Fun on Bainbridge Island

Hi All,

As some of you know I have been staying in AirBNB's for the last four months in various spots around Seattle. The idea behind doing this has been to find a place for Lisa and I to buy a house. Any of you that know us are aware that we have a complex set of requirements for a new home. On a weekend trip to Bainbridge Island we decided that it would be a good place for us to look. So I found an AirBNB on the island and began to take in the islands charms. In fairly short order I fell in love with the island and its charms. I was lucky enough to find a great host and a near perfect location! My morning starts off with a 15 minute walk to the ferry, a short ride to downtown Seattle and a walk to the office. The evening is when things shined for me. Reverse the commute, with a short detour to the Town & Country market a family owned grocery store that puts Whole Foods to shame, a quick stop in the wine store, and a short walk to Kell's place. I usually see a couple of deer on the walk. I have been living there, but I think it is also a great vacation spot, quiet, hiking and outdoor activities, nice people, shops, restaurants, a short ferry ride to Seattle and all it has to offer. If you are thinking of visiting Bainbridge I would highly recommend staying at Kell's Place On Bainbridge Island, he has both a Studio and a Two Bedroom Apartment. Both are very reasonable priced (much cheaper than hotel). So we ended up buying a house just up the street from Kell. Here are two of my friends that I see on the walk home most nights.

Domaine Remi Jobard Meursault

Okay, so I am a little slow getting back into the groove :). The good news is that I have had a few good bottles in the last little bit. I usually write about California wines, but have decided to switch it up for the next few posts. A few years ago Lisa and I had our first Meursault. Meursault is a village in the Burgundy region of eastern France. If you have been to Napa Valley, think of it as the Durell vineyard area of Carneros. These areas produce some exceptional chardonnays (as well as other great wines). What distinguishes them is two things, balance and texture. Balance to me means that there is acid,  not a lot, with slow a transition to neutral. Texture to me means a full round mouth feel, substance, not lite. The Domain Remi Jobard, has great apple and pear flavors, with medium acid on the tip of your tongue that transitions to a nice mineral texture. Its a little on the expensive side for typical chardonnays, but on the value side for Mersaults. That's the bad thing about anything good from Meursault, they are typically crazy expensive.

Food, Wine and Fun Restart (AKA Deck The Hall Ball Issue)

So, it has been a while since I posted to the blog (7ish years I think). I didn't stop writing because I stopped eating, drinking wine, or having fun. I think it was mostly because we found things that we liked and did those things pretty regularly. It is pretty boring for everyone reading my review of Aubert Pinot over, and over, and over, again. It is still a great pinot, but you already know that.

Anyway to the point, I am spending most of my time in Seattle now. Lisa and I are in the middle of relocating there. Most every day is a day of discovery for me! I am meeting new friends, eating at some new places, and having some new adventures.

So my first big time fun thing in Seattle was the Deck The Hall Ball. This was my birthday present to myself. The Ball happens every year (for over 20 years). This year it was on December 5th,  at the Key Arena, a somewhat long but reasonable walk from my office. For those of you who don't know, it is a show that features alternative music. This years lineup was:

The Killers
The Lumineers
Odesza
Portugal. The Man
Joywave
J. Roddy Walston and The Business

Honestly I am not a big fan of Joywave or J. Roddy Waltson, so I got to the venue late. My excuse is that I had some meetings that I needed to attend. I got there about midway through Portugal, The Man's set. What I saw was incredible! Extremely high energy and lots of fun. For me, Odesza was the hit of the night. I went from thinking the are okay, to being a big fan. The drum line crushed it! Super high energy, awesome visual effects (rivaling Pink Floyd), all in all a great performance. The Lumineers were good, but they are a little to country for me. And The Killers totally crushed it! The show ended a little weirdly because it ran over curfew.

Anyway, if your in Seattle next year around the beginning of December you need to check it out.

Many thanks to Alexa for going with me!

Here is one of my favorites from the evening.

Maybe the best Chardonnay of all time !

Unlike the last post, this one doesn't fall into the value category. Peter Michael Winery, Ma Belle-Fille Chardonnay (2007). I bought this about nine months ago from my Peter Michael allocation. What that means is they send you and email and you have a few minutes to decide what wine to buy at crazy high prices. This wine is off the hook. Not over or under done in any way, multiple layers of flavor that go together nicely. The balance is right on. The only problem is that I only could get two bottles and one is now gone. To me this is the truely fun and not fun thing about wine collecting (when to drink the last one).

Smoke Screen Chardonnay (2007)

By far the best low cost wine I have had in years. Apparently the economic down turn has hit the wine business as well. The is a second label wine from the folks at Cakebread which has been a long time favorite of mine and Lisa's. We have not drank much of it lately because the price got out of wack with the quality. This wine is great, easily as good as wines that cost four times as much. When people figure this out it is gone. As for the taste classic over oak'd, big mouth fell, nice and buttery.

Another Singapore Trip Comes To An End

My last evening in Singapore. I wanted to get something nice for Lisa, since she has been so good about putting up with these trips, and keeping the train on track at home. Anyway she loves all things Prada, and there is a Prada store about a 10 minute walk from the hotel. I head over, make my purchase, start walking back. It is now about 8:30 PM on a Friday night. Let's just say I learned a valuable lesson, don't walk past the "Orchard Towers" if your a guy by yourself carrying a Prada bag at that time or later on a Friday night. If you don't get this, google "Orchard Towers Singapore". Time to board my flight home.

TTFN

15 Years Later At the Farallon

I have lived in the bay area going on 25 years now (off and on). I have moved away twice and come back twice. But that is a story for another post. Alexa did a sleepover last night, so Lisa and I did something we have not done in years. Headed for the city (San Francisco) after 8:00 PM. We tried for a table at Gary Danko (good luck on that) but ended up at my fav "The Farallon". As we were dining last night we figured out that we have been going to the Farallon for 15 years at least. We found it by working our way through the 100 best places to eat in San Francisco. Each time we seem to have a unique experience that includes a mix of fab food, ambience, people, wine. They range taking the parents out for great seafood, celebrating a business success with an endless stream of Billicart, to bumping into the Metallica guys. What a great night with my babe, we sat, ate, reminisced, drank a stellar Pahlmeyer 2006, and took a trip down memory lane. If your in SF don't miss it.

http://www.farallonrestaurant.com/