The Knife

I might buy this even if the wine is awful

It's the Vicktory Dogs wine collection.

Vicktory as in Michael Vick, disgraced football player. There's a series of 22 images "celebrating 22 of the dogs rescued from Michael Vick's property." And to be honest, I have my doubts about the wine; it's produced by Carivintas Winery, which describes itself as "your place to purchase premium wine and celebrate the unique bond we have with dogs....  No two of our wines will ever be the same."

More specifically:

we partner with some of the best established and up-and-coming winemakers in California. Through our Guest Winemaker Program we work with established award-winning winemakers on a rotating basis. Each winemaker is tasked with creating one or more wines for our collections. To date we have consulted with the likes of Stephan Bedford (Bedford Thompson Winery), Ethan Lindquist (Ethan Wines), David Dascomb (East Valley Vineyards), and Daniel Cederquist (Balletto Vineyards, Deloach Vineyards [9 times Winery of the Year], et al).

Well, OK... but what's in this bottle?

2006 Tempranillo, Santa Barbara County

Aromas of berryish fruit, herbaceousness, and an earthy-leathery minerality. This wine has a bold taste and strong mouth feel that lend well to very flavorful foods such as blackened steak, or cajun-spiced pasta or jambalaya. Try it with some grilled asparagus over a bed of steamed arugula, note how the herbaceous character of the wine blends perfectly with the dish. Enjoy now through 2010.

Which is, basically, the Wikipedia description for any Temperanillo. So if you buy this at $40 a pop, you're buying it for the bottle and the knowledge that part of the money goes to animal shelters. Intellectually, it's probably smarter to spend $20 on a wine you know and donate the other $20 yourself. Intellectually.

However, dogs aren't terribly intellectual. And that's a pretty nifty dog painting.

Bacaro: How to be lost

Found Bacaro last night. Located in West Adams just northwest of downtown LA, it's not the sort of place you're likely to stumble on unless you're a USC student. Turn the wrong way on Union, as I did, and you'll find yourself muttering, "You have got to be kidding me."

But the GPS doesn't lie (although it occasionally chides: After punching in the address for the third time, it finally refused to give me further direction beyond, "Please check the map. You are very close to your destination."). Bacaro is on a funny little slice of Union, between 23rd and 24th streets. More importantly, it's worth seeking out. Bacaro is like the emo, low-budget little brother of Lou.

One wall is a blackboard that lists all the drink (red, white, sparkling, beer) and the food (bruschettas, almonds and olives, cheese, soft polenta with braised beef). The lists aren't long, which is just as well as the staff is small and might otherwise be overwhelmed. I had a "flight" of roses (I'd call two glasses more of a puddlejumper, but they were both delicious) and a glass of "Pezzalunga," (an Italian blend, five grapes), which had a bit of a tang on the front that wasn't my style. However, the owner also poured us a free sample of Cesanese di Olevano Romano, a delicious wine produced from the grape I only knew previously as the primary element in Savanna Samson' s Sogne Uno.

Wine from eccentric grapes, roses and soft polenta. I don’t care where I am; next time, I'll find it without a hitch.

Bacaro, 2308 S. Union Ave. (213) 748-7205

Drink, drink and be merry

>> This weekend is the Malibu Wine Classic at the Malibu Civic Center, otherwise known as five hours of something close to bliss with wines from Alma Rosa, Fiddlehead, Qupe, L'Aventure and many others, including those from the 'bu contingency. There's also food (highlights: All' Angelo, American Flatbread, Il Grano), but this one is really about the wine. The only risk is that you might enjoy yourself (cough) too much. Not that I'd know anything about that. It's a benefit for ChildHelp, a 39-y.o. org dedicated to helping victims of child abuse. And the price is a mere $79 -- which, as my dad said last night, "is less than I would expect." Be like The Knife and listen to her father. Tickets here.

>> Currently, I am the proud owner of some of the most delicious coffee I've ever brewed at home (and yes, that includes LA Mill and Intelligentsia). It's got the random name of Blazing Raspberry, although it is NOT flavored. It is, however, supposedly rare, definitely strong and from Crossroads Cafe in Panajachel, Guatemala, which is where my friend Bill Higgins bought it. Buying it from the U.S. is a little complicated, but I daresay worth it.

Veuve Clicquot and Porsche Design: A case of Champagne and one very big refrigerator

What the hell is this? It's the world's most expensive wine cooler, courtesy Porsche Design Studio and Veuve Clicquot.

In what may have been the world's first refrigerator launch party, last night the Porsche Design store on Rodeo Drive hosted Los Angeles' introduction to the stainless-steel Vertical Limit. It runs $70,000, a price that includes a flight of 12 classic Veuve Clicquot magnums, starting with the 1955 vintage and ending with 1995.

Only 15 were produced and Veuve Clicquot's plan is to distribute each one in a major city. Christian Navarro, partner at Wally's Wine (and one of the evening's hosts) may have a slightly different idea: He says he's found enough buyers for all of them. 

Should you want to see it for yourself, it will remain on display at Porsche Design through the end of the month.

(Photo credit: Claire Barrett)

Eating for Charity: With an Ambullneo on your label, you will like it like it like it, on your table table table

There's a lot of dismay surrounding "critter" wines -- labels that feature a kangaroo, duck, frog, rhino or other garanimal. Last year, the New York Times cited Nielsen research that put critters on one in five of all new wine brands' labels. The logic is when shoppers coo, they buy.

Howeve, I'm impressed when a winery names itself for a critter with zero coo factor.

Ambullneo Vineyards is named for a breed that's a cross between an American Bulldog and a Neopolitan Mastiff. Ambullneos aren't familiar or cute (they look like the cement gargoyles in "Ghostbusters;" in any case, the wine's label is animal-free), but they are well loved by winery owner Greg Linn. And with the attention surrounding the Michael Vick trial, it's a good time for Ambullneo to host a wine dinner at Valentino that raises money for two large-breed charities. Reservations are $300 per person; all net proceeds go to support the Villaobos Foundation and CARMA Rescue.

Another key difference between Ambullneo and other critterish wines: Ambullneo has enviable Parker scores.

Wednesday, Oct. 17; 6:30 pm, Valentino Ristorante, 3115 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica. (310) 829-4313. $300.00* per person, plus tax and gratuity (*tax deduct less $148.)

Wine decanter or water bong? You decide.

This dubious gadget was one of the many on offer at the Restaurant Expo this weekend. The Versovino is a hand-blown glass sphere that decants wine 100 ml at a time and retails for about $40. Why would you want such a thing? Well, say you pour a bottle into a decanter, let it breathe -- only to decide you feel more like a Capharina instead. Getting the wine back inside the bottle is such muss, such fuss!  Now what do you do?

I wonder if Ron Popeil has a wine cellar. Because, like Ronco's need for eggs that are beaten inside the shell, this problem doesn't exist. If you own wine that demands decanting, you are fortunate; and if you've taken the trouble to decant, you're going to drink. Because, Versovino or no, your only other option is to put it back in the cellar and hope it hangs tight until tomorrow.

Savanna Samson: Now available by the case

Porn starlet-turned-winemaker Savanna Samson promoted her most recent release, the 2005 Sogno Due, at LA Erotica. However, only the poster was for sale; the wine wasn't available yet. The white Falanghina (a very old varietal, grown south of Naples) is now being sold at Wally's Wine for $29.95. No Parker review on this one yet; last year's 2004 Sogno Uno (a red blend) received 91 points.

Two-Buck Chuck: This is sick.

The 2005 Charles Shaw Chardonnay won the California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition competition, beating out 250 other California wines. It received a Double Gold and 98 points.

Trader Joe's is a godsend for $5 Rioja rose' and screwtop Gruner Veltliner. But Two Buck Chuck Chardonnay tastes like fermented pencil shavings dosed with corn syrup. The TBC Merlot is fine for Sangria, but for the love of God spend an extra dollar or two on a white wine for cooking.

ABC has the video, which includes Caroline Styne (AOC, Lucques, Suzanne Goin's partner in crime) doing another blind Chardonnay tasting, this one set up by the network. They don't say who won, but the face she makes while swallowing the Charles Shaw looks as if she expected a glass of Evian and got a mouthful of the Los Angeles River instead.
(Thanks to Jonathan Mitchell, sommelier at Pacific Dining Car, for the heads up.)

K&L Hollywood grand opening: Generous pours without a cause

If you care to join the battle for the hearts and minds of Los Angeles wine lovers, buy your tickets now. K&L Hollywood (1400 Vine St.) holds its grand opening tomorrow afternoon in hopes of stealing your business from Wally's et. al. (And tickets are $20 cheaper if you buy in advance.)  They promise to pour wines from Caymus Vineyards, Chateau Montelena, WH Smith, Talbott, Lewis Cellars, Etude, Opus One, Red Car, Sea Smoke, Cain Vineyards and Far Niente and provide "light appetizers" from the Beverly Hills Cheese Store and LOU. $65 advance purchase / $85 at the door. Call 877-KLWINES.

10 Reasons to Attend the 4th Annual Malibu Wine Classic This Saturday

1. 60 wineries, 20 restaurants, three hours, 79 bucks.
2. Score whores! The wineries include Saxum (2003 Bone Rock Syrah, Parker 95), L’Aventure (2004 Cuvee Cote A Cote, Parker 97) and Linne Calodo (2005 Problem Child, Parker 92)
3. Malibu Wine Classic founder Michael Barnes also founded law firm Barnes Morris Klein Mark Yorn Barnes & Levine (in the CAA building's north tower). More importantly, he’s from Iowa and one reason he started the event is he missed going to state fairs. Only this is Malibu, so you have celebrities instead of farmers. Maybe even drunk celebrities.
4. In addition to locals like Il Grano, Michael's and Water Grill, one of the restaurants will be American Flatbread, which makes what’s probably the best pizza on the West Coast. However, its only location is the otherwise godforsaken Los Alamos.
5. It’s a good cause, dammit.
6. Malibu's weekend forecast: 73 degrees and sunny.
7. The wine comes from four counties (Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, Santa Ynez, Santa Barbara) and include microboutique garage winemakers (next year, Barnes will probably have bottles from his own Malibu acre of Syrah, Malbec and Touriga Nacional).
8. Winemakers mean barrel samples; barrel samples mean bragging rights.
9. Barnes remembers his first wine tasting more than 25 years ago: “It was Riunite Lambrusco and Velveeta cheese on a saltine cracker. I tried to suck it down my windpipe and almost choked.”
10. Barnes admits it.
    
    
    The Malibu Wine Classic will be held Saturday March 31 from 1 p.m.-4 p.m. at Sunset Restaurant, 6800 Westward Beach Rd. on Zuma Beach. There's also an evening session (6:30 pm-9:30 pm), but that's more of a sit-down/silent auction thing at $250 a head.