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Just finished proofreading our new cookbook yesterday — hooray! My mind is swimming (pun intended) with recipes for seafood, stews, pies, cakes…no wonder I’m always hungry?

The American Lighthouse Cookbook on Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1581826761

pub date: September 1

Met some people last night involved in an interesting wine venture in Temecula, near San Diego.  I had followed early wineries like Callaway, who did unexpectedly lovely dessert wines there in the 80s and 90s. Apparently there’s still more good vineyard land there, and investor groups have been planting and making wine.  Tried one experimental Cabernet Sauvignon — 2005, very soft, with surprising cassis fruit –  but need more info to really make a judgement.

Suppose you had a chance to taste a fine scotch that had been blended 30 or 40 years ago, and forgotten in the back of a prime distillery in Scotland?  I jumped at the chance, and found my tiny portion of The Last Drop full of layered nuances from cocoa and leather to smoke, cherry and caramel.

James Esty and his cohorts — all spirits industry veterans in their 60s, 70s and 80s — have created a new brand.  Now, even if I can’t afford the $2,000 for a bottle of The Last Drop right now, I will be very eager to see what he brings to the table — or the glass — next year!

Just back from a dinner at Upstairs on the Square with wines from the oldest biodynamic winery in Alsace.  An aperitif of Kreydenweiiss 2005 Kritt Pinot Blanc “les Charmes” was full of depth and honey, like drinking flowers.  The 2007 Andlau Riesling “Au dessus de la loi” (with nice botrytis) paired surprisingly well with an elegant dungeness crab creation while the 2007 came alive with a dish of locally foraged mushrooms — which was also fine with the 2006 classic rose-scented 2006 Kritt Gewurtztraminer “les Charmes.”

All these wines this evening came from Marc Kreydenweiss, a family that has owned vineyards in Alsace for 300 years.  In 1999, when they wanted to expand, Emmanuelle K. explained, they bought in Costieres de Nimes which is now part of the Rhone but 10 years ago was a tiny obscure appellation.

The two reds from the Rhone were startlingly lush, especially considering their under $20-ish price: 2005 Perrieres, a lovely earthy match to lightly wood-grilled lamb loin.  The 2004 Ansata (80% syrah) had big flavors to go with its big structure and tannins, and still felt like a very young wine at five years old.