A Very Chill Weekend

So after a wild start to my week complete with the few days of, ‘Oh man I can’t believe I did that” feelings I was more than ready for a few days of down time. Saturday was my last hoorah for the week because I was doing a Rhone tasting at the shop. I picked my wines and wondered how many people would turn out as the events at the store, (along with the rest of the world) have been smallish…well, I think people were ready to get out because we had 82 people show up to taste the wines from France’s Rhone Valley. I was shocked but thrilled to see so many people and ending the week on such a high note was exactly what I needed.

The wines that showed extremely well were;

2007 Andre Andrieux Cotes du Rhone Blanc, ($14.99) nicely floral with plenty of peachy notes and a delicately clean finish.

2005 Philippe Faury Condrieu, ($57.99) Very serious, nutty, leesy and packed with intense stone fruit. The wine was full in the mouth with a finish that just kept going…

2007 Andre Andrieux Cotes du Rhone Villages, ($14.99) deeply purple in the glass with notes of violets and white pepper. In the mouth the wine was both lush and balanced, full of ripe fruit without being sappy or clunky.

2006 Chateau du Montmirail Vacqueryas, ($19.99) This wine appealed to the “new world” drinkers in the group, lots of ripe black fruit, full and rich in the mouth with some stony flavors and a long mouth coating finish.

2006 Bosquet des Papes Chateauneuf-du-Pape, ($34.99) so floral and spicy, none of us wanted to stop smelling it! Very pretty wine with enough weight to remind you that you are dealing with a world class wine. Compared to the other Chateauneuf-du-Papes we tasted this one was the most refined, together and pleasing right now.


By Saturday evening I was wiped out, (I am leaving out a 3 hour dinner with my boss Randy, his wife Dale, my sister Tessa, Merritt and the hubby where we ate sushi for 3 hours and killed 8 bottles of Sake on Friday night…don’t want to look like a total animal) my drive home seemed to take forever and I stayed erect only long enough to toss some chicken in a Ziploc bag with lemon juice, Soy Sauce, white wine salt and pepper to marinate for a chicken salad we were making for dinner. I found my way to one of our super comfy, over stuffed leather chairs and let myself sink in, threw my legs over the side and faded in and out of sleep for an hour. Never being a “napper” it was weird to wake up in the dark and I spent a few panicked minutes trying to figure out what time/day it was….felt like Rip Van Winkle.


Once I was comfortable with the fact that is was still Saturday evening I climbed out of my nesting chair and prepared dinner, poured myself a glass of Herve Azo 2007 Vau de Vey 1er Cru Chablis, ($27.99 so tasty and a very welcomed return of true cold climate Chardonnay, wet white stones, tart racy fruit and that sexier than hell uncooked dough or salty skin flavor...grrr) and grabbed the remote. Watched the latest Real Time with Bill Maher, (not one the better ones might I just say) and then started flipping through the movie channels. We watched the last half of Swingers which is way funnier now that I spend a ton of time in LA and have crazy party friends….

While the credits were rolling I began my flipping again and found that one of my all time favorite movies was just starting, this is a movie that I know every word of and have seen no fewer than 100 times in my life. When it first came out my Mother and I went to see it 10 times and since then I have forced my son to see it over and over again, (that same bond over it…well he wasn’t feeling it) only to have him say, “Mom could you stop saying the words, it is kind of annoying and distracting”. When the cartoon of the car sped onto the screen and the music started I was in super chill mode, “Grease is the word, the word that you heard it’s got grove it’s got meaning…grease is the time is the place is the motion, grease is the way that….” Yeah my poor husband just sat there watching me pour more wine and recite every word giggling to myself….have I mentioned he is a saint?


I was delighted sitting there in my most comfy white t-shirt, cold glass of Chablis in hand singing along to one of the silliest movies of all time that I love with all my heart….just then there was a wine reference….and I recited the words but for the first time noticed what they were, “How about a sneaky peak to this get party going” says Rizzo as she pulls a large bottle of wine from a brown paper bag, Jan grabs it and says, “Italian Swiss Colony, wow it’s imported” and takes a bite of her Twinkie pointing out that on the label it said it was a dessert wine. I sat there trying to remember where I had heard of Italian Swiss Colony before, my Mom was never a drinker and my first real wine came when I started at The Wine Country….just where had I heard of this before…..uh, der you tard, you have seen this movie over 100 times….might that be where you heard it before?! I chuckled at myself and began worrying about my gray matter but finished watching the movie and was thrilled that I spent the evening on my couch.



Sunday was just the hubby and I hold up in the apartment watching football and snacking on fine cheeses and pretzels, escaping only to have a late lunch and a drink or two at a local restaurant that I thought I hated…..and I was right, it were crap. Came home did some reading, fired off a few work emails and was asleep by 11pm….it was a much needed chill couple of nights….Now what to do tomorrow?