48 Hours: Red Wine Weather
With the temperatures cooling off it is time to break out the red wines again. One of the hardest Aussie Reds to find is Henschke’s legendary Hill of Grace Shiraz. Wine Spectator spent some time there earlier this year and took a stroll among their vines, some of which were planted before the American Civil War.
Their fall harvest season falls in April and May; the southern hemisphere is funny that way. Winemakers seem to be less stressed out than money managers, you can meet Henschke’s family team below.
A cool, windy day will find me on Long Island’s North Fork, where we will check out Bedell Cellar’s 2005 Merlot Reserve. It is crush season in wine country, check it out if your get the chance.
Bedell Cellars has already released its 2005 Reserve Merlot ($40). And, despite its youth, the intensity of the vintage demands attention. Loads of blackberry preserve, fresh fig, and cafe mocha aromas reach right up out of the glass and pull you in. Big, lush blackberry flavors fill the mouth, with rich chocolate and a little vanilla in the background. The extracted, broad flavors carry through from beginning to end. The structure is a little firm and this wine is very full-bodied for the region. The finish is lengthy, if just slightly astringent. I expect the tannins to mellow, revealing layers of complexity and deliciousness rarely seen on the North Fork. In three to five years, when other wineries are just releasing their 05s, this wine could be a classic. Appellation America
Zeppelin Gig Confirmed
The long rumored Led Zeppelin reunion is on, with John Bonham’s son taking the stage to pound the skins.
Ticket demand is expected to be the largest for any show in the history of the world, and they have had trouble keeping the servers from crashing.
The show is a tribute to Ahmet Ertegun, who led quite an extraordinary life.
If you want to enter the lottery for tickets go to the site listed below...fair warning it has not been working due to the deluge.
Ahmettribute.com
LED ZEPPELIN
CONFIRM REUNION GIG
At a press conference this afternoon it was officially announced that Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones will play at the show to remember the late Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun. Picking up the sticks will be Jason Bonham.
The one-off concert will take place at The O2 (formerly the Millennium Dome) in London on November 26th 2007.
Tight But Loose
Rock and Roll/Knebworth
48 Hours: Strong Buy on Ian Toll’s Six Frigates
We recently sat down, via email, with Ian Toll, who left behind the world of Wall Street to take on a new challenge, that of an author. Over the years I have found many Wall Street professionals share a passion for military history, and Ian's first book Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy will appeal to them and anyone with an interest in that scrappy startup known as the United States of America circa 1800.
Ian received his undergraduate degree in American History at Georgetown University (1989) and his Masters in Public Policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government (1995). You might have bumped into Ian during the time he spent covering the enterprise software and e-commerce sectors at Credit Suisse, Thomas Weisel and Alex Brown & Sons. A jack of all Wall Street trades, he even paid his dues working at the Federal Reserve.The competition for financial dominance between London and New York, in addition to global trade issues, have been in the business press of late, but these battles have been fought many times in the past. American exports rose more than fivefold, to $108 million, between 1792 and 1807. Maritime commerce created fortunes, and capital pools were created that enabled the rapid expansion of the U.S. economy in the 19th century.
Money Never Sleeps
The movie "Wall Street" was based in New York City, with the Hamptons thrown in for good measure. But the sequel will span the globe, mirroring the maturation of the global financial markets, which trade 1440 minutes a day.
Are you ready?
Just like his first love, Gordon Gekko never sleeps. One of the most enduring antiheroes of cinema's past two decades, the super rich trader from Oliver Stone's 1987 film Wall Street is returning in a sequel which will see him as a far less parochial figure.
"Wall Street was New York- centric. Today the markets are much more global, hence the title of the new film, Money Never Sleeps," says Ed Pressman, the producer of both films
It appears that Michael Douglas is willing to reprise his role as Gekko.
Over the past few months, those talks involved Pressman and Lolita screenwriter Stephen Schiff visiting London and meeting with the likes of billionaire Vincent Tchenguiz "We are talking to Vincent to see how people behave in this era," adds the producer, although Tchenguiz is not the new Gekko, again to be played by Michael Douglas. "Originally, there was no one individual who Gekko was modelled on," he adds. "But Gekko was partly Milken."
Gekko will be older, but will he be wiser after spending time in jail?
