Rock guitar duets & Cycles Gladiator Pinot Noir

It’s Friday night and time to rock. I’ve created something new: Duets and more by great guitarists. Not much more need be said. Have a listen!


Clapton, Knopfler, & Collins:
Same old blues: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhrqZP_qVyU&feature=related

Stevie Ray & Jeff Beck:
Goin down: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RWWuv_MwM4&feature=related

Les Paul & Jeff Beck:
Jamming: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrC_oqWq2pU&feature=related

Jeff Beck & Jimmy Page
Beck’s Bolero & Immigrant: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0hk6un_VTg&feature=related

Page, Beck, & Clapton
Layla: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICpxgxThG7s&feature=related

Beck & Clapton
Further on up the road: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZBeerUD-zc&feature=related

Clapton & B.B. King
Key to the highway: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fuMF3Bjr84&feature=related

Beck & Batten
Blue wind: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vOsTLyh1uE&feature=related

Beck, Santana, Lukather
Jammin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nLdhXZb_z4&feature=related

Lukather & Bonamassa:
Jammin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWMj_0xi6NM&feature=related

King, Guy, Clapton, & J. Vaughn
Rock me baby: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4OXrmxDp44

Clapton & Santana:
Jingo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAf3gqdCrDs&feature=related

Knopfler & Clapton:
Sultans of Swing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkrWqpymXLY&feature=related

Knopfler, Clapton, Sting, & Collins:
Money for Nothing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1lNMBsNEw8&feature=related

The wine of the night is a cool find. I love Pinot Noir and I try to search out the best examples of this difficult to grow variety for review here. Of course, I also enjoy drinking them before I review them. But inexpensive Pinot is not easy to find, yet the 2008 Cycles Gladiator Pinot Noir is a good one. It has everything you expect in a Pinot: dark fruit, cola, and spiciness on the nose with silky notes of cherry, plum, and blackberry augmented by a touch of vanilla, velvet tannins, and balanced acidity on the palate. Yet the jammy fruit character is not overdone yielding to an earthiness characteristic of the best Pinots.

Another reason to try this wine is a bit of trivia. It’s banned in the state of Alabama because the label, based on an 1895 poster of a nude nymph riding a winged bicycle, was deemed pornographic. Interesting. The label shows an impressionistic side view of her breasts and buttocks, but there is no depiction of genitalia. Still, the ban on the wine was apparently prompted by a complaint. Too bad for the down-homeys of Alabama, good for us—fewer people with whom to share this treasure. It’s available in the remaining 49 states and over 600,000 cases have been sold. At $10.00 a bottle, get yourself a case and let’s get this party started. Kick out the jams, brothers and sisters! Enjoy!

Cheers!