visiting dom. des karantes

so this is in the tasting room of domaine karantes in the south of france in the languedoc region, in the very little know appelation of karantes..right near the mediterranian..its situation is one of the most spectacular of any winery i have ever visited..you can see all the way from spain up the coast of france..there are even old german gun implacements from ww2..super friendly people there Nicolas the winemaker was a great guide..also, they accept vistors, so if your ever down there, or planning a trip they have great guest accomidations, really close to the sea, with neat little restaurants lining the beach this is a great place to spend some time..


tasting the domaine karantes rose


in the vineyard at domaine karantes with winemaker Nicolas Laverny, sorry bout the sound, it was really windy up there

On Steakhouses..

..so when did it become cool anyhow for this new wave of steakhouses to charge over 40 bucks for a piece of meat on a platter with nothing else on the plate, im serious, not even a garnish..i'm not sure if its just me, but, when i was a kid, we'd go out to eat, if you ordered a steak it came with a side of potatoes, and a vegetable right on the plate..and if i remember correctly, it usually came with a salad also, pretty much iceberg lettuce, im originally from the midewest and that was before arrugula became all the rage, but a salad anyhow..and im not talking about a sizzler here..nice upscale places, and now, its like 14 bucks for a side of potatoes, which could feed a family for a week, and 12 more for a bucket of veggies..and the iceberg tossed salad, is now served as a classic "iceberg wedge" with bacon and a vinagrette, and its only another 12 bucks..is it me, or do i just not get it?..does this make me just old fashioned or nostalgic? by the way, the 96 Masi Amarone I brought along was drinking beautifully..

my first blog

so ive been traveling a bunch in the past few months some business and some pleasure..but finally getting around to telling some travel stories..also looking forward to sharing with you new wines im tasting..trends, my perspectives, food stuff..stick with me on this , ill share some tips, some cool new places, all kinds of stuff..follow along, there's gunna be new things all the time, so check back should be entertaining, and maybe even a bit educational..

this video was shot from the top of the hill of Chateau d'Yquem overlooking all of Sauternes..it was a beautiful, and windy day, (pardon the sound) , and the really cool thing that makes Chateau d'Yquem unique,( wow, thats a lot of "Q's"), is the soil, which is really rocky, small pebbles about the size of 2 large marbles, and the hill that the vineyards are situated..it is the only vineyard that i noticed atop a hill..all the rest of Sauternes that i saw were pretty much flat..this allows Yquem, and LVMH who now owns the vineyard, awesome drainage for this tempermental crop..