How to Choose Wine

There's been a lot of market research done lately on how people choose wine, and I don't mean the people that read Wine Spectator. I'm talking about people that pick a wine based on the label on the bottle. Lots of wineries are disguising marginal wine with catchy names and colorful labels. Twin Fin, Two Buck Chuck, Yellow Tail, and my personal fave, Screw Kappa Napa are a few examples, although I hear that the Two Buck Chuck is actually quite good, but alas not 2 bucks anymore... more like three. Now I drink a lot of wine, most of it very good because I rely on the guys at Schneider's to hook me up, but I am in no way a wine snob. I rarely spend more than $20 on a bottle unless I plan on giving it as a gift. My purchasing method usually consists of going to Schneider's and asking for recommendations in the $10 - $20 range. However, when left to my own devices, I have noticed I tend to look for labels that interest me. Case in point:

This wine bottle depicts a chicken with a heart. How can I not like this? I am the Chicken! I didn't even know what gamay noir meant when I bought it. It was cheap at $9 but not too bad. I probably wouldn't buy it again, though. Not enough tannins for me. I like my wine big.
This next one was quite interesting. First, I like the label because of the bike and the name "Hill of Content". What a great name, especially because I like hills. I'm not saying I'm good at them, just that I like them. My friend, the Unholy Rouleur is the first to point out that I'm not a "true climber." Anyway, back to the wine. This one also happened to be a sparkling red wine from Australia. I was hesitant at first thinking it would be more like those wine coolers I was so fond of in high school, but was pleasantly surprised. It was good and at somewhere in the $15 range, I would buy it again. Definitely a novelty, but a darn good one.
I get a kick out of this next one from the Clif Bar Family Winery. Again, a climbing theme going on here but what I really like is the fact that it's a Clif product. I already use their Shot Bloks on long rides and too many of their bars to list here. Why not drink their wine? I always joke that I use wine as a recovery drink and what could be better than one from Clif. I mean, I'm sure they researched it and it provides the perfect amount of carbs and such to replenish after those 4 hour Kelley Acres rides.
And finally, meet Rex Goliath, the 47 pound rooster. Again, back to the chicken theme, and if I don't watch it, I'm going to be Velochicken Goliath, the 147 pound roaster. Seriously, I've gained 10 pounds over the last year and my chicken legs (part of the reason for my nickname) have become more like meaty drumsticks. I have even considered changing my name to The Fryer, although I think roasters are supposed to be bigger than fryers. From show hen to Rhode Island Red in a year. Oh yeah, the wine wasn't all that good or bad. Just your average $10 bottle with a chicken on it.

Talking Dogs

Mom --- I think you will like this, especially the Shih Tzu that looks like Tater Bug.

Where are all the cops?

At the donut shop, of course.

Shasta the Wino Cat

Chris of the famous Kelley Acres has the coolest cat ever! You see, Shasta and I have something in common. We are both winos. In an effort to get Shasta to expand her horizons and try beer, Sonja and I got her a pint glass from the Breckenridge Brewery. Even the most dedicated wino has the occasion to drink a beer every now and then. Come on, is it really appropriate to crack open a bottle of wine after a cross race? No! Or how about at a tailgate? Of course not! However according to Chris, Shasta has proven to be one staunch wino. No beer for this cool cat. Break out the Chateauneuf de Pape! Here she is posing with her new glass. The look on her face says it all.  More about Shasta on the Goat's blog.

So are you going to pour something in this glass or what? Preferably something red. I'm waiting.

Photos from Breck

Breck Main St at night.

One of my favorite places... the Breckenridge Brewery.

These guys look cold.

The view of town from the slopes.

The view from the condo.

Progress

Progress is being made on the snow sculptures in Breck.

Powder Day

Some photos from today. We took the camera with us on a couple of runs this morning. We didn't take it in the afternoon when we skied the knee-deep powder... we only have the "big" camera and didn't feel like lugging it up the T-bar. Sonja's small digital was stolen on the shuttle. Again, that story is for another time.

Here I am shredding the gnar on Cimarron.
Skiing the bumps thru the trees on The Burn.
The bumps on Corsair.
The bumps on Grits. I just had to do this run. Grits.... Girls Raised In The South!
No idea what run this was...

Hello from Breckenridge

Sonja and I are out here in Breck. We were walking along Main St. and came across this little alleyway. Hmmm, wine, cheese and chocolate all in one place. Plus I made a friend.
Leaving with my booty.
The world championship snow sculptures are this week. Here is a huge block of snow. I'm anxious to see how these look at the end of the week.
I will post some skiing pictures later. And at some point I will tell you all more about the trip. The shuttle out here from DIA is a whole post in and of itself.

Can you fit in your luggage?

I got some new luggage. It's kind of a long story how it came about. Basically, Sonja's sister, we'll just call her the Cuddly Little Piglet, "stole" my rolling duffel bag some time ago. Since then every time I pack for a trip I moan and groan about not having my bag. Sonja had heard enough of my complaining and replaced my lost bag with this one. I love it!


Yeah, you wouldn't look so hot either if you had just spent a minute stuffed in a suitcase.

Baited Breath?

Seeing how my last update was almost a month ago, you’d think I’d have a lot to blog about. Well, think again, folks. This is the Chicken… all I do is ride my bike, eat lots, and drink red wine. Or should that be eat and drink lots of red wine? Oh, and I work at a pretty boring job. I mean, I’m an accountant for the government… how exciting can that be?

So loyal readers here is the update you’ve all been waiting for with bated breath, in chronological order, no less. And only the high (low?) lights. I mean, do you really want to read about what I ate for breakfast?

(Here’s a quick sidenote. I used to always think that expression was “waiting with baited breath” and I wondered, “Why would someone wait with fish breath?”)

Christmas Eve was spent with Darlene and Pilar. It’s the first time Gabriella did not cry when she saw me.
Isa and her mother were in town… Isa from Miami and Ingrid from Sweden. Ingrid and I “scoring” chestnuts.
We gave Gabriella a tent. We should have gotten her a “real” one as she kept trying to get in this one.
Jewish Christmas – Heidi, George, Sonja and I decided to go for a nice bike ride on Christmas Day, much to the dismay of my mother and godmother. We rode something like 6 hours and 90 miles. We even had to take a ferry across the Potomac near Leesburg. How cool is that?
The ride was organized by Heidi whose last name ends in ‘burg so you can see that she had nothing better to do on a Christian holiday. When she asked if Sonja and I would like to ride, we said of course. She then asked, “Aren’t you Christian?” We replied, “Not good ones” and the ride was on. Yes, I will say hi to Hitler in Hell for you for that one. By the way, after the ride we met up with even more Jewish friends and had dinner at the Veggie Garden, ‘cause you know the only places open on Christmas are Chinese restaurants, then off to a movie (Charlie Wilson’s War – 3 ½ stars from me).
Belated Birthday Dinner – For my birthday, Sonja took me out to Belga. While we were dining on our fine Belgian food the waitress brought over a bottle of wine. It seems Laura and Gloria had dropped it off at the restaurant for me with a note… Happy Birthday, from Azucar. How sweet! A bottle of wine from the White Dog. Since Sonja and I had already ordered up a bottle I decided to keep this one for a nice home cooked meal. Laura explained to me that this Sicilian wine was perfect for pairing with steak and that’s what Azu had in mind (she of course was thinking of the leftovers). Yes, Azu did get some of this yummy meal.

The Marmot came to visit again. She’s such a good guest because there’s no stress. If I want to sit around in my underwear all day watching TV and eating pizza, she’s ok with that. If I want to take her on a 3 hour ride up the C&O to Great Falls, she’s ok with that as well. We did both, although the sitting around wasn’t necessarily in my underwear, and we weren’t eating pizza. We did eat lots of cheese, drink lots of champagne and red wine, and celebrated the new year in style with Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest. Classic.

Since my Jewish Christmas Day ride, I’ve done several more rides of note… 2 Kelly Acres rides and 1 shop ride in addition to my weekday training. I only mention all this riding because my sis Val says I’m going to be eating her tire next year. Come on, Val. Bring. It. On. Oh, and Dad… I hope you are stepping it up. I don’t want to have to wait too long for you to catch up at RAGBRAI.

Kelley Acres was once again, everything I thought it would be and more. Sonja and I felt like we were on the Artemis team ride 2 Saturdays ago. This past Saturday was more low-key with the usual suspects minus Lynda and Sonja. I rode up with Heidi and Ilana Iguana. Heidi had baked scones and smeared them with “lumpy butter” and blueberry jam. Yum! I know it’s what got me thru the ride. And Fred’s chili is the best recovery meal one can have. By the way, that lumpy butter is actually something called clotted cream or something like that and is apparently a delicacy from England. Who knew the Brits could make something that tastes good.

The shop ride on Sunday was great. After the Kelley Acres ride the day before I was really worried about riding with a bunch of guys. Well, that and the fact that I had a bottle of wine and a bag of chips for dinner the night before. Turns out that most of the guys were suffering right along with me. How does one drink an entire bottle of wine? I’m not quite sure how I managed it, but since Sonja was out and I was home alone and drinking (I know… never drink alone) I just kept refilling my class and next thing I know, I’m passed out on the sofa. Thankfully I made it to the shop on time and had a nice ride (Arlington Hills) with the guys.

A few closing notes… I’m off to Breckenridge Friday to ski in neck-deep powder. I only hope the skiing does not bother my foot, which is only a bit better. I may have to get it x-rayed when I get back. And the best non-cycling-related purchase I’ve made in a while… my Magic Bullet.