Residual Sugar (R.S.): The total quantity of sugars remaining unfermented in the finished wine. This may include both fermentable sugars (glucose and fructose) and small amounts of those few sugars, which are not readily fermented by typical wine yeast.

In today's New York Times, Eric Asimov has written a VERY insightful article about vintages and the "hype" that surrounds them. Over the past decade we, the wine lovers of the world, have been blessed by a string of really good vintages across the world. Yet as more and more people begin to focus only on those "pointed" years vintages that are good, get over looked. It is here where those of us who drink our wine for pleasure and not for points need to be looking for those wines to have wine dinner and share with friends tonight, tomorrow or next week. There is no doubt that great vintages are worth buying but those wines are generally not for immediate consumption. Late last year saw the release of 2005 Bordeaux and Burgundy. These wines ARE legendary, amazing, but are very expensive and not ready to drink. Yet if you look to 2001 Bordeaux and 2004 Burgundy you will finds wines from really good vintages that are tasting great and will offer a great value.

Last week I turned 31. Not a number that conjures up grand parties or great reflection, but for me it was a day of simple pleasures and lead to a wine discovery this week. On January 21st I was invited to see the Golden State Warriors with 3 good friends. I am an avid Warrior fan and to get the chance to sit two rows off the floor on my birthday was not something I could pass up. The four of us met up in the parking lot pre-game for a little wine geek tailgate: A bottle of Bollinger Champagne and a bottle of Italian rose that I cannot remember at the moment. This is the way everyone should do the pre-game. Before we went into the arena JD, one of my pals and owner of a very small wine importer/distributor gave me a bottle of Catina Tollo Pecorino, and no it is not bottled cheese. A put the bottle in my trunk and off to the game we went. The Warriors lost by one point with one second left, tough loss.

Coming up with ideas for my blog post each week is sometimes quite hard. I think to myself, "What do people really want to know?" or "What have I done or seen this week that I think is really cool." Most weeks I taste some really cool wines but we have about a 3-week turn around time for most items so why taunt you with a wine that you can't taste for week? I'm rambling, so what is my point? Well, this week I was thinking, I've had a birthday, ate a great meal at Quince (you should all go), tried some really great wine and had a workout this morning that almost blew my arms out. So what to tell yall?