A Luau, Bass Notes and Cheaper Wine is Better

In Hawaii, you go to a Luau and eat an astounding amount of pretty-good food while drinking a lot of sweet rum drinks. In Healdsburg...



...you go to the once-a-year Luau at Amphora Winery and eat an astounding amount of pretty-good food...



...while drinking a ton of really delicious wine. Really delicious wine. The chicken was good. The wine was -- have I said this? -- really delicious.

This is Rick, the owner. And bass player in the band. Plottie talked to him earlier in the evening when he had no hair at all on his head. And then he came onto stage looking like this. Amazing what good red wine can do.



It's a luau. Everyone wears Aloha shirts, including The Great Zinfandini. The Great Ducknik opted for a different shirt, which JJ-aka-PP will easily recognize.



Plottie, Mrs. Zinfandini and Ms. Z's mom Carrie were fully Aloha'd.



These things are always fun, but Plottie is afraid he has to admit that when there's a band playing he can't hear a word anyone is saying. Even with his ear next to a person's mouth he was guessing half the time, but that may have to do with him cringing every time the bass player in the first band hit a wrong note, which was every other right note. Those of you for whom bass notes simply represent low sounds and you are able to pay them no attention at all: Say thank you now. Plotnik kept threatening to break one of the wine bottles over the guy's head. But that wine was too delicious. You've heard this already.

THE TASTE OF WINE: THE BRAIN KNOWS HOW MUCH IT COSTS.

Wine tasting started with Chardonnay and continued through rose, two zinfandels, a cabernet franc, a merlot and a pinot noir until arriving at the cabernet sauvignon. Most of the wines were in the $20-$30 range (but 40% off last night), except for the cabernet sauvignon which is priced at $52 (no discount).

It was elegant. Pristine. Smooth but full of flavor. And yet...

Pricing is so interesting. For many wine lovers, a $52 wine this good is a pittance. But it's too much for Plotnik, not because he couldn't afford it but because he doesn't want to afford it. He has his own limit as to what any bottle of wine is worth. He knows after years of experimentation that the $5 Old Vine Zin from Trader Joe's is not as good as the $38 old vine Zin from Raffanelli or last night's Amphora Dry Creek Zin, but it's damned close.

That $52 cab tasted terrific last night but might not taste all that great at another time. Not worth it. Sorry. But the rose, discounted to $9 a bottle? Zinfandini and Plotnik split a case.

Who determines taste? The brain. And Plotnik's brain will tell him this rose tastes great, knowing it cost so much less.