Good Time, Good Wine-- Kedar Massenburg & Mondovino

I love wine. And thanks to an ex, now I've become a bit of a connoisseur. For many, many years I was a devout red wine sipper. It didn't matter if I was having salmon, fried chicken or beef Teriyaki I was drinking red. Merlots mainly. And then that wonderfully rude, but oh so smart comedy, Sideways, came out and made us Merlot drinkers look like the Budweiser badunka-dunks of wine and I just couldn't have that so I began experimenting with some Cabs, Pinot Noirs and what quickly became a fave, Aussie Shirazes. Trying to be cool and non-confrontational one past date night I decided to go with the flow and have a glass of Chardonnay. He said that Russian Rivers were the ish-- rich and buttery. And I must say that is one of the few times I've gone white and it felt just right! Now I'm even into some of the more citrusy varieties of Chardonnay and this past summer, I was surprised by how satisfying Domaine Ott (THE summer wine!) and other brands of Rośe were to me-- the former 'Red' head!

So of course I was delighted to attend a mixer this past Monday night hosted by NV Magazine that was being sponsored by K'orus-- the brand of wine developed by former Motown head honcho, Kedar Massenburg. Needless to say I was skeptical when I first heard the news. I mean who goes from being a record maker (and breaker) to a (good) winemaker. As soon as I spotted Kedar I walked up to him and asked him if his name was just tied-in for brand recognition or was he really about the grapes. Stunned he was like "No, this is not a Ciroc kind of affair. I picked the grapes. I'm for real." So I tried the Chardonnay and I have to admit, it is good. It's gotta nice crisp citrus bite.

I told him about my love for wine and about this documentary that I saw one night on pay-per-view that opened me up to the madness, money, discrimination and power that defines the business of wine production in France, Argentina, Italy and of course the US. Mondovino is about the commodification of wine and how, like the commodification of hiphip, wine making has lost much of its authenticity over the years. Watching this film I was captivated by the artistry, if you will, that goes into making a good bottle of vino and how like everything else nowadays it's more about the loot and getting a high rating than about family honor and most importantly "terroir". It's an absolutely fascinating film that I would recommend to anyone who has ever uncorked a bottle (or I guess it's now unscrew).

I'm always interested in trying new wines so please list your favorites below. Right now I'm digging Meerlust (South African/ Merlot), Cutrer (Russian River,CA/ Chardonnay), Pomelo (Lake County, CA/ Sauvignon Blanc), and Isole e Olena (Italy/Chianti).