Spirit in a bottle

egend has it . . . long ago, a farmer befriended a dragon using the creature to guard his crops from raiding poachers. Flying overhead, the dragon would snap its jaws, causing thieves to flee empty handed. Upon the dragon’s demise, the farmer planted a vine over its majestic body, which in time grew into a vineyard. Each harvest, the spirit of the dragon lives on, inspiring the creation of these delicious wines!

:: Snap Dragon 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon • California • $8 ::

I thought the story on the wine bottle was a nice touch, so I shared. I kind of want to know what caused the dragon's demise, but that's ok. I guess it leaves something to the imagination.

This is a really lovely red wine (at least by my taste). So lovely that it inspired me to get writing again, even though I had given up for over six months! It's sweeter than your average Cabernet Sauvignon and extremely fruit forward. Tasted like a mixed-berry jam with slight spice... it's got a little earth and some tannins, but it goes down quite smoothly and is wonderful to drink on its own. Very well-balanced. You'll be reaching for another glass.

I titled this one "spirit" in a bottle to honor the dragon's spirit, but also I think it's appropriate because I feel like my spirit has been bottled up lately. I feel kind of lost. I seem to go through this kind of thing every few months lately, so maybe it's just the ongoing quarter-life crisis; I'm not sure. I have a plan, I seem to be heading on a path to get things under control, but ultimately I still feel a little helpless.

(Dropcap by typographer Jessica Hische)

Relief in a bottle

:: Gramona Gessami 2007 • white wine blend of Muscat/Sauvignon Blanc/Gewürztraminer grapes • from the Penedes region • $16.99 ::

Wish I still had a little wine left to revive my taste buds, but I guess I'll just have to wing this on memory. My overall verdict is that it's very refreshing. Perfect kickoff to spring. (Will spring ever get here?)

The wine is between medium and pale yellow in color. On the nose I get apples... sweet, flowery, fresh-air type bouquet. The taste is mild, sweet, and refreshing. For me the primary taste is citrus, and it has a nice long finish.

I knew the post would be "relief" in a bottle when I took my first sip earlier this week. (Tasted on two occasions, but I guess I was more focused this time.) It had been a long day at work, and I had also had a pretty dramatic couple of days leading up to this glass of wine. Sounds silly, but I suddenly felt immensely better with one sip. One of my favorite poems is Charles Baudelaire's "Enivrez-vous" and I randomly stumbled upon it when browsing photos on Flickr a couple of days ago. The primary message is that it's important to be drunk: drunk with wine, poetry, virtue, or whatever you wish, but be drunk! To not feel the burden of time bruise your shoulders and to not get pushed into the ground, get drunk!

Il faut être toujours ivre.
Tout est là:
c'est l'unique question.
Pour ne pas sentir
l'horrible fardeau du Temps
qui brise vos épaules
et vous penche vers la terre,
il faut vous enivrer sans trêve.
Mais de quoi?
De vin, de poésie, ou de vertu, à votre guise.
Mais enivrez-vous.
Et si quelquefois,
sur les marches d'un palais,
sur l'herbe verte d'un fossé,
dans la solitude morne de votre chambre,
vous vous réveillez,
l'ivresse déjà diminuée ou disparue,
demandez au vent,
à la vague,
à l'étoile,
à l'oiseau,
à l'horloge,
à tout ce qui fuit,
à tout ce qui gémit,
à tout ce qui roule,
à tout ce qui chante,
à tout ce qui parle,
demandez quelle heure il est;
et le vent,
la vague,
l'étoile,
l'oiseau,
l'horloge,
vous répondront:
"Il est l'heure de s'enivrer!
Pour n'être pas les esclaves martyrisés du Temps,
enivrez-vous;
enivrez-vous sans cesse!
De vin, de poésie ou de vertu, à votre guise."

I'm not saying I've been getting "pushed to the ground" at all, but sometimes I get frazzled easily. As indicated in my new year's post, I've been struggling with the passage of time and with letting go of my past lately. If your past suddenly shows up and slaps you in the face, making you feel like months of progress has been undone (at least for the moment), it's not so awesome. And soooo I get "drunk." My drinking has certainly increased this year... a week without 3 nights of drinking and dancing has become pretty rare. I've started feeling like maybe I should slow down a little. Probably should. A little. But then again, I'm just embracing the "enivrez-vous" attitude. I get "drunk" with wine, "drunk" with March Madness, "drunk" with recipes, "drunk" with dancing, "drunk" with this obsession with New York, "drunk" with silly crushes, "drunk" with chocolate...

My point is that maybe I am using these things to escape the burden of something bigger, but maybe that's not so bad. It's relief. In the case of the Gramona Gessami, relief in a bottle!

(That being said, I'm giving up drinking for nine days. Haha. Partly religious. But I think this comes at a good time as I've been feeling all week like I need to find more time to hang out with Andy, to work out, to read and just overall chill.)

On a side note, here's a fun wine fact. All wines contain sulfites, because sulfites are found on grapes and they are a naturally occuring compound that nature uses to prevent microbial growth. Sometimes winemakers add additional sulfites to make the wine age for longer. Decided to look it up bc the wine label said "Contains sulfites" :)

Appreciation in a bottle

:: Potomac Point Vineyard Norton 2006, $14.99 ::

This Norton was another bottle that I picked up at the Potomac Point Vineyard and Winery in Stafford, VA. Thought it was special since the Norton grape (aka Cynthiana) is native to Virginia, and it is apparently also the oldest native North American varietal in commercial cultivation today. I generally think Virginia produces better white wines than red, but this is one that's worth trying... especially if you're a local and can actually hop over to one of the wineries! It's a medium-bodied dry wine that's smooth and fruit-forward; finishes pretty tart and tangy. I noticed the intensity in flavor a lot more when sipping the wine on its own. I would recommend it with food if you prefer something that's not too intense. I had it alongside some chicken sausage in a spicy tomato-spinach sauce (cooked by LG!), and I remember feeling like the wine was really balanced. It's a really rich, almost opaque burgundy in color. On the nose I get ripe plum. On the tongue I get pepper, citrus and jam.

I seem to vaguely remember that the bottle is 100% Norton (too lazy to head over to the kitchen to check), and when I first tasted it at dinner the other night I remember thinking it was a nice straightforward, pure (all Norton), genuine, unique kind of wine. I happened to be drinking and dining at the time with two of my most genuine and straightforward friends, so this is a little shoutout to them. Caroline was visiting me for the weekend; it had been a LONG time since I'd spent so much quality time with her. I knew she and LG would appreciate each other, but I didn't actually realize that they are pretty similar in random ways. They studied the same things in college and seem to take a pretty carefree attitude toward life. They also seem to play a similar friend function for me. This is the part that kind of left me in awe... but maybe we always end up gravitating toward people that have certain types of traits? Do your real-world friends have qualities that are eerily similar to some of your friends from college or high school? But anyway, the point is that I really appreciate the role that each of them plays in my life: they are the friends that are up for whatever, whenever. There's no drama. There's the ability to laugh and put up with me when things don't go to plan (which happens all the time, because I'm ridiculous.) Got to test this out with Caroline when my car ran out of gas and stalled Saturday... whoops! (At least the AAA guy was hot.) And with LG at Inauguration when we ended up out in the freezing cold and unable to get into bars at 4 a.m. instead of trashed and warm as planned. (F* D.C. for making us think bars were open and serving till 5!) And when I tell her I'll be ready at 8 and really she gets to my place, and I make her cook dinner while I continue getting ready... lol.

Ok so it's a bit of a stretch from the Norton grape, but I really did make a mental parallel to the two of them while drinking (with them). It could be the wine talking... haha. I can't compare it to Cab, Zin or Shiraz though. Maybe something like a combination of the three, but the wine is really not like anything else I have tasted. And my friends aren't really like anyone else you will meet! LG and I have been hanging out a lot since the new year, and I love it. Cheers to the good times ahead.

Wow, I'm a little cheesy. (Speaking of cheese, I'm checking out Cowgirl Creamery with Laura on Thurs! Ha.)

Holiday in a bottle

:: Daniel Cellars Spicy Rivanna, produced by Burnley Vineyards, $13.25 ::

When I tasted this wine at the Virginia Wine Festival, I immediately said "Christmas in a bottle!" It's sweet, cinnamony, slightly citrusy. Now that I'm consuming my second glass I realize it's a little too desserty for my taste; would taste just like Swedish glugg warm, I bet, though! I was awed that the wine could be so sweet and could evoke spices SO vividly when I first tasted it, but I was a bit naive I guess, because the wine is essentially pre-mulled with cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, allspice, anise, orange peel and lemon peel. I also pick up on tastes of plum and raisin. It's pretty delicious for a glass and would definitely make an appropriate gift for the season, especially for someone that doesn't usually enjoy wine. I don't see how anyone could not like this.

This time around it essentially tastes just like glugg to me: glugg was first introduced to me last New Year's eve at Aditi's place, and since it was such a hit, she's brought it out at quite a few parties. It's especially appropriate and enjoyable during the winter holidays because it's warm and festive. (Note that this wine really is like glugg, because glugg is sweetened and spiced wine served hot, except without the chunks of raisins and almonds.)

It's funny that the wine brings me back to last New Year's tonight, because I feel like after a long couple of weeks, I had finally stopped thinking about last New Year's eve. I've been a little anxious-ridden this holiday season. I love the winter holiday season: I love the crispness in the air, the cheery spirit everyone seems to be in, the partying and entertaining, the gift-giving, the feeling of calm and tranquility I get when looking at winter scenery (bare trees, snow), the cute hats and scarves... plus, boys look so good in sweaters! But back to the point. I definitely enjoyed all those aspects of the season, but I've also felt an enormous amount of jitters about the new year. A LOT changed this year, and while I think the changes have overall been positive for me, it's just overwhelming to think of everything I've gone through. New boys, friends, classes, cat, apartment/roommates, progress at work... Maybe the thing that's been bothering me is that though I've gone through a lot, in the end I'm the same person, I want the same things from life, and I don't clearly see that my new life is getting me to my goals. But I guess the new year is a good time to self-evaluate and change whatever needs to be changed, right?

Also, I don't know when I became an adult! It feels weird to even say it; am I really an adult? But during Thanksgiving, this guy started talking to me at Top of the Hill (one of my favorite bars in Chapel Hill), and then I realized that he was a senior in college: i.e. three years younger than me! People three years younger than me can legally go out to bars?! I still think of myself as the youngest person in any given situation; I was always one of the youngest in my grade, in my group of friends. But as I get older, I obviously meet people that are younger. It's just strange.

Anyway, I think I have a pretty good plan for the year. I decided my biggest problem was not having my priorities straight, so I've organized all my resolutions to fit into nine priorities for 2009! So I'm ready to put my angst aside and take the year head-on. Let's hope it's not all serious; some mischief and dancing should ensue! (Not that old, yet!) Definitely started the year on the right foot.