How many more weeks until the hobo killin’ takes over this wine column? Moar killin’ less swillin’?

Heading next weekend to British Columbia and a few days with the inlaws. Will BC Dick and I hang out in the basement drink, smoke and watch sports? Damn straight. His Dad will definitely ask me (did today) to head to my local wine store and grab him a couple cases of Euro wine. The reasons are twofold, one he can’t get good Old World wines in BC as they cater to the local stuff and I get a superb discount. I love the fact that I get to choose what we drink for the week. I know their tastes and cater to that but with labels that I enjoy. It will be a Rhone festival people!

There’s also an old man pub in that town that we go at least once as their ambience is in 1985 and their menu is absolutely enormoUs. The brewery (brutal average name) there also has absolutely great food while their beers are kind of pedestrian so you take your wins where you can.

I listen to RadioX (Gen X baby!) in London whenever I listen to the radio and to my shock they threw out this banger yesterday. I fucking love this video, and the tune.

Since The Open is back in bonnie ole’ Scotland this week I will go with my Open story.

A lot of the players were staying at the hotel where I lived on property and worked. Hell, there were 4 helicopter pads out front so the lads didn’t have to drive from Turnberry to Troon where it was being played that year. I thought we were under siege one of the first mornings when the noise didn’t stop.

I think I will do this in point form as a lot went on that week and I can’t cover it all.

• Jim Furyk’s Dad is amazing, he got us passes for the tourney for free.
• We golfed with him as well and on the 3rd hole he stated. “Alright boys, what is in your bags?” We brought out 2 bottles of whisky and finished them.
• That round we golfed with him and Davis Love III. Dude is seriously funny. Furyk was ahead of us and taking his time, DL3 continued to chirp him the whole round from our teebox.
• Jack Nicklaus (Trumper, sad.) is an absolute gentleman and funny. I served him one morning, he asked me to address him as Jack, not Mr. Nicklaus. He then told me he had a special menu some nutritionist makes for him, he had no idea what it was that morning. It was rack of lamb and mango. Later that evening at about midnight I get a call from my buddy who worked in The Whisky Bar. He asked me to bring an empty wine bucket and stand way down the main hall from him. Jack was there with 2 buddies and they wanted to gamble on putting down along old hall with a wooden floor. (While drinking high end whisky, Springbank 25 if my memory serves me correctly) Jack yells down the hallway at me. He remembered my name and asked if I ever take an hour off from working. Jack nailed at least two putts from over 50 feet. It was a great couple hours to be peripherally a part of.
• Vijay Singh can’t control his kids, they ran around the dining room like angry Hippos.
• Mike Weir’s caddie regrets coming out with the Canadian lads the night before the tourney. He was the mayor of hurtinville when we saw him the next morning carrying the bag.
• My buddy had the 1st drink of the Open in the Kronenbourg tent at 7 am. He snuck in before they opened and got served anyway.
• The Famous Grouse tent was run by a Canadian, so we didn’t pay for a triple scotch on the rocks the whole weekend. I still remember his name, it was Doug because of course it was.
• Tiger argued with his caddie about club selection. When he hammered one in the gorse the caddie looked at us and winked.
• It is not a high falutin affair, everyone drinks like crazy. People are passed out all over the place.

Wine time!

BFC will be going to Spain at some point and had someone change his mind so he is now going to Ribera del Duero. Here. We. Go.

RDD got its D.O. status in 1982 but they having making wine there a long time. When they got their status there were only 9 wineries in the region now there are over 300. To get a D.O status here the wines must be over 75 percent Tempranillo but looking at the percentage of plantings it is way higher for pretty much every winery. When in your local wine store note that the ageing criteria we learned about two weeks ago still holds true. (Crianza, Riserva, Gran Riserva)

The Duero river runs through it (brutal movie) so there is where you will get your vines. It has wicked temperature swings and is incredibly hot during the long summer days. Good thing Tempranillo is a very thick skinned grape that can handle it. I just learned that 95 percent of the vines planted there are indeed Temp as they handle the heat and sandy soil perfectly. There are also plantings of Cabernet, Merlot, and Malbec but they would be just used for blending and are very small. Also there are 300+ hectares of vines that are over 200 years old. It is amazing to me that no act of God, or rot, or wars have uprooted them or destroyed them altogether. Like Rhone you want the higher end of the soil to be kind of shitty so the rootstock go very deep to get their nutrients which in turn makes them way more hearty. The older the vines the deeper the roots.

A lot of folk compare their Tempranillos to Cabernet Sauvignons of the Napa Valley. They are made far bolder and bigger than the same grape varietal vinted in Rioja and Navarra. The best and most famoUs winery in the region is Vega Sicilia. BFC if you are reading this, attempt to get an appointment there at all costs. ALL COSTS. I couldn’t find anything on their website where you could do so, soUrry. Try anyway.

Next week I am not sure where I will tackle, maybe Portugal for Yeah Right. If you want me to go over anywhere else let me know in the comments. I only have a few weeks left until I pass this evening back to our friend in Northern Ontario!