Life does get in the way of things in odd ways, in our case cancer has reared it fierce head in our family and we have started down that road.  There is an end in sight but it will take a long time to get there.  So I have found time to sit back with a bottle of 15 year old Laphroaig Scotch and create this entry into the Rogue Valley Golfer site.  It seems that every day I'm exhausted with work and things to do, but I'm never getting anything done.  I asked some friends of mine recently , "What are you drinking right now ?", many times I've received just blank stares as replies.  In this economy and struggles with in our nation I think it is important to keep up those simple pleasures.  Good wine, good food, fine scotch, golf and friends.  So here's my what have you been drinking list:

 

Schafer Napa Valley Merlot 2005, 94 I could get used to this.

Robert Mondavi Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2001, 94 great with beef or lamb.

Carpineta Fontalpino Do ut des 2000, 82 way off the mark.

White Rock Napa ValleyChardonnay 2005,88 find something better.

Robert Mondavi Napa Valley Chardonnay 2005, 93 Very nice drink.

Torii Mor Chardonnay 2006, 89 Pair less tart food.

Arietta Red Wine, Variation One 2002, 93 chewy and awesome.

Ridge Geyserville Zinfandel 2005, 89 a good Zin for the price.

 

My answer to my own 2nd question, "What would you recommend ?, if you can find the Arietta give it a try, the Schafer Merlot is findable and very comfortable.

The Masters was closer to the Masters of old this week with Phil and Tiger charging in the afternoon.  They almost made it to the top of the leaderboard and had either they would have won a playoff against their rivals.  It's true that Angel Cabrera is a major tested pro with his US Open win.  You have to admire his cool when he was not striking the ball well early in the round.  His patience and persistence to win even when he hits it off the planet on the first play off hole.  But I am of the opinion that rounds in the 70's should not be winning the Masters on Sunday.  A winner should at least break into the 60's in the final round.  He should stand up to the pressure, make the putts, hit the greens.  Unfortunately the guys doing that were just not close enough to make it to the playoff.  I said this last year, "This should not be the US Open but its starting to look like it".

 

With that said here's the wine review for the week:

 

Ridge Geyserville Zinfandel 2005, 89 a good Zin for the price

 

Andre Lurton Chateau Bonnet Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon Bordeaux 2005, 81 not sure about this.

 

Bollig-lehnert Piesporter Goldtropfchen Riesling Auslese 2005, 92 how sweet it is.

 

 

Wednesday night was my first visit this year to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland.  My 17 year old daughter and I attended a wonderful farce of a play in the New Theater called Servant of Two Masters.  We had dinner at Amuse first for a nice second trip for me to that wonderful little eatery.  At dinner I had a nice half bottle of Cristom Pinot Noir Sommers Reserve Willamette Valley 2006.  Though not reviewed it is an excellent Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, with a refined texture and taste.  So a great play, wonderful dinner and the next night a really good  Napa Cabernet and French Chablis.  Been a good week.

 

 

I have a new restaurant to add to the list from last night, it is Amuse in Ashland.  Though very small this French-regional gourmet fair restaurant has nice ambiance and food.  The menu is by course with a cheese and dessert course after the 1st and 2nd courses.  The food is served in smaller portions, nothing overwhelms you, but you don't go away hungry or over filled.  The wine list is small but very tight, with good selections that you should have in your own wine cellar.  You're not going to find any deep vintages here, younger but very good vintages and wines through out.

We had the shrimp for our first course which were well cooked with a awesome garnish of a roasted red pepper and almond remesco.  The second course was seared scallops on a potato puree with a white truffle sauce over disassembled brussels sprouts.  Yes I did eat the brussels sprouts which have never been a favorite but were excellent in white truffle sauce.  All this was had with a nice French Chardonnay that improved as it breathed.

For dessert I had a Warm Bittersweet Chocolate Truffle Cake with Coffee Ice Cream while Paula had the

Pineapple- Orange Sorbet and Coconut Ice Cream with Langue de Chats.  We both enjoyed these remarkably light desserts and the experience. 

I'll be putting Amuse on my list for a revisit very soon.

 

The French Chardonnay

Pierre Matrot Puligny-Montrachet Les Chalumeaux  1st Cru 2005, 92 open and wait for it.

Well I've determined that Disney for me lives in California not Florida.  Though Walt Disney World was fun with the highlight being the EPCOT park.  Disneyland will still be the happiest place on earth for me.  It's smaller but you can still feel Walt staying above the firehouse, walking the streets and riding the trains.  The biggest problem with WDW in Florida is being bus, boat, or monorail bound for a couple of hours each day.  You're either waiting for or riding on one at least 2 hours of your day.  In Anaheim stay at Disney's Grand Californian and you'll have a private entrance to California Adventure and  Downtown Disney where you are able to walk into Disneyland.  That said this is what I've tried since I came home:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rodney Strong Chalk Hill Chardonnay Sonoma County 2006 ,93 this should be enjoyed today

 

Pierre Matrot Puligny-Montrachet Les Chalumeaux  1st Cru 2005, 92 open and wait for it.

We are back from Orlando and the country of mouse,  Disneyland being the house of mouse they own the Orlando area.  Didn't have time to stop by and see Tiger.  He and Elin were busy having a son.  I have heard that he is back next week at the match Play in Tucson.  Fantastic to have him back, I'll start watching a lot more golf now.  Well I've been drinking some great wine the last week so lets go with that.

 

 

I'm going to add this entry soon, lot's of new wines and such.  But for now here is an essay that gives you some information about taking a trip to Bandon Dunes.  I call it the Bandon Dunes Golf Trip Primer.

 

Back and Bandon Dunes Still Rocks:

 

Bandon Dunes is still magical golf to, its good for your golfing soul and reminds you how good the game can be.  We hit all three course from Friday through Sunday, finishing up on Pacific Dunes.  The food in the new Pacific Dunes restaurant was excellent for dinner.   We also went by Bandon Bill's restaurant for dinner on Friday and had an excellent custom cut of filet mignon.  My caddie for the Trip was Rodney Young, one of the original caddies.  He was great to play and have a good time with.  The high light from the wine and spirits side was the bottle of Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 Reserve I brought along.  What a great drink it was here's what else I've tried since the end of the year, hope you enjoy the reviews:

 

Louis M. Martini Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 (87 tasty later,  but not yet.)

 

Ecco Domani Merlot 2005 (92, I like it, light and wonderful)

 

Rodney Strong Alexander's Crown Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 (89, interesting but not exceptional)

 

Flinders Run Shiraz 2005 (93, buy and drink or cellar)

 

Chateau St. Jean Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma 2003 (84, look elsewhere you can do a lot better)

 

Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville 2005 (93, could be good, needs time)

 

LaVelle Vintage Select Pinot Noir 2006 (88, good now, time to drink it.)

 

Grgich Hills Napa Valley Chardonnay 2005 (90, get some and drink it tonight.)
 

Condado de Haza Ribera Del Duero 2005 (91, going to get better and better)

 

Well that's it for now, I'm off to Orlando and Disney World.

This will be the last news post of the year, I hope everyone is ready for the bowl games and a new year of golf, wine and dining.  On that note after a wonderful family filled Christmas I went by Porters last night and had dinner and decided to have the Beringer Private Reserve Cabernet 2004.  My favorite wine is the 2002 vintage of this cabernet blend, and though it was very good the 2002 is still superior in my book.  Over the holidays I also had the Robert Mondavi Oakville 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon which was really good.  I went out and ordered 6 more bottles to cellar up and drink over the next year, this wine is getting really hard to find at a reasonable price.  I'm also laying in the last of the Beringer 2002 to hold and drink over the next few years before the price soars.  Here are some other wines that I tasted over the last few weeks and links to their reviews:

 

Penfolds Koonunga Hill Cabernet Merlot 2005 (80, I recommend you buy something else).

 

Columbia Crest Reserve 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon, (93, pretty good but may even get better).

 

Domaine de L’hortus Pic Saint Loup Grande Cuvee 2004, (90 good French wine at a good price).

 

Achaval-Ferrer Malbec Mendoza 2007, (93, great little Malbec will get real good  by summer).

 

Kendall-Jackson Cabernet Sauvignon Grand Reserve 2004, (89, a good drink for $25 but you can do better).

 

I'm back from two days at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, the weather was cold but playable most of the time.   My friend Steve and I played all three courses, including 36 holes one day and 18 the next.  We also got a really good  look at the new Old Macdonald course, its got 10 holes open and is slated for a preview 10 hole rounds this spring.  The course will open in the summer of 2010. 

 

We started out by playing Bandon Trails on Friday, we got snow on the first green through 3rd fairway then the weather quieted down and was playable though cold.  We played trails in under 3 hours and decided to get a replay at half rate and were told we could do the Bandon Dunes Course so we were off with my caddy Joey to Dunes.

 

We teed off and only saw one other golfer the whole round, that's one more than we saw on Trails.  This is what its like to have a top golf resort and courses as your play ground for a day.  We played Dunes in 3 hours also as the weather held and we finished well before dusk. 

 

After heading home and getting in fresh clothes we had dinner at Mckee's pub at Bandon Dunes.  I brought a bottle of Beringer Private Reserve Cabernet 2002 from home. We had them pull the cork and had this really great California Cabernet with our Ribeye Cowboy Steaks.  We finished off at home with some Laphroaig 15 year old single malt scotch.

 

The next morning it was off to Pacific Dunes for 18 or 36 holes.  We tee off and play through the two foursomes in front of us by the 4th hole. We are now the first group on the course so we will really fly.  The weather again holds for a great 18 holes on one of the best courses in the country, and the course that is the most fun to play at Bandon Dunes.  We finished the morning 18 in 2 hours and 50 minutes but the weather is coming.  The radar and satellite is showing a big rain front coming in so we call it a day.  Pacific has built a wonderful new club house since last year so we visited the new upstairs restaurant and bar for a pint and lunch.  Then we were off to home:

 

Going to Bandon Dunes on the 19th, the first trip of the Winter.  It's always a good time to go, usually warmer in the winter than the Rogue Valley.  We are playing  Bandon Trails and Pacific Dunes this trip and staying at my friends house in Bandon.  The news at Bandon is that they will open 10 holes of the new old Macdonald course to preview play in April 2009 with and opening in 2010.

 

Let's talk wine for a few minutes, the latest reviews are:

 

 

 

Both are excellent rich red wines, one from California and the other from Washington.  I recommend both, the Beringer is quite easy to find the Seven Hills might take some searching 
 

I also got a first taste last night of :

 

Achaval-Ferrer Malbec Mendoza 2007