I can’t believe this wine doesn’t cost twice the price!
We liked this smartly-constructed, lightly-oaked wine for its balanced 13.5% alcohol and its lovely blend of peaches, melons and hazelnuts. Rounded with a crisp, if brief, finish, it is a wonderful wine. But more than that, it is a very, very inexpensive, well-made California chardonnay for under $10.

It will run you a mere $9.99.

Especially nice with steelhead and braised bitter greens.

The UCSC Concert Choir, conducted by Nathaniel Berman, will perform two musical masterworks by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Friday and Saturday March 12 & 13, @ 8pm.

Friday, March 12, the choir performs Dona Nobis Pacem and Five Mystical Songs at the First Congregational Church, 900 High Street, in Santa Cruz, and again the following evening at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in San Mateo.

British modernist composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (shown here in his composing prime) and American poet Walt Whitman shared a sensitivity to the dark allure of warfare. Both saw the full range of battlefield suffering. Neither forgot what they saw.

Vaughan Williams’ masterpiece Dona Nobis Pacem sets Whitman’s battlefield visions to music for full chorus, punctuated by haunting solo work for soprano and baritone.
Full of tears and thunder — often breaking into shimmering eight-part chords — the music is ravishing.

Tickets available at the door, or at 831/459-2159 & at santacruztickets.com — $10 general/$8/senior/$6 students & UCSC staff.

Oyster bar Mondays coming any minute now to Soif.  Stay tuned closely.

No more Black China retail/cafe - instead there’s now Caffe Tazzina, with an all-new, not entirely vegetarian menu. Continue to stay tuned. …

Is Tacos Morenos under new management? Get back to me on that one. Thanks.

(”New” is definitely the word du jour, no?)

We all knew that mountain climbers were

Never before have adventure junkies gotten so close to the testosterone-drenched thrills of alpine climbing. And the Eiger, so beautiful, breathtaking. The film is a jaw-dropping recreation of a tragic assault on the Eiger’s north face. So help me I can’t understand how they got this footage. Even if most of it was somehow staged for the camera, it is still rife with the sorts of punishing handholds, rappels and traverses that jumpstart the adrenaline of extreme climbers and masochists.

At this point I have to stop. One of the most startling things about this scenery-driven film was my physical response to it. I was bored and impatient. What a silly story, what stiff acting. And yet as the climbing began, I found myself physically engrossed and unsettled. I flinched at each failed attempt to find a handhold, I had to close my eyes as rocks gave way under their feet. It was literally painful to watch.

And then there was the agonizing suspense. Would Toni be able to save the bleeding Austrian? Would Toni’s partner ever regain the feeling in his right arm? (This sounds like a SNL skit, but it was riveting, riveting, riveting.)

The story is thin—a limp love story between a reporter covering the attempt to climb the Eiger, and her former sweetie, Toni (who happens to be the finest climber in Germany), this story is draped over the brewing world war and quest for domination by the nascent Third Reich on the eve of the 1936 Olympics. (Now that I think of it, of course the love story is limp. Toni’s saving all of his precious bodily fluids — remember Dr. Strangelove? — for the mountain.)

More backstory: Hitler has promised a gold medal to the first climbers to successfully scale the north face of the Eiger. Okay, so we get that this is high-stakes cojones time. And while the wealthy gawkers gather to drink champagne and load up on schnitzel from the comfort of the hotel at the foot of the mountain, teams of climbers from several countries begin their ascents.

You know things aren’t going too well when halfway up, a member of the Austrian team suffers major head injuries and a broken leg. Our heroes, the lads from Garmisch-Partenkirchen, offer to help out and bring the wounded climber back down the mountain. Bad idea.
The weather deteriorates — and things get brutal as the three remaining climbers try to rest on jagged cliffs while avalanches rain down boulders the size of Bayreuth. Internal bleeding, frostbite, bad luck, bad decisions, worse weather—it is excruciating to watch, and yet — like all disasters — utterly mesmerizing.

Forget the “plot” - North Face is aerobic viewing — a dramatic visual lesson in courage, arrogance, and the amount of punishment the human body can endure.

The most widely-planted grape of Austria, GV famously goes with everything, including Brussels sprouts. We climbed down into the glass full of salted nectarines, straw and jasmine - at first sip. Then this creation of organic grapes morphed into pink grapefruit and a bouquet of quartrz. Ultra clean finish.
What’s not to like?

You can also sample this wine by the glass at Oswald, corner of Soquel and Front streets in downtown Santa Cruz.

Levitsky’s show of 16 paintings opens Friday, March 5 — and runs through March 28. The opening reception is from 6-8:30pm, March 5 - and the MichaelAngelo Gallery is open weekends from 11am-5pm, and by appointment. 1111 River St. SC - 831.426.5500

British modernist composer Ralph Vaughan Williams and American poet Walt Whitman (shown here as a young man) shared a sensitivity to the dark allure of warfare. Whitman helped tend the wounded from the Civil War of the mid 19th century, and Williams was a field medic 60 years later during World War I.

Both saw the full range of battlefield suffering. Neither forgot what they saw. Vaughan Williams’ masterpiece Dona Nobis Pacem sets Whitman’s words to music for full chorus, punctuated by haunting solo work for soprano and baritone.
Full of tears and thunder — often breaking into shimmering eight-part chords — the music is ravishing.

Friday, March 12, the choir performs Dona Nobis Pacem and Five Mystical Songs at the First Congregational Church, 900 High Street, in Santa Cruz, and again the following evening at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in San Mateo.

Tickets available at the door, or at 831/459-2159 & at santacruztickets.com — $10 general/$8/senior/$6 students & UCSC staff.

Surrender to sounds that YouTube couldn’t possibly duplicate.

Chase the last gloomy nights of winter with a Sacred Hearth.

1 part Cynar

1 part Campari

2 parts gin

a squeeze of lemon

no ice

If you haven’t tried Cynar — a high-octane distillation of artichoke — you haven’t lived.

From the small Glen Haven estate of Hunter Hill comes this new pinot noir release by winemaker Vann Slatter. And it’s a big bold creation powered by dry-farmed grapes grown high above Soquel.

Hence the intensity of this 13.5 % alcohol wine.

The 2007 Estate Pinot Noir can do anything a syrah can do — it loves lamb. But it also shows its complexity alongside salmon and pasta.

This spicy pinot starts out cleanly with plenty of black cherry and finishes with a long, slow meditation on licorice and sassafras. Along the way we noticed a rhythmic unveiling of fruit and tannins (yes, just like the dance of the seven veils). Two hours after opening, the unmistakable earth flavors of rootbeer chimed in with the licorice.

Wine worth thinking about as you taste. We found it for $24.95 at Shoppers.

Double OMG.

The informal tasting workshop takes place at Soif, from 2-4 pm, for a $15 per person fee, which includes bread and cheese to accompany the various cuvees.

If you haven’t sampled Windy Oaks wines, or yet had the pleasure of hearing this consummate winemaker talk you through his award-winning vintages — you’re in for a memorable treat.
By reservations only, call wineshop at 423-2020, or email: luke@soifwine.com.

On the First Friday artcrawl next week,

On display at this show will be 16 paintings representing Levitsky’s substantial body of work from the past eight years.

(Genevieve Walking, 2009, at left)
The show runs March 5 - 28, with an opening reception on

Friday, March 5 6-8:30pm.

MichaelAngelo Gallery is located at 1111 River Street, Santa Cruz (831)426-5500.