I poured some Wine Stash vinos as well. The 2010 Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon was described to me as the best 100% cab in the place. I met the daughter of Kathryn Hall and warned her, “This will make your hair fall out if you don’t have some food to back it up,” – though I didn’t know who she was, otherwise I wouldn’t have said so (Hall wines being as bold, layered and sexayyyy as you please…. She said, “Actually, it did not do that at all.” I liked hearing that because sometimes mountain fruit can be an overwhelming affair when sipped solamente. In this case, gentle treatment and hand-bottling made for a luscious experience, well-managed tannins, waves of fruit, enough structure to hang wet sweaters on…just an all-around Russell Crowe of a wine! It’s a bargain for its pedigree. And the ’09 red blend warn’t no slouch, either. You take a Carneros syrah sensibility (high end, mind you), think like a chef and employ zin and a pinch of petite sirah, and the result is a very pleased crowd. Good show from the Wine Stash, some very special friends of mine. Shoot, cousins, practically. Look for more action in that regard. Joining the mailing list would be a really good idea, come to think of it, because we’re going to be moving forward in very special, intimate ways, outside of the usual hubbub of the tasting room – gift shop – art gallery theme that Napa has in so many ways become. Remember, the absence of a parking lot doth not imply insignificance; the resources go into the bottle rather than the bling.

A little bit of tentative news: I’ll be collaborating with some peeps in the Oakland/Berkeley area later this summer – July/August – to bring you a top-notch food & wine experience. It’s great to know chefs and to be a wine collector (gotta know what tastes good to know how to make wine, right?). We’ll do this right. Stay tuned, Bay Area Peeps!

Until next time, don’t hesitate to reach out. There may be a little bit of wine in the library for you. Join the mailing list here, or just find that link on the home page.
Best -
Christian
Simple Math Cellars

I’ll go ahead and discuss the chemistry of what happens in the vineyard through to the bottle. I’ll talk about the chemical reactions that occur during the course of an evening of wine and food. I’ll break down the thermodynamics and entropy that lay in wait during those pregnant pauses between “tastes like vinyl” and “reminds me to treat the barrel room for brett”. There’s just so much science embedded in how we talk about the science of talking about the science of wine. (get that?) Book signing to follow.

Background (courtesy of http://www.lbl.gov/LBL-PID/LBL-Overview.html)

In the world of science, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) is synonymous with “excellence.” Thirteen scientists associated with Berkeley Lab have won the Nobel Prize. Fifty-seven Lab scientists are members of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), one of the highest honors for a scientist in the United States. Thirteen of our scientists have won the National Medal of Science, our nation’s highest award for lifetime achievement in fields of scientific research. Eighteen of our engineers have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering, and three of our scientists have been elected into the Institute of Medicine. In addition, Berkeley Lab has trained thousands of university science and engineering students who are advancing technological innovations across the nation and around the world.

Berkeley Lab is a member of the national laboratory system supported by the U.S. Department of Energy through its Office of Science. It is managed by the University of California (UC) and is charged with conducting unclassified research across a wide range of scientific disciplines. Located on a 200-acre site in the hills above the UC Berkeley campus that offers spectacular views of the San Francisco Bay, Berkeley Lab employs approximately 4,200 scientists, engineers, support staff and students. Its budget for 2011 is $735 million, with an additional $101 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, for a total of $836 million. A recent study estimates the Laboratory’s overall economic impact through direct, indirect and induced spending on the nine counties that make up the San Francisco Bay Area to be nearly $700 million annually. The Lab was also responsible for creating 5,600 jobs locally and 12,000 nationally. The overall economic impact on the national economy is estimated at $1.6 billion a year. Technologies developed at Berkeley Lab have generated billions of dollars in revenues, and thousands of jobs. Savings as a result of Berkeley Lab developments in lighting and windows, and other energy-efficient technologies, have also been in the billions of dollars.

Wish me luck. Q and A might make my eyes cross permanently!

That is, there’s no end to the number of consumers of a good, and there’s an infinite number of producers as well. It’s easy for a producer to get into the game, and just as easy to leave it. Everything looks the same on the shelf, the website, the brochure…. So how do goods sell at different paces? Well, if we could ever experience a perfectly competitive marketplace (ain’t happened yet), the producer who sells the goods for less will sell more of them. How it comes out in the wash is a matter of math which goes too far into boring territory to subject you to. Suffice it to say that this producer will never make a profit and is performing more of a charity function.

Now, in the real world (non-perfect competition), we have a more robust mix of factors that would appear to be sort of broken up into portions of almost-level marketplaces peppered with what looks like monopolies. It only appears that way – monolopies in the US are a no-no – you’re really looking at who advertises you into a dull stupor of compulsion, like, say, a vampire enslavement scenario that gives you nausea when you consider, say, buying from the Smith Family Saddlery rather than the Megaglom Unified Group of Big Box Retailers. It costs a certain amount of money to produce a certain number of goods initially, both for the Smiths and Megaglom. But the more goods are made, the less costly it is to make them. And that’s where prices fluctuate more. Megaglom can charge less for the goods and be happy selling more of them, making more profit with which to produce more goods, and sell them for less, and so on. The Smiths can’t necessarily do this unless they can find a way to, um, take a big hit below the belt until they can afford to make more saddles, and still more, to the point that their production costs per saddle go down in price. How’s that? Why? Well, the more leather they buy, the less work it is for the leather guy to whip up a batch in a day’s work… then the more the leather guy likes them, is grateful for their repeat business, doesn’t spend as much time & money beating the streets to find new clients… that he throws ‘em a discount. Woo hoo. More leather for the same bucks, meaning more saddles, meaning the ability to make some more profit – and to entice loyal Mercantile shoppers to perhaps spend a little less on saddles. Thus the tiny business gets its bearing and competes (or tries to) with Megaglom. In a Tell-A-Friend marketplace, the Smiths may decide to throw a bone out to their loyal customers – you know, frequent flyers who’ve earned it – to spread the joy by offering a discount.

Remember what I said about a level playing field in the perfectly competitive marketplace (a figment of Oz), in which the saddles are identical/ Well, we all know that it’s pretty predictable to compare Megaglom’s saddles with the Smiths’ and see a marked difference in quality. It just happens with wannabe monopolies. It’s roadside peaches versus crap in a can. In the economy we actually live in, the goods ain’t the same. However, Megaglom has that magical way of offering a discount on something already cheap (inexpensive and cheaply produced) just because it can, not that it knows you’re hooked on saddles and buy theirs time after time. It doesn’t care. You are a unit of consumption. The Smiths, however, making ends meet and more, are happy to show you their appreciation when they see you in the Mercantile for the fourth time all year, and you are one of the family. You are offered a discount because it’s a nice thing to do and, in the long run, it’s profitable; you’ll tell a friend, you’ll be back for a 5th saddle, and so it goes.

Is there any reason in hell for you to kick the tires at Megaglom, write down the price of their silly-ass leatherette saddle made in a sweatshop, and roll up on the Smiths for the first time ever, asking for a discount or a price match? Well, yes, if you’re an entitled buffoon who would rather get something for nothing and encourage the trend toward Megaglom monopoly conditions in which you might see Mr. Smith greeting you at the door of Megaglom, despondent and bumming change on his days off. And if you don’t care about what you’re sitting on.

This is a case for respectful consumption. Not all goods are homogenous, certainly not saddles or other luxury goods. Apples, oranges – they’re all fruit. However, in order to keep our choices broad, I would advocate fair consumption, informed decisioneering, intelligent discernment between a saddle and a McSaddle, and adventurous participation in a free market. I would discourage freebie-seeking. And if you don’t have the money to pay fairly for a luxury good (maybe you don’t need it then?), have the finesse to refrain from asking for a discount; you’ll be offered one in due time as a familiar face, a loyal client. Then again, there’s no shame in riding on a blanket. I understand that worked out pretty well for centuries.

Wine Country Tasting Room note:  I have a friend who manages a Napa Valley tasting room. I visited him once and was reminded of why we’re friends. I had to applaud his quiet style when he poured a $125 cab for two tourists, saying, “Yeah, this one’s pretty good,” and strolled back to somewhere else. One of the women standing next to me said, “That’s weird. Pretty good and nothing more?” She tasted the wine, loved it, and went on in her own power to describe it for her companion. The wine spoke for itself, and it didn’t matter what the total acidity was or why if it weren’t paired with bacon pancakes drizzled in Iberian truffle oil, the world would totally blue-screen.

It’s easy to read and sometimes humorous. Don’t expect a textbook – expect an empowering educational resource drawing upon years of insight into the whole enchilada – buying, making, selling, judging and seeking wine. It’s only $12.95 for a paperback and $7 for the eBook version.

Thanks for having a peek. Mailing list members, keep your eyes open for a special promotion to help you save more bucks.  The book signing tour begins in October in Napa Valley – details forthcoming.

This guy tripped over his wine ego.

The hot air some people blow about wine…… Read more about you how you deflect it with a handy eBook called “Simple Math: Deconstructing How We Talk About Wine“

The instructions are all there but if you’re a reviewer and want a password, let me know.
Best,

Christian

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Tina (my spousally-oriented compass of cha cha and smarts) continues to be a fine dance partner in this gorgeous, layered world. She did a semester of pro bono teaching in the psych department at Sonoma State to rave reviews. Do it again? Well, she says she really enjoyed it, particularly at the upper-class level where her students were more self-selective of her interesting class, as opposed to – you might remember this feeling – having to fill in with a humanities course just because. I found it interesting material, being that I continue to be a second set of eyes for her thesis work and curriculum. Not that I’m a Jungian expert. Just an enthusiast and a language geek. Tina‘s going to be a hot ticket item; she and her peers have developed and implemented some well-received workshops on a national level that incorporate the arts and the inner workings of what makes humans do what they do.

Noah, our eldest, and Tobin, his little bro, are each well on their ways to great things. They both plan to do some volunteer work in South America and Asia this fall (yikes – there’s never enough planning to do!) and are quite excited to get the show on the road. Neither has left the US before, so we’re thrilled that they want to get so far away from us with such generous plans in mind. Afterwards, Noah plans to pick up where he left off as a very talented digital artist. His connections have granted him the inside track into the world of Lucasfilms, so our hopes are with him. The guy can do the Shrek thing, and nobody taught him a thing. Incredible. You should meet him some time. Tobin, well…it seems he’s got the culinary bug. His employer hails him as a quick study, a true talent and a very hard worker. Sounds like a winning formula; his salmon recipe already brings tears to my eyes. Not because he didn’t share his secret but because he’s just got that thang;and that thang is going to be thousands of miles away for many months. Should we talk him out of the trip? Heh.

We found that grass doesn’t always just grow in the front yard without tons of water. So we’re xeriscaping it. Well, almost. Layers of wineboxes, manure, soil, leaves and bark are turning it into a place where we can eventually highlight fruit trees and such. But the crab grass keeps persisting! Someone said, “Why not just spray Roundup?” Heck no, said I. I’d rather take to it with a shovel. No neurotoxins on our land, thanks very much. Doing things the natural way may involve more labor, but when you do it with your wife, it’s a labor of love. This is one of the ways we, with our insane schedules, get time to chat about something that doesn’t involve a computer screen! And Carmine the cabernet vine – some of you know about him, born from seeds that create $250 wine – he’s doing very well in his little pot. Soon, he’ll go into the ground – and probably feed the birds that know I’m up to my eyeballs and unable to shoo them away. The dogs would, but we want to remain friendly with our neighbors, so Chester’s and Bella’s more vociferous bird-repelling program is in the process of modification!

Me? I’ve begun publishing a blog that celebrates human achievement in a way that really aids all beings and the planet. Science, esoterica, just good old generosity…when I get more uploaded, it should be an interesting, uplifting read. I’ll make this known pretty darn soon. Just a few more entries….  Then there’s the book. Yes, the book. Years in the making, months in the fine tuning….Simple Math: Deconstructing How We Talk About Wine is going to be coming at you in electronic form. Some of you have already been given some chapters. I hope you like it thus far. It’s going to take just a bit more time to bring it to fruition as a book you can hold and read on a plane. Please be patient, but feel free to ask for a sneak peek if you like. That is, I need to make sure I know you before throwing it out there, so I’ll assume you’re a mailing list member. And if not, well whaddya waiting for? There’s a lot of benefit in being a peep. For instance, the party that’s coming up on July 7th. I’ve always appreciated our camaraderie, and this is a far better way to share it than in some big hall or in a hot parking lot, right?

So, that’s about all. Remember to kiss a puppy and if there’s not one handy, give me a shout. Our dogs are grownups but they’re built for laps. (They won’t be at the soiree – they’re a little, um, vociferous.)