Drank like a baby! Jesus, amazing. Bright red fruits, incense, oak spice. Beautiful dusty tannins, and glorious length. Could do with another five years in the bottle. 96 points. Best wine I’ve had in a while.
Pardon the miserable photo, but I’m out on my patio on this fine late-summer evening enjoying this positively wonderful Albarino from Rias Baixas. Great mouth weight, minerals,
nectarine, and a delightful hint of mustard greens, just to keep things interesting. Lovely stuff! 92 points.
Hidden in the background: Maybach Materium. Cali Cab: The redheaded stepchild at a Chablis-off. The 02 Dauvissat Les Clos was by far the best. Weighty, open, and delicious.
Tuscany? No! Capitol Hill! I took this on my iPhone (what now!) at Howell and Boylston-ish. Love it!
I wanted to like this book; it has what seems like a recipe for success: A local Seattle author, a vampire protagonist (which I’ve been on a kick for since reading Anno Dracula), and what had been advertised as a Sam Spade mystery plot.
Alas, it didn’t at all live up to my expectations. The biggest problem is the conversational tone in which it is written. It’s a first person narrative that relies entirely too much on colloquialisms and too little on plot substance. There’s a lot of ‘and then I did this, and then I did this, and then I did this’ with very little left to the imagination.
Then there’s the plot. First of all, it’s not really a Sam Spade mystery at all. I’d describe it as a government-plot driven adventure story more than anything else, and if that sounds hackneyed then you’re getting a feeling for the book. There was no point at which I was surprised, intrigued, or even excited by anything that happened in the book.
Finally, the vampire thing did not at all come through as an enticing part of this novel. The too-familiar form of the narrative led to this supposedly exotic, exciting aspect seeming bland and uninteresting. Really, ‘vampire’ could have easily been replaced with ‘alien,’ ‘werewolf,’ or ‘Sasquatch.’ They’re just like you and me!
Again, I really wanted to like this book. I’ve heard that Cherie Priest is a good author, and I’m going to give at least one more of her books a shot. This one didn’t do it for me. 82 points.
This book is very fun to read; Gaiman’s voice is personable, and the characters are engaging. However, there are some pacing issues, and the book seems to lack identity; it’s not sure what kind of a book it is. Still, good read though. 89 points.
Has anyone heard of this? A supposedly culty Sonoma Pinot. It was pretty good! Big, but not to the point of being a blueberry pie.
