People of your twenties, put down your beers, we've got something
to talk about. I know wine can be an elusive beverage full of foreign
terms and complicated labels. When people talk about wine they can
speak incomprehensibly about flavors that encompass a myriad of berries
and a thousand different apples, and things you'd rather not put in
your mouth (i.e. saddle soup and wet asphalt). And you oenophiles,
don't think for a moment that wine is beyond the beer binging shot
taking youth of this nation. For those of you in northern California
who don't know about wine, I have to tell you, we got something great to
offer the rest of the world. I've been studying for my degree in
alcohol intensely for the past year and a half, and I'm what you'd
consider a new kid on the block, but I've discovered something great.
Compared to the rest of the world we've got game.
--
Joe De John
Wine Director
Redbud Cafe
In my studies I've gone out of my way to taste the quintessential
wines that define places like France, Italy, Spain, and Germany. These
places are credited for being the shit at what they do. Many snobs
turn their nose up at anything California other than Napa, and when they
drink Cali wines they drink the stupid expensive stuff. WHAT A WASTE OF
MONEY!
For the price of one bottle of Opus One you can buy 3 cases of Foothill wines that age to perfection or drink beautifully now. For
example Bumgarner '05 Cabernet Sauvignon, is an El Dorado wine in a
league of it's own. So much depth and so much complexity that i can't
wait to see what this guy does next. Brian Bumgarner who's been in the
background in El Dorado for 16 years has come into his own with a world
class wine. When I attempted to share it with someone who just turned
twenty-one they snubbed me. Snubbed with the attitude that beer was all
there was to enjoy in the world of alcohol. Don't be that guy people,
the narrow minded child of a generation without any culture. Because
there is a deep and profound culture of food and wine rising up around
us and unless your willing to take a taste, it will pass you by. Then all you've got is beer, is that fun?
Other great wines I've tasted lately for under $50:
Scott Harvey '05 Amador Syrah; Conti Estates '06 Merlot;
Windwalker '05 Merlot; Mt Aukum '06 Vertigo; Stonehouse '04 Legacy
Cabernet Sauvignon; Perry Creek '06 Cobra Zinfandel; Renquist '06
Primativo, and so on. take a chance and taste the enlightenment of our
times, so in ten years your not saying wow for the first time, your
saying "I was there, and did that."
Long Live The Art of Leisure.
--
Joe De John
Wine Director
Redbud Cafe