The Chi of Love

More winemakers in the realm today with the convivial duo of Mr. & Mrs. Scott Harvey. And of course I refer to them as Mr. & Mrs. Harvey because I just can't remember Mrs. Harvey's first name.

I think Mr. Harvey's first name is Scott...

And a quick break for a vocabulary lesson;

Main Entry: con·viv·ial
Pronunciation: k&n-'viv-y&l, -'vi-vE-&l
Function: adjective
Etymology: Late Latin convivialis, from Latin convivium banquet, from com- + vivere to live. Relating to, occupied with, or fond of feasting, drinking, and good company

Harveys



Scott Harvey 2004 Rose of Pinot Noir & 2003 Syrah

The rose was probably the best wine I tasted from Mr. Harvey. I think it's actually the only wine he makes that shows much of a dynamic flavour profile. I've reviewed the other Harvey wines earlier, (Barbera and Zin) and the common theme throughout is a kind of uninspiring averageness to the wines. The Syrah continued that song by being moderately ripe, neither thin nor thick on the palate, and a little sweet.
These wines are reminiscent of Neil Diamond: When you first hear him, you say, 'He's kind of catchy.' And so you go and grab a Neil album at the Cool Indie Record Store and blast it on your turntable for about twenty-six minutes. Then you realize there was only one good song on the album and from then on, every time Neil Diamond comes on the radio, you roll your eyes and reach for the dial.
Scott Harvey makes wine. Paul Harvey does The Rest Of The Story on the radio and is 97 years old. Harvey Korman was on the Carol Burnett Show.

Tim Conway should own a winery.

DORF on WINE.

Morande 2003 Pinot Noir

I sell this wine and thusly am totally and shamelessly biased. Ripe fruit and pleanty of acid make this stuff pretty snappy and crisp. All I can tell you is you gotta like citrus to like this wine. But if you do like citrus, you'll have a blast with pink grapefruit meets white strawberry in January flavour. Totally cheap Pinot with varietal character and you probably never had Pinot from the Casablanca Valley anyway, so just hush.


Vinum 2004 PETS

My pick for best combination of flavour and value. Tons of really dark, dank fruit with a tobacco-spit edge. This stuff tasted like good cheap California wine should taste: Balanced, plenty of fruit without being nastily over-ripe, full dry, firm and almost tough.

Have wifey get out the cat-o-nine-tails and flog you while you enjoy this cheap thrill...

Domaine Olivier 2001 Bourgogne Rouge

Totally average and very drinkable Burgundy from an unthrilling vintage. Mildly briery aromas on the nose followed by dry berry flavors and adequate acid. I've had worse from 2001, oh man have I had worse. So certainly when you need a regular old cheapy Burgundy, you can enjoy this OK bottle of OK stuff. Really, really super OK wine.

Torbreck 2004 Woodcutter's Shiraz

Torbreck wines have never been my favourites. I know they mostly cost an arm and your firstborn, but sometimes I wonder if maybe Torbreck hasn't become a Parker Primadonna. But that being said, I did like the Woodcutter's Shiraz. About as not-over-the-top as you can get for Barossa shiraz, with good balance and obvious fruit pedigree. I've had way bigger and badder shirazzez in this price range ($20-$25) but I like to have drinkable wine, not monolithic trophy wine, and this stuff is obviously made for a drinker of quality wine.

Rocking Horse 2000 Napa Merlot

Ugh! Three little letters that express such deep regret for defiling an already weary palate with such yuck. Could somebody please place a collect call to the Rocking Horse Winery and ask to speak with the vineyard manager?
Did he use the green harvest by accident?
When was the last year there wasn't enough sun in Napa Valley to ripen some flippin' grapes?

You are hereby thoroughly encouraged to avoid this Rocking Horse wine because it is just plain crap-o-licious. Goddamn!!





I looked at this picture for like ten minutes and couldn't think of a good caption for the top. This is the whole family (sans The Keep Evil Saint, who was six feet away mixing drinks) in one rare shot.

For most of us in this picture, this job is just a stop on the way to something better; different. D-$$ should probably be runnning a winery in Napa; T-Bud should own a foodie boutique in a Real Metropolitan City; LoLo needs to rock with her events business. How we all got to slingin' booze in Cleveburg baffles me daily.And I know what it feels like to lie all week and lie down all week and grapple with people when you aren't a wrestler. We sell a fuckin' commodity and it's really a drag to sell anything.

So we all control everything around us. And we all end up here - wine or no wine - because the cause and event of our being here together is love and wine. And so without being all new-age-y and crap, I'll just give a shout out to all the kids who make this conviviality a priority. We are all stronger and will enjoy life longer because we sit together and celebrate.

And just wait 'til next week, cuz we're startin'AUDIOBLOGGER, motherficker!