Vy bodder?
Ramona Ranch had a release party for their
Super Tuscan, which they're selling at $45 a
bottle, and Burlesque, a blend of Moscato and
Symphony grapes, going for maybe half that. Also
being poured, probably to make the other wines
seem more Super, was the Riata blend of floor
sweepings, er, Tempranillo, Cabernet, and Syrah,
which was peppery in the acrid sense and green
in the peppery sense and altogether a waste of
time. I gave my glass to someone else. This was
to be paired with a "savory bread pudding,"
which looked like bread pudding, smelled like
bread pudding, and tasted like poultry dressing.
Turns out it was made with cheese and stuffing
herbs with maybe just a touch of sweet spices
strewn over to confuse you.

The Burlesque, very Muscatty and amusing but perhaps
a bit dry for the style, was paired with a German
chocolate parfait (this kind of dish is strangely in
vogue), black cookie-or-cake crumbs mixed with whipped
cream with more whipped cream and shavings on top. It
would have worked a lot better if the wine had been
sweeter or the crumbs had been fresher.

Oh, yeah, the Super Tuscan, which is acceptable, but
you can get a real Tuscan Super Tuscan for this price.
It's a generic red wine, pretty dry, pretty tasty,
maybe Sangiovese and Cabernet, okay by itself but I
doubt too great with the kale salad (seriously; I passed)
that it was served with. People were saying that this
wine is made to do well in competitions, and I guess
maybe, because it doesn't have any rough edges - but it
doesn't have anything to distinguish it, either.

What a pity
Hatfield Creek is down the way and across the street,
and Elaine is one of the few female winemakers and
owners around, so we're favorably disposed to it, and
it's a logical place to repair to lick our wounds.
The wines here are okay by and large, also not great.
The problem is lately there have been substantial
contamination issues - the last bottles we had were
very Bretty, for example, whereas last year and the
year before they were fine if perhaps a little blah.
This time I got us two glasses of the Fonzi field
blend, and whoa. Corked. I brought it up with Eddie,
who was doing the pouring, a nice guy but not a real
wine person. He sniffed it ans said that it was weird,
but he liked the taste. I hope he's not the future
of the Ramona Valley AVA. I registered a complaint,
but when Elaine showed up later didn't challenge her
on it for politeness' sake. The reason Chris and Rob
and Lilli are members of these wine clubs (committing
to buying 2 bottles quarterly for $50 to 90 a pack)
is that you can go to the cellar door and get free
glasses of wine every weekend on the strength of the
quarterly buy.

Cruel as the grave
You may recall the Pamo Valley wine tasting room, which
I've talked about since I've been hanging out at Lilli's.
The wines, as with most of what's made in this area, are
okay but by no means world-beaters. Mondays they have
glasses for $5; the rest of the week, it's $6 for members
and $8 for nonmembers, so anyone who is anybody shows up
on Monday. Setting the stage for this story, we went there
last week, and Jennifer, the vineyard owner (first female
winemaster in the county), looked more than a bit out of
sorts. We'd noticed that she'd been there pouring at the
bar more often than usual this year, with the regular help
less in evidence (though, oddly, often appearing as
customers). It came up in conversation with the regulars
that Jason (I think that's his name) her husband was
unhappy with her spending so many hours away from the
house, between the winemaking and the tasting room, and,
according to one of them, "he's a jealous guy."

So. Saturday, a woman holding a child was reported fleeing
from a house on Black Canyon Road, which was soon found to
be engulfed in flames, followed by a gunshot. Jennifer had
a house on that road. And a small child. Two and two together.

On Sunday, Jennifer's Facebook (Lilli is a friend) was filled
with expressions of support and love. Yeah, it turns out
Jason, in a fit of jealous rage, had chased her and their
daughter off, set the house on fire, and committed suicide.

I feel especially terrible for the kid, whom I previously
thought was a spoiled obstreperous brat. but who could fail
to be sympathetic.

Monday we went to the tasting room; a couple of the regular
help were there, and then the vineyard hand came in as
reinforcement, because it seemed the whole town was in to
pay respects to Jennifer, who looked surprisingly okay given
what she'd been through.
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