Latitude 46º N 2007 Celilo Gewürztraminer

Bought this at The Tasting Room in Seattle last weekend; I always enjoy going there when I’m in the city.

Clear, pale-plus gold in the glass. Medium plus intensity distinctive petrol/oil, ripe banana, and floral aromas. Off dry, high acidity, and medium body. Palate is dominated by ripe, almost overripe, fruit: mango, banana, and grapefruit. Floral and a bit oily in the mouth. Medium length; 13.9% alcohol. Will not be to everyone’s taste, but I quite like this.

USD$22. See Latitude 46º N Winery. See also The Tasting Room’s notes on this wine.

Closed for “Renovations”

I’ve noticed recently a few businesses around Gastown have closed and have posted notices stating that they are “under renovation,” suggesting a future reopening, when it seems that this is not the full truth. This happened with the Subway shop on Water Street: for ages there was a sign indicating the location would reopen, but eventually all signage was taken down (and there’s now a Subway on Hastings, in the Woodwards building). The same thing now seems to have occurred with the Budget rental location at Abbott and Pender: there has been no indication of pending renovations in the months that it’s been closed, and I expect that eventually the signs will be taken down quietly and a new condo building will appear on the site.

Why do businesses do this? Perhaps it’s to protect their brand: indicating that a location is permanently closed could be seen as an admission of failure. However, this is just a guess on my part.

Budget car rental "Closed for Renovations" sign

2008 Momo Marlborough Riesling

Clear, pale gold. Nose is clean, medium intensity apricot-honey and slate-mineral. Just off-dry, high acidity, medium body. Green fruit dominates on the palette, with a bit of stone fruit and slate. Medium-plus length. 11% alcohol. Overall good: enjoyable, though the balance is a bit off, dominated by a lingering earthy minerality; perhaps will develop in the bottle. $22.90 at Marquis. See Momo Wines (currently converting to organic).

The New Yorker iPad Issues List

I am curious to know what will happen when there are enough issues that the little navigation dots fill the width of the screen. I’m not sure Apple has an answer for this, but I’ve never seen this feedback used for more than a handful of “pages.”

2010 Veo Grande Sauvignon Blanc

Clear, light silver-gold and a clean, medium intensity nose of grapefruit and sage. Dry, high acidity and light body dominated by more citrus, particularly grapefruit. Medium length. 13.5% alcohol, which definitely figures into the impact here. Straightforward but quite enjoyable; definitely recommended at the price of $12.90 at Marquis (one of their “wines of the weekend”). See Veo Grande Wine.