We travel a lot. Not just for A Long Pour, but in general. It seems we are always moving around and popping up in some unexpected place doing some unexpected thing.
We were privlidged to be invited to a few great places in the last few weeks and we wanted to share them with you. … Continue Reading
As some of you know, I got married last January to my wife Damaris. The wedding was in Santa Barbara (could it be anywhere else?) and it was a beautiful day spent amongst friends and family.
We were also fortunate enough to have our incredibly talented friend Amy Payne shoot the wedding. She did a beautiful job and we are thrilled with the results.
Here are a few of the less sappy ones…and a few good shots at Municipal Winemakers with Dave Potter. … Continue Reading
I love many things about Santa Barbara. The architecture, the parks, the weather, the proximity to both mountain and sea and of course the wine. But I also love the community feel, people in Santa Barbara know each other, there is a sense of genuine community.
So it should be no surprise that when it came to buying a wedding dress, we went local. Directly across the street from Cafe Buenos Aires where we will have our reception, and below the office of one of Damaris’ clients is Mary Linn’s Bridal. It is a beautiful shop situated directly next to the stunning Arlington Theater. … Continue Reading
In about three weeks, I embark on a new voyage. It isn’t into the wines of Oregon, or Spain, or even France (although I should do that). No, my voyage is a voyage of two, a husband and a wife.
It is a marvelous thing to marry a person you love, a person that makes you a better human being. It is also marvelously exciting, and terrifying, and stressful! But I am looking forward to my changed personal state, it will be a wonderful thing.
Without getting on a vanity box and going on and on about MY wedding, and MY plans, I do want to use ALP to provide exposure to a few people who are helping with this exciting event. Behind any good weeding is a long list of dedicated and talented people.
We start today with the food and wine, a great place to start. … Continue Reading
The ship of our ambition fills its sails with the wind of human inspiration. Throughout man’s history, extraordinary accomplishment has been complimented by extraordinary inspiration. Every great athlete had his Mantle or Ali, every musician his Mozart or Fitzgerald. Without human inspiration, would anyone say, “why, I think I will scale Everest today, or break the home run record”? Behind every great endeavor there are human motivations. We draw from these motivations, from friends, from family, from pop heroes, and from the public at large. From these, our passions are shaped for better or worse.
I have many passions, noble and virtuous as well as frivolous and vain. In the big picture of my life, my interest in wine is of marginal value when compared to other personal devotions. But I like the juice. While I have purchased a bottle or two from many a grocery store, one shop has been the greatest recipient of my wine dollar. It is an establishment run by a bearded and charmingly witty man named Bob Wesley. … Continue Reading
It is human nature to respect great efforts of time. Be it a work of art, the sculpted beauty of a National Park, or a long overdue title win, we value more so what takes longer to achieve. For those wine enthusiasts with a larger vocabulary than “mmm grapes!” we too value and esteem great efforts of time. We respect the Grand Cru vineyards, the storied Chateau, and even the great vintages. We do so because we respect the time they represent and the effort, determination, and foresight behind them.
This respect of time is evident when considering wine regions and the importance we place upon them. France is the undisputed King of wine and for many it will always be so. It is more difficult and subjective to crown a Queen, but for now, France still has a powerful monarch named Wine and his influence is strong and his dominion wide. … Continue Reading
Robert Parker has it out for Larry Schaffer.
In the most recent issue of Parker’s highly influential publication The Wine Advocate, Larry’s Tercero Wines, were eviscerated by the East Coast King Maker. Parker took the numerical and verbal gutting so far that he happily ignored his own rule of not publishing ratings lower than 85 points. Aside from one wine, which scored an 86 and was called “a superficial red with no real depth or layering,” the other wines scored in the low 80’s. Some of Parker’s critiques included gems like: … Continue Reading
Seth Kunin looks like the perfect Santa Barbaran. On a recent visit with him, he wore a dress shirt with the sleeves cuffed half way up his forearm, shorts, and Converse sans the laces and socks. He wears a short white beard and glasses. In Santa Barbara he could be a lawyer, a billionaire entrepreneur, a tech company CEO, or unemployed. His laid back dress is typical of Santa Barbara men’s fashion and is a reflection of his calm and collected personality.
Seth and his wife Megan pour and talk about their Kunin Wines from a sun filled tasting room a few blocks from the beach. It is an inviting space. In the back, a grid of shelves display neat rows of their wines; which are mostly Rhône varietals. In the front, there are several toys for their young daughter Phoebe. The tasting room, which until recently was shared with Westerly Vineyards, sees over 1,000 tasters a month, from locals to Los Angeles based beach goers and mustached hipsters. … Continue Reading
Chess, the beloved ancient game for the opulent and the humble masses. Played by both Kings and noblemen, and millions from the working class. Chess is a human heritage with its foundations in ancient India, before coming to Europe where it evolved and spread around the world. It has inspired us to create international champions and produce numerous books and films dissecting its every part.
Like chess wine is a global obsession. It has found favor with the opulent few and with millions of modest means. It has enticed men to lose vast fortunes and has even revived the moral of men at war. Wine is a part of our collective human inheritance; passed down through the ages.
As there is in Chess, wine has two contenders, the Winemaker and Mother Nature. Each has their pieces in which they utilize in attack against or in defense from their adversary. Nature, has her heat, wind, rain, and frost. The Winemaker, has his land, his winery, and his vineyard and cellar team that he uses to outplay and outthink Mother Nature. In this battle between adversaries there can be only a single outcome: success for one and failure for the other. … Continue Reading
James Ontiveros and Paul Wilkins have impressive resumes.
James Ontiveros is a 9th generation Californian. His great-great-great-great-great grandfather was Juan Pacifico Ontiveros, the son of a Spanish soldier and a one time Corporal at San Gabriel Mission. His family originally settled in what is now Orange County on Rancho San Juan Cajon de Santa Ana (modern day Anaheim), which Juan Pacifico Ontiveros’ father was granted by the Mexican Government in 1833. A connection to wine came early to the Ontiveros family, when Ontiveros sold 1,165 acres of the land to the Los Angeles Vineyard Society in September 1857 for the cultivation of wine grapes. It was the first commercial vineyard in California.
In 1855, Ontiveros purchased the 8,900-acre Rancho Tepusquet from his father-in-law Tomás Olivera, who acquired it in a land grant in 1837. In 1957, he relocated to the Ranch in what is now the Santa Maria Valley, constructed an adobe, and lived there until his death in 1877. During his time there he raised cattle and horses and even planted wine grapes. Rancho Tepusquet, which today includes famed vineyards such as Bien Nacido and Solomon Hills made up the north side of the Santa Maria Valley. The south side was Rancho Tinaquaic, some 9,000- acres that were granted to Benjamin Foxen, another son-in-law of Tomás Olivera and Ontiveros’ brother-in-law. Ontiveros and Foxen were the first two Anglos to settle the region (Foxen, is the namesake of Foxen winery, which was co-founded by his great-great-great great-grandson Dick Doré). … Continue Reading
How do you measure a man? How do you judge his life’s work? Is it by wealth, by notoriety, the opinions of others? For the banker, is it by the quantity of his assets, or the doctor by the lives he saved? What about the winemaker, is it his vineyard, his winery, his wine? How do [...]
I have seen two of Bob Davids’ homes. One is a gorgeous tropical pavilion in the foothills of Mount Batur, Bali. The other, is a 20′ tow behind trailer perched high on a hillside overlooking his Sta. Rita Hills vineyard. The first I saw on page 68 of August’s Architectural Digest and the latter I [...]
