Back from Vacation

My apologies for not updating the blog sooner, but I have been in Puerto Vallarta on vacation. I like PV because I am away from wine snobs, wine writers, petty bureaucrats, and the Washington Wine Commission, so I am not grumpy.

I thought I saw Paul Greggut in a bar playing for drinks. Well, he wore sunglasses like Paul, but I couldn't make a positive ID. When he jammed 'La Bamba' with the local street musicians, it brought the house down.

A lot of people don't like PV. What's not to like about PV? The first rule is to learn to totally and I mean totally ignore the vendors. If you get stuck up in the hotel district or worse yet, Nueva Vallarta I understand - you might as well be in Hawaii. You eat the 'comida tipica' in the time-share restaurant or you go out to the Olive Garden, or order in pizza from Pizza Hut. God forbid you went all inclusive. We once attended, just for kicks, a time share presentation at the Westin Vagina. They served us a complimentary breakfast of powdered eggs and mystery meat sausage. Our Mexican hotel had a woman making fresh tortillas right in front of you and the lady that made the eggs - any way you like them - could crack the egg into the pan with one hand. All this while a man played classical music on a grand piano - all outdoors, under the trees next to the Rio Caule.

Those in the know stay south of the Rio Cuale. We stayed in a two-bedroom, two-bath private condo with pool for $800 a week. An entrée costs about $18 at a really good restaurant. A good bottle of Mexican wine costs about $20. I am a believer in drinking locally, so in Washington, I drink Washington wine, when I am in Mexico, I drink Mexican wines from Baja California. When in California I drink Spanish, New Zealand, or Italian wines. (For those of you familiar with the Bonair Winery website, you know that the famous wine regions of California are on the same latitude as Baghdad, Iraq.)

Mexican wine has really improved. The Sauvignon Blancs are great with the local, freshly-caught seafood. My favorite Mexican beer is Bohemia, followed by Negra Modelo. (No microbrews here yet.) I can't drink that Mexican dog piss that everyone thinks is so cool with a lime in it and tastes just like Clydesdale piss from the US.

Stay tuned for the next installment in the Rating the Raters!