a NEW START: Tasting notes

Recently, it may seem that I’ve taken a hiatus from wine. But that's simply untrue. While I may have mingled with a negroni for an evening cigar or indulged in a beer while practicing water skiing at the lake, ultimately, wine remains my focus. Even if it is in a state of neglect on the website. It has, however, come to my attention that the neglect has affected you, my generous reader, and your wine journey. Therefore, I am introducing a new series called: Tasting Notes.

The concept is simple. Every Friday (within my power), I will post the wines I plan to taste and post the following week. My hope is that you will join me. You don’t have to grab the same exact bottles as me, and you don’t have to buy six to participate. Pick one you are interested in and share your notes. Share them in the post comments or on Instagram.

Next week we will focus on six of the major wine varietals. They will include three red: Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Pinot Noir, and three white: Sauvignon Blanc, Riesiling, and Chardonnay. Mr. Eric Pèlegrin, the Wine & Spirits buyer from Travis Heights Wine & Spirits suggested we start with these varietals to use as a baseline. If you are starting at ground zero, this is perfect for developing your palate. Drinking big name grapes gives you an opportunity to taste the difference characteristics. Enough small talk. Look at the wine below. Grab a bottle (or six), scribble your thoughts, and remember not to take yourself too seriously. 

Salut!

Cabernet Sauvignon: Lamadrid (2016)

Malbec: Terracaë Cahors Malbec (2016)

Pinot Noir:  Lompoc Wine Co. (2014)

Sauvignon Blanc: Château Haut Rian (2016)

Riesling: Dr. Loosen Dry Red State

Chardonnay: Domaine de la Croix Senaillet Mâcon-Davayé

Tasting Notes is a series where readers can drink and share wine notes with the author.

Relax: loungewear

Weekends are meant for excessive lounging. But it’s no excuse to let your style muscles fatigue, quite the opposite. While we enjoy our French press coffee, and flipping through a stack of newspapers and magazines accumulated on our desk, it would be a disservice to do so in a t-shirt and worn pair of socks. Entertain the idea of loungewear. Retrieve the Sunday edition of the New York Times in leather slippers gripping a suede sole in tune with a bathrobe revealing a generous shawl collar and sleeve cuffs.

A new pastime: Grilling

Strange how our minds work. I’m curious as to how it decides which memories to preserve. How does it filter the worthy from disposable? From my childhood I can recall with vivid detail the moments my Dad was on the grill. I can feel the Texas heat on my face as I picture him laboring over a bed of hot coals. A Marlboro sagging between his lips as he opens the lid to the grill and pokes and prods the coals, adjusts and rearranges the meat, inspecting his bounty like a baby in a cradle. Leaving it alone for brief moments, he allows himself enough time to retrieve a beer from inside or conjure the smallest of small talk with a guest. Only to return to his post in front of the grill with military timeliness. Checking it over and relieved it didn’t grow legs and run away.

I see some of this in myself now. My interest in grilling is growing. I even smoked my first brisket on Father’s Day (A total success in beer consumption with room to improve on the brisket). The more I do it the more I understand why my Father calls it a labor of love. It’s a gift for others. And we would like our guests to be pleased with our gift. Therefore we hone our craft, we embrace the elements, we stay close to our grills to monitor the temperature, spritz the meat, and shoo away flies and unsolicited advice.