Viva Batista

Icky Mettle

God damn, the Archers of Loaf's Icky Mettle is a fine disc.  How the hell did  it escape my attention in 1993?  I was listening to the indie rock bands the Archers are commonly compared to--Pavement and Dinosaur Jr. and the like.  But I didn't pick it up until a few years ago, and even then, "Web In Front," the opening track, is so good that it overshadowed the rest of the album.  I'd repeat "Web" until I got sick of it and then move on to something completely different.  But the wonder that is my iPod's "Alt, Punk, Pop & Rock" playlist kept pulling up other Icky Mettle tracks until I finally saw the error of my ways.

It's weird to feel so freshly enthusiastic about a 12-year-old album.  A number of my faves from the same era haven't aged all that well, and I wonder if I'd like Icky as much today if I'd heard it back in '93.  But I didn't (hear it then), so I do (love it now).

Austrian Wine

That's right--Austrian wine.  We've been drinking a lot of Gruner Veltliner over the past year, thanks to John at the Orleans Grapevine, who recommended it to us last summer.  It's a consistently excellent (and inexpensive) white, and very different from most varietals we're familar with in the U.S.  It's a subtle wine--New Zealand Sauv Blanc it's not--so it's hard to describe.  Just trust me--it's good.

But Austria and Germany are known for whites.  I'm not a Riesling fan, but I know they make the best in the world there.  But what about their reds?  I hadn't heard good things, and I'd never even tried them until dinner a few weeks ago at Vidalia in DC.  My brother who's been in the food and wine biz in DC for years was in our party, so the sommelier paid a visit to our table.  He convinced us to try something unusual, and he brought back an Austrian Zweigelt and continued the onslaught of österreichisch reds throughout the evening.

They were so good I raved about them to Amy, who ordered a sampling from K&L Wines, which we finally picked up this weekend.  Tonight we had the 2003 Iby Zweigelt Classic--not quite in the same league as the bottles picked out for us at Vidalia, but pretty damn good for $13.  All the Austrian wine I've had has been a relative bargain--they all taste like they cost $10 more than I paid.  Let's hope it stays that way.