In this episode of a guy, a girl, and a bottle we visit the Bennett Lane winery (www.bennettlane.com), which is located on the north end of Napa Valley off Hwy 128, just past Hwy 29 in Calistoga. The property of this winery is incredible, and the view of the surrounding mountains is amazing, there is also a few picnic tables for you to grab a bottle and kick back and enjoy the view of the vineyard. On our visit we did something that was quite unique, we were able to blend our own bottle of wine! (This occurred under guidance of Rob Hunter, Bennett Lanes’ resident winemaker) and this is an experience that is available to the public in small groups, check their website for the ландшафтBennett Lane Custom Blend Experience. It was a lot of fun, but since we are not wine makers, only wine drinkers, we were worried that we would blend up some kind of swill. Check out the podcast to hear what happens, and to see if we are going to drop the podcasting gig and become wine makers ourselves.
In addition to our wine blending experience we tasted some amazing wines, two of which are their signature wines. The Maximus and the Primus Reserve Cabernet, both were amazing wines. Randy Lynch not only is the owner of a great winery, but he also is the only winery in Napa Valley to own a NASCAR race team. You can check out more about the team and follow them as they compete on the NASCAR West Circuit.
Lastly, we’d like to say a special thanks to our sponsors for this episode Hamilton Beach. Check out the latest line of electric mixers, just in time for the holidays!
Hey there Guys and Girls! After a long summer break, we are happy to let you know that we are back behind the microphone, and in the vineyards! We really apologize for the long delay, but work was getting quite hectic, and The Guy thought that he lost a bunch of already recorded episodes. As it turns out, The Guy secured himself a new job with less hours, which means more podcasting coming your way! In addition, the recordings that we thought we lost have been found safe and sound. Woot!
Upcoming from these ‘Lost Episodes’ are interviews from the Benzinger Winery, an Eco-tour from the Kunde Estate, a trip to Clear Lake to visit Shannon Ridge (recently voted one of the top 10 hottest small brands in wines), and so much more. We’ll even be throwing in some videos for you in the coming weeks and months ahead.
Keep those headphones on and your subscriptions up to date cuz The Guy and The Girl are back!
Kermit Lynch last week formally received the Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur award in a ceremony in San Francisco last week.  Last year Kermit was awarded this prestigious honor, which was originally created for military accomplishments by Napolean Bonoparte 1802 (10% of the awards are now reserved for non-military accomplishments). Full details of the shindig can be found on the French Consulate’s San Francisco Office webpage (translated).
We interviewed Kermit on Episode 19 of A Guy, a Girl, and a Bottle, and also recorded a reading that Kermit did from his latest book - Inspiring Thirst
This award is very significant and Kermit joins previous winners such as Robert Mondavi, Robert Parker, Duke Ellington and Ronald Reagan, among others. Festivities included food, wine (of course), and a special appearance by Boz Scaggs, with whom Kermit played with on Quicksand Blues. If you are in Berkeley, CA be sure to stop by his store, tell and congratulate him in person (and pick up a bottle or two!)
Just a quick note to let everyone know that The Guy will be attending PodCamp NYC this weekend in, of all places, New York City (hence the name). The Girl couldn’t make it as she is relaxing in Florida. If you are also attending, drop me an email, we’ll hook up and try to sample a bottle of something or other. I’ll be working hard at both the Day Job, as well as learning new and interesting stuff to improve the podcast. More to come. Follow me at Twitter:
Much has been said about Web 2.0, social networking, and or course our friends at the RIAA. Love those folks - yeah, not so much really. You see the RIAA (or the Recording Industry Association of America) has pretty much outlived their usefulness. Traditionally as middle-men in the delivery of music, they have enjoyed near monopolistic power over the industry and the consumers of it’s content (that’s you and me). I won’t go into the evils of the RIAA and how the industry is rapidly changing blah blah blah, as many others who know much more than me are much better at explaining it than I, which isn’t to say I haven’t tried. I think most people are slowly coming around and understand that it’s a New World and the game it is a-changing. That’s great news for you, me, and especially the artists that have been held hostage by the RIAA since the invention of the phonograph.
Bum Rush the Charts (BRTC) is an example of how we can take back control of our media. At it’s core, BRTC encourages everyone to buy a specific song on a specific day from iTunes. The point? to illustrate that consumers don’t need the RIAA and neither do the artists that have been beholden to them. Interested in this social experiment? Head on over to iTunes on March 22, 2007 and purchase the song ‘Mine Again’ by Black Lab and let’s see if we can’t take back our music and make it Mine Again.
On Thursday, March 22 - click here to purchase the song and help make your voice heard. It will only take 2 minutes and .99. Thanks!
To hold you over until then, enjoy the latest video from Black Lab for free (take that evil RIAA!) Enjoy.
Bennett Lane Winery Play now! - 
Kermit Lynch last week formally received the Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur award in a ceremony in San Francisco last week.  Last year Kermit was awarded this prestigious honor, which was originally created for military accomplishments by Napolean Bonoparte 1802 (10% of the awards are now reserved for non-military accomplishments). Full details of the shindig can be found on the French Consulate’s San Francisco Office 
