We were having friends over and we needed several bottles of WOW!! We had not seen these friends in a while. They are probably 10+ years my senior and retired from the rat race in 1999 during all of the frenzy about Y2K.

They dropped out, is the best way to put it. They were over for dinner at our place. They told us they were going to retire and move someplace quiet while they got their thoughts together. We all laughed when they told us. I thought they were in the same financial position as us and we were not retiring and moving, so how could they? It sounded weird, but considering what we knew of them in the past, it really did not surprise us.

They left our place that night and we parted saying we would touch base again in a couple of months to see how they were doing. We got busy in our day to day stuff. We were busy working, and wrapped up in our “stuff” and got through another year without a scratch. The world did not end. We called them, after the holidays, and I got a disconnect message on their phone.

“That’s funny.”, I remembered thinking. We went by their house and knocked at the front door and this woman came to the door and said, “Can I help you?” That’s when it hit us. Come to find out, they had already sold the house when we had dinner that night in 1999.

We got a Christmas card from them this past December. It was a nice card, but sort of vague. There was no postmark on the envelope, which at Christmastime is not unusual. We looked at the card, looked at each other and had a short laugh.

He called me on Valentine’s Day, “Could we get together for a Dutch dinner and catch up” at our house? I checked and we had no plans – so it was on.

I wanted to have a really nice bottle of wine for dinner which was going to be pot roast. And for this occasion I chose Seven Oaks J. Lohr Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon.

Every time I have this wine, it brings back memories of old days, old friends, good times. It wsas the perfect wine for this dinner with friends we had not seen in almost 10 years.

Can I suggest that you find your bottle of WOW!! and have some on hand for those times, when you want a good wine that reminds you of good times? This past year, we have had more than a few bottles of wine that are in the WOW!! category, but when push came to shove, I bought two bottles of J. Lohr.

It is a consistent wine, and tastes the same year after year. The only thing that has changed is the price. I used to buy it in 1996 for $7.49 from Mark Dinerstein, a local wine store owner, who turned me on to some pretty good wines back in those days. The price is now $13.99.

Dinner? We caught up on what had happened with our friends. He made a ton of money in mining stocks out of Vancouver BC Canada and had been living on easy street ever since. We laughed when we made plans to get together again in ten years when we would be retired, if my IRA ever gets back to where it was three years ago.

Jim Fortune – The Wine Sleuth

I know you have heard the expression you have to kiss a lot of toads to get a prince. Here is a toad you can kiss again and again and get a prince of a wine every time. I am amazed at two things about this wine; the quality and the price.

Name: Eye of The Toad
Year: 2006 (2009 is currently on the web site and probably for retail)
Winery: Toad Hollow Vineyards
Region/Country: Sonoma County
Varietal: Pinot Noir
ALC by Vol: 12%

One toad? $3.00 approximately
One bottle of Eye of the Toad? $9.99
A wine seller who can find wines like this? Priceless.

I have discussed wine cellars. But there is another to be considered and this one is the wine seller. It is pronounced the same. But one of the best things about having a wine seller that you build a relationship with is that they will introduce you to interesting wines that you can go back to again and again, and your only cost is the price of the wine. They are happy when you are happy.

I am going to share the name of my wine seller with you in a future telephone interview. I’d have to say that her wine picking average is around .750. In other words, her recommendations are right on the money three out of four times. That’s pretty good I’d say. If my lotto average was that good . . . Well let’s say I would not be storing my wine in cardboard boxes.

My wine seller introduced me to Eye of The Toad. I have had it before and have just bought my second case. I really like it. The name Toad came from a nickname of one of the owners of the vineyard, Todd Williams. I am guessing that the people who knew and loved Todd, lovingly called him Toad. I am guessing that because I have only known one other Todd in my day and people who knew him well called him Toad. I am not sure if the name of the wine came from the color of Todd Williams’ eye or not. I guess that will be part of the legend someday.

This wine is a light red color. It comes in a clear bottle with a yellow cork made out of plastic. The cork has a picture of a standing toad with a wine glass in an up stretched left hand, with a cane in the right. The label is equally interesting. Picture a Toad and an Owl sitting at a wooden table with a sign overhead that says, “Toad Hollow”.

The nose of this wine has a hint of raspberry and strawberry. The wine itself, has a light champagne taste much like a rose’ brut. We drink Korbel Rose’ Brut during the holidays in December that has a similar taste on the palate. The wine is dry. If your tastes run to the Italian Riunite or German Riesling don’t get this one.

This one is dry with a very light fizz. I am not sure if it is malolactic fermentation in the bottle or not. Sulfite is supposed to inhibit the malolactic process, but it does not stop it completely. It is very nice. It is not a sparkling wine on purpose. It just turned out that way in “my” glass. Technically it is not a sparkling. There are little bubbles that form on the side of the glass. I would chill this wine to a tad bit colder than cellar temperature to bring out the berry nose and flavor. Get the temperature around 50 degrees or so, maybe 45. This wine was bottled on November 11, 2006.

As stated above, I was able to get a case of the 2006 but I note from the web site that the 2007 is in the market and probably available where you are. The web site is really nice since it gives you a list by state of the distributors that carry the the Toad Hollow Cellar label. Go to the map of the US, select your state and it will list where the wine is available.

This is a great wine to have on a late spring or summer afternoon to enjoy with another couple or two as the prelude to a steak barbeque where you will be serving something a little heavier like sirloin with a Cabernet Sauvignon or Zinfandel.

Jim Fortune – The Wine Sleuth

This is a nice 5 “A” wine.   Under $10 makes it Affordable.   It is definitely Above Average, and the overall bouquet is Amazing.   The other two As just naturally fall into place.   The fact that it is a Syrah under $10 alone would make it Astounding.   But the way it tastes in your mouth as you swish it around and roll it back on your tongue, makes you want to holler “Awesome!!” And it is.

I read about Vic McWilliams, the winemaker, and it brought back memories of the days when I used to make my own wines from Wine Art.   Vic has been making wines for about 25 years.   I got started making my own wines in 1971.  

Jim Fortune – The Wine Sleuth