After much fun, I have had to reel myself in again. I am trying to find a balance because my wallet and waistline really can’t handle all the insanity. Well that and my migraines. I want to stay away from that kind of pain.
A friend recently joined Georgetown Gilbert & Sullivan Society. He’s already a lawyer, but wanted to be a part of the group. It’s…an interesting thing. Before going to see him in his performance of Trial by Jury I decided that alcohol would be a good idea. I stopped by one of my favorite spots Big Hunt.
The staff at Big Hunt rock my face off. They know their beer, they are funny and interesting people. The bartender who runs the twitter account always suggests the best beers. I enjoyed a summer solstice by Anderson Valley, Peppercorn Saison by 3 Stars Brewery and Nugget Nectar by Troegs. All refreshing beers. Peppercorn was my favorite as I liked the spice. Summer solstice impressed me as I find people usually want to make summer beers either way too light, hoppy or in the hefeweizen tradition for summer beers.
I have started joining #winechat on Twitter. It takes place on Wednesdays from 9:00pm until 10:00pm (ET). This past Wednesday, @girlmeetsglass led the tasting. She came over to my apartment clubroom along with @lisacomento. We tried three great Brazilian wines and learned a great deal about Brazilian winemaking.
We started off the with the sparkling wine. It was very crisp, great apertif. I would recommend it to those looking for something besides Prosecco, but wanting something similar in taste and value.
The Flowers was a great patio or porch wine. It had powerful floral notes, but not as strong as torrontes. I think I detected some pineapple on the nose.
The tannat was one of my favorites. It wasn’t as big and chewy as you sometimes find. However, it was powerful with dark fruit and tobacco along with well integrated tannins. It definitely proves to be a great blending grape as I have seen Virginia wineries blending it as of late.
Another night last week included adventures on H Street. I had a friend visiting DC and we began with happy hour at Biergarten haus. I stuck with Spaten Oktoberfest as it was on happy hour and Spaten is one of my favorite German brewers. The beer is a nice example of German Oktoberfest style. It had some floral notes, malty with hops more present along with a great body.
Saturday I stopped by Bell to pour their signature Saturday free wine tasting from 12-3. We had a great line up including a Chardonnay, three rosé wines (one of which being the mystery wine), Pinot Noir, Tinta de Toro (Termes) and a Jurançon wine.
The 2011 vintage of the Chardonnay was more balanced and less oaky than the previous vintage. The rosés were enjoyable especially for the price point, but weren’t mind blowing. The Pinot Noir was a great example of an affordable, Oregon pinot with some Earthy notes. The Termes and Jurançon wine were my two favorite wines on the table. The Termes received 91 points from Wine Spectator and the Jurançon wine received 94 points from Wine Spectator.
The wines will be available at Bell through this week at a discounted price. My colleague should be publishing the tasting notes soon on the website and via their e-newsletter.
Oh and this happened. I ran into Luigi and his princess on the S4 Bus as I was headed to Bell. They were going to Awesome Con and I imagine they were a hit.
I ended Saturday night at Quarry House and Piratz Tavern. My co-worker’s band was performing at Quarry House. These guys have been friends and playing together for many years. They occasionally play at Quarry House and other venues without practicing. They were so on point and I am not sure how they did it. My co-worker said that one of the songs he didn’t even know and that he just followed everyone else’s lead.
Quarry House has a great beer selection at decent prices for the DC area. I mostly stayed with my favorites including Moo Thunder Stout and Spaten Optimator.
As the evening wore on, I went around making friends at Quarry House and then wandered over to Piratz. Somehow I came across a going away party and joined them.
I am really looking forward to this week as I will be volunteering at Heart’s Delight, stopping by a Wine of Alto Adige tasting, joining #dctweetup and attending House of Walker. I guess at some point I need to sleep and get caught up at work.
