WHO: Napa Cellars WHAT: 88% Zinfandel, 12% Petite Sirah WHEN: 2007 WHERE: Napa Valley including St. Helena, Calistoga, and Yountville. HOW: The winemaker’s notes went into great detail about how this wine was made. The highlights of those notes were: color extraction by cold soaking for three days, early pressing of the grapes leading into a 5 day fermentation, then aged into French and American oak; 23% new for 18 months.

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WHO: Arizona Stronghold Vineyard WHAT: 55% Cabernet Sauvignon 36% Sangiovese 9% Merlot WHEN: 2008 WHERE: Sulphur Springs Valley near Cochise, AZ HOW: Mostly neutral oak (older barrels that impart no flavor) and a few choice 2 to 3 year old French oak barrels. Around January, they rack all of the barrels once, and then pump the juice back into those same barrels. Come April/May, the blending process begins and after the blend is chosen, it is pumped into stainless steel to homogenize for a couple of months until bottling.

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WHO: Miramont Estate Vineyard WHAT: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon WHEN: 2006 WHERE: Lodi, CA HOW: After unsuccessfully trying to make earthly contact with the vintners, we looked up the vintage notes online. According to the Miramont website, the Celestial Lodi Cab was harvested by some dirty hippies “under starlight” at around 24 brix. The juice underwent a secondary malo-lactic fermentation then bathed in 1 year old 60 gallon American Oak barrels for an amount of time unknown to us.

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Yesterday, Luke’s Softride RoadWing was stolen from his place of work in Santa Monica in between Santa Monica Blvd. and Olympic, one block West of Sepulveda.

This is an uncommon bike and an unusual shape so it should stand out like a sore thumb.  It has a blue aluminum body, carbon fiber fork and carbon fiber seat wing.  Also equipped with lollipop clip in pedals, red italian seat and aero bars.  Two spoke design for wheels.

If you see it call 911, I’ve filed a police report and they will retrieve the bike.  If you have the bike and want to return it with no questions asked, call 424-243-5853.

WHO: Georges “2.5 Million Cases a Year” Duboeuf WHAT: 100% Gamay WHEN: 2009 WHERE: Appellation Beaujolais Contrôlée HOW: Clusters are hand-harvested, then the grapes are fermented whole in a process known as carbonic maceration for only four days.

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WHO: FOXEN Winery WHAT: 2005 Vogelzang Cabernet Sauvignon, 2005 Mission Accomplished, 2008 Rosé of Mourvédre WHEN: Hipster Enology FOXEN Theme Dinner & Winery Visit WHERE: The Shack: 7200 Foxen Canyon Rd., Santa Maria, CA 93454 New Digs: 7600 Foxen Canyon Rd., Santa Maria, CA 93454 HOW: During the beautiful California summers, we hipsters like to camp in wine country. On the final day of our October journey, we decided to make one last stop. Luke pointed his migratory tarantula divining rod at the map and FOXEN it was.

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WHO: Michael~David Winery WHAT: 85% Petite Sirah, 15% Petit Verdot WHEN: 2005 (We had to reach to the back shelf for this one!) WHERE: Lodi, CA HOW: Aged 14 months in French Oak barrels, then bottle aged.

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WHO: Famille Quiot WHAT: 35% Grenache, 25% Syrah, 20% Cinsault, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Mourvèdre , and 5% other grape varieties from les Arnevels vineyard. WHEN: 2008 WHERE: Côtes de Provence, France HOW: The grapes are partly pressed and macerated with a short fermentation period of 12-24 hours for color. According to the bottle: “Special efforts are made to preserve freshness and fruit with the use of CO² gas to exclude oxygen during the harvest.” To this, we tilt our heads like curious kittens.

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