L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano PAGE��� 20 Fire & Ice New Years Eve Extravaganza with seating from 6:30 to 9:30pm. 4 course menu and music by a 5 piece band. $ Wine Countr y Events Light the Holiday Spirit FRANK���MANGIO Good times and fine wines are a fixture in Temecula Wine Country, but when the clock strikes December, its 35+ wineries light up with seasonal events and deserve a visit. Each in its own way, most wineries design their tasting rooms, even some of the vineyards, with festive, colorful images for visitors. Here���s a collection of ideas and events for your next visit to Temecula for holiday cheer and New Years celebration: Cougar Vineyard ��� Fri. Dec. 21 6 to 8pm. Live holiday music with special wine prices and discounts on clothing purchases. Falkner Winery ��� Nightly, a spectacular display that includes more than 100,000 Eco Lights. Mt. Palomar Winery ��� Presents the ���Charlie Brown Christmas��� Fri. Dec. 21 from 5 to 8pm. 3 piece Jazz ensemble. South Coast Winery Resort & Spa ��� Great Horse Drawn Carriage Rides through the vineyards daily. Call 951-587-9463 for details. The Grand Del Mar, in Coastal North San Diego, presents holiday dining and entertainment. 150. pp. Party and balloon drop from 8 to 1pm. $75. pp. Call 800-730-5042 for details and a RSVP or on-line www.wineresort.com. Tesoro Winery ��� Swing into 2013 at Tesoro Winery with a Sinatra Tribute starring Steve Justice 9:30 to 12:30am in their Old Town Tasting Room. $25. includes 2 glasses champagne and gourmet hors d���oeuvres. Dance floor. RSVP at 951-3080000. Wilson Creek Winery ��� A Jet-Setting Rockin New Years Eve Celebration from 7pm to12:30am. Hosted wine, cham- pagne and 4 course dinner with funky soul music for dancing. Cost is $160. RSVPs at 951699-9463. Wiens Family Cellars ��� ���The Great Gatsby��� event with a 1920���s New Years Eve speakeasy theme from 8 to 1am. Dancing, appetizers and more. $55. ea. Club members $44. Call 951-252-1770. Grand Del Mar Makes Merry for the Holiday Season Closer to San Diego, the magnificent Grand Del Mar has planned a series of memorable times for its guests and the public. Their theme, ���skip the dinner-making and enjoy the merry making��� fits the resort, with their five-star, five diamond dining at the Addison and the holiday-delightful Amaya restaurants, with special menus on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year���s Eve and New Years��� Day, including a Breakfast Buffet at Amaya. At the spirited M Club on New Years��� Eve, several guest DJ���s will entertain from 9 to 1:30am. There will be a Grand New Year���s Eve Party in the main ballroom of the resort from 9 to 1:30am, where you can dance to the famous Wayne Foster Entertainment���s 6 piece band. For full details and RSVPs call 858-314-1996 or book on-line at www. TheGrandDelMar.com. Frank Mangio is a renowned wine connoisseur certified by Wine Spectator. He is one of the leading wine commentators on the web. View and link up with his columns at www.tasteofwinetv.com. Reach him at mangiompc@aol.com. THURS DAY, ��� DECEMBER��� 20, ��� 2012 Revisiting 1982 Bordeaux SALIL���BENEGAL TERROIRIST.COM In the last few years, wine enthusiasts have paid less and less attention to Bordeaux. Hype for great vintages seems to roll around every other year and prices continue to increase dramatically for new vintages laden with high scores. In the meantime regions such as the Loire, Beaujolais, Rh��ne Valley and many areas outside of France, such as Washington State or Chile attract more and more attention, often offering far better valuepriced alternatives. There���s been some criticism about how Bordeaux may need a reality check, with more consumers buying at various price levels seeking newer, fresher alternatives. Even as a serious Bordeaux fan, it���s hard to not agree with a lot of these criticisms, or pieces such as this article by Eric Asimov. Wines from the top estates and vintages have become increasingly expensive, more often treated as goods for conspicuous consumption rather than wines that can be enjoyed at the table. And yet��� the wines remain compelling, when they are opened at the table and enjoyed as wine. A bottle of 1986 Gruaud Larose that I opened a few nights ago at dinner was one of the most thrilling red wines I���ve enjoyed in some time; powerfully fragrant, layered, rich and so complex. Bordeaux can provide experiences that just reinforce why we���re so into wine in the first place; thrilling, complex, powerful yet elegant wines that resonate in a way that few other wines can. Those experiences don���t always have to come from the ���great���, critically acclaimed vintages, yet ��� it���s a remarkable experience when they do. Over the last few months, I���ve had multiple opportunities to look back into some of the 1982 Bordeaux; one of the much heralded ���vintages of the century��� now thirty years on. Provenance at this stage does become a question, as so many of these wines do tend to be frequently ���flipped��� at auctions and resold as the case price of a 1982 DucruBeaucaillou, for instance, continues to increase. A few of the ���82s I���ve enjoyed recently have been concerning with some signs of possible heat damage (for instance, a bottle of ���82 Magdelaine showed surprisingly stewed and disjointed), yet a number have been thrilling. Some, such as the ���82 Certan de May, may not have the ���wow��� factor one may expect from such a heralded vintage (and one carrying such a price premium over other vintages). A rising tide doesn���t always float all boats, and there are plenty of less regarded vintages (such as 1988 or 1979) that have produced a number of great Bordeaux that I���ve enjoyed as much, if not more than some of the ���82s ��� usually at a fraction of the price. Yet other ���82 Bordeaux I���ve had recently, such as the ���82 Pichon Lalande, have been extraordinary.

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