Readers of this blog who are also wine drinkers will no doubt already be aware of the love affair my wife and I have with Montezuma Winery.  In a region dripping with wines - and good ones, too - Montezuma steps outside the norm to offer fruit wines and blends that really please the palette.  Among my favourites is their Golden Delicious apple wine, “a few” bottles of which we picked up this summer, and one of which we opened this evening.

Mmm. . .  Well, it’s delicious. » Continue Reading…

Diana Krall is an amazing singer, you should check out her stuff. I saw her once at the Jazz Fests they used to have at FLCC. So, this is all in good fun.

TSG has a copy of her stage rider for concerts. For those of you not familiar, a stage rider is basically a list of everything the artist expects to have provided for them at the gig by either the promoter or the event organizers (and as you can imagine, it’s an interesting fight between those two entities that determines who pays for what!). TSG just loves stage riders because they tend to show off revealing and sometimes embarrassing facts about artists.

But in fairness, if you’re on the road every day of your life, running yourself ragged so promoters and organizers get to make more money off you than you’ll ever see, I think it’s perfectly fair to expect a bit of pampering. Or just play the rock star like Van Halen back in the days and demand M&M’s in the dressing room, separated by color. It don’t mean a thang if you ain’t got style, baby.

So, TSG is a bit flushed with the fact that Diana Krall actually expects a specific wine list in the dressing room. Well, I would use the touring opportunity to taste local wines rather than specify stuff I’ve already had, but that’s me. What I find amusing is how white-trashy her selection of wines actually is. I mean, they’re all Cali and Oregon wines with a few French wines thrown in there to throw off the curve. She’s demanding cellars like Rosemount and Ravenswood, and all Merlot, Cabs, Pinots. I like Merlot, too, but Jesus woman! Stretch out a little!

And “Swanson Merlot?” Don’t they make frozen peas?

Ugh! And Chardonay! I use that to wipe down the sink in the bathroom.

So, if Diana Krall ever comes back around, someone please send her to Sonora Wine Bar and help her branch out a little!

I’ve been meaning to post something here about Solera since last weekend, when my wife and I got a chance to go there. But, I’ve been so busy with M.C. Legislature stuff, I’ve plum forgot until now.

When my wife and I went on our honeymoon, we experienced a place called “Vintages” aboard our cruise liner. This was our first experience with such a bar, and we loved it so much, we came back with stars in our eyes, talking about opening up our own wine bar here in Rochester. Well, like most such flights of fancy, that dream quickly dissipated. But fortunately for everyone who likes good wine in Rochester, somewhere else was a couple with more fortitude than we, and in October, Solera was born right in our back yard of The Wedge. » Continue Reading…

I just wanted to write a quick post about one of my favourite semi-local wineries, the Montezuma Winery in beautiful Seneca Falls by the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge.? Do notice the abundant dragonfly theme.? Obviously, these are folks with taste.

There used to be a meadery in Sterling, where they throw the Ren Faires every year, which was related to this winery in some fashion or another.? It was there that my wife Sarah had her first meade or really any wine other than grape wine.? I’m something of a meade aficionado, owing to my experience at hippie fests and other gatherings, but not Sarah.

Still, we both fell in love with the mead that they had at this place, and when we were preparing to get married, we both agreed that we needed to have some meade for the reception.? So, we trekked out to Sterling only to find the place had closed and they were now in Seneca Falls.? So the next weekend, we went out to Seneca Falls and bought copious amounts of honey-hootch for the wedding.

You can buy their stuff online, and I highly recommend you do.? If I could have a tap that ran cold Golden Delicious, their apple wine, I would surely do it.