Morning Birdsong: Red Red Wine

Monday, March 10, 2008

Red Red Wine

This year Brad and I threw another winter-will-never-be-over theme party: Wine Tasting 101, Red Wine. For Christmas Brad had given me " A Wine Party in a Box" with the how-to's of putting together Wine-Themed parties. We decided to do blind taste tests of 9 different red wines followed by desserts (Anne's ambrosian Flour-less Chocolate Cake and my triple chocolate cookies. We dressed up like fancy grown-ups to add to the festivity. Joe Golliher, our resident expert (as far as we are all concerned (-:) was our guest speaker to start us off, giving us such tips as "Drink the wine you like -- who cares what's supposed to be good or go with such and such a food. Drinking wine is about the pleasure in it, the enjoyment of it, [not status or knowing the rules]."

It's interesting how wine tastes different when you aren't eating it with food or just mindlessly drinking it. Brad and I were both happy to find we liked the wines we thought we did, without knowing which ones they were -- Brad: Pinot Noir, Me: Merlot and Chianti (Hillbilly Italian Mutt Wine). But the top wine of the night, across the board, was surprisingly a Zinfandel with the cheesy appellation: The Seven Deadly Zins. It was quite wonderful (and a little steep at $18 a bottle). Strangely, as an illustration, the night before we were at friends' for dinner where a $6 bottle of red wine was served (called "Cheap Red Wine" -- stenciled black on a plain brown wrapper) that was just about equally enjoyable. So there you go -- you can find tasty, delightful wine at all prices.

This was the picture with the party reminder poem by
Amy Lowell entitled "The Decade"

When you came you were like red wine and honey,
And the taste of you burnt my mouth with its sweetness.
Now you are like morning bread, smooth and pleasant.
I barely taste you at all, for I know your savour,
and am so completely satisfied.
.