40...something

 In my early 20's, when I drank wine it was almost always white wine. I don't recall when I made that smooth transition to being a red wine drinker, but now that I am, I seldom choose to drink white wine....until recently. It started in May with a few glasses of champagne, then a visit with my mom, who almost always drinks white, had me joining her in a glass of white instead of my usual red. Holding that chilled glass of white wine brought with it a feeling of melancholy...of days gone by but not forgotten. My twenties (and thirties!) are now part of that "gone but not forgotten past and I now find myself looking for things on the internet that begin with "40 something". I read Chatelaine rather than Vogue. I wear flats more often than heels. Weekends are spent more often at home with a good book instead of out until the wee hours..or at home drinking red wine. In my thirties I drank less often and the majority of my time was spent in the role of "mom". I could be found at the school, at the soccer field, and driving the van full of my little people to and fro... yes, it was the requisite "soccer mom" mini-van. Whether I am looking for a new hairstyle, or fashion, or  some skincare, just like the transition from white to red, I have transitioned to that "40 something" person. I no longer drive a mini-van, I no longer belong to a 'PAC' and I have more freedom than I've had in a very long time. I drink by myself if I choose and recently that choice was a glass of white wine. Last week I was given a bottle of chardonnay as a gift, with the promise of a post here on my long neglected blog. The bottle, OPEN, is a BC VQA wine from the Okanagan Valley, and I've drank the red variety many times. I call it "the wine that tells me what to do with it". So, in the quiet hours of a very warm summer evening, I poured myself a glass and sat outside under the twinkly lights of my gazebo and savoured the cool, crisp taste of the refreshing white wine. It was fruity and cold and just perfect for such an unusually warm evening. It felt like I was in the Okanagan. I wanted the moment to last for as long as possible. The quiet, the warmth and that soft, chilling peachy flavour rolling around in my mouth. I sat there for a long while, listening to the silence. It was strange. Nobody was calling for me. Nobody needed me. My time was my own. Somehow, while drinking that white wine, I found my way back to a part of me that I'd put aside. A part of me that had more choices and fewer obligations. And that person can choose to drink both red and white wine.....but the "40 something" in me is smart enough to know not to drink both at the same time! Thank goodness that with age comes wisdom!

  

Staying "Open"

I'd love to know why my brain seems to work so well when I'm trying to drift off to sleep. I lie in bed with enough words and thoughts rushing through my brain to fill ten blogs and them BOOM, I'm asleep. Where do the thoughts go? I can assure you they don't remain in my head because when I wake up in the morning all those lovely blogging ideas have disappeared! Trying to recreate the words became so incredibly challenging that I had to open a bottle of wine. Or, it could be that the name of the bottle was calling to my subconscious....the name of the bottle is OPEN. How appropriate...the wine that tells you what to do! I think I'll go back and buy a case! Then, every time I want to have a glass of wine, I'll be able to say it was the wine talking! "Open", is a Merlot, and it has some excellent qualities. First, it is a BC VQA wine from the Okanagan Valley. The back of the bottle quotes Albert Einstein..."the mind that opens to a new idea never returns to its original size" and it challenges the drinker to "FREE YOUR MIND, EXPRESS YOURSELF, AND ABOVE ALL BE OPEN". The bottle also states that this Merlot pairs perfectly with steak, dessert and hard cheeses. Unfortunately, my fridge was bare of hard cheeses and steak...but I did have mint Girl Guide cookies. Do they fall under the "dessert" category? I believe they do! Thus, I paired two mint cookies with my glass of wine...ummmm, I should also mention the small (ish) bowl of sour cream and onion potato chips that I also "paired" with my wine. In my humble opinion the wine, cookies and chips all came together like a beautiful choir of singing angels and encouraged me to blog, blog, blog. I will definitely be going to get another bottle. The price point is also lovely, at $9.95 a bottle, I believe I shall buy three...or perhaps five is a rounder number? After all, I'm trying to keep my mind "Open" and I might need to share a bottle or three with my friends.  I love the idea of having an open mind. With so many diverse people living in Canada how can one not want to experience and soak up all the culture that is waiting to be appreciated? With the current styles of tattoos? Or piercings? Head coverings? Hairstyles? Opinions? Foods? There is a never-ending supply of interesting, intriguing, visually stimulating amount of "STUFF" poking out of all aspects of society, just waiting to be soaked up and enjoyed by anyone who will take a moment to stop and appreciate it. Want to step back in time? Sit down and talk with a senior and they will take you back to an era so very different and in some ways so much simpler than today that you will yearn for a Coke that costs a nickel and Saturday night date night. Wonder what the younger people are thinking? Sit with a 21 year old that listens to CBC and has an opinion about Justin Trudeau and his Liberal party.....yes, there are young people today that have an opinion about politics and even voted in the recent election! I know this because my son was one of them. Okay...I have a sudden urge to tell the truth here...I actually ate 4 mint Girl Guide cookies...they were so good! Aaaaand....back to diversity! The politics just make you want more wine. It's the photos, the art, the theatre...all the wonderful people and opportunities to open your mind and allow yourself to be transported to a different place and contemplate what someone else's life is like, or what it's like to live a different type of life. Anyway you look at it, opening your mind is always rewarding and thirst quenching!

Cheers!

The time for wine....is always!

After several (many several) months of not writing a single word, but very often thinking about it, I am sitting here, at last, attempting to put my thoughts on this page. I love writing. I've missed writing. Almost as much as I miss drinking wine when I decide I should cut back...almost. In my head I have grandeur visions of waking at 5:00 am each day and spending an hour writing....or is it that I wish to get up and start drinking wine? Hey, I subscribe to the "it's 5:00 somewhere" belief! So today, I will write and drink wine and all will be grand! I will head over to the home of my good friend and we shall have a long overdue visit over a nice glass of red wine. It's somewhat amazing how you can spend long periods of time not doing something and then, when you finally do it again, it feels like you've been doing it all along. Whether it's writing, or drinking wine or finally seeing a friend after a longtime, the feeling of happiness is fabulous. The conversation flows, the wine flows, the words flow....it's like you never stopped. It's exactly what people say about riding a bicycle! There are so many different types of wine, just as there are many types of friendships. Some friends you see regularly, spend time with, are close with all the time. Others, you are close with but don't get to have regular visits. So when you do have a chance to try a new wine or make a new friend, embrace the opportunity. Say hello, twist of the cap, pull out the cork, extend your glass and drink. You may just find a new friend or a new favourite wine or just a new experience that changes the way you think or the way you feel or the way you view the world. Cheers!

Inspired? Maybe......

I am the author of an upcoming best seller. Sound good? Yes, I think so too. Now, I just have to write the book and convince someone to publish it! Sound impossible? Maybe....but the impossible just takes a little longer. I am my own cheerleader. The cover picture on my phone says "Yes I Can!". I have positive affirmations written in different places. I believe in myself. I know that just like that excellent bottle of wine, that was at one time just a grape in a faraway vineyard, my dreams too will become ripe, picked and bottled. They will sit on a shelf with a fancy cover and be plucked off by discerning, tasteful buyers, looking for that one little nugget of gold to bring them happiness, if only for an evening. All it takes is the belief that it will happen....and perhaps some hard work along the way. Maybe I will have to get up a little earlier. Perhaps I will have to pass on a night out now and then. It will be the price I pay to reach my dream.  Inspiration comes in so many different ways. Something we read on the internet. A boost of confidence from a close friend. The success of a co-worker or relative. Occasionally we find it while sharing a bottle of wine with a friend. Sometimes even the names of wine can be the source of our inspiration. A wine called "Arabella" finds us looking to purchase that horse that we've always dreamt of owning. In fact, Arabella is a South African red, a Pinotage, that has a strong, robust soul that holds its own at the table. Definitely able to jump fences and race through open meadows! Family members are another way to feed your creative appetite. What does "Sibling Rivalry" make you think of? Sounds like a good book or a fierce movie. Maybe it make you want to start up your own business or maybe you just want to punch out your brother. I haven't yet had the pleasure of drinking the wine adorned with such a spicy name....I'm saving it to share with my "sibling" when she arrives this week.  Another source of inspiration, my sister is sure to fill me full of great, or at the very least, interesting ideas for my upcoming best seller. No matter what your source, or what your idea, your dream or your desires, keep them big and keep them yours. Drink to them, drink for them, or drink to enjoy them. They are yours. Never let them go. 

Cheers!

In my wine environment!

The environment. It's talked about in schools, in the news, in politics and found on social media. It's discussed at dinner parties and around the water cooler in the workplace. It has rapidly gained the attention of the masses. Unlike wine, whose origins are steeped in both dirt and history, talking about the environment is a relatively new topic and is cause for debate among many. Many of us are still learning how we can best reduce, reuse and recycle. 

How much of an environmentalist are you? Do you turn off your tap to save water while you brush your teeth? Do you hang all of your clothes to dry so you don't use electricity running your dryer? Do you use a bike to get around rather than a car? Do you unplug appliances when they aren't being used? Or do you simply carry on as you always have, with no concern or thought given to your actions? Do you believe that your actions are so small to be of little consequence to the bigger picture? Do you recycle a little or or lot? How about all those empty wine bottles? Do you take them back to the liquor store, the bottle depot or throw them into the recycle bin? Do they (gasp!) end up in the garbage? Perhaps you have a basement full of empties that you are saving because one day you are going to make your own wine? 

I like to think that I fall somewhere in the middle. Not the best but not the worst either. I am a work in progress. Always trying to improve my efforts and be a more conscientious steward of our earth. To that end, when making my recent wine purchases, I chose a bottle of  Ecologica, a Reserva Malbec. It is an organic and Certified Fair Trade wine from la Riojala, Argentina. Priced at around $20 a bottle it is definitely a nice wine. It's smooth and full bodied and would be an excellent pairing for a richer meal such as roast beef or a hearty steak....which, of course, would be an environmentally friendly organic beef with fresh, organic carrots. To complete the meal we would most definitely have a fine, organic cheesecake for dessert! 

It's tough for many of us to find that perfect balance between being a good steward of the environment and keeping up with our busy lives but somewhere in the middle lies that place that we are happy with. If you haven't yet found it, it just might all begin with the perfect bottle of organic wine...you can always drink it by candlelight to conserve energy.

Cheers!

        

New Year, New Goals, New Wines!

First post of the new year! I love January. For me, it's like a new beginning. A chance to start fresh. An opportunity to make changes. I also love Mondays for the same reason. Or any new day. In fact, everyday is like January for me. Every day is like turning the page in a book. A chance to learn something new and experience life like never before. Every day is a chance to make a new impression, make resolutions and set new personal goals. As I sit here and vow, yet again, to be more committed to my blog, I'm trying to remember some of the wines that I've had in recent months that really made an impression on me. Over the past several months I've had many opportunities to try different wines. I saved all the empty bottles and convinced myself that I would write down all the names and write a review for each of them. Until I put them in the car and took them to the bottle depot. Then, I completely forgot my brilliant pIan and can barely recollect any of those oh so yummy wines. A few stuck in my mind. Amigo Perro, meaning Dog Friend, came from the Junta winery in Chile. Another was Falernia, a Carmenere, again from Chile, that was very memorable, with a bold taste that popped on my tongue. It also had an elegant label. I love looking at the labels and reading the write-ups on the back. 

 I saw some intriguing wines today and read some great labels when I went with a good friend on an excursion to our favourite store...Everything Wine. As always, it was a colourful and entertaining visit, and by this I don't only mean the store. For me, visits with friends are always fun. The talking and laughing is so relaxing and it's good to know that you can share your life with a friend. I recently read an article that said for women, having friends is as important as getting exercise and eating right in order to maintain good health. Women who cultivate and nurture their friendships live longer than those without good friends. Studies also show that drinking one to two glasses of wine a day is good for your health. I think it would be safe to say that drinking wine with your girlfriends is extremely good for your health. If you don't already do that, it would be a good goal for the new year!  I'm already working my goals. My goal of working on my blog with more regularity began today when I came home with twelve delicious, exciting bottles of wine.  I bought twelve because at Everything Wine, you get a 5% discount when you buy by the dozen! Even better is the fact that I was able to use my gift card, given to me by my sister and brother-in-law at Christmas. Since they know it's one of my favourite stores, it is therefore one of my favourite gifts to receive. I was thinking that with twelve bottles, that would be one bottle a week for three months. However, when I mentioned this idea to a couple of friends, they basically laughed and said it was highly unlikely that my twelve bottles would last three months. I'm okay with that. It just means another trip to the wine store, which is always fun!  I am including my list of purchases at the bottom of this post and will follow up with a review as I open and enjoy the contents of each bottle. The first eleven bottles are red and the last bottle is white.

Unruly Red - blend from California 

Tempus - Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile

Averill Creek Prevost - from my very own Vancouver Island.

Sibling Rivalry  - a red from Ontario, Canada

Ochagavia Espuela - a red blend -  from Chile 

Junta Reserve - a Syrah/Carmenere - from Chile

Ecologica - an organic red - Malbec Reserva - from Argentina

Tenta - a Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon

Criollo - a Shiraz/Malbec - from Argentina

Arabella  - a Pinotage - from South Africa

Don Simon  - a Shiraz from Spain - was on sale and I had a sample 

Nuevo Extremo - White - Sauvignon Blanc  from Chile

Cheers to a New Year!

Double Dog Dare...yes, this is the name of a wine!

I recently had the opportunity to go out with a very wonderful group of ladies. We are close yet we don't see each other as often as we should. We know each other well yet we often don't talk for months. We have fun together, yet we don't spend nearly enough time doing so. We share much yet we share infrequently. But on this particular night, we shared. We spoke of exciting prospects and of current happiness. We shared bottles of wine that were way too expense by half. But what the heck, you only live once, right? And the memory of the evening will stay with us long after the wine bottle has been emptied.

Imagine if we all lived our life the way we wanted to what would it look like? Would we eat cake for dinner more often? Would we say what we really felt a little louder? Would we be happier? Imagine having the courage to go forward and take the first step when you wanted something. Perhaps you are are a teenage girl and you would love to go for coffee with that cute guy in your Math class. Maybe you are a young man and you want to have a career as a pilot or a doctor. But you just don't think you'd be good enough. Give yourself a break! Why don't we just ask for the things we really want? Are we so programmed into believing that certain things are out of our reach that we don't even try? How many of us have, at one time or another, shrunk away from something we wanted, because we were too afraid to go after it? When, truth be told, we don't always get a second chance. Our lives are finite. They have a beginning, a middle and most definitely an end. The key to really living is to believe in ourselves and make the most of the middle. It's often the best part. Like an oreo cookie. Or a piece of cake with an extremely rich and decadent layer of icing in the middle. Or, my favourite...it's a bit like a bottle of wine. Work with me here, I'm really stretching with this one....Okay, take, for example, the first glass of wine...it's just been opened and hasn't fully breathed yet, your palate is unfamiliar with the taste (it's a new bottle, you've never tasted before). This is the beginning. It's new, fresh, and you're still making up your mind about it. Have another glass. Ahhh, yes, there's the full flavour, you allow it to roll around your tongue, tasting all the notes and savouring the smoothness. It slides down nicely. That's the middle....you can have another glass of the middle cause it tastes so yummy. Now you get to the end. You've had enough, you can't distinguish the notes as easily and your grip on the glass is a little bit shaky. The bottle is empty now. Time to turn in.  Don't you wish you could have another glass from the middle? So it is with life. We are given only one middle. It is up to each of us to make the most of it. Stop procrastinating on projects that you've set aside. Think about your dreams and how you can make them come true. If you are unhappy with something then take the chance and make a change. Find a new job, cut your hair, ride your bike more often, and by all means, drink more wine! Splurge once in a while and buy that bottle that you think is too expensive. Surprise your best friend, your lover or your sister and don't worry about the dollar sign. If you think it's worth it then it is. Because this is YOUR life and you deserve to be happy. When you learn to find happiness within yourself then you will bring happiness to others, thus making the middle a really great place to be.  I Double Dog Dare ya!  I'm in the middle right now and I'm pretty darn happy so what kind of wine do you like? 'Cause I'm buyin'

Note: Double Dog Dare is an inexpensive red wine that I found when I was on my way to go sailing. It was a great wine to drink while out on the boat, enjoying the fresh air.

Please feel free to leave your favourite wine in the comments section. I would welcome the opportunity to hear about some of the wines that are popular with others. ;-)