2005 Laloudi Red Wine

I don't get to drink a lot of Greek wine unless I'm at home, but I made a run and provisioned some from Metropoulos foods this week. One of the reds has blown me away. It's a regional dry red wine from the Peloponese, specifically from Monemvasia, which I visited as a tiny kid and fell in love with. The grape is the Agiorgitiko, i.e. St. George's grape. It set me back $17.50, and I would pay more if it cost more. It's very dry and has tons of soil and new oak flavors in it. Both Dan and I thought Chateuneuf du Pape, though we're not really up on our wines, so the association could be off. In any case, a phenomenal red!

Holus Bolus 2008 Syrah

Dan picked up this syrah, which is a bit more expensive than I would dare buy at $35, for Thanksgiving dinner this year. It was fan-friggin-tastic! This is probably the nicest syrah I've had this week. Highly recommended, if it's within your budget. Bonus points for the fantastic label!

Merrell Barefoot Trail Glove

Until this summer I had been wearing my Vibram Five Fingers on approaches and slab descents. But they are not durable (one of the seams failed less than 6 months after buying them), they don't have enough pinky room for me, and I'm always worried about the possibility of breaking a toe. So I picked up a pair of Merrell Barefoot Trail Glove shoes (they're a men's model, but they fit me better than the women's) to replace them. These are now my all time favorite shoes of any kind and I'm finding myself wearing them not only in the outdoors (backpacking, hiking, sailing), as I'd planned, but around town and on trips, and also cycling. Highly, highly recommended!

"Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout" by Philip Connors

I randomly came upon a review of this book (on Salon, maybe?) and bought it because the reviewer compared the author to Ed Abbey, whom I love. Indeed, the book did not disappoint, and I would highly recommend it to Abbey fans, National Forest fans and those interested in wilderness policy. The author waxes lyrical a bit more than Abbey, but doesn't go overboard, and the book is not so much gripping as engrossing -- it creates its atmosphere nicely and if that's what you're looking for at the moment, you'll go back to it.

I started reading this a week after the Needles Lookout burned to the ground, which, in turn was a week after we visited it, though I had bought the book much earlier. 

Three great reds

I've tasted three fantastic sub-$20 reds recently:
* Sean Minor 2009 Pinot Noir
* Babcock 2009 Merlot "Under the radar"
and my current favorite
* Curtis 2006 Syrah, which is like heroin

Marmot Membrain

I'm too cheap to buy Gore-Tex raingear, so I settled on the supposedly next best thing. That's Marmot Membrain, and this year, with the torrential rains, it's really proven itself and given me my money's worth. Highly recommended. I bought a second one!

Semi-technical pants that work

I've been pleasantly surprised by two pairs of Columbia pants: the City Slickerz and the Trail Twist. It's fairly difficult to find stretchy, water repellent, narrow legged pants that look good enough to wear in town, on the bike and on the trail. If you want them for cheap, to boot, forget it! Except somehow Columbia has really started delivering on the women's pants front. I'm really happy with these, and I could afford them!

Kenneth-Crawford 2008 Babcock Pinot Noir

I tasted this wine tonight at the SB Yacht Club and I thought it was remarkable enough to... well, to remark on. Go check out the tasting notes on the wine makers' website and tell me these are not full on wine nerds! This was a lovely Pinot Noir, completely out of the price range where I normally buy wine. I was, as expected due to price and origin, impressed!