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Continuing the irony of my previous rant on ratings, I am very pleased to report that - on the heels of it Gold Medal showing at the Orange County Wine Competition - the Twisted Oak 2005 Calaveras County Torcido has earned a Double Gold from the 2007 California State Fair!
The Torcido and the soon-to-be released 2005 Calaveras County Tempranillo also earned a Best of Class, Sierra Foothills AVA (that's a bizillion acre appellation, folks!)
I think a rousing DOUBLE WOO HOO!!! is in order!
At this rate, the Torcido (a blend of Grenache and Graciano from Twisted Oak's own estate vineyards) could become the Mark Spitz (Michael Phelps?) of wines! (thanks Deb!)
Pictured below is a very scientifical launch vehicle created by my rocket buddy Matt for further research into something - high velocity rubber goods or whatever. We did have a brief test flight earlier this year (with some very shaky video I'm still trying to figure out how to edit) but further testing was precluded by the impending fire season.
Some of my other buddies jumped the gun (so to speak) earlier this month with a launch in the desert, with their own latex special, among many other things - and it's all featured on yahoo.com right now! I found three videos, and all are great fun! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: No rubber chickens were harmed in this research. Violated, yes, but not harmed.
Carla and Jason have been a part of our lives for something like ten years. We first met Carla in Las Vegas when she was in casino marketing at Bally's casino. (The Queen and I do have a couple diversions - any other closet wine and poker lovers out there?) Our friendship developed over the years - she moved to Stardust, and we went with her (we'll really miss that place.) A few years ago, they were looking for a change so she and Jason made the big jump over the Sierras and moved to Calaveras County.
I gave Carla some part time work in the tasting room to get on her feet, and before we knew it she had taken charge as tasting room and wine club manager. About the same time we needed a good cellar rat and Jason hopped right into it.
I'm going to stop now before I get all mushy... but Carla and Jason were here for us during a difficult phase for Twisted Oak, and we could not have done it without them. Carla got a great offer from a former employer in Texas (Texas?) - it's a great opportunity, and she leaves with all of our blessings!
Here are a few moments from the last few years... hope you enjoy them!
First day in the tasting room!
first cave looting! arrrr!
first crush!
first twisted mystery tour!
chicken hats!
I forgot to mention, Jason is also a magician!
a going away gift fit for Texas, from Rich and Arline at the Dunbar House in Murphys:
Enchanting Twisted Holiday Party 2006:
...and the going away party, with the Mini-Fricken...
we already miss you guys...
In wanton disregard for everything I have been saying the past week... I'd like to announce that the following wines...
...have won Gold at the Orange County Fair! Woo Hoo!
We now return you to your regularly scheduled incisive commentary.
Quite a flurry o' writing and posts this week on wine rating systems. I started this as a comment over on Winecast, in response to Tim's proposed five star rating system. (And then it grew...)
Briefly, Tim surveys the various systems in use, from the WS/Parker 100 point lunacy to the 10 point system used over on vinography. Of course, vinography's scale is really a 20 point scale since Alder uses half points - and similarly, Winecast's five stars are really a 10 point scale since he proposes using half stars. (And what is a half star anyway? A planet?)
There is really nothing new about a five star scale. Like Amazon, WineQ has been using five stars, though they seem to have 1/3 stars too, and I still haven't understood how two 3.5 star ratings can average 3.0 stars....
Myself, I've been thinking of proposing an 11 point scale to take into account all of the over-ripe and over-oaked bomber wines out there. I think an 11 point scale would be a better way to go, since a "five and a half star" system just sounds funny, and the 11 points would match the volume control on my Spinal Tap brand amplifier (sorry).
Of course, then someone would want half point to differentiate between a 10.5 and 11.0 fruit bomb, and the madness starts again....
I realize we are a species of measurers. (Our ancestors probably knew how far it was in mackerels between the village and the river long before the distance from Cal Tech to Pasadena City Hall was known but I digress...) But with wine, I want to know if you have a strong opinion about this hooch, either way, and then most importantly WHY you feel that way - because your 2 star acidic shower cleaner could be my perfect 5 star crisp Sunday afternoon refreshment. But I won't know this unless you also post why you gave it those lousy 2 stars!
That brings up another point, which is the averaging of points from several ratings. I realize this probably feeds our innate desire to have a "leader" or "winner" - but why should one rating be able to pull all the others down? In the above example, those scores would be averaged on most sites to a 3.5 stars (3.0 stars on WineQ). As a result, we have a wine that actually generates strong feelings either way, being relegated to the anonymity of the pack.
So, if you are going to have numeric ratings, please back them up with meaningful descriptions. And please lose the average ratings - unless you are clever and devise some way to display standard deviations using half moons or something....
Just a quick note that we have received our direct shipping permit for North Carolina and we can now ship there directly! To you! From us!
I'm thinking many of our reds will go just fine with some of that yummy NC barbecued pork, including our 2005 Grenache - chilled down just a little - and don't forget the creamy cole slaw!
Also, just a note that we've taken West Virginia off of our list of states we ship to. They've changed the law and the cost of a permit has gotten a bit out of hand. I don't recall that we have ever actually shipped any wine there, but I still hate to lose one...
Taken June 17, 2007, at the end of a very bumpy, very four wheel drive road that my older son discovered a while back. The road takes you up to a ridge that overlooks Murphys and the surrounding valleys and canyons. That's the new moon and Venus in the upper left. Enjoy!
(click on the image for a big version suitable for desktop background...)
I've been taking a lot of photographs lately, and not getting around to blogging them. Translation: I need to catch up!
I do not speak of my incredible wife (Mary, aka "The Queen") very much - by her choice. I will say she very much has a soft spot for an animal in distress. She was having breakfast in town the other day with a friend, and heard some howling under a planter. After an investigation, a very small but determined calico kitten was recovered. The vet said she was so dehydrated and flea-ridden she maybe had another day to live...
And Nacha once again proved that she is amazing and intelligent dog, instantly taking the little tribble under her, um, paw.
We still haven't settled on a name for her yet - ideas? (Of course, if it was a boy, we'd be naming him Josh...)
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