VinDivine - Living it Up John & Janine Style

Sage Vineyard 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Blend

Woo Hoo!! Damn the Olympics are messing with my beauty sleep. I tried, for the love of christ how I tried, to put those draconian sporting events aside, watch my back-to-back Law and Order and pass out at 10 PM like I did back in the good ol' pre-2008 Beijing Olympics days, but again, No Go. Hey OLYMPICS: Start earlier!

Anyhoo, tonight's insomniac reason? The US men's volleyball match vs. those pesky Russians. When did I start caring about volleyball?!?! Especially men's volleyball? Anyone can understand a certain interest in track and field, esp with Lolo Jones and Sheena Tosta running around. And beach volleyball, anytime. Plus Phelps and Bolt and all 'dem other record-smashers. But men's volleyball?  Hey, it's competition, that's all I can chalk it up to. So even after quaffing several brews and lotsa BBQ tonight I am again wide awake at 2 AM, sucking up to NBCs sick programming.

So I am counting on this new, sassy Napa Cab blend I found the other day at a certain local wine shop ...known by two letters and an ampersand...you know... to help the sandman visit me soon. Anyway, back to the wine - the 2005 Sage Veedercrest Cabernet Blend.  Yeah baby! I mean, Mt. Veeder Cabs are right up there with the best from Howell Mountain, Diamond Mountain and I am sure, other mountains.

The details, you plead for? OK, enough rambling. Holy crap Russia just tied the v-ball match at 2-2! Yipes! Oh yeah, back to the wine: Odd, you may say bizarre, that I like this wine. Why? Because it's a blend, as I mentioned above. Itsa  40/30/30 of Cab Sauv, Merlot and cab Franc. Kinda Bordeaux-ish, which if bother to read (or as you said, Gants) remember what we preach to you, we despise. Barnyard. Cow crap if barnyard isn't specific enough, is how we rate most Bordeaux blends. But not this puppy!

Why does this vino rate a mention on VinDivine, my kittens? Well, Mt. Veeder fruit rocks. Bottom line. And although some blends just turn into mutt wines, they did this one right. The Cab Sauv comes through strong, and the Merlot and Franc contribute what they should - some balance, great nose and  structure. The end result is a kick-ass wine with blackberry and dark cherry notes, perfect tannins and overall, just damn good taste! I have a feeling this one's a keeper. Ooops, too bad I just polished off the bottle! Get yerself some! And for a Veeder Cab, it's cheap - about $35 bones.   

Hey Sage: Invest in a damn website, wouldja? I can't even find a bottle shot. Help me help you!

JHC, US just beat Russia in 5 sets, 15-13! Now I know why I stay up for this stuff!

Nick's Cove - Tomales Bay

So we were in the mood for a little road trip the other day and pondered our choices. Wine country? Nice, but D-o-n-e T-h-a-t. Down the coast? I can almost still smell the smoke (bummer). Hmmm. Hmmm. Not Tahoe. We go there all the time. Damn we're slow. Then it hit us! That whole 'north coast' area of Cali. Our bud Spencer (exec chef @ Paragon Restaurant) recently told us he'd had a killer time with his chick Sarah (Sous Chef @ Perbacco) up in Tomales Bay. I mean, up to now our entire experience of Marin county has been Sam's Dock & Guaymas Restaurant in Tiburon. I dunno why we've shied away from the coast, so we said 'WTF, let's give it a go!'

So we loaded up the Mini Cooper last Friday and set sail for this mysterious spot. Up 101, into Petaluma and stopped for lunch at  Risibisi Restaurant & Wine Bar. I don't know what they were smokin' when they named the place, but with 'wine bar' on the end how could we say no? Anyhoo, it's Rustic Italian and super cool. Nice folks, buono lista  di vino ed alimento, as they say in the old country (no, I didn't cheat and use babel fish for that!)

We chowed down on nice chunky Heirloom Tomato Bruschetta, perfectly soaked, thick bread with fresh heirlooms, basil and garlic. Then we split the Insalata Con Bistecca (cooked to order flank steak RARE, over fresh organic greens, more heirlooms and Pt. Reyes blue cheese. Yummy!) and Insalata Con Pollo (roast chicken breast over organic greens and fresh veggies with a red wine vinaigrette. Also Yummy for the tummy).  We chased it down with a decent Rosé. Just one, we're driving!

OK, back to the headline story at hand. This isn't a Petaluma blog for chrissakes. Where were we? Oh yeah, through Petaluma basically to Highway 1. Then hang a left and you're within 20 minutes of Tomales. But alas, not so fast! 'Ol wrong-way Johnny zigs when he shoulda zagged and took a right instead, I see the signs for Bodega Bay and figure, "Hey aren't all these bays next door to each other, must be going the right direction". Well, 45 minutes later Janine, her iPhone Google maps app and road signs finally convinced me of my error. We whipped the Mini around in a tight U-turn and set sail south on 1.

So a short while and many curves later, we arrive at our destination - Nick's Cove Inn. This place rocks! As the story goes I guess Nick's Cove has been around forever, got dilapidated and then Pat Kuleto bought it for a song, fixed it up and re-opened it in 2007. There are 5 cabins on the bay side of Hwy 1, each different in style, cute/boatish motif and set over the water so the waves waft up under your deck. They aren't fancy-shmancy which is cool - they are dressed up, have radiant heat bathroom floors, flat screen TVs and are comfy. And the decks over the bay are sweeet.

The other side of the hwy has 8-10 more units, they looked OK but if you really cherish your rare get-away time, put the hurt on that MasterCard of yours and go for one of the 5 cabins! And book early, these puppies fill up fast even though they are pretty outrageously expensive.

There's also Nick's Cove Restaurant, a rugged/rustic American place with moose and deer heads all over, a long bar and some really good grub. And it better be, 'cuz there ain't nowhere else close to eat! At least not if you enjoy the occasional adult bevvie with your meals - the windy (not as in breeze) trip back wouldn't be much fun. And the prospect of being locked up in the Pt. Reyes drunk tank for a night, although novel I am sure, is a definite buzz kill. We basically did breakfast lunch and dinner at this spot.

The food: let's break it down. Breakfast in the room bien sur. They have a complimentary (what, Kuleto is giving away something free?!) continental b'fast with awesome, and I mean AWESOME pastries and great Illy coffee & juice. But it being the most important meal of the day, we added on a couple Bloody Marys. Oh yeah, and a killer Fritatta. Fritatta. Fritata. Damn, what a great word.

I don't know if we even had lunch, so let's just skip ahead to din din: Awesome Clam Chowda, small mild clams and great applewood bacon. Mmmm. Fennel Cured Salume, Heirloom Tomato Salad, Pan Roasted Halibut, BBQ Oysters (oh yeah baby. Gotta have oysters if you're up here. And these being the first I've had of the BBQ variety, I'm in!). And excellent Pork Ragu Pasta. All good. All eaten at the bar. Oh yeah the bar - they have one of our fave tequilas, Siete Legaus reposado. Impressive.

So, all good here at Nick's Cove. Good pads, great chow, super nice people. We dig it and will definitely come back for some more chillaxing. A couple humble suggestions though, Pat Kuleto - it's kinda tight of you to charge the prices you do and have an 11AM check out. And, again for those prices you charge offering a free full breakfast might help take the sting out. But that said, we'd go back anyway!