Many of you have asked me to not mix business with the rest of my life, and thanks to my pals at Blend Interactive, it’s finally happened. I have a new section of my site, which I’m calling “Four Letter Words” – mostly photo posts about life, wine, and bike(s). Consider this the first post, in which I’ll catch you up on some good drinks and rides over the past few weeks. Searchblog RSS subscribers who take the main feed will NOT see these posts, but you can sign up to get them either as a separate stream, or with all other posts, on my feeds page.
First up, let’s get a bit of wine entered into my personal Database of Intentions (and I’ll pin these to my board as well). We had this nifty Chappellet 2002 Cab last month, and I’d encourage anyone within reach of a bottle to open it, immediately.
Another great Napa bottle, a blend, is this Collina Dalla Valle, 2009. Bad picture, epic wine.
Moving over to France, my pal Jordan surprised me in the band room with a magnum of this fine Bordeaux. I am utterly a newbie when it comes to this region, but I can tell you, this was a very special bottle of juice. Joseph Drouhin, Grands-Echezeaux Grand Cru. I did not catch the vintage.
Now to some serious bourbon news. Last week I ventured into my favorite restaurant here in Marin, Picco, and found they had a complete allocation of my favorite whiskey – Pappy Van Winkle. This stuff will set you back, but man, is it worth it. Here’s the murderer’s row:
That’s the Van Winkle 12, which ain’t really a “Pappy” per say, and then the 15, the 20, and the 23, all in a row, and all unopened.
I fixed that:
Finished the evening with a fine new Kosta Browne Pinot. An elite Sonoma vintner, and very tasty.
I also got a chance to go on a few really wonderful rides these past few weeks. Here’s one of my favorite places, on the west side of Lake Lagunitas in Marin, looking up at Pilot Knob:
And on Father’s Day, my son and I rode from our house over Mt. Tam down to Stinson Beach to meet my wife and daughters. What a treat. Here’s the view from the top of the ridge, before descending to the beach:
And here’s the Willow Camp trail, mostly a single track, that descends 2000 feet in about two miles right to the beach:
And yes, you purist riders out there, I have bar ends on my bike. I need the extensions for my back, which doesn’t like being all hunched over much. And yeah, they help on the uphills, I’ll admit it.
Well, that’s the update. I love living in Marin.