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You are here: home → archives → columns → Cheapskate Wine Snob
Randy Tracy is the Local Rag's resident cheapskate wine snob. His Scottish heritage and frugal ways certainly qualify him as a cheapskate. Frankly, we've never quite figured out what qualifies him as a wine snob, but we like his writing. He's recommended some pretty good wines in his time, too.
by Randy Tracy
Summer came and went -- it was glorious as always -- and now the seasonal change hits my food and wine preferences. In hot weather, I love a cold pasta salad and a bottle of Vinho Verde, but when the air chills and the leaves turn to gold, I yearn for hearty fare: roasted meats, fiery and intense red wines, pots of flaming chili with cornbread, big, strong, rich flavors.
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by Randy Tracy
Plum Creek is a nice winery, friendly and unpretentious, with a very affectionate black cat that kept visitors entertained.
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by Randy Tracy
We usually think of California as being the center of American wine, and while that holds true for volume, there are literally hundreds of small wineries scattered all over the continent. Quality can range from indifferent to world-class excellence. I was lucky enough to spend a few days last May exploring a first-rate region that remains obscure -- as far as the rest of the world is concerned.
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by Randy Tracy
Some of the finest and most famous dishes of food in the world can be found in the magical combination of harvest and vine; I'm not speaking of food served and eaten with a glass of wine, but of food cooked in wine. And then, I'll admit, served and eaten with a glass of wine.
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by Randy Tracy
OK, guys, it's time to gird your loins and deal with Valentine's day again.
This is the one day of the year where women have the highest expectations, and yet the men are stuck dealing with the whole dang shebang. Any other holiday is a collaborative affair; not this one, this Cupid's horror, this annual game of brinkmanship, which nearly always teeters on romantic disaster.
The safe way out is: chocolate.
The risky way is: something "creative and romantic."
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by Randy Tracy
"Try something new," I always say. I will admit that (even though I advocate it for its own sake) the concept can be carried a bit too far. Thus it was that I opened a bottle of Trapper Creek Dark Mead, on the recommendation of someone who should know better. The labels are a blast and very evocative, it's a Made in Montana product, the tasting notes are enticing; what could possibly go wrong?
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by Randy Tracy
There I was, late at night, standing in the basement, next to the base of the old chimney (which hasn't been used as a chimney for probably forty years, ever since the house had central heat installed) and suddenly, much to my surprise, the clean-out cover fell off. I leaned close to take a look, and an inexplicable force pulled me off my feet, up into the hole, out the top of the chimney and onto the roof.
"This is pretty darned strange," I said out loud.
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by Randy Tracy
The "tasting notes" on a manufacturer's wine label can be fascinating fiction. I've often hoped for a "truth in advertising" label to show up some day, something that reads, "This haphazardly-manufactured wine is produced by the tanker-full by indifferent, underpaid and unskilled labor. A nose of burning hair and overheated vacuum cleaner invites one to discard this immediately. It exhibits flavors of rancid coffee grounds, cough syrup, dishwater, bath water, cat pee, and tennis shoe. A particularly unwelcome finish of moldy oatmeal lingers far longer than one would like."
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by Randy Tracy
If you enjoy an after-dinner brandy or cognac, there are some alternatives you may wish to explore.
For a number of years, I've been reading about the remarkable fruit brandies and grappa produced by Clear Creek Distillery in Portland, Oregon. They go about it in the classical style; producing a wine from the pure fruit, and then distilling it into brandy with no other adulterants. The result is a line of brandies and grappa that rival the best that Europe produces.
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by Randy Tracy
I have been harping on the "light, acidic, refreshing summer white wine" thing for months now, and am going to quit, eventually. But I still have a few lively whites to praise this month.
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by Randy Tracy
When the movie Sideways took the wine world by storm, the immediate result was that Pinot Noir wines became overpriced by about double. Perfectly nice Pinot Noir is out there if you don't mind paying for it, but bargains are hard to find. My low-cost favorites are still the Castle Rock and the Turning Leaf Sonoma Reserve. Kings Ridge Pinot Noir usually comes in under $20 and is quite nice. But the quality you can find in a $15 Cabernet Sauvignon usually hides inside a $30 bottle when it comes to Pinot Noir. All thanks to a movie.
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by Randy Tracy
There?s something about the bubbles that raises a wine into elegance, and changes the whole character. Even people who don?t care for white wine seem to like Champagne just fine.
Me, I love it. And recently a bottle of Drusian Prosecco di Valdobbiadene (non-vintage) made my day?or at least the evening. It was dry, crisp, fruity, and danced along with the food like Fred Astaire. At $16.50, it was a class act. You might be tempted to call it ?Champagne,? but not all wines that bubble are eligible to be so named.
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by Randy Tracy
I have extolled the joys of Vinho Verde before, but wish to do so again. I've now tried quite a number of different Vinho Verde wines, and every single one was lovely. And I am happy to announce that every one was also under $15, a screaming bargain. It is clear that the Portuguese have this delightful white wine down pat, and I don't think you'd need any specific recommendations for producer or vintage--just buy it and drink it young. It's wonderful with any lighter food, and has enough body and acidity to stand up to even spicy oriental or Indian cooking. What a great summer picnic wine. It goes very well with crab cakes, for which there is an excellent recipe on page 24. I was lucky enough to taste the very dish pictured, with a bottle of Vinho Verde, and it was excellent.
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by Randy Tracy
During a recent trip to Hogwarts (don't tell anyone, but it's actually at Lochindorb) I was fortunate enough to sample a number of notable beverages. You may have heard of some (or all) of them.
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by Randy Tracy
It's been one of those months. Could have been worse, but sure could have been better. My taste tests for the last few weeks included:
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by Randy Tracy
OK guys, listen up. The big day approaches. Reservations for two on the night of the 14th. And then the anxiety attacks start hitting. The dreaded, arcane, complex Restaurant Wine Ritual looms large.
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by Randy Tracy
You've heard me carp about the "generic" nature of those huge liquor stores that one can encounter in large cities, and so it should come as no surprise to hear that I much prefer smaller stores with local ownership and the palette of an engaged professional at the helm. I was hoping for just that kind of expertise when I walked into Babcock and Miles, a new shop in Red Lodge, and I was not disappointed. I was, in fact, very pleased to find a truly inspired selection of wines, at affordable prices.
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by Randy Tracy
If you've never had Port (or Porto, or Oporto) from Portugal before, you are missing out on one of the greatest wines ever made. Even at the lowest price points, the quality is remarkably even and consistently excellent. I can only describe entry-level port as a screaming bargain. I've written about port before, and this seemed like a good time to do so again, mostly because I was invited to a dinner planned around port, specifically to sample some ports and sherries for this column. It was a perfect excuse to hang out and have some good food with good friends.
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by Randy Tracy
I was out for an evening walk and stopped to say hi to some friends. After a minute of conversation, I was invited inside for a visit and eventually, I mentioned that had I known I would be visiting, I'd have brought a bottle of wine with me on my walk.
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by Randy Tracy
I recently made a trip to the Denver area, and encountered some really big liquor stores. One, in fact, claims to be The Biggest Liquor Store In The World, and at 102,000 square feet, it will certainly do until something bigger comes along.
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by Randy Tracy
In late June, I attended a wine tasting at Bridge Creek, upstairs. The event was held as a fundraiser for the Performing Arts Consortium, which has hopes for an auditorium to be added to the new school. A worthy ambition, as Red Lodge does not have an auditorium and genuinely needs one. While woefully under-attended, the event was great fun. If you didn't attend, you missed out on the perfect opportunity to try some great wines.
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by Randy Tracy
I just read another article written by Clark Smith, who takes a contrary pride in being labeled the "Antichrist" of wine making. This was posted on his excellent "Wine Crimes" blog (winecrimes.com) and he was taking exception to a famous wine writer's pontificating. Among other matters, Clark addresses the oddball double-standard in wine retailing, where a wine produced without artificially added sulfites is considered "suspect" and yet the reliable, clean strains of yeast that nearly all commercial producers use are considered "newfangled." Particularly, the latest techniques of sophisticated filtering are heresy. If these methods reliably produce viscerally powerful wines with complexity, distinctive regional characteristics and a decent price, what exactly is the complaint?
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by Randy Tracy
It's May in Montana. "Ah, Spring," we say, trying to ignore the fact that the rest of the country left Spring behind a month and a half ago, and they are now chanting "Sumer is icumen in, Lhude sing cuccu." Here in Montana, we say, "It's May, for crying out loud. If we get another foot of snow, 'ya darn right I'll be Cuckoo."
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by Randy Tracy
The Wine Snob gets his mail and the Cheapskate gets out-cheapskated.
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by Randy Tracy
Terroir. It's a French word, and you need to know it. Pronounced "tehr-war," the literal meaning is "soil." But when the French talk about wine, terroir means a distinctive, unique local characteristic. And that's a good thing in wine.
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by Randy Tracy
I recently attended a wine tasting at the Pollard, sponsored by the Red Lodge Area Chamber of Commerce. If you've never been to a tasting, plan to go the next time you get the chance; it's simply the best way around to taste a whole bunch of wines all in one evening.
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by Randy Tracy
Wine is becoming so popular that new vineyards are popping up all over the world. While it takes a few years to get good results, some fairly new operations are producing some great wines, and since they aren't famous or well-known--yet--they are a great value for the buck.
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by Randy Tracy
I didn't mean to become a wine snob. In fact, I avoided it for as long as I possibly could, steering clear of the wine world in general--and for good reason; I guessed it would take years to learn enough to understand what makes a good wine, and I reckoned it was simply too expensive a hobby for a poor starving musician like myself.
But I fell in with a fast crowd of potluckers, and was corrupted.
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