Gift of Wine…

Earlier in my postings, I mentioned that I just moved to a new place. Well, my neighbors – Jeff and Clare Flosi, whose two sons are great friends of mine, bought me a couple of great bottles of wine. Listed below is one that a friend also HIGHLY recommended as well. Below is a review of these two particular wines. As you can see it scores over 90 and 85 respectively and is from Australia and Napa Valley, two place that have produced great vintages as of late.

WINE #1
1999 Leasingham Wines Classic Clare Cabernet Sauvignon Clare Valley
Winery: Leasingham Wines
Style: Red Wine
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Region: Australia
Price: $36.99

Expert Ratings:
Steve Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar: 90 points
Professional Reviews
By Jeremy OliverStephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar, Jul/Aug ‘02 Rated: 90($39) Deep, dark red. Perfumed aromas of crushed violet, minty cassis and dark plum, with well-integrated oak tones of cedar and vanilla. Pristine, supple and long, with bright, penetrating blackberry flavor supported by generous but harmonious oak treatment. One of the finest Clare Valley cabernets of recent years, with a typical undercurrent of peppermint flavor.

AWARD WINNER –
Double Gold
Leasingham Wines Best Cabernet Sauvignon 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon Bin 56 Clare Valley Australia Pacific Wine Partners – Gonzales, CA

I’m not planning on storing it. As soon as I meet a young lady that I enjoy hanging out with, well, we’re going to drink it. Yeah, so basically that means that I AM adding it to my collection!

WINE #2
2001 Rutherford Ranch Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

The 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon is a classic, rich wine with deep, ruby red color and aromas of ripe sweet, dark cherry and lush full blackberry. This wine is full bodied and wonderfully complex. Flavors of raspberry, sweet red plums, blackberry and vanilla fill your mouth. Enjoy the creamy, toasted oak and hints of mocha with smooth tannins for a long, satisfying finish.

Food Recommendation: This classic Cabernet is excellent with all red meats, chicken and spicy dishes, such as curried lamb. Don’t be afraid to try this with roasted duck for a wonderful culinary experience!

Winemaker’s Notes: The 2001 growing season was unusual because the normal gentle spring rains and cool weather were interrupted by a warm week that made a meager set of the cluster flowers known as “shatter”. This thinning and yield lessening by natural causes allowed greater flavor concentration in the remaining grapes. This intensified the fruit characteristics, enhancing the wine’s character. The autumn ripening was moderate and mild. All vineyards were picked when the sweetness and acidity came into balance and the fruit tasted the best.

AWARDS? Oh, let’s see…
2001 NAPA VALLEY CABERNET SAUVIGNON
Winner of the Cincinnati Cabernet Challenge
AND theBoston Expo Cabernet Challenge

Click on the awards to see entire, full-ad of the award in .PDF format.

EINSTEIN DISCOVERED!!

The original manuscript of a paper Albert Einstein published in 1925 has been found in the archives of Leiden University’s Lorentz Institute for Theoretical Physics, scholars said Saturday. High-resolution photographs of the 16-page manuscript and an account of its discovery were posted on the institute’s Web site and on DRAMA BLOG as well!!

The German-language manuscript is titled “Quantum theory of the monatomic ideal gas,” and is dated December 1924. Considered one of Einstein’s last great breakthroughs, it was published in the proceedings of the Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin in January, 1925.

“It was quite exciting” when a student working on his master’s thesis uncovered the delicate manuscript written in Einstein’s distinctive scrawl, said professor Carlo Beenakker. “You can even see Einstein’s fingerprints in some places, and it’s full of notes and markups from his editor.”

“We’re going to keep it as a reminder of his visits here, which is quite a fond memory for us.”

The Elegant Universe

Based on Brian Greene’s book, this three-part Nova program should do for physics what Cosmos did for astronomy. Greene hosts the program on the relative new concept of String Theory, a potential (and explosive) answer to the Holy Grail of science: a single, ultimate theory for everything. Part of Greene’s genius is the ability to explain complex issues with ease thanks to a generous helping of graphics and humor.

It starts with a perplexing anecdote: Einstein died trying to figure out if there could be an ultimate theory. His General Theory of Relativity brought order to the laws of large objects, but could not explain the chancier world of Quantum Mechanics (which deals with atomic particles). String Theory tries to marry the two. Greene and many colleagues give us a history of the quest and how String Theory was “discovered” in the 1980s. The formula has a lot of quirks, the most dazzling being the insistence there’s 11 dimensions in the universe.

If string theory proves correct, the universe we see obscures a reality that is far richer and more complex than anyone ever imagined—a universe with numerous hidden dimensions, a universe in which the fabric of space can rip and tear, a universe that may be but one of many parallel universes.

ME and the HALL O’FAMER!!!

Steve Young and Joe Montana become teammates again today, albeit it was the Pro Football Hall of Fame as opposed to their controversial coexistence on the 49ers.
Five years after Montana was enshrined here, Young will do what seems only natural by now, and that’s follow in Montana’s footsteps. I loved Montana – my favorite football player of all time but Steve is a class individual. I had the good luck of getting to spend some time with Steve during the Superbowl here in Houston. He was an extremely gracious person and his wife was as sweet as could be…not to mention absolutely STUNNING! One thing I think of when I reflect back to those days was Steve was indeed a gentleman but, let’s not forget – he was one of the BEST QB’s to ever play!

He was a two-time MVP with the 49ers. Young finished his career with 33,124 yards passing while throwing for 232 touchdowns.
A scrambling quarterback, Young began his career in the now defunct USFL before joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
In 1987 he moved to San Francisco as the backup for the legendary Joe Montana and finished his career in 1999 as the NFL’s all-time leader in passing efficiency.
A seven-time Pro Bowl selection, Young won six NFL passing titles but was not afraid to run with the ball, scoring 43 touchdowns.
“I can taste the pride that I felt to be able to put on a 49er jersey and represent the great city of San Francisco,” Young told the crowd.
“We did not think we were going to win. We knew there was no alternative.”

Gotta love it – great player…great person!

MOVED!!!

Well, I’m finally out of my old house in Houston. It seems kind of weird, depressing to some degree to be leaving the old place. It’s weird – it was an older house, had very few redeeming qualities other than location, had no space, was very small, did have GREAT rent but it was raised by $250 dollars and offered virtually nothing other than location – HOWEVER, I did like that old place. Lots of great memories were made there…some would probably be better not mentioned.

Anyway, this new place, as you can see above, is reeeeally nice. It’s big, it has a pool, pool table, workout room, close to the beltway, mom and dad are nearby, friends live close, it’s EXPENSIVE but it’s real cool. But…….there was just something special about that old place. Oh well, here’s some pics of the new…