Now THAT's Champagne

Hey, I might not BE a big cat when it comes to fancy food and wine, but I sure know how to HANG OUT with some big cats. I've already told you about my fun times hanging out with Todd Anderson drinking his $500-per-bottle Ghost Horse Vineyards wines. Now do you want to hear about the $25,000 bottle of champagne (that's NOT a typo; yes, it's 25 thousand dollars) I held (carefully) in my hands the other day?

I thought so. Here's the story. In 1990, Sonoma Coast Villa owner/innkeeper Johannes Zachbauer purchased a special edition of a Louis Roederer Cristal Champagne release. Only 2,000 bottles of the special 2000 vintage -- created for the coming millennium -- were produced. Johannes purchased number 0916 (cool guy, this is his wedding anniversary date: September 16). Of the 2,000 bottles produced, this is the only remaining bottle currently in the United States. Because of this, and because so few bottles were produced to begin with, this bottle owned by Johannes now has an estimated value of $25,000! Talk about FUN!

Here are a few other facts about this bottle of champagne:

~ Johannes has an official "Certificate of Ownership" (see pic at right)

~ The bottle is HUGE; it's what's called a Mathusalem, which is six liters, or 8 bottle of champagne

~ Louis Roederer is one of the largest remaining independent champagne makers. Located just south of Reims, France, Louis Roederer was tapped by Tsar Nicholas II to provide champagne to the Imperial Court of Russia. It was through these efforts that Roederer developed the clear, or "crystal" bottle and gold label the company is known for today.

Anyway, just wanted to share. And oh, yes, one more thing: Johannes isn't particularly attached to this bottle. In other words, he could be persuaded to sell it. Wouldn't that make a fun wedding gift to someone.... Talk about a party! Or wait; maybe when I win the $10 million World Series of Poker, yours truly could throw a party! Yeah, yeah, now we're talking. Stay tuned....

My Wine Holy Grail

I've been fortunate this year to drink some fabulous wine both at wineries and at different meals. I had some awesome Ghost Horse Vineyards cab sauvignon ($500 per bottle, thank you very much); I'm a huge Nord Vineyards fan (note--they have a new web site coming soon, I promise); and recently I disovered a Napa Valley up-and-comer that I'll talk more about shortly.

I love great wine. However, it's difficult to drink great wine every night with meals. So I'm continually trying and experimenting with what I call "everyday" wines--those in the $8.00 - $15.00 range that can be enjoyed with everything from pizza to hamburgers. It's tough, because after drinking great wine, it's difficult to drink lesser wine.

But now I've found what I consider the "Holy Grail" of everyday wines: Frontier Red from the Fess Parker Winery. Most of you know who Fess Parker was: Daniel Boone! For the past 15 years, he's had a winery down in Santa Maria, in southern California. Anyway, I believe his Frontier Red is the best $9.99 bottle of wine I've ever had. It has a great nose, great flavor, but most of all, it has great FEEL -- it feels good in your mouth. It has character and taste and doesn't feel "transparent", and by that I mean that there's nothing left in your mouth once you swallow. Anyway, if you're in the market for a great everyday wine, I suggest you check out some Frontier Red. Yes, Daniel Boone was a man (theme song, folks), and yes, Fess Parker knows how to make a great $9.99 bottle of wine.

How do you taste a $500 per bottle wine?

Very carefully!

Or at least I did the other day during one of the highlights of my food and wine experiences to date. Not only did I get to taste a wine that's $500 a bottle, I got to hang out with the winemaker. I mean, come on: It doesn't get much better than that!

Here's the story. Todd Anderson has been making fabulous Bordeaux-style wines at Conn Valley Vineyards in the heart of the Napa Valley for more than 20 years. Around 2000, he started a second, ultra- ultra-premium winery: Ghost Horse Vineyards. Ghost Horse wines are made only with 100% Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon fruit from Todd's personal vineyard. As well, he painstakingly handcrafts each release, making extremely small---and extremely exceptional---batches of each vintage. The results? What he calls "head-cracking" wines. Yes, they have the big price tag, but once you figure in the private grape source and the extremely small lots, the wine prices make sense. So, what'd I think? Beyond belief. I'm never had a wine bouquet hit my nostrils with the glass still seven or eight inches from my nose! Not only are the Ghost Horse wines real "fruit bombs", they taste as what I can only describe as "heady"---your head starts to spin, they're so good. Full-flavored, perfectly balanced acid, no heavy tannins--to me the Ghost Horse Cab tasted of deep fruit/cherry/black cherry, with a hint of chocolate. As well, the wines have incredible "weight"--a great mouth feel, fat and full yet with no negative after-tastes.

Todd's also a fun person to hang out with. He readily shares his extensive knowledge about winemaking collected over 20+ years in the business. Hanging out in the cave drinking a $500/bottle of wine... while chatting up the winemaker... in the heart of Napa Valley.... Yes. Yes, yes, and yes.

Tours are extremely limited, but you can get a "taste" of Todd's world at his ultra-cool Ghost Horse web site: http://www.ghosthorseworld.com/