Golden palate mashers

It’s been too long Mashers! I have been super busy lately with establishing a new relationship with a wonderful girl I call Daisy.

We have had a wonderful time getting to know each other and exploring some of our favorite spots on the Central Coast. We have dined at some of the finest eateries here in San Luis Obispo County. There is Artisan in Paso Robles, one of the top spots in our county. The Range, ahhh home on The Range, in Santa Margarita, I love that place! So simple yet some of the best damn food in the area. There was the Sea Chest in Cambria, straight out of the 1980 Popeye movie that was crusty yet so appealing even the most ardent hater of oysters would wet themselves over the “Devil On Horseback”!

We toured Rabbit Ridge and had the best time seeing their facility, and the production is off the hook! Thanks Joanne.

Lets not forget to mention 15DegreesC Wineshop and Bar where we met and have spent numerous evenings chatting with local personalities, laughing, living and loving this life that we have sought out. I could give a shit ton of stories about 15C alone but I won’t as some are not suitable for younger readers.

I am super excited to see what 2011 has in store for us here on the Central Coast! We are going to start the New Year with a big bang and run full steam till 2012. Thanks for checking out my blog this year and one of my resolutions is to be on top of posting on a regular basis for the up coming year. Happy New Years and Cheers. Loshie

Throwing Away $500 Dollars Worth of Wine.

How would you feel after a great night of friends and wine, you awoke the next morning to realize you threw out a bottle of 2009 Vieux-Château-Certan, Pomerol (1.5)? Now that I have your attention, I was thinking about this the other night after a great dinner as there were 10 bottles of great wine sitting empty on the counter. What do you do with all those great bottles you spent weeks or years pining over and in a fit of drunken madness you opened them drank them with no cares in the world and woke the next day as I described earlier?
Why you keep living and do the same all over again with no regrets!! Don’t be a pussy about expensive wine, share it with your best friends and enjoy the fact you had a great bottle of wine.
Loshie…

Buenos Tardes Mashers,
Life has been crazy around these parts for the last couple of weeks I believe for everyone. There is harvest going on and Mother Nature is on the rag wicked like! “Sorry ladies for being crass”, First there is heat, then rain, then heat, then cold, and then more rain. I think the collective word from vineyard people was F@#K! I believe it was very appropriate because of these circumstances.

Next on the list was a possible thyroid cancer scare for me. I have a shit ton of respect for anyone who has to wait out the results for something like this, it was so nerve wracking I didn’t sleep proper for two weeks! Great news is I am the picture of perfect health just some non toxic growths, although if you ask around, some people think im a toxic mothereffin growth, ha!
Friday was the day I got the results from the doctor and I was a mess all day, it was awesome to have someone super special there with me as I waited for the results, Thanks Daisy!. My talented son,Van, and his sweet mother,Amy, were also waiting for the results as we are still a functioning dysfunctional new world family. I wept on and off for the rest of the afternoon out of pure joy and relief, thank you everyone for the prayers and good vibes that were sent out for me!

So while all of this is going on, I had in the back of my mind the wedding I had to officiate on Saturday.
I had been asked to do a wedding for two of the sweetest kids I know. Micah and Jenay really are so special and I was honored to be a part of their special day.
The wedding was at the historic Loading Chute in Creston Ca. If you have never been there you need to get out there for some serious central coast cowboy food. This place is A-MAY-ZING! The Prime Rib is world famous and the soups are outta site. This was the venue for the wedding and if your into a simple yet professional place to get hitched you need to call them they do a great job.
The wedding was one for the record books. There are photos from Moore Photography on their website if you would like to see the fun that was had by all.

I would have like to keep going with all the side stories that have occurred during this time but I think they are going to be in a separate blog. I love the central coast and all it has brought me in my life. I have a deep love for the people and the places that I call home. Thanks everyone for the support… Loshie

Buenas Tardes Mashers.
Well Sunset magazine has come and gone and My feelings are still mixed on these guys. I have heard from a few vendors who worked the event and the general consensus is that the event organizers were not very organized, aside from this small detail the consuming public had a great time with all the great wineries and restaurants being represented.
I personally didn’t attend the event at Santa Margarita ranch but I was fortunate enough to attend the the final night at Avila Beach Golf resort with Chris Isaac and it was quite an experience as I had never attended a concert there before. Daisy and I were hooked up with VIP passes from her awesome cousin Kristin who worked for the main sponsor of the event. We were treated to complementary drinks and a pretty good dinner, honestly though, I was pretty poopy by time the steak arrived. It was a great time to catch up with old friends and we met a few new ones, what up Tyrone!
This is just a small sampling of what happened last weekend, I will be posting a few shorts detailing all the drama and laughter that really occurred in the next few weeks.. Thanks Loshie

Buenos Días Mashers!
Well it’s official, Sunset magazine has taken over the world that I like to call home and my feelings are kinda mixed on this subject. I am stoked about the business that is being generated by these good people, but I don’t think they fully grasp what it is to actually live here on the Central Coast.
It’s super easy to blow into town have an event, write and publish this is what the Central Coast is all about. This is not reality, reality is while wineries are pouring to the throngs of tourist and locals, in the back of their minds harvest is starting and there is a slight chance of rain, WTF!
I wonder if Sunsets celebrity chef would venture to Oceano and grab a bite to eat at Chachos or into the world famous Pismo Fish and Chip to get their goods, Shout out to all the groms who have worked there and have been hit on or slept with a certain waitress..
I wonder about these things as I have my morning coffee and prepare for this weekend. The real story will come out as I ask my friends who are pouring and serving at the main event and various off site events if they were treated respectfully and with dignity by those who have brought the circus to town. PS, I love the circus!!!
Loshie

Buenas Tardes Mashers, Well I believe I have experienced what some would have you believe was a fucked up situation, but I kinda see things just a little differently than most folks. My attitude and general outlook on life has, and probably will in the future get me into trouble, but that’s what the wild ride is all about. I love life no matter how bad it gets, and personally speaking I often have a 2×4 in my eye when the other person has a splinter that im squawking about, it happens…
What does this have to do with wine and the Central Coast you may ask? Everything.
We love, hate, laugh and cry here in the vineyards and restaurants in the “Sparkle Of The Eye of California”.
It’s not all peaches and cream, but there is a dose of whipped cream and cherries that keep a lot of folks thinking about the better toppings in life.

All I can say is that I can’t wait for harvest!, and to taste the fruit that this year has produced. For some it will be a sweet harvest, for others it will be bitter.. Yet for a lot of skilled winemakers, they are going to be able extract the right amount of sugar and acid to produce something that will last for generations to come.
You think this is deep? it really is…
For the rest of us, figure out what this year had to offer, and make something that will blow minds for generations to come… We have the ability to produce some kind of fruit that will last no matter what people say. Believe that you are the the one who will produce the fruit that will sustain a generation after you, then and only then you have made something worth drinking .
Hahaha, I was listening to Black Sabbath as I wrote this, so if you want to be in my mind listen to Heaven and Hell as you read this…