I love all parts of wine - the grapes, the soils, the microclimates, the smells, the tastes - all of it. The problem I have with wine is that 99% of the time, when I am tasting or drinking wine, I'm thinking about it - analyzing it - trying to figure out what in a particular wine makes it unique - makes it worthwhile to continue to analyze it. That's what I do with wines. I do it with spirits as well. Cognac, Armagnac, Calvados, the array of anise/caraway seed/grape/fruit spirits - this one is smooth, this one is not, it's fruity, sweet, grainy, harsh, etc. They all make my brain go crazy! I love it! But sometimes, my brain gets tired - I just want to sit back and relax and actually drink something (instead of spitting, which I do with 99.9% of all things I taste). For that I go to beer. Sure, beer has tremendous complexities (grain types, how roasted the barley is, the merits of top or bottom fermentations, etc), and allows for the same types of analyzations that we give to wine. Generally though, I love just sitting back on a Sunday afternoon, watch some golf/football/baseball (yesterday it was flipping back and forth between all three), and have a beer. My beer of choice is usually Anchor Steam. Why Anchor Steam? Other than the fact that it's brewed in one of the great cities of the world (San Francisco) and brings back great memories, it's darn good stuff. It's not an ale, it's not a lager (though Anchor Steam Brewing Company brews both as well) - it's a steam beer. Completely different fermentation. Completely different flavors. Just the right amount of hops, the right balance, it's halfway between an ale and a lager in body, color, and richness, but it has it's own unique flavors. Not bitter, not sweet, not fruity, but not overly spicy either. It's simply my beer of choice, generally wherever I am. Second choice? This time of year, it's got to be an Oktoberfest brew... I like Sam Adams Octoberfest, but I love Paulaner Oktoberfest (and love Paulaner Hefe-weizen even more ). All great beers. Other favoites? Anchor Porter (great, rich, chocolate porter), anything by Samuel Smith, anything by Chimay, and in deference to R, Sierra Nevada (though I think I've convinced him I don't like their ales...). And something I'll find again... Alaskan Amber is killer beer. Well, that's all I have to say about beer right now... I love it. It's easy. As much as I love wine, sometimes you just have to have a beer.
Best of luck to R this week on many levels... you're going to ace it. You know it. Just DO IT. DO IT. And if you do read this, what is the primary grape in Tursan VDQS?
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