Red Wine with Fish

It’s starting to look like it. Check out this Times article.

Do you think without being force to that banks like JP Morgan will loan out the money we gave them? Not if they have a better options, economy be damned. From a JP Morgan exec:

“Twenty-five billion dollars is obviously going to help the folks who are struggling more than Chase,” he began. “What we do think it will help us do is perhaps be a little bit more active on the acquisition side or opportunistic side for some banks who are still struggling.”

So, rather than inject this money into the sagging economy, these predators would prefer to scoop up struggling banks, regardless of the consequence.

People, we have been duped. I hope this article is embarrassing enough to them to do the right thing and embarrassing enough to the government to force them to do the right thing. I am not optimistic.

We gave these banks a big fat carrot. Now it’s time to use the stick.

As if there was any doubt, the web continually provides the greatest opportunities for lazy forms of arbitrary self-expression and ways of wasting time. To that end, I present a new form of poetry. This form is can be created by even the most un-poetic among us. It shares some attributes of like the Dadaist pick-a-letter-out-of-a-hat genre that was designed to prove that art is not art, but yet it has form and structure. Simply take a poem you have always liked… or hated… or been puzzled by, and run it through a translator (I favor translate.google.com) into a language of your choice, preferably something like Japanese or Korean with a very different grammar. Then, of course, translate it back. Take, for example, this Elizabethan era classic:

The mistress of my eyes, like the sun is nothing.
Coral far more red than her lips red.
If the snow is white, why her breasts are dun.
If the wiring is hair, black lines grow up in her head.
I rose, damasked, red and white have seen
However, her cheeks like roses that I please see.
And some of the perfume is not a pleasure
That’s more than a breath in my nephew’s mistress.
I heard her speak, yet well aware of Megumi Teru
Far more pleasing sound is the music;
I have never seen a goddess to grant;
She is the mistress of the ground I walk on the trail.
And, in heaven, I love that I rarely think about
To compare her with false as false.

This lovely poem is a co-creation of Shakespeare, Google’s translation software and the Japanese language. Now, go and try your own!

This was my Google Quote of the Day and seemed somehow relevant to the current economic crisis:

There are 10^11 stars in the galaxy. That used to be a huge number. But it’s only a hundred billion. It’s less than the national deficit! We used to call them astronomical numbers. Now we should call them economical numbers.

- Richard Feynman

This is the third in the case of Otis Kenyon wines I have bought. The first one was the “Matchless” red which,

despite being the least expensive of their wines, was excellent. The Merlot from 2005 was decent, but a little hot. I have yet to try the Cab. The Syrah is very impressive–probably my favorite so far–although at the price-point I would probably go with the Matchless since I am guessing it is mostly made from the Syrah anyway.

Like the Matchless–and unlike the Merlot–the Syrah had bright acidity and red fruit. At first opening, it almost seemed tart, but after a few minutes it opened and softened. Aromas of dried strawberry and toast compliment red cherry and milk chocolate on the palate. The finish is long with vanilla and a touch of coffee.

I suppose this isn’t an earth-shatteringly complex wine, but it is beautifully fresh and fruity. The tannins are soft and any structure is from the rather impressive acidity.

This is among the most Pinot-like Syrahs I have had. Other than being a little bit fuller on the palate it would pass for an Oregon Pinot in a warm year. I actually thought the Matchless might have had some Pinot blended in, but I think it is their Syrah I was tasting. Interesting.

In response to PBS’ anemic response to the now infamous Sarah Palin poll, I have posted a poll of my own. Please feel free to submit your opinion:

Do you think that PBS was irresponsible for posting a poll that they admit is “unscientific”, that it should be taken down immediately, and they should discontinue posting any more such polls?

So, I have another question about these bailout negotations. The latest news is that negotiations have hit some snags firstly because the Conservative wing of the traditionally Republican Party (didn’t know there was one left) is objecting to giving away $700,000,000,000 since it will result, of course, in higher taxes and probably more government regulation. Additionally, some Democrats aren’t crazy about handing over $700,000,000,000 (gotta love all those zeros), without any additional regulatory measures to prevent it from happening again and help for people who might lose their homes. Finally, it has gotten somewhat mired in the race since both McCain and Obama have gotten involved in the negotiations by actually sitting down with the President and party leaders to put in their $.02.

My question is this: is there any precedent to have candidates so intimately involved in policy at this point. I realize they are both Senators, but neither is, I don’t think, ranking member of the finance committee or anything like that. I also know that one of them will inherit this mess, but neither has yet.

I wonder if it is appropriate to have them in the room at all, other than in whatever capacity they might already serve as Senators. It politicizes the entire issue and has caused it seems, serious grandstanding, particularly by the economic conservative wing of the Republican Party who feel like they are about to get shafted and with good reason.

That said, perhaps the slowdown is a good thing. The American economy is very, very big and even if it gets a little pummeled over the next few days or weeks, that isn’t as bad a scenario as committing to a $700,000,000,000 fiasco that hasn’t been completely thought through.

Still I have to wonder if there are balance of power issues here. For example: how would this scenario have changed if both candidates were not Senators and one was, say, a governor or a hot dog salesman, whatever.

As in my last post, I am posing real questions, not rhetorical ones. Is the way this situation is being handled appropriate? I don’t really know, but it does leave me feeling a little bit uncomfortable.

The recent economic turmoil has afforded me plenty of opportunities to learn about (or try to learn about) the complexities of mortgage markets, housing markets and the U.S. economy in general. In the midst of all the coverage of the proposed $700,000,000,000 bailout, I heard a tidbit that has me a bit upset. Apparently, US banking law prevents a bankruptcy judge from restructuring a mortgage on a homeowner’s primary residence. This seems pretty harsh, but I suppose one could make the old “moral hazard” case that if a borrower knew mortgage restructuring was possible, he or she would be more likely to take out a riskier loan; theoretically, this would increase the number of failures and subsequently increase interest rates. That argument is a little shaky: if restructuring was allowed, it would still be in the hands of the courts and in no way guaranteed, so the borrower can still be on the hook and face foreclosure.

Here’s the kicker: a bankrupcy judge is allowed to restructure a mortgage on a second home or “investment” property. This pretty much blows the moral hazard argument out of the water.

My question is this: is there any rationale behind the way this law is structured other than a cynical means of preventing middle-class homeowners from being able to renegotiate with banks during hard times, but would allow heavily-leveraged reality investors to do so when property values crash? I can’t think of one. Seems like a simple case of screwing the little guy so the monied interest have golden parachutes.

I challenge anyone to correct my cynical view.

Riedel tells us that we need a dozen different wine glasses; one for each type of wine and each region. The question is, do we believe them. They have glasses to sell so of course they want us to buy as many as possible, so they probably do not provide a particularly unbiased point of view.

Personal experience tells me that the glass does matter, to a point. For example, the other day, I was at a Pinot Noir tasting with a friend of mine. He was carrying the standard Riedel “Red Wine” glass that you so often find in restaurants. I was using the Riedel Oregon Pinot Noir glass. I commented how earthy the wine showed and he looked at me like I was insane. He said that he was about to say how full-fruited the aromatics were. We switched glasses and both immediately saw what was causing the difference in our perceptions.

So, in short, glass does matter. The volume of air to wine, the ability to swirl, the size of the opening, I think all profoundly influence the aromatics of a wine. I don’t necessarily think the difference between the standard Burgundy glass and the Oregon Pinot glass is that dramatic. Nor do I believe the taste of wine is much influenced by glass shape.

I can tell you one thing for sure. I am going to standardize the glass I use. I don’t believe that I can make accurate or useful comparisons of aromatics without doing so. I will have to do some testing to see what glass to standardize on. The small one is certainly more portable and is the most commonly used.

More testing is definitely necessary.

Generally, people underestimate how well Oregon Pinot Noirs can age. I am often asked at Chehalem how long to cellar a wine for and I generally give a monologue on ageability rather than a pat answer. You can all it copping out if you want, but the question is a tough one. My experience has shown that Oregon does the most ageable Pinot in the country. But that assumes you like what becomes of our Pinot Noir when it has been in the bottle for a while. If you like the big, juicy berry fruit, drink them in the first couple years, because that isn’t going to get any better. But for my palate, the fruitiness is replaced by something lovely and interesting.

Case in point: the 2000 Medici East Vineyard Pinot. Not a fruit bomb by any stretch. The fruit was pretty, but staid. The color was red-orange with definite brick-color developing. The nose had that distinctive funk of old Pinot and oak which smells a bit like BBQ sauce and maraschino cherry… (wait for it)… but in a good way. The wine was light-bodied with earth and red fruit and a bit of a tart bite, which I liked very much. It finished with flavors of coffee and cherry, with still a touch of tannin after all these years.

It was fantastic and worked perfectly with the grilled Copper River sockeye I made.

Interest Factor: ***+
Yum Factor: **
Value: **

Beautiful wine. If you are ever in Newberg, Oregon, visit them at the Dark Horse tasting room.