Good Morning Gentle Readers,
Sulking. TWC is good at it and I was fuming about the shackles binding my ankles to the floor while La Familia was off to the beach on a sultry February afternoon. That was probably the wrong approach. And, yes, Sultry and February, I know, not in the same sentence, thank you. Global Warming is the likely culprit here.
Then, like a Nike commercial, TWC just did it. Caught the old lady a fraction of an instant before the gate clanged shut and they drove off in the politically incorrect SUV.
Ahhh, the inevitable traffic, surely that’s a got dam reason to move out of this godforsaken state right there. Except it’s like a Twilight Zone episode, you can’t get there from here.
Destination: Zooport Beach, near where the kid's godfather captured the House Blond in 35mm that long past summer afternoon just days after the curtain fell on another annual 4th of July Bash.
Kent's Linda and I shuttled Jim to LAX the following morning. Teary eyed and big hugs, he left us. Easy to say he figured he 'd not see us again and that would be gospel. Maybe reading way too much into it though. Six months later Linda lit a candle.
Despite whatever Gretchen Wilson has to say about California Girls.......
Brian Wilson (live at the Roxy) is STILL right......
The only two places with a similar concentration of gorgeous women is Miami, Fla and the Colorado River. Here's a hot tip: Those guys in the Viagra commercials don’t need drugs, they need the beach on a warm afternoon.
FAMILIA CARA CHIANTI RISERVA
Cut it out with the eye rolling, I AM getting to the point. Mrs TWC suggested bringing wine. She knows I'm easier to manage that way. Unfortunately the ambiance of this surprisingly good Chianti, enjoyed from a plastic traveling coffee cup, left a bit to be desired. The ambiance that is, not the wine.
At first sip, It is readily apparent that the Familia Cara is Chianti, with bright, dry cherries and a bit of pepper. As is true of all Chianti's, Familia Cara is primarily Sangiovese, rounded out with Canaiolo (10%). And sort of like Bob Gonzalez' ex-girlfriend, it went down especially smooth and easy, which was a decidedly unexpected surprise. For under ten bucks US, TWC expected astringent straw bottle wine and was surprised with Quaffable (on the NoStar scale).
Familia Cara is an ideal summer wine, perfect with pasta and red sauce, sauteed
sweet peppers and sausages topped with Parmesan, or a light insalata caprese with crusty bread and olive oil (balsamic vinegar too). It lacks pretension and sophistication however it is, well, pretty good wine. Drink it barefoot.
Traditionally, conventional wisdom has held that the Italians keep all the good wine for domestic consumption and export the rest. That assumption, whether valid or not, is beginning to change as American interest in Italian wines grows. We're seeing long term contracts between US importers and Italian vintners, the happy result of which is sometimes finding that jug wine you remember from the sidewalk cafe in Sienna where you and that dark eyed beauty idled away a warm spring afternoon just that many years ago.
I enjoyed it as we strolled the beach whilst the kids frolicked in the freezing surf and the contaminated run off at the mouth of the Santa Ana River. See, the eco-fascists have hammered at this theme long enough that even TWC has begun to buy off on it.
Why the deception? The travel cup deception is what I mean. Oh yeah, no alcohol allowed on any beach in California. I believe that’s a universal law along the entire thousand miles of coastline. Beth-Ann hadn't heard about it though.
One thing I liked about Mamma’s Ami** (Miami) was that you could wander around in public with a Pina Colada without getting ticketed or arrested.
We stayed for the sunset over Catalina Island and then adjourned to a local eatery for spicy Jamaican jerk chicken, some oddball shrimp enchilada-like thing that you would only run across in California, and another glass of the red (Smoking Loon). Hey, I waddn't driving.
Beat the hell out of working all day Saturday, which was the original plan.
As Ever,
The Wine Commonsewer
**Mrs TWC had talked about Miami for a couple of months before her trip. Jake was just old enough to hear her say it was My Ami. So any time anyone else would talk about Miami he would set them straight. It’s not Your Ami. It’s Mama’s Ami.
Photo Credit (unless otherwise noted): ©TWC, all rights reserved
