I find myself drinking good Muscadet or Savennieres when I'm on the water or beach. There's something about the saline, wild connection, or maybe the proximity of the vineyards to the Atlantic. Muscadet often makes it into the kayak, as does Chablis.
My all time favorite Savennieres was a 98 Pierre Bise enjoyed along on the sands of Jetty Island off Everett on a late fall paddle with L.
L and I also have a special spot at the mouth of Sequim Bay where we like to bird, read, and have a picnic. We'll watch the Rhino Auklets, Oldsquaws, and Harlequin Ducks. The first time we went there it was cold, and we enjoyed a Cayron that was so vivid that I still remember it (a 96). It seems inevitable when we go back that some burly, rough Rhone goes with us.
I generally don't drink much CA wine, but I find that I do more so when I'm there. An old Cal cab brought to a Berkeley or SF restaurant, or sitting in a Point Reyes hot tub, seems just the thing, whereas up here, less so. And an old vine older vintage zin is something that I wouldn't really even think about here, but with some sausage and bread out in the oaks on Shell Ridge on the flanks of Mount Diablo, perfect. I even find oaky CA cab acceptable when I'm there - somehow it fits.
Of course, there's single malt. I was once on a backcountry tele ski trip with a large group deep in the Cascades on a bitter cold January eve - we polished off a fifth with dinner and slept like babies.
And finally, there's the back patio - somehow, cru Beaujolais with about five years on it tastes better than anything out there.
My all time favorite Savennieres was a 98 Pierre Bise enjoyed along on the sands of Jetty Island off Everett on a late fall paddle with L.
L and I also have a special spot at the mouth of Sequim Bay where we like to bird, read, and have a picnic. We'll watch the Rhino Auklets, Oldsquaws, and Harlequin Ducks. The first time we went there it was cold, and we enjoyed a Cayron that was so vivid that I still remember it (a 96). It seems inevitable when we go back that some burly, rough Rhone goes with us.
I generally don't drink much CA wine, but I find that I do more so when I'm there. An old Cal cab brought to a Berkeley or SF restaurant, or sitting in a Point Reyes hot tub, seems just the thing, whereas up here, less so. And an old vine older vintage zin is something that I wouldn't really even think about here, but with some sausage and bread out in the oaks on Shell Ridge on the flanks of Mount Diablo, perfect. I even find oaky CA cab acceptable when I'm there - somehow it fits.
Of course, there's single malt. I was once on a backcountry tele ski trip with a large group deep in the Cascades on a bitter cold January eve - we polished off a fifth with dinner and slept like babies.
And finally, there's the back patio - somehow, cru Beaujolais with about five years on it tastes better than anything out there.
