The Wine Commonsewer™

Happy Birthday To Me; Happy New Year To You

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

Not since my 29th birthday have I been so keenly attuned to the relentless flow of sand through the hourglass.

I don't find any of this to be depressing, mind you. What it does, however, is to remind me that the clock is inevitably moving on. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.  Ticking relentlessly onward, faster now. Maybe as fast now as the bio-clock of a thirty-something chick who has realized she wants kids after all.

Lotta people don't like that certain birthdays. Thirty. Forty-five. Sixty. The only one that bothered me at all was twenty-nine. A twenty-something is still young enough to be fun loving and cool, yet old enough to be a real grown up. Twenty-nine marked the end of an era for me. You'd think it should have been thirty, like so many of my friends of the female gender. Thirty was a breeze and I've never looked back.

This is a peak at the world the day I was born.

I also want to take the time to thank all of you who took the time to wish me a happy birthday. I appreciate it. May your lives be blessed and the new year be kind to you.

Tonight, as y'all celebrate The Wine Commonsewer birthday with teary-eyed toasts to days, loves, and friendships near and distant, I'll tip a glass of the red to you and yours....

alla vostra salute, alla vostra famiglia ed alla nostra amicizia

And then at midnight, we shall invoke the world's National Anthem.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And days o' lang syne?

I'll leave you with this thought from Hamilton Wright Mabie.....

There is no pause in the march of the universe, no breathless moment of silence among created things that the passage of another twelve months may be noted; and yet no man has quite the same thoughts this evening that come with the coming of darkness on other nights. 

As Always,

TWC

Bonus:

A Family Christmas Tradition

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

We're taking down the Christmas tree today, but rather than a mere consignment to Monday morning's trash collection, we do something special. 

My kids will strip the tree limbs with a hatchet and a pair of loppers. If you try this at home, I recommend long sleeves and good gloves. Then we'll mulch the limbs and needles and give the garden a treat. Afterwards, the trunk is cut into fireplace-sized lengths for next Christmas.

Next year, after the coffee is made, but before anyone gets a peek at what Santa left or the gifts are unwrapped, a Christmas morning fire is built. In the tradition of the Yule Log, we start the Christmas morning fire using the Christmas tree from the year before.

But.....we do one other thing. I choose a straight piece of the trunk and cut a series of rounds with my table saw. Each round is about 3/8 to 1/2 inch thick. Each is labeled with the vintage. Later a small hole can be drilled, through which a piece of yarn, ribbon, or an ornament hanger can be attached. Voila! A Christmas ornament. I cut enough extra to allow for breakage or loss and, eventually, when the kids have families of their own, there will be a tangible piece of Christmas past for them to share. 

Happy New Year,

TWC 

Lileks: The Day After

I’m never happy to see Christmas pass; it makes all the decorations and holiday gear suddenly seem sad and out of date. It shouldn’t be so, as we are celebrating The Season, and that lasts beyond The Day, right? But we all know better. Santa is a symbol of hope and delight on Dec. 23rd; on the 26th he’s heaped in clearance bins. Even his most fervent constituency, children, has moved on.

Ramsey Lewis' Exceptional Rendition of a Classic Christmas Carol

Video is here.

The House Blond's Christmas Cookies

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

Last evening while The Boy was slaying something on League and moi was perusing Facebook and drinking wine, Mrs TWC and The House Blond whipped up some Christmas Sugar Cookies. It's trickier than you think and I don't have the step-by-step. I do know that Mrs TWC did a lot of the heavy lifting (prep work) while she was fixin' spicy pork and roasted garlic zucchini. 

The frosting is butter cream and I am impressed with the attention to detail, especially considering that the frosting bag was a Glad sandwich bag with the corner clipped off. 

As Always,

TWC

Random Acts Of Wineness

Tip of the glass to Wines by Raz

Jingle Bells

Bonus:

Can't see video? It is here.

As Always, TWC

Tip of the glass to Betsy Rivera

12 Days of Redneck Christmas

 

Can't see the video? Click here.

Christmas Ornaments for Winos

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

Mrs TWC found these at Sur La Table at Dos Lagos, nine miles down the hill from us. At twelve bucks or so, they're a bit pricey. These unique holiday ornaments are hand made glass and, even cooler, the wine bottle is vintage 2012. Can you say: wino heirloom?

More here. Hurry. Only four days to get them shipped by Christmas.  

As Always,

TWC

2009 Four Vines Old Vine Zinfandel Cuvee

Good Morning Gentle Readers,

Using the term, Old Vine Cuvée, is a fancy way of saying that the wine is made from grapes that are sourced from many different places. It isn't exactly how the term is intended to be used and in this case, the usage casts shadows rather than sunshine. Certainly there is nothing wrong with fashioning a multi-appellation Zinfandel blend and, I suppose, since the wine is blended with other wine to achieve consistency, it can be referred to as a Cuvée. Technically. 

The Four Vines closure is natural cork. The wine is light to medium bodied and the initial aroma in the glass is pleasant, but, is quickly overwhelmed with fumes (alcohol fumes) and vanilla. On the palate the wine is fruity and acidic, with layers of blackberry and plum. The finish is pretty much lingering oak (vanilla).

The deal killer for moi is the oak. Don't read me wrong, wine aged in oak barrels can be quite lovely, but over-oaked wine is a flat turn off to me. And, I'm sensitive to it, which is a disclaimer of sorts. Unfortunately, the over use of oak is often used to fix lesser quality wine, to make it drink better. 

Overall, the Four Vines isn't bad. If you are partial to zins like Earthquake or Seven Deadlies, this might be a good substitute for either at a better price. You should be able to find it for under ten dollars American.

As Always,

TWC