still out, but Dave has developed different algorithms to carve various patterns inside his aging barrels. Obviously, what is being changed here is the amount of surface area in contact with the wine in varying amounts to determine is there an “ideal” surface area of wood that will give just the right and best wood flavor to the wine and not be overoaked, a common criticism of many California wines. Having tasting the wines you can distinguish differences many of which are a step above wines in common uncarved barrels. A year or two ago fires tainted many wines in Napa and many wine growers threw the grapes away. Dave kept and put into barrel his fire tainted wines to see what would happen. I tasted them last year and thought they were good, but I like smoke, many do not. What is interesting is that he decided with full transparency to bottle and sell the wines and the vineyard sold every bottle. People other than me felt those fire tainted wines must have been good enough to purchase and enjoy. Over the course of the weekend one wine stood out and that was the Del Dotto Family Reserve St. Helena Cabernet. It is no secret I prefer mountain Cabs. I tasted in barrel the 2021 and purchased them. At lunch Dave showed up drinking a 2012 he shared with us and it was spectacular. We then somewhere over the course of the weekend had I believe the 2014, 2017, and 2018. All were spectacular and consistent and one of the best Cabs I have ever had. So someone somewhere is telling me something, buy all you can get of the Reserve St. Helena Cab. Dave also shared with me from his library his 2005 Del Dotto Pinot Noir made with DRC La Tache clones. What a spectacular California Pinot! The nose was massive and surprising (from a Pinot that is now almost 20 years old). No question absolutely the best California Pinot I have tasted in years. I also high recommend their Del Dotto Sparkling Rose. I purchased more cases this trip and my largest purchase from Del Dotto historically is their Sparking Rose which is full of fruit and sparkle and very well balanced. I served it at the Holiday party for La Chaine de la Rotisseurs Amelia Island and everyone raved as to how great is was, and sadly, not that many knew about it but they know now. I am looking forward to returning to Del Dotto Vineyards in the future and recommend you put it on your bucket list and make it your first stop in Napa. I am also proud to say that when Dave joined us for lunch he immediately asked questions regarding our recent extensive travels. When I asked him how he knew about it he told me he reads my blog and likes it. So for all of you who read my blog it now has the Dave Del Dotto seal of approval and thank you Dave for your kind words and hospitality.

Carter Vineyards

We enjoyed a morning tasting with owner/vintner Mark Carter of Carter Vineyards. They have been making wines for decades and they have multiple leases on specific blocks of the famous Beckstoffer To Kalon which was one of the original Cab vineyards in Napa as well as vineyards surrounding said famous vineyard. To date they have produced nineteen (19) 100 point wines a clear outstanding achievement. Mark has also started making wine from more economical vineyards as the price to make wines from Beckstoffer To Kalon is going through the roof. In the end I found the wines to be bold, powerful, yet well balanced and juicy fruit making them hedonistic wines. We purchased some of the “Haze” for our cellar at home.

2021 Carter Cellars “The Haze” My number one choice from Carter and what I purchased. It is sourced from the Fortuna Vineyard in Oakville and has a very deep purple color and the nose and taste is super concentrated. There is a lot of tannin here so it will age well. I found it to be well balanced with a full-bodied finish. It drinks great now and will age well for years.

2021 Carter Cellars “Beckstoffer Missouri Hopper Vineyard” This wine and one after, the Three Kings, demonstrated how these wines although being very similar can be very different as they had very different flavor profiles. My first thought with the Missouri Hopper was chocolate and a very complex tannin backbone. Despite lots of tannin and complex flavors it had a very nice velvet mouth feel which is always a plus.

2021 Carter Cellars “Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard, The Three Kings” My first smell and taste here was of spicy cinnamon. Totally different from the Missouri Hopper. Again a great mouth feel and like the Missouri Hopper the winemaker noted complex spices in the wine which I agree. I also felt this was more feminine of his wines. Just a little more finesse and hidden secret softness.

2021 Carter Cellars “Carter” Not my favorite. I detected some bitterness at the back of the tongue which I’m not a fan of. This wine is 100% Cab so I suspect without blending in a little Merlot that might explain some bitterness. It is a blended wines from their different blocks but still 100% Cab.

2021 Carter Cellars “Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard, La Verdad” A very, and maybe over, powerful wine. The winemaker notes it is a low production wine from their original block of stressed wines on the Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard. The color was black ink. Fruit forward it still has massive tannin and body. The winemaker calls it muscular which I find to be an understatement. Think of this wine bench pressing 200 pounds everyday and you get a clue as to it powerful muscular nature. I would not doubt this wine to improve and age well for decades and could last 100 years easily.

2021 Carter Cellars “Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard, The OG” Coming from clone 337 from the Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard to me the nose was tight as was the taste but it did have dark seductive fruit both on the nose and taste. Mark calls it dense and ethereal. It sort of sucks you in. Again a very bold powerful wine yet very well balanced and very rich also. I found the fruit here more sweet detecting a minimal amount of residual sugar that only I seem to be able to pick up on in these massive Cabs. To me it demonstrates the fruit backbone and speaks to how sweetness, even undetectable, can improve Cab.

2021 Carter Cellars “GTO” One of Carter’s marquee, and most expensive wines we were honored to have a taste. There was not much on the nose but the wine is very young and tannic. Yet the mouth feel was very nice and the balance was perfect. I noted that it seemed to be a perfect wine. For the price, if you have the money, buy it,  but as I continue to age, despite drinking wine, I have no room to store this monster and enjoy it in 10 years at this price point($650). I just figured the “Haze” was pretty close and I could drink it now and have more bottles for the same price. The old QPR(Quality Price Ratio). I predict in 10 years the GTO will be an epic wine.

Bouchon by Thomas Keller In my opinion the best way to enjoy Thomas Keller's cooking without breaking the bank and going to sleep during one of his marathon 6 hours or more multiple tasting menus. I have now lost count how many times I have eaten here but the food is spectacular and the prices are reasonable and the wine list is good with some reasonably priced value wines. I had the mussels in a saffron sauce (to die for) and one in our party had fresh trout he raved about. Frankly, it is probably the best place to have a leisure lunch in the Napa area.

Press Napa Valley One of the hardest places to get a reservation in Napa and well worth the effort to eat there. The food is innovative, tasty, surprising, colorful, works of art and I could go on. The wine list is extensive and prices are beyond unreasonable in my opinion. I highly recommend you take your own better wines and just pay the corkage. You will end up better in the long run. Service and atmosphere were very good. Reservations are essential, you can go here to see the menu and make reservations if you are in town: pressnapavalley.com, exploretock.com. If it were not for the ridiculous wine pricing on the menu, it would rate a top 5 for me.

Morlet Vineyards Luc Molet is another Napa Valley wine genius. A very large portfolio of both white and red wines with a French flair. With multiple 100 point wines it always a pleasure to taste here. Luc stopped by and he is the consummate gentleman and warmly greets everyone. He is passionate about making wines, something he inherited from France I assume. I really like his late harvest sweet wine and have purchased it. This trip I purchased a few bottles of his lower priced Chardonnay and his Pinot Noir. It is unusual for me to purchase Pinot Noir outside of Burgundy as to me in California and Oregon winemakers are trying to make Pinot like Cab, big, powerful, and tannic. I am happy to report this trip I had more than one Pinot where that was not the case and Luc’s Pinot this year is a good example. To me it presented a taste profile honoring Luc’s French heritage, hence I purchased it. It is a great tasting to attend and if you buy wine the tasting fee can we waived.

Wine Soapbox Somewhere around 1990 plus or minus we did our first trip to Napa and Sonoma to taste and learn about wine. My first introduction to wine came from two places my brother-in-law, Bob Currie, a well know wine buyer and judge who was a contemporary with Robert Parker and had served on wine judge panels in France, and Kistler wines. I had read about Steve Kistler and was intrigued by what I read and assumed he must be making some exceptional great wines. So the first trip I thought maybe I will just drop by and have a visit. It took 12 hours to find him, with 3 kids in the car. His old production facility had been on top of the Oakville Mountain, not a fun drive, but after searching for hours he was no where to be found. We must have stopped at every wine shop and restaurant in the valley at the time asking how we could find him. Eventually someone sent us over to Sebastopol where he had moved and we drove up to his facility as it was closing and it was obvious he was still unpacking. I naively stated I was there to buy wine and the staff started laughing. As they explained Kistler wines were sold out before they ever got put into the bottle. But the staff was impressed with my effort, put me on their mailing list, and eventually I became one of their largest buyers. For what it is worth another example of my persistence is close to 20 years or more I tried to get on Kongsgaard wines mailing list only being placed on it this year.

So I was bitten by the wine bug and returned the next year leaving the kids at home. It is hard to imagine but back then Napa and Sonoma were not crowded. I would start on highway 29 driving north stopping at every vineyard and tasting their offered wines usually 2, maybe 3 different wines. I seem to recall doing 30 vineyards in a day and the next day we went to Sonoma doing the same thing, and the day after we went to Mendocino, another one of those fun trips driving across the mountains. The good news about Mendocino is there were only 5 or 6 vineyards at the time, Navarro, Wente, and Roederer as examples meaning no way was I going to do 30 vineyards that day. The bad news was I got car sick driving across that black snake mountain. I have never returned.

I called those tasting trips combat tastings. As Napa/Sonoma grew, and I got older the number of tastings per given day went down, I now follow rule number one when in wine country, or at least say that is what I am going to do, which is do only one(1) tasting a day. Awake to a leisure breakfast, go the vineyard around 10 AM, have a nice lunch say at Bouchon, and then take a nap. Dinner at a fancy place every 2 or 3 nights and burgers at our rental place the other evenings. Hot tub before and after dinner. Combat tastings are over, I cannot do it anymore. Plus one(1) tasting a day is not what it seems. Take Del Dotto for example. You enter his caves to taste and hours later you emerge completely worn out with palate fatigue. I can never remember how many wines we taste in those caves but it is probably close to 20 and sometimes more. Still a lot of wine to taste, I am just not driving up and down highway 29 anymore and did I mention the traffic on highway 29. No lie you can sit on the side of the road for 20 minutes trying to go into traffic waiting for a break because there is none.  The cars are constant all day and most of the night. Del Dotto is not the only vineyard who will let you taste almost all the wines they make. Morlet does the same thing, Carter we did 7 or 8 wines. All of this takes time, mental energy, and I know no one has any sympathy here but it is also physically challenging to taste that much wine. Another rule you really need to follow is to taste and spit. I have seen too many friends drink every drop in the glass(they abhor wasting good wine) in a tasting which is usually only an ounce or two and at the end of the tasting walk out drunk. It happens. Taste, spit, and pace yourself.

In the same vein at my age multi-course wine lunches and dinners now wear me out. As you age you eat less food. Restaurants in Napa do not have a senior blue plate special anywhere. It is full tilt dining or nothing. All that rich wonderful food starts to cause indigestion and discomfort, so again you have to pace yourself. I get it, so many wonderful places to enjoy and visit. It means more trips or moving out there. I have to cut back or get sick so I am at a point where there is no choice.

I have addressed this with my France trip this year but you need to discipline yourself when buying wine. First thing you know you have been there 3 days and you are shipping 20 cases of wine. What are you thinking. Where are you going to store it. When are you going to drink it. Again, I get it, so many great wonderful wines and so little time and money. I am trying to taper my wine buying addiction by instead of buying a case buying 3 bottles. It isn’t easy. Like I said I am trying. I was successful at Carter, I only bought 3 bottles.  Not so much at Del Dotto.

Talking with wine makers and owners I came to an understanding, maybe not accurate but just my opinion, but wine selections and inventory as well as prices are both going up rapidly. There is a huge push to do not only single vineyard wines, but single cluster wines. At the same time everyone wants to move to “organic” or “sustainable” or “biodynamic” wines. I am skeptical of the differences or whether or not the wines taste better but like it or not the industry is going in that direction. Because so many people move to Napa and think they can make the next 100 point wine, the demand for grapes is through the roof and in Napa the cost of harvested grapes to make one(1) bottle of better Cab is $100 just for the cost to buy the grapes. Lots of wine makers I know have trouble buying grapes from the growers and the growers now want a piece of the action so growers are now demanding prices that compare to what the wine maker plans to charge for the wine. Add marketing, delivery, transportation, fertilizer, etc. and you can see the future. At some point my capitalist friends need to understand this model is not sustainable.  At some point the price that people can afford or are willing to pay will plateau and they will quit buying. Or like me, us old folks will just fade away.

South Beach Miami Part Deux!

I apologize for no recent articles. I am trying to catch up. For your enjoyment here is our latest trip to South Beach Miami with some specific top shelf recommendations and places not to be missed and some of the best Miami has to offer. I will try and get more articles out over the holidays.

Marriott Stanton South Beach

I am pleased to highly recommend Marriott Stanton South Beach to my readers and friends. Clark and I along with our neighbor Mary having rested from our previous 8 trips this year decided the travel bug was again raising its ugly head so we decided on a short weekend road trip to South Beach Miami. Last year we stayed at the Lord Balfour only a block or two from the Marriott and would have stayed there but the Marriott Stanton had a weekend staycation rate that was compelling and being a Marriott Elite customer I felt it would be a better deal and it was. What was most impressive was the staff dedication to superior and second to none customer service. In the recent past I have complained regarding the lack of customer service everywhere. Not at the Marriott Stanton. It was obvious that upper management had set a high standard of service demanding it be met. Every staff member made sure we were provided the highest level of service. Check in was enjoyable. Housekeeping agreed to our requests and provided everything we asked for the entire trip and we never had to ask again. The valet made a point of knowing us and helping our disabled friend, made sure our car was provided without delay, provided water, etc. Every staff member while we there regardless of position each time they saw us they thanked us for staying there. We spent two afternoons at a wonderful pool and hot tub and we had attentive pool attendants and servers who set up our pool lounges, took our orders for food and drink, and checked in every 15 minutes or so to make sure if we needed anything. Overall it was one of the best Hotel experiences we have had and all of us have committed to return soon for another short staycation in the future. We thank and congratulate the staff and management for setting and providing the highest standard at South Beach.

Santinori by Georges

We love Greek food and I recently wrote regarding Milos in NYC. We read I believe on Trip Advisor that this was one of the top dining places in Miami and we must agree. The food was great Greek recipes and the service was second to none. We started with a large wonderful Greek salad tossed and served table side. Then came the Greek prepared Lamb Chops that were tender succulent and as tasty as they come. Next came whole fish Branzino again served table side for 3 people with Greek lemon potatoes that was beyond outstanding. I also had added a side order of Florida Lobster as I love the Florida kind and it was prepared perfectly. We were totally stuffed but made sure we had room for homemade Baklava which was great. Overall the food was what we expected plus. We have to admit the dining room was especially noisy but it was so because the restaurant has a tradition and allows for special occasions diners to celebrate by breaking plates and glasses saying "OPA!". We also say "OPA!" to an outstanding dinner.

Osteria Del Teatro

For decades our favorite restaurant in Miami and specifically South Beach. Last year we dined at their new place which they had been at for around 6 years. Again this year they decided to move again farther north and their new décor is much more casual and younger. They have the same owner and chef and continue to source the U2 prawns from South Africa, what they now call Jurassic prawns, so I was happy to see that and as usual had one as my appetizer. They have been in this new digs now for only one month so they had a few “opening day” adjustments. Service was a little slow and the food was good but maybe not as well prepared in the past. But I gave them a pass because in essence it is a new place and there will be a period of adjustment for everyone. I will continue to look forward to returning again soon.

Prime 112

It has been years since we had dinner here and this trip the place did not miss a beat. The food and service continues to be top notch and the joint is jumping as they say. They continue with the Jurassic Baked Potatoes the size of an NFL football and the Steaks are perfect in every way and they continue to serve A5 Japanese Kobe and were one of the first establishments to offer it decades ago. Every dish here is monstrous so for 3 people we ordered one of everything and it was plenty enough food for us all. Our favorite dish was the deviled eggs topped with caviar and made with a white truffle sauce. They were requisite and I can still taste them. Dessert was a 2 mile high banana pudding freshly made we could barely eat half of it. They have an immense wine list with the prices to match and there were a few reasonable wines I would have been happy with. We brought our own wine and paid $75 corkage per bottle which is high but when compared to the mark up on their wine lists you come out much better bringing your own wine.

Big Pink

Restaurant is owned by same group that owns Prime 112 and is a block away from the Marriott Stanton so very convenient for a quick breakfast or lunch. We had a very good breakfast there with all of your standard Breakfast fare. Maybe a little pricey but in my opinion worth the price.

Isabella Lincoln Road

Had a spectacular lunch here. Service was top notch and the food was wonderful. The dessert was to die for. They had a good reasonably priced wine list. It is primarily an Italian Mediterranean restaurant with plenty of fresh regional dishes. We had a very nice and fun time here and I highly recommend it.

News Cafe  

News Cafe has reopened and is located in the 800 block of Ocean Drive so they are now open in a new location a little north of their old location. We did not make there for breakfast but it is a South Beach icon and in the past a great place for breakfast. We hope to go back our next trip.

Alaska, the Final Frontier

I insisted on taking this cruise with my entire family primarily to get my 2 grandson's somewhat acqainted with the area hoping they will return years from now as adults. Alaska is a bucket list place. The country, the resources, and the wildlife are immense. It is nature at its best. It does not compare to the Rocky Mountains as the mountains and landscape here is double anywhere else. Man continues to encroach on this environment but the country is too big for mankind to scar it that much though it tries. What you see here enriches and calms your soul. You experience the purple mountain majesties in the depth of your soul like no where else. You really get to see whales, eagles, seals, bears, glaciers, from the comfort of your ship or car. And just for fun, you are warned every 10 feet to beware of bears. Even the bathrooms had bear warnings and instructions in them.  I walked down one path and every 20 feet saw a pile of bear scat knowing full well I was being watched. This was my second trip after my first one 30 years ago. I should not have waited so long. Next time I think I may want to fly into Sitka and spend a week or two in town. The people were super nice and there is plenty to explore and do. Time will tell.

No question the highlights of this trip were the Hubbard Glacier, Sitka, and Ketchikan, with Haines an honorable mention.  Even in a big ship we got really close to the Hubbard Glacier and witnessed cavings.  It happened that at lunch we viewed the Glacier right out the dining room window and it was a wonderful view.  I have way too many pictures to sort through.  Both Sitka and Ketchikan are surrounded by the Japanese Current which like the Gulf Stream bathes the islands in moderate weather.  We were told Sitka only had 18 inches of snow last year and the temperature was in the 20s and 30s only 2 weeks during the winter.  In the summer the temperature was glorious.  Sitka has a good airport so we are considering next year just flying into Sitka and spending a week or so.  The people were friendly and helpful and there is plenty to do there and lots of places to visit.  Likewise, Ketchikan has a lot to offer and would warrant a prolonged stay.  There is a huge amount of infrastructure being built and the city population has exploded.  Again, there seems to be plenty to do there and surrounding areas to visit.  I went to Haines because the Alaska Eagle Preserve is there only to be told the Eagles are not there until November.  I was totally confused as during my last visit 30 years ago in June, I remember thousands of eagles being there.  No idea about the disconnect.  We did see 2 eagles in the wild and got pictures but nothing else.  Haines has expanded some since my last visit but it is still a sleepy peaceful hamlet in Alaska worth visiting and the out areas offer some great drives and views.  But you can only get there by water so fly in somewhere else and take a ferry there.

You can never go wrong traveling to Alaska and if you have not done it yet please plan on a trip.  Cruise ships are ideal for a first-time visit hitting all the high points.  Once acquainted planning on longer trips on land should be a priority.  One thing we have yet to do that I want to do is go into the interior on one of the train excursions and go to Denali Park and try and see Mount McKinley.  It is something to look forward to.  Alaska is an immense experience and will change you during your visit.

Norwegian Cruise Lines, Norwegian Sun to Alaska, the Good and Bad

Embarkation Day/Disembarkation

Getting on board was probably one of the easiest of any cruise I have been on. You get in a line that is constantly moving and you go check in with one person who takes your picture and checks your boarding pass and passport and you are done. Once you get on the ship the line in our case went right by our muster station for emergencies and we checked in completing the requirement to report to your muster station. It was all quick and painless. The only downside was even though the line was constantly moving and going forward, the line was long and it took about 20 minutes of walking to get on the ship. Then the real fun began. What they don't tell you is your room is not ready yet and you have to "hang out" somewhere before you can enter your room. Because we now carry light and don't check big suitcases we had to carry our carry-on for hours. You get to go and sit down for lunch which we had planned to do, but we still had lots of time waiting for our room. The bottom line is like most hotels today your room will not be ready until 3 PM so you need to be prepared for that.  Disembarkation was similarly painless.  You packed your bags and walked off the ship, again with a long line but always moving.

The Room

There is no nighttime to speak of in Alaska during the summer. Sunset is late and sunrise is bright and early. There is a funny story here.  They had a spectacular sunset off the back of the boat so I was there taking pictures with my daughter waiting for the sun to set.  And I waited.  And I waited.  It then dawned on me, up here the sun never sets in the summer so the dozens of pictures I was taking were all the same.  Oops!  So we insisted on an interior room much to the chagrin of our family who could not understand with our financial ability why we would not want to be in a suite. On our last trip some 30 years ago we taped aluminum foil to the windows so we could block out the sun. Our cheap interior room met our needs this trip and was surprisingly comfortable when compared to other bigger rooms and rooms with a balcony were not that much smaller. We slept well as there was no light contamination and it was a little easier to control the room temperature. We had such a good experience we decided for the most part in getting interior rooms even on the luxury cruises. Other than sleeping you don't really spend that much time in the room and even with a balcony your views are still restricted so if you want a really great view you will find yourself up on deck to see the best views.

The Food

Food was marginal. There were some great items and some you could not eat. High points were sauces and desserts. I commented the first day they must have a dedicated pastry chef on board and they did and he has been on the same ship for 22 years. You could tell, the desserts were spectacular every day. I also loved the sauces made fresh and assumed they had a dedicated saucier on board though I never confirmed it. In general, the meat selections were very good. Sometimes tough but always very tasty. The Italian specialty restaurant La Cucina was our best dinner on the ship both for quality of food and service. In the French specialty restaurant, Le Bistro, the food was very good but the service was a bust, and making reservations there was BS. We were severely restricted on the time of our reservations which did not meet our needs yet when we had dinner ½ the place was empty and there was no reason they could not have accommodated our requests, demonstrating poor customer service they rigidly stuck to their talking points from a wound up cupie doll. Service was so bad for the first time in my life I went to the purser's office and demanded my automatic gratuity be reduced for essentially nonexistent service in the food areas. One example. They had fresh sushi one day, which was good, but no soy sauce. I had to ask a server, and then a manager 3 times to provide soy sauce, and after a long wait in my opinion they came out with the smallest bottle of soy sauce I have ever seen. It was like 4 ounces. In minutes 4 or 5 people emptied the bottle leaving everyone back at square one, having to chase down a server or a manager to restock the soy sauce. It was insane. I had to do the same thing with cream cheese for bagels. On multiple occasions, we had to find the manager and complain about the lack of service. In at least two cases the managers apologized profusely and brought us multiple extras to appease us when all we wanted was for someone to offer service and deliver food and drinks in a timely manner. It got so bad with drinks we finally refused to order food until after they served drinks totally confusing the servers. They acted like all they wanted was to take your order and get you out of there as fast as possible with no regard to having anything to drink with your meal. I do feel cruise lines need to change their operations which basically segregates beverage servers' and food servers' functions. In the French restaurant, they only had one beverage server and we were told up front they could not serve drinks in a timely fashion. Too bad, we waited until drinks were served prior to ordering which resulted in us being the last ones to leave the restaurant.  In another situation, we ordered a bottle of Champagne to have prior to dinner, and communication between the food and beverage server had to be bad as the wrong bottle was brought to the table.  By the time they found the right bottle we were finished with dinner and canceled the order.  One of the better food venues was the hot dog and hamburger place off the back of the boat.  We usually ate lunch there and they had great burgers and dogs, especially the dogs.  We have found we get no advantage to the drink packages as we just don't drink that much anymore and the drinks covered under the drink packages generally are not what we would drink anyway.  One example, currently I am drinking Chopin Vodka for martinis as it is pure potato vodka.  But on the ship, they were $19 plus gratuity and not covered.  We drink a fair amount of sparkling water and probably should have preordered that package as the price may have been less.  My adult kids did very well with the drink package and from what they tell me because they purchased it way in advance it was not much more than what I eventually paid for our soft drink package.

The Amenities

WIFI was expensive and spotty. When it worked it worked fine, and when it didn’t it was nonexistent. Our room price included 150 minutes which frankly met my needs but you have to be careful and make sure you log out every time you use it or you will waste all of your time. Two members of my family did this on the first day and had no time left without buying more at a very high price. At the ports there was always some place that had good WIFI available so if you wait to get off the boat and use local WIFI at a restaurant or business you are generally fine. You only need the boat's WIFI on sea days. We did not use the Spa as the prices again were in our opinion ridiculous for what you got. Their hot tubs were OK, especially the one by the kiddie's pool, and were hotter than what I have experienced on other cruises. The entertainment was OK. I saw a couple of shows and they again were OK. We watched a couple of movies in our room we had not seen before.

The Out Islands

If you have been on Carnival Caribbean Cruises you are familiar with the one-day out island experience. The Cruise company owns a small island and you spend the day there at the beach and usually having a cookout. Well, the cruise industry has taken this to a new level in Canada and Alaska.   Covid changed everything and Alaska cruises made lemonade as a result. The Coastline of Alaska is littered with abandoned lumber yards and canneries. Cruises purchased these areas for pennies on the dollar, built a dock, and renovated the area building shops and restaurants for tourists to visit. Some stand on their own like Hoonah, Alaska(Icy Straits); others are 5 to 10 miles out of town like Ketchikan. In Ketchikan, it is a huge facility and they offer free shuttle buses to town but not before having you walk through a mile of shops for tourists to drop a few dollars. You have to also believe the cruises save a lot of money in port charges in these areas. We actually found the one at Hoonah to be quite lovely despite being told there was nothing there. We found a lot of better holiday gifts there and stocked up. It also had great views. They also had great internet as compared to the ship. The main downside was sometimes the shuttle to town took 20 minutes or more but you also got to see the surrounding area and scenery while riding into town.

Excursions

We did not take any excursions off of the ship. The prices in our opinion were ridiculously high beyond reason and the rules and numbers did not work for our family. No more than 6 in a party, no children under 8, etc. Even online I could not find excursions that appealed to us. But we did fine in this regard. While online I found a site that rented large SUVs for large families in Haines and the family was able to spend the day exploring the out areas of Haines. In Sitka, we did even better buying tickets for the "Cool Bus" which was a joy and one of our best discoveries of the trip. The owners do a 1-hour loop around Sitka and actually operated on an "on Call" service. If you finish an activity early call them and they pick you up and take you to your next place. We ended up doing 4 activities in a day that individually would have cost over $200 per person with the ship excursions being offered and the "Cool Bus" fee is $30 a day per person all inclusive (https://visitsitka.org/member/sitka-rides). In Ketchikan, there were dozens of individual operators at the shuttle shops more than willing to pick you up right now with your group at substantial savings over the ship.  I highly recommend in Sitka using the "Cool Bus" you visit both the Fortress of the Bear and the Raptor Center.  You can easily do both in a half day.  Both facilities have multiple wild animals to view and photograph that they are caring for and the staff at both places were highly professional, motivated, and instructive on what you were viewing and how to deal with these animals if you happen to come up on one during a hike.  Their websites are listed here:

http://www.fortressofthebear.org/

https://alaskaraptor.org/

The biggest advantage to our Norwegian Cruise was it was the least expensive trip we have taken in two years.  Overall we had a memorable and great family trip and met most of our goals.  I wished the food service and quality were better but in reality, for what we paid we got good value, and making the right choices made a lot of difference.  I suspect I would be OK with another Norwegian cruise though I would do as best I could with due diligence prior to booking.

Visiting Seattle, Washington State

This was my first trip to Seattle staying for a couple of days. In the past, I was just passing through and 30 years ago en route to China, I had lunch with friends downtown only. I remember that lunch as having great fresh seafood and a calm peaceful experience. I can tell you those days are gone. Downtown is now chaos especially the closer you get to the Public Market. Everything is very overcrowded. A large number of seafood places are there, but the food at best is marginal now and mostly fried and served with french fries. Nothing special. 

The homeless situation

I have recently been to NYC, San Francisco, and Miami but Seattle is the first big city I have seen lots of homeless people. They seemed to be on every street corner, 2 and 3 at a time. There were also plenty of mentally ill people walking around and surprisingly to me lots of physically disabled people with no safety net or help offered. There were stretches of slum areas downtown. You would have a nice store and then 3 or4 boarded up with graffiti all over the outside. And finally, obvious drug addicts walking around. So for a supposedly rich city, Seattle seemed more like the other big cities you read about with obvious serious problems including retail theft.  The entire time we were there the news was reporting constant retail theft. So far the worst I have seen. 

At the end of our stay, we finally had a decent dinner at The Capital Grill but I was very disappointed in the dining scene. As stated most food was tourist burgers and fries. Maybe I did not look hard enough but around the Public Market forget about a gourmet meal. When we go home we will stay near the airport, SEATAC, and we know there are some great places there, but for this trip that is a 30-minute drive and something we did not want to do. 

Shopping is also scattered around. There are many top-shelf shops but they are not in one specific area downtown and walking from one to another be prepared to walk through a dead area. I insisted on using Seattle as my start and ending point for an Alaska cruise as our last trip to Vancouver was traumatic but comparing the two now I can say for ambiance, food scene, and shopping, Vancouver is much better than Seattle if you want to spend a couple of days in town before a cruise to Alaska.

Palihotel Seattle Washington

The main benefit of this hotel is its location. It is a couple of hundred feet uphill from the Public Market which is a large complex of vendors, restaurants, and various shops. You can walk there in a couple of minutes. In addition, it is only a few blocks from most main attractions. You are about 3 blocks from Metro stations as well as the monorail that takes you directly to the Space Needle. The rooms are comfortable and housekeeping is adequate. However, there is no storage in the rooms and you need to bring what is necessary to charge electronics. The major downside and the main reason I would not recommend it is the very poor and uncaring customer service. From the check-in clerk to the day manager no one seemed interested in helping. Checking in was painful. At noon daily our key quit working because no one chose to pay attention to detail and program the computer that we were there for 3 days. One aggravation after another with the front desk staff not helping much. As I said you cannot beat the location but sadly customer service like the rest of the Nation is nonexistent.

DoubleTree Hilton at SEATAC Airport

No question the best hotel we have stayed at near SEATAC over the years. A fairly elegant facility with full amenities including a good hot tub. Good shuttle to the airport and good service from the staff though during our stay reception was clearly understaffed. We will use this as our go-to hotel in the future at SEATAC.

Roasters Restaurant

Directly across the street from DoubleTree by Hilton so very convenient and within easy walking distance. We actually planned to stay at the airport an extra night to eat here. It is a very full, busy fun place and both times now we have eaten at the bar as there is usually an hour wait for a table and the bartenders are a bunch of fun. They excel at meat and in the evening serve the 12-hour roasted prime rib that they are known for.   I had it again and it is beyond succulent. They also make their own bourbon that I have found to be excellent and sadly other than buying a bottle there and packing it in checked baggage no way to get any home. So I guess I will need to fly back soon to have another glass.  https://www.sharpsroasthouse.com/

Multi Year Tasting Matched with food of Colgin Title IX Bordeaux Blend

Continuing with my embarrassment of riches I was able to attend a wine dinner featuring a vertical of Ann Colgin’s Title IX California Cabernet in Magnums hosted by a great friend and for a great cause raising money for the local homeless coalition to provide services for the homeless in our area. The wines were matched with food from the Capital Grill in Jacksonville Florida. A few years ago I was able to visit the vineyard with our evening host for a tasting at the vineyard. At that tasting, we had the 2015 Title IX Cabernet RP 100 that I reviewed in my blog(Visit to Colgin, Wednesday, November 14, 2018, Hosted by Sara Goetting Part 6 Published April 16, 2021). I stated then and I will state and confirm now to me that is the greatest and best California Cabernet that I have had in my life. Also, the vineyard is on top of Pritchard Hill and lots of great wines are made by others nearby. I have found over the years that I really prefer hilltop or mountain Cabernets in California. I believe the cooler mornings help to soften the tannins a bit making those wines more approachable earlier on. So obviously I was looking forward to this tasting to see if any of these wines beat it. I will overall say no but many came very close.

 
2008 Billecart-Salmon "Cuvée Elisabeth" Brut Rosé Champagne
98 D 98 JS 97 RP 97 V 96 WE 94 JD

94 points Jeb Dunnuck

The 2008 Champagne Blanc de Blancs Louis Salmon Brut spent 12 years resting on its lees before release, with 7 grams per liter of dosage, and was disgorged in May of 2021. A medium straw with vibrant yellow color, it is a bit reserved initially on opening, but the nose unfolds to a layered and decadent bouquet with lemon curd, custard, green apple, and dusty earth. As it opens, it reveals more spiced notes that resonate on the palate, with graham crust, orange zest, and a bit of smoke. The texture is supple and inviting, with a long and expressive finish.

Continuing with a recent decision I will only provide one professional review of each wine I review that most closely matches how I would rate the wine. If available I will list all professional review scores. Also in my comments, I refer to these wines as California Cabernets. The predominant grape is Cabernet but they are all a Meritage or Bordeaux Blend style wine.

We started with Champagne with the 2008 Billecart Salmon Brut Rose 2008. My initial and overall impression was that both with the nose and taste a glass of tart nutty champagne with an excellent finish. It had good balance and good acid. For me, the primary flavor was lemon tart but I could appreciate apricot and apple as well. I picked up a fair amount of nutty flavors on the nose including almond and walnut. I scored it 14/20 so in line with Jeb Dunnuck. Overall it is a well-made and very pleasant champagne.

2011 Colgin "IX Estate" Napa Valley Bordeaux Blend
98 JD 95 V 94 JS 94 IWC 92 RP

94 points Int'l Wine Cellar

The wonderfully scented nose offers dark currant, black olive, licorice, smoke, caramel oak, and shoe polish, all lifted by an exhilarating note of tangerine oil. Sappy, sweet, and smooth, showing compelling mineral and floral lift to the intense dark berry flavors. Again, this is not a powerhouse but its penetration and lift are remarkable. Ultimately plusher than the Tychson Hill example and more minerally too. Still a baby.

92 points Wine Advocate

The 2011 IX Estate (66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot) possesses surprising density and richness (then again, it's from a hillside vineyard that was above the fog line in 2011), impressive purity, lots of red, blue and black fruits, and not a trace of herbaceousness. The oak is nicely integrated in this soft, round, generously endowed effort.

We initially were advised by our host that the first wine of the evening was in fact the weakest and lower-scoring wine of the group. He advised us that Horrors Robert Parker only gave it 92 points so I have included his review here. I found the wine for me to be better than described. Immediately upon pouring in the glass, the bouquet burst into the room filling my area. The nose was a large intense different flavor profile that took a minute to comprehend but in the end was a heavy rich licorice nose with a lot of dried fruit that carried on to the taste. One prominent flavor for me was figs. There was also plenty of cedar and cigar in the taste. It was exceptionally balanced with a good finish. Someone asked me why I felt it was one of the better wines of the evening compared to the others going against what had been presented and my answer was good aging. This was the second youngest wine of the night but seemed to have some age on it.   I should also mention that it was poured from Magnum and as a general rule the larger the bottle the longer and different the aging is. There is no question that Colgin IX Cab blend is one of the high-end great California Cabs year to year. The vinification and production of these wines is the highest possible year after year. My point, the wine is made almost perfectly. Therefore it will hold up and last decades and over that time frame continue to mature and evolve into something spectacular. I have followed a rule for years now that I do not open a high-end Cabernet for at least 10 years as opening them earlier they are just too tannic and young which will be evident in the other wines for the evening. So the wine was young when Parker tasted it so he would not be expected to taste how it might develop over the years. Trust me this wine has aged wonderfully and is opening a whole new world of complexity and flavor that I don’t think the previous reviews saw.  Being a 2011 it is coming at just 2 years after 10 years so close to 10 years.

2008 Colgin "IX Estate" Napa Valley Bordeaux Blend
99 JS 99 WE 96 WA 95WC 93 WS

96 points Wine Advocate

The opaque purple-hued 2008 IX Proprietary Red, a blend of 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc, and the balance Petit Verdot (also slightly modified from last year), reveals notes of espresso roast, blueberries, black currants and lead pencil shavings. The wine reveals superb concentration and richness as well as a structured mouthfeel. It begs for 4-5 years of cellaring and should drink well for 20-30+ years.

Up to this point in the evening this was my highest scoring wine as I gave it 18/20. It was an exceptional “alive” wine. One of the guests wanted to know why it had some sediment in it and my answer was it is “alive” and continues to grow and mature. It was very complex. The nose and taste had black pepper, licorice, blackberry, raspberry, and black currants. To me, the predominant flavor was all the dried fruits. The nose was woody and smoky in a good way with a taste of burnt toast and coffee. Even though it was 10 years old it still was a young puppy with rich dark and strong tannins. I totally agree with Parker that it will be great and I would say 50 years from now.

2009 Colgin "IX Estate" Napa Valley Bordeaux Blend
99 JS 97 RP 96 V 94 WS

97 points Wine Advocate

Composed of 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc and 6% Petit Verdot, the 2009 IX Estate exhibits a flowery bouquet with notes of subtle smoke, blackberries, black currants, kirsch, and baking spices. Rich, deep, and full-bodied, this voluptuous, sensational blend boasts an inky/purple color.”

Another high-scoring wine for me at 17/20. On my initial smell and taste, I found the wine restrained and holding back creating a mystery. As it opened I could pick up the complexity and tasted licorice, blackberry, black currants, and cedar. It was exceptionally balanced and like others continued to have very young strong tannins. At this point, the taste and texture were not overwhelming but everything is there for this to be an exceptional wine with maybe another 5 years of age.

2010 Colgin "IX Estate" Napa Valley Bordeaux Blend
100 RP 97 JS 97 V 94 WS

100 Points Robert Parker


The 2010 IX Estate is another perfect wine. Its opaque purple color is accompanied by copious aromas of blueberries, cassis, pen ink, asphalt, licorice, and subtle oak. Full-bodied and rich but light on its feet, this spectacular effort was created from a blend of 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc and 6% Petit Verdot. Enjoy this profound wine over the next 25+ years.

The perfect 100-point wine of the evening that for me opened with a soft smoky well balanced nose and taste. Lots of dried fruit flavors with raisins and prunes. I made a comment that it reminded me of an Amarone. There was vanilla as well as cedar. For some reason, I felt instead of cigars I tasted cigarettes. I scored it highly at 18/20 and agree the tannins are good and it will age and develop for decades.

2012 Colgin "IX Estate" Napa Valley Bordeaux Blend
99 RP 96 JS 96 V 94 WS

99 points Wine Advocate

Absolutely spectacular aromatics of spring flowers, blueberry, blackberry, and blackcurrant fruit intermixed with creosote, graphite, and floral notes are followed by a wine of great depth, elegance, richness, and purity. Simply loaded, but with pristine harmony and equilibrium, this is a sensational tour de force and a great tribute to this spectacular hillside site on Pritchard Hill.

Another young wine that in a sense totally blew away my opinion on the 2011 making the 2012 the youngest wine of the night so you would expect it to be tannic and it was and still needs time. I actually said on my scoring sheet that so far the wine was underdeveloped. So in revisiting my comments on the 2011 I still agree with what I said but that year is aging quicker than the others for unknown reasons so maybe it is time to drink the 2011 if you have any. My initial impression of the 2012 was it had an oaky smoky nose and taste that was complex and balanced. I picked up what I initially said was coal but what I meant was charcoal. There was lots of fruit with the usual predominance of dried fruit but primarily because of the tannins, which I said were intense pucker-up young tannin, the fruit was subdued. I did taste dark chocolate that I did not appreciate in the other years along with smoky cedar. It had a velvet mouth feel and I said it was one of the best and very balanced wines of the evening.

1997 Domaine Huet "Cuvée Constance" Vouvray Moelleux (1500mL)

100 points Wine Spectator

Extraordinarily rich. An amazing amount of botrytis gives this sweet white a powerful, spicy character, its masses of ripe fruit kept lively by electrifying acidity. So concentrated it tastes as though all the flesh has evaporated, leaving only the spirit behind. Will easily last your lifetime and mine. Best from 2005 through 2050.

99 points Wine Advocate

The stunning, virtually perfect, 1997 Vouvray Moelleux Cuvee Constance (named after his daughter) sports 150 grams of residual sugar per liter, 7.5 grams of acidity, and 12.5% alcohol. Tasting this sublime dessert wine brought tears to my eyes. It is so captivatingly pure, focused, and intricate as to be all but impossible to adequately describe. Its green and straw color reveals hints of gold. Aromatically, it titillates with scents of apricot jam, candied grapefruits, quince, bergamots, and flowers. On the palate, fresh peaches, citrus fruits, honey, acacia blossoms, quinine, chalk, and lemony mangoes can be found. Additionally, this medium-to-full-bodied, penetrating, yet perfectly balanced wine has a finish that seemingly lingers forever, revealing even more waves of minerals and fruit. It will require patience yet should easily evolve for 50 years or more. Bravo!

What a special treat to end a special evening. I continue to get to drink what I think is the rarest wine in the world only to find the next one weeks later. A month or so ago I had for the first time Hungarian Tokaij Essencia thinking it was the rarest and then I am presented with this one and one reason this Vouvray is so rare is that it was served in Magnums and as our host correctly stated you do not find large format bottles of sweet wines. These wines are meant to be sipped with dessert and most folks drink maybe 2 ounces if that. So you need a crowd to drink 1500 cc of sweet wine. Another reason it is rare is Robert Parker may have cried over this wine but even he only had it in a 500 cc bottle. It is low in alcohol at 11.5% so the sweetness and complexity of the fruit shine through. A very complex taste of apple, pear, honey, honeysuckle, apricots, and peaches. I tasted some butterscotch. It had an incredible smooth velvet mouth and throat feel. Another problem with this kind of wine, is you sit in a chair drinking it and it is so nice and smooth you have glass after glass along with great conversation, and at the end of the evening when it is all gone you try to stand up to go home and cannot get out of the chair as you are now wasted even though the wine is low alcohol. Low alcohol times 2 bottles is high alcohol.

The Wine Soapbox

No question these are some of the greatest wines in the world. At the dinner, the scores were mentioned as well as whether is there any difference between 99 points and 100 points or 97, 96, etc. Scores are only a guide from one person who probably has more taste buds than you do and certainly more experience drinking probably thousands of bottles over a lifetime. But at this level of wines, those scores are to me are really not important. At this level what these wines offer is the perfect balance of tannin, acid, and complex flavors that blend into a hedonistic experience when drunk and especially when matched with great cuisine. Whether or not it is complex with figs berries, and walnuts as opposed to another wine with pears, cedar, and cigar makes absolutely no difference. Both are exceptional wines just with different flavors and sometimes a different style. One of them you will fall in love with and want to drink all the time. I call those wines my spiritual wines. One of the guests told me they could not tell any difference in any of the wines and I can see that would be true for a lot of people. Interestingly Wine Spectator scored each of these wines at 94 for almost every year I believe. It is OK. Everyone agreed they were exceptional wines because they were. And even though they were different years they were all made from the same vines and the same production facility over the years so for most of us they are all going to be the same. And in that they are made well and stay young seemingly forever it will be decades of maturity before many of us will ever see any differences and sadly most of us won’t live long enough to drink these wines 20 years from now. I met Michael Mondavi years ago and he has said he keeps his cellar at 65 degrees because he knows he will not live forever and wants his wines to mature faster so he can enjoy them with some aging on them. But I also heard from someone that yes they may mature and age faster, but not as well. So in the end we all need to take the scores with a grain of salt. Find the ones you enjoy within your budget and drink them young or old. Wine is made to be enjoyed, not exploited.

French Wine Discoveries and purchases and Recommendations

Following is a list of wines we felt were exceptional and worthy of purchase, understanding most of these wines are unavailable in the US and some may now be sold out. My review is listed with the wine when available and some are in earlier blogs from the trip. They are listed with their tax-free price, shipping and insurance are additional. If you might be interested in purchasing any please feel free to contact Stevie Bobes(email stevie@wineambassadeur.com) who can help you obtain them.

Domaine Marc Morey Premier Cru Puligny Montrachet Les Referts 2016 $103.55

2016 Domaine Marc Morey Puligny Montrachet Premier Cru Referts sits NE of the Montrachet vineyard between Les Combettes and Les Charmes. It is not a large vineyard and I rarely see the wines from here often. But I was able to taste two side by side that were 2 years apart. This one the 2016 clearly was the older one with a dark color and the aroma and taste had both mineral and fruit expected there was a slight bitterness to the wine. I tasted it twice and after a few days of opening.  I and others tasted buttery popcorn.  It did have good balance and soft alcohol presence.  It was complex with tastes of honey, honeysuckle, lemon, and pear.  I think it is peaked and should be drunk now.  A few of us tasted it and everyone preferred the next wine the:

2018 Olivier Leflaive Puligny Montrachet Referts. $130. This wine was younger and had a clear yellow color with no age. It was also more complex and balanced. It still had a little bitter finish that I seem to remember being a character of this vineyard but overall it was more ageable and easier to drink. Closest to Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes", separated from its neighbor by the famous "Chemin des Moines". The marly soil at the top is more ferruginous at the bottom and, as a result, produces a Puligny-Montrachet that is a little smoother and fatter than the others. Sensitive to over-ripening and the soil is both clay and limestone.

Domaine Bzikot Premier Cru Puligny Montrachet Les Folatieres 2015 $81.75

Somewhat of a darker yellow color due to age.  the 2nd nose was light and fresh but there was a hint of musky smell that blew away.  Great mouth feel.  A lot of concentrated young fruit despite age.  I tasted lemon and pear flavors.  There was a nice finish.  I still feel it is at it's peak and needs to be drunk now.

Domaine Bzikot Premier Cru Puligny Montrachet Les Folatieres 2017 $81.75

SCEA Potinet Ampeau Premier Cru Monthelie Champs Fuillots 2016 $35.88

Domaine Michel Mallard & Fils Grande Cru Corton Marechaudes 2015 $113.55

Auxey Duresses Blanc "Clos du Moulin aux Moines" 2020 $44.50

Auxey Duresses Rouge in Magnum "Clos du Moulin aux Moines" 2018 $68.13

Domaine Bachey-Legros Chassange-Montrachet(region) 2021 $44.50 

*****This was hands down the greatest wine we tasted during the entire trip. The initial smell and taste by 100% of the group of 5 of us was OMG! Where did this come from! A stunning well balanced complex wine that experts will mix up with Grand Cru's. I don't know how much is out there but my highest recommendation is to purchase it as well as the Domaine Bachey-Legros Santeny Blanc. Also, the best price we saw for this high quality.

Domaine Etienne Sauzet Bourgogne Chardonnay 2021 $29.07 a true bargain

Domaine Edouard Delaunay Beaune Premier Cru Les Greves 2020 $50.14

I also purchased a mixed case of Nicole LeMarche's wines from her Godfather Frank Boyer of Vosne Romanee. Domaine LeMarche owns portions of the DRC vineyards like Le Tache, Richbourg, and Echezeaux as examples. Both LeMarche and DRC vineyards severely limit visitors(frankly none).

Other notable wines drunk during our trip primarily at dinners

Bouchard Pere et Fils Montrachet 2011 $720

Happily, I was able to visit the sacred ground these grapes were grown on this trip. It is somewhat of a pilgrimage. The wine presents a pleasant nose and future taste of light oak and butter. There was a velvet mouthfeel and initial tastes of lemon, pear, honey, and butter with plenty of fruit. I emphasized the finesse of the balance but again picked up on strong tastes of lemon, lemon zest, and lots of honey. Overall I rated it 20/20 and it has continued to be a great wine for me. I once had a case but I am down now to a few bottles. The price point of Montrachet continues to rise and for me may one day outprice itself. There clearly are Premier Cru's just as good and sometimes better. Walking the lay of the land this year I continue to marvel at the fact that Montrachet is surrounded on all sides the width of a dirt road by multiple Premier Cru vines that I cannot believe are not close enough to be as great.

Chateau Grand Puy Lacoste Bordeaux $45

Another 2013 that has turned out to be a great value for Bordeaux. A trip or two ago I visited the vineyard and witnessed a professional team trying to make great wines as well as converting to biodynamic production which I still have doubts about. The day we were there they had an outbreak of mildew and I watched them treat it by spraying tea on the vines. This wine had a slight browning of color on the edges which I would expect from 2013. But it still was young with pucker-up tannins. The nose was oaky with cedar which came through prominently on the taste. The aroma and bouquet were both characteristic and distinguishable. There were a lot of complex tastes here including black pepper, licorice, blackberry, cassis, molasses, cedar, oak, and some alcohol though it's 13.5%. Overall it is a complex strongly tannic tart wine but at a good price and drinkable now.

Chateau Branaire-Ducru Bordeaux 2013 $45

2013 was not a great year for Bordeaux and may not age well. But plenty of vineyards made great wines as did Branaire-Ducru. I was introduced to this vineyard by Bruno Delmas(deceased) who grew up in the vineyards of Bordeaux and felt this wine was severely underestimated. They were in the middle of improvements and upgrades during my visit for barrel tastings and it was evident there was a commitment to quality. Frankly, they are one of the least expensive Bordeaux wines so the quality-price ratio is there. The 2013 is a complex, balanced soft wine with somewhat less body than others. Yet there are complex flavors of Blackberries, black pepper, cassis, hazelnut, cedar, and light oak. The finish lingered and overall the experience was exceptional. You simply cannot beat the quality of this wine for the price.

Veuve Cliquot Champage NV $49

The nose was very nutty and effervescent. The taste included honeysuckle, pineapple, melon, and honey, Balance and acid integration were excellent. At some point, I said it sort of tasted like a whiskey sour to me, and that surprised even me. If you are staying in Paris for a while it is fairly easy to do a day trip to Champagne and Veuve Cliquot has multiple themed tastings you can schedule. I was sick so could not go but plan to on my next trip.

Royal Tokaji Essencia 2008 $1400

One of the greatest wines ever made and the first time I have ever had it and only the 2nd bottle I have seen in 40 years. Given to Catherine the Great by Hungary in tribute to not be invaded the wine was otherwise famous as over centuries at times it was the preferred wine of the European Kings. Frankly, no one else could afford it. Frankly the richest and sweetest sweet wine ever. The nose and taste were complex, rich, and balanced. Plenty of floral characteristics but for me primarily tastes of honey and plum. The finish seems to linger on for hours. Everyone at the table who tasted it was somewhat overwhelmed by the experience. We did drink it over two nights as it is too rich to drink an entire bottle in a single seating. A good friend who has had multiple bottles over the years confirmed my evaluation and experience and like him, we look forward to the future to drink it again.

The Simple Life in Paris

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms...” Henry David Thoreau, Walden.

To paraphrase Thoreau, we came to Paris to live this summer to ignore the tourist stuff and learn and confront the essential daily life of the French with no preconceived ideas and see what their lifestyle could teach us. We did not want to die without having tried to have an authentic and immersive experience over here. On the one hand, we did not stay in 5-star hotels but at the same time, we were not Spartan-like either. Our apartment was compared to others very large and comfortable and it felt like home. We had hoped to explore one day and rest the next. Nature had other ideas and things to teach us. Instead, we were sick most of the time staying inside, watching TV, reading and researching the area, and getting take away. But I believe we met our objectives and learned many things. Yes, we were sick, but we were sick in Paris. Our needs were met. We could obtain medical and dental care when needed and it was easy to obtain medications. And every French person we met for the most part was happy, helpful, polite, and caring. The average American has over 300,000 items in their home. I spent decades accumulating and now cannot get rid of enough of it. Other than aristocracy, that didn't turn out well for most of them, and their opulent and grandiose mega-mansions, the average French person has much, much less. Their cars are smaller, and their homes are smaller, they have no walk-in closets. Twice a year during sales they buy the good stuff, designer clothes but where we buy 10 they buy 1 and keep it for 5 or 10 years. They have less to keep track of and less to worry about losing. After a month we immediately recognized we had brought 2X what we really needed. I hope we remember that lesson. I have read about it for a lifetime but now I have lived it for a month. Possessions don't make you happy and enrich your life as much as experiences, tastes, sunrises, and sharing those experiences with family and friends lingering over a coffee until the late hours of the evening at some cafe as opposed to watching some stupid reality show on TV.(apologies for the judgemental comment). Yes we were sick. But with friends and loved ones. It was still an experience, just not the one we had envisioned. So as best we could we embraced what we had recognizing that tomorrow brings a new day and a new chance. Tonight prior to dinner we went for a walk realizing the entire month we have been here we only walked down and around Boulevard Voltaire which is one block and intersects with Place Nation. For one month we had been exploring in only one direction. But there are at least a dozen streets that intersect with Place Nation and we could have spent an entire 2 weeks exploring a huge area and no telling what we might have found. We went in the opposite direction for the first time tonight and 2 blocks from our apartment we found an authentic family-operated Moroccan restaurant. We love Moroccan food and have not had it in decades. We totally missed it, but now have even more motivation to return to the same place in the future. We cannot control our age but we need to get home and deal with the health issues cropping up prior to returning. Paris like most of Europe is harder to walk around it, and now drive in, than the USA. Streets and paths are uneven and prone to falling. Metros have few to no elevators and you have to go up and down multiple flights of stairs. Most buildings and Hotels don't have elevators.  It can be hot one day and cold the next. So hopefully next trip we will be well and better prepared. We certainly hope so. I think our main lesson here is life really is and can be simple and even more joyful. But in the end, it is up to you to make it that way, and instead of complaining about what you don't have learn to adapt and use what you do have and have joy in doing it.

Day 4 in Bouregogne, Simply No Wine Left to Buy

 As our trip came to an end in Bourgogne all we could say was thank God we are done.  There cannot be any more wine to buy here.  So it was off to Chateau de Savingny-les-Beaune which I can highly recommend for a visit.  Another old Chateau renovated and improved by a new owner it is a fairly large complex with gardens.  The owner like many collects things, just much bigger than most.  His most prized possession is a hanger full of about 50 full-sized retired aircraft from military jets to large commercial airlines.  inside the house upstairs is about 100 vintage motorcycles, alas, missing a 1936 Indian my favorite,  They have a restaurant so it is a good visit and have a light picnic or lunch while there.  Of course, we were having nothing to do with light lunches so we were off to L'Ouvree(https://www.louvree.fr/)on the way to the Dijon train station for another lunch extravaganza.  They had some kind of fried cheese fritter that we talked them into selling us a half dozen to take on the train with us for snacks.  Of course, the food was outstanding as was the wine.  One of our party really loved the wine so much that they purchased 6 out of the cellar.  

So we arrived back at the Dijon train station totally full of food and wine and planned on shipping half of the wine of Bourgogne back to Florida in November.  Though wonderful, In the end, it was way too much of everything.  At our age, I cannot recommend this kind of schedule.  For one we all needed a 3-hour nap every afternoon we did not get.  I can say now 1, maybe a short second tasting a day is all you should do especially in Bourgogne because once you schedule the tasting the families over there will treat you very well.  They are very proud of their wines and have no trouble sitting down with you for hours to showcase their wines.  Of course, they are much younger than you.  

As I continue to review our options and how to manage our time I have decided on one major tasting in the morning with maybe a smaller minor tasting before or after lunch and then a 3 or 4-course wine paired lunch and then done.  Back to our rooms for a long nap and rest before some light shopping and then dinner, again a 3 or 4-course dinner with wine.  My days of 30 vineyard tastings in a 10-hour time frame and 17-course white truffle dinners are over and will never occur again.  I am too old for it.  I must admit that when I did it when I was 30 years old I probably didn't like it that much then either and I certainly could not remember anything that stood out as exceptional as I had 100% palate fatigue and could have been drinking and tasting sawdust and not known the difference.  But if you are young with an unlimited supply of energy and raging hormones go for it but maybe just do fewer stops and actually have some time to smell and taste the wine.

Day 3 in the Heart of Bourgogne

We started back at it on day 3 starting with a visit to Domaine LeMarche.  My first visit occurred during my last trip 4 years ago before Covid.  I have done the research and discovered that essentially LeMarche owns vineyards next to those owned by the DRC vineyards and continued to make their own label from the same named vineyards, just their own vineyard wines.  I had heard through the grapevine, most likely not true but understandable that decades ago the domain had decided to refuse Grand Cru status.  The story goes the Domaine felt it was a ruse in order to raise taxes and like many in the wine world some vintners flatly refuse to accept any kind of rating system at all feeling as long as they think they are making great wine that is the only rating needed.  There is a well-known vineyard in St. Emillion whose owner ran Robert Parker off his property as he does not believe in ratings.  If you have read Wine Spectator recently some of the first growth Bordeaux's are now not sending in wine to be rated.  Over many decades the vineyard was passed on and today Madam Nicole Lemarche is the sole owner and has renamed the vineyard Domaine Nicole LeMarche.  So four years ago I essentially harrassed Stevie to make an appointment which he could never do so on a lark we drove to the front door and knocked and met Nicole.  She was busy but I guess was impressed I was so persistent and welcomed me back that afternoon for barrel tastings.  So this time Stevie was able to make a follow-up appointment, understanding they initially gave him a hard time.  Ms. LeMarch had prepared a formal tasting for us this time in her home and dining room and we tasted about 10 of her wines including Grand Rue which is adjacent to the DRC La Tache vineyard and for me better than La Tache, except 1/2 the price.  There is another urban legend that sometime long ago Lemarche and  DRC and traded the right side of the vineyard for the left side of the vineyard so the old La Tache was now Grand Rue and vice versa.  I should mention that today these wines now have Grand Cru status.  These are great wines, better than DRC to me, and Nicole LeMarch is a valued friend and great winemaker.  Her wines, like DRC, are hard to find and purchase but are available online and you can purchase them through the usual distribution systems in the US.  Like all vineyards some years there are more available than others but you will not be disappointed in these wines.  They are spectacular.

The next stop was the old Chateau du Clos de Vougeot.  If you have visited Bourgogne you cannot miss it as it is a very old large Chateau sitting in the middle of a very large vineyard.  It has been there since the middle ages and renovated a few times, originally being an Abby, and now owned by the Brothers of Tastavin.  It is an inexpensive visit and worth the visit, if nothing else to see the monster large wine presses.  You have to wonder how they built these things.  Some of the wood beams are 36 inches by 36 inches and 20 or so feet long.  Just building them was an advanced engineering marvel.  But using them you have to wonder how did they do it?

Lunch was at one of my all-time favorites La Toute Petite Auberge owned by Frank Boyer, whom I have been told is Nicole LeMarch's godfather. My understanding is Frank has been close to the Lemarche family for years.  Frank has two wine cellars at the restaurant, one is a retail store and one is his own private cellar in the basement.  I have been in both and he has sold me LeMarch wine from his own private cellar.  He also has many of the top Cote de Nuit wines in the area that he sells in his retail store.  As usual, he sold me a mixed case including Nicole's wine.  If you visit he is a good source to purchase small amounts of LeMarche wine.  After about 10 years I think he is starting to recognize me.  He is probably like me and takes time to get to know you.  This year for the first time he gave me a special new discount.  I really appreciated it.

After lunch, we charged on to the Chateau and vineyards of Edouard Delaunay tasting over 10 wines, red and white including Grand Crus.  I thought I was going to die and hopefully go to heaven.  We tasted and drank way too many wines.  Between all of us we ended up buying 10 cases of wine to ship and ended up running a little late for dinner at:

Caveau Des Arches is our favorite Beaune restaurant.  Caveau des Arches(website https://www.caveau-des-arches.com/)

It's not Michelin, it doesn't show up on a lot of recommended sites, but it is one of my favorites in all of France.  Underground in an old cellar, the ambiance is great.  Most of the time I am there it is filled with locals, always a good sign.  And to this day the best-roasted chicken in an epoisse cheese sauce I have ever had.  I had the same dish in NYC at Daniel Boulards Pavillion at 10X the cost.  They have an extensive wine list at reasonable prices.  They even have the very first White Burgundy Clark and I ever drank Chateau Beauregard Pouilly Fussie, owned by a  cousin and across the street from Chateau Pouilly Fussie where Clark and I visited for a day on our last trip to France.  They have a variety of menu items and what are called formulas along with an extensive wine list with reasonable prices.  Someday I might get something different but as usual, I had their roast chicken cooked in an Epoisse cheese sauce.  Epoisse cheese comes from the village of Epoisse about 50 KM NW of Beaune and it is the only place in the world where the cheese is made.  Sometimes it is difficult to find it.  It has various ages you can buy, the oldest I recall seeing was 75 years old.  I highly recommend Caveau Des Arches.

Home to bed we were beyond exhausted.  Due to exhaustion I am fairly certain this is the day I got sick while over there, but we had another day before the train back to Paris.

Things They are A Changing In France and Paris

We leave Paris in 2 days after being here for a month.  Regrettably, we were sick most of the time and were not able to get out and about as much as we wanted but still, we lived in a nice neighborhood, lived the slower pace of life around here, and I hope came away with better insight on the French people and Nation.  We did have a great time at dinner three nights with our Amelia friends who have a permanent apartment here in Paris and come as much as they can.  The husband has family ties to France and was raised here for many years.  He and his wife both speak fluent French and have as good a handle on local culture and customs as anyone we have previously known.  I thank them for the deep and meaningful discussions we had over a week that has realigned my thoughts here.

The world is changing and it is much younger.  It was the same when we visited NYC, we saw mostly young people and few people our age.  It is a normal progression of Nature.  But like us old folks, the values and desires of young people today are different.  We, not them, are going to have to adjust.  COVID if anything accelerated this change.  For one thing, a majority of the people who died were us old sick ones definitely changing the old/young ratios.  For most of us, COVID changed our outlook on life and sort of forced us to rethink what was important and this was a major event for the young.  So how has this played out, especially in Paris?  For one thing, Bistot's are going away.  We asked our friends what was the difference in all the eating establishment names like cafe, bistro, brasserie, etc.  Their answer was Bistrots served "pheasant" food which for the most part is what all think is classic French cuisine.  Think snails, beef Bourgogne, Coq au Vin, etc.  The young folks don't want this anymore.  They want quick and hip, innovative, less expensive, etc.  We took a cab across the entirety of Paris after dinner last night and the entire way the streets were packed with young folks drinking, talking, and dancing at small establishments with small bites, think tapas.  In fact, we saw many new tapa places here.  Also, Paris more than any city is an international city.  Almost every country in the world is represented here and on every block is a multitude of cheap ethnic food.  Think kababs from Turkey, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Lebanese, and Russian tea houses, African.  Remember I had Madagascar Shrimp.  This is what the young folks buy so the market is trying to meet those demands meaning fewer Bistrots and much less emphasis on Michelin Stars not that to me was important to begin with.  A brief aside here I have mentioned when you come here you are a guest and you should make an honest effort to fit into the culture and language as best you can to show respect.  But while you are trying to fit in with your new French friend, you end up going next door to have dinner with someone from Dubai and you now have to be sensitive to Dubai culture.  I witnessed an American insult an Asian person, actually no different than the USA.

The young are dead serious regarding Climate Change and the Mayor of Paris has instituted a lot of changes to force the issue, primarily by increasing restrictions on automobile access to the inner city.  One thing that COVID did to accelerate this is the city allowed Cafes, Bistrots, etc. to expand table service to the sidewalks outside and overflow into the streets.  If you have been here the streets have always been narrow.  So now what used to be two lanes streets are now one-lane streets further causing traffic to slow to a crawl and encouraging the Mayor to institute more automobile-free zones.  I fully understand the allure of getting into your fancy luxury car or SUV and driving to your heart's content, but in Paris that attitude gets you sitting in traffic for hours going nowhere.  I've already mentioned we had to abandon plans to use Uber, and now G7 Taxis due to the horrific traffic.  The Metro is efficient easy to navigate once you learn it, and cheap.  Yes sometimes at rush hour you are shoulder-to-shoulder packed into a train car, and you have to be able to navigate stairs carrying bags, but most of the time you are not and you can get across Paris in less than 30 minutes.  The young folks take the Metro as well as bikes, scooters, motorcycles, etc.  In fact, something new again those 2 lane streets the Mayor shrunk by adding bicycle lanes everywhere so now when crossing the street you have to first watch for bikes, scooters, and the like and then worry about the cars.

No one likes paying taxes, even the French.  But the older ones who have benefited from programs paid by taxes, like paid parental leave for 6 months for both husband and wife, at least have some feeling of justification for paying the tax.  But young folks in their early 20s and 30s who have not benefited, like Americans, cannot see the future past their next Friday paycheck.  Now the government has told them instead of waiting 42 years to benefit from their taxes it is now you have to wait 44 years so they protest.  It is human nature to react when you hear that for as far as you are concerned there is no hope to ever receiving benefits and now it is even longer.  They assume the government will again raise the time next year and they can never win.  All humans are social animals but from what I have seen the young French are even more so.  Last night I saw hundreds of thousands out at the cafes and bars enjoying the social life.  They are not going to give that up.

Of course old or young at some point everyone needs to deal with these changes.  But it is obvious at least over here that a new revolution is happening in France and Paris with the young people taking over.  I am certain there are business gurus and marketers figuring all of this out to make the biggest buck.  But time will tell how it all will end.  In a gross over simplification expect more fast food and less French food.  Heck one of my best burgers and lunches was at 5 Guys Burgers.  Go figure.

Bastille Market Day and Eating Pizza in France

Today was Sunday one of the biggest market days in Paris. The outdoor market at the Bastille is considered the largest in the city and is open from 7:30 AM to 1:30 PM on Sunday and Thursday so we made it there this morning. It is huge and is the length of two Metro stops starting at the Bastille. We walked the entire length and Clark got 3 stylish new shirts and we bought fresh food for lunch and dinner. We came home with a horn of plenty including a Mediterranean feast with fresh Greek Salad, Hummus, Taboli, and fresh fruits. We found prawns that were true U6 prawns from Madagascar that we will have for dinner. Going to the market in France is a true adventure and should not be missed. There are many of the not only in Paris but every small village around. Most are either Wednesday and Saturday or Thursday and Sunday. You can stock up your home with enough fresh food to last a week easily. You name it they seem to have it. Where I purchased the prawns they had about a dozen different ones from around the world and even had Florida Stone Crabs which surprised me. Going to the market is a great way to immerse yourself in French culture, people, and language. You are surrounded by all of it and frankly, I always feel welcomed and at home in the market. Everyone is smiling and nice to everyone. Last night we had pizza at a great place just 100 meters from our front door called Mat'uzza( https://matizza.fr/). We had to wait for a table and right after we were seated we were surrounded by patrons standing in the street waiting to be seated and they were still waiting when we left. I can assure you when locals are that loyal to a restaurant you well know that the food and service has to be spectacular. The pizzas were stunning. I had a meat lover's pizza that was loaded with all my favorites and the taste was just great. Another in our party ordered a truffle pizza to die for. An interesting cultural difference is the French eat pizza with a knife and fork. The pizza is served not cut and you do it yourself with a knife and fork and eat with a fork, something we are not used to doing. It seemed a little awkward at first but everyone was doing it so as in Rome we eventually got used to it.