Tuesday, July 27, 2010

4 Bottles, A Magnum, and a Barrel


I went to Napa with a good friend of mine and accompanied by his wife on Sunday. It was an extension of my birthday in which he unexpectedly treated me out for lunch at Ruthurford. We had their awesome cornbread for appetizers. I had a Ribeye cooked to perfection - med rare- as my main course. Our original appt. at Caymus was scheduled for 11:30am but do to unforced circumstances, we didn't make in time, which is how we unexpectedly ate at Ruthurfords.

After lunch we headed over to Caymus to see if we were able to get squeezed in with another group. Apparently Caymus sticks to 10 people (max) per tasting and they were fully booked for the rest of the day and several weeks to come. As I spoke to one of the workers, I asked if there was any thing they could do, he responded with, "how about I give you guys a taster." I responded with, "that would be awesome, thank you so much!"
He opened a door and said, "Follow me."

My two friends and I looked at each other with a large grin as he took us through a door behind the cashiers counter. We entered a large dark room that appeared to be holding cell filled with barrels of wine. He walked away for a min. to pour us our tasters as we whispered to each other in amazement. When the guy came back with our glasses, he turned the lights on. We were struck in amazement. The guy then said, we usually never take anyone back here. He then pointed over to a room that was visible with a large window and said, “That's where our tastings are held.” As we finished our glasses conjugated around an upright barrel, we all asked the guy a few questions. As he answered our questions and gave a brief background history of Caymus, he poured us another glass.
Although we didn't get the full 5 tastings at Caymus due to our tardiness, that private tasting was better that what we had planned. The gentleman who had assisted us was FANTASTIC!

After Caymus we headed off to Castillo Di Amorosa. We did the castle tour and had a great time at the wine tastings there. We took some fun snap shots inside the castle. With my friends emphasizing that it was my birthday to the tour guide, I received a couple more tastings than allowed. Our host enjoyed our company as our sarcasms made her laugh. During the tour I had noticed a couple used French Oak Barrels that were lying around with a for sale sign. After a few inquiries, I had two barrels purchased along with a few bottles of wine. I gave the other barrel to my friend.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Just another Friday

Off The Grid from RJ Atengco on Vimeo.

Monday, July 5, 2010

Sydney Bound


Posted for July 1
With my flight leaving for Sydney at 7 pm, I've got my afternoon planned for another go around in the downtown area. I ran into Luke in the Hostel lobby in which he approched me and said, "first to pinch and punch on the first of the month." As he phycially pinched and punched me, I laughed outloud and thought to my self, "what the hell?"

Heading to downtown, my first mission is to look for an electronic store. I forgot to pack my charger for my video camera. As soon as I found one, I headed off to a beef pie shop that I saw the other day. Located in a little alley I enjoyed my beef and bacon pie with a long black coffee for breakfast.


After breakfast, I went to Brevile St. The area reminded me of Telegraph Street in Berkely mixed with a little bit of Haight Street in San Francisco. Lots of botique shops. There are tons of spots with an out door area to enjoy coffee and people watch. I stopped by a couple records stores to take a gander and saw a couple interesting records such as a A Tribe Called Quest's "Rare and unlreleased Instrumentals."


I headed back to St. Kilda at about 3pm to grab a quick bite at a fish and chips spot then to the Hostel where my shuttle took me to the airport - Sydney bound. BTW, the fish and chips was pretty damn good. The shop fries their food in a Healthier rice oil which gave the fish and chips a different flavor.

I arrived in Sydeny at about 8:30 and got to the hostel at about 10pm. As I settled in my room, I met my 2 other room mates from Spain - Jesika and Mikel. After a quick introduction and chat I headed for the streets for some food. I ate a spot called Pepper Rice and had a sizzling plate of rice topped with corn and beef on the side. I headed back to the hostel and crashed after my meal.