Dancing Bull zinfandel 2004 california...uncorked the bottle tonight with the idea that this zinfandel would prove a little more intricate than the Barefoot zinfandel that i've been accustomed to drinking at my house...the color is as i expected from a zin, light (for a red) compared to cabs or merlots that i've been drinking...the nose is spicy with the usual fruitty smells that i have associated with zin..my weekend cold is gone so i'm trying to be more expletive with any smells/flavors that i may encounter with my bottles...after swirling the Bull around the glass a bit, i could have sworn that i smelled a hint of sardines in the nose...another swirl around the glass confirmed it!...reminded me of the texture of sardine skin when it is in the mouth, not harsh scales mind you, but melting fish skin around the palate...this is definitely a more sour zin than the barefoot...very light on the tongue and easy on the throat...after moving it around in my mouth, stronger woodsy/leathery flavors (along with strong peppery spices) are present for a few moments until the tannins from the skin of the grape are revealed leaving a flavor of bitter/sour grape that has not ripened...i seem to like this zin more than the Barefoot even if the price is a little more for this zinfandel...my conclusions were correct about this zin: more complicated but still a bargain...

tonight i have a bottle of 2005 Smoking Loon cabernet sauvignon...had some sushi an hour before tasting this wine and i have a slight cold so my perceptions toward this wine might be off---okay, way off....but the fact that it still had a good nose on it might say something about this vintage...i have read a few things about this wine in other websites and was aching to try this "Loon" out for myself...i first bought a few bottles of this vintage for our lodge meetings and was actually anxious to try it, but didn't get to as most of the Loon was accounted for by the rest of the brethren...strong dashes of fruit are met with the first taste of this cab with a suprisingly light finish (for a cab, also because of my cold)...am currently having some roasted duck with my Loon, the skin still is very rich and this cab is a good meld with the flavor of the duck...chewing on the duck meat while taking in a good swallow of Smoking Loon is pleasant and makes me think of why the picture on the bottle shows a swimming duck smoking a cigar---hmmm...great combo with this rich dish...anyway, happy thanksgiving to all!

....Burlingame Lodge no. 400 F&AM....thanks to Gale Dreisbach for coaching me in the long form proficiencies....left to right: Brothers Vince Chan, Gale Dresibach, and Kit Santana...

i've been on a whim lately, wanting to ride after work and essentially riding at night. at first we velcro'd my old mountainbike commuting light to my helmet while matt stuck a pen flashlight inside the vents of his helmet. we have pictures to prove this night cycling outing as evidenced by our picutres below. we had so much fun that the next day we bought some proper helmet lights and have been riding at night since. it's just as well seeing as daylight savings has brought darkness upon California as early as 5:30p.m.---not cool for riding, but good if you've got lights :-) anyway, here are our shots of cycling at night with our improper helmet lights...