A Wine Time

There's a liquor store around these parts that has wine tastings during the first Wednesday of the month. My group of friends decided to check out this event, to ascertain its merits.  Some of us even dressed up for the occasion.  I just changed into jeans at work and showed up ready for fun.  My sister-in-law even came along, but she wouldn't let me take her picture. 

The Merrymakers!

I'd never been to a wine tasting at a store, which is another sign that I need to get out more.  This particular place had set up 9 barrels, offering at least two wines at each barrel.  At the entrance to the store, there was a checklist showing each label and the wine offered.  As you went to each barrel, the hostess would speak about the vineyard and the particular wine, offering suggestions about various foods to pair it with. Then they would pour a tiny cupful of wine and hand it to you to taste, which was to be the entire purpose of our activity. We dutifully swirled the wine around our palates like pros, and made the appropriate comments on our checklist.

Wine tasting doesn't have to involve drinking it, of course.  Many people just get a sip in their mouths, swirl it around, and then spit it out.  This is a waste of good alcohol, as far as I'm concerned. I suppose if a person were going to taste more than 30 wines, and didn't want to pass out in the middle of the task, then spitting might be appropriate.  But still...If it's in your mouth, swallow it! Even if it is the worst thing you've ever experienced, it's only a momentary thing, gone before you know it.  Like childbirth. (Yes, I'm kidding. Nobody leave a long-winded rant about the perils of childbirth, please.)

But I digress. Remember that scene in Finding Nemo, where all the seagulls are gathered around Nemo and Dory, waiting to eat them?  That is what happens when free food or alcohol is offered in these parts.  A little crowd had gathered around us before the tasting began.  Some women had even brought their own wine glass!   Once it was time to start sampling, my homegirls(oh yes, I went there) and I went to the last barrel to begin our tasting, instead of lining up at the first barrel like everyone else. Because we're contrary, the entire lot of us.  Plus, we were smart enough to figure out that we could be first in line at the last barrel.  

The trend in wine these days is to slap a pithy name on the label with a clever graphic design.  I wasn't as impressed by this label as much as others were, mostly because the word "poison" was spelled incorrectly. It's a sickness, this need to correct everyone else's spelling.  I thought that I would have grown out of that by now, but not so much.  I am getting better at not loudly pointing it out, though.  I don't even carry a red pen around with me anymore. Yay me. 

Did I mention that there was also food?  This lovely lady offered us homemade chili and peach cheesecake, along with a variety of salsas and chips. I am always happy to see small businesses reaping some benefits from these big bargain stores.  There was another person with chips and salsa on the other side of the store, but the large mass of people congregated around this lovely woman told me that she was the crowd pleaser.  The chili did not disappoint, and I bought two jars of her salsa to show my support.

Our adventure in wine tasting lasted a little less than an hour, unfortunately.  We are all speed-wine drinkers!  We even managed to shop while we were in there, which was the whole point of a liquor store holding a wine tasting.  We were  still in the mood for fun, however, and it was barely dark.  Luckily, there was a restaurant within walking distance.  Away we went, for drinks and food and conversation. The conversation was the best part, although I really can't remember very much of it.  I was too busy having fun, I guess. 

RemembeRED: A Little Wine

Prompt:  You are to write a 400 word memoir piece in which one of the following features prominently:

Wine, coffee, or chocolate. Or, as I like to call it, The Holy Trinity. 

Memoir involves crafting a true story. So, please conjure a moment for us….include dialogue, body language, and/or conflict. Set the scene using vivid word choices, or perhaps a metaphor.
Focus on the feeling you’re attempting to convey.

Image courtesy of stock.xchng

I would sometimes travel to Dallas to visit my friend Laura.  We would generally hang out at blues bars, go to the movies, and eat tons of good food. This time was different.  We got into her car and drove in an easterly direction, into the midst of the Piney Woods, to Tyler.  We were on a mission.  We were going to a winery with two friends we had met online. 

Tyler, Texas is not exactly what one would call Wine Country.  As we pulled into the drive leading up to the winery, I could see a few small hills undulating away from the winery, but only one of those hills was covered with grapevines.  We ended up sitting on the deck outside, to accommodate our smoker friend Melanie.  There we sat, laughing about the last time we had met for drinks, sipping a cabernet laced with ginger and snacking on a variety of cheeses Melanie had brought with us.  Melanie was a very animated talker, waving her cigarette in a small circle to illustrate her story and pointing to add emphasis like punctuation. Then Silvia would tell a story of her own, her own hands conducting an unseen orchestra.  I have no idea what we talked about, specifically; that is the way it is sometimes.  We laughed our way through one bottle pretty quickly, and then started giggling through another.

The weather was chillier than I had expected, and I did not bring a jacket.  In the middle of a story requiring adagio, Silvia suddenly paused.

"I cannot think with your nipples going in two different directions!" she said, giggling  "You're distracting me!"

Of course we all looked, and she was absolutely right.  One nipple was pointing up, and one was pointing in a more southeasterly direction.   As I adjusted the girls, it popped into my slightly inebriated state that my breasts had a a Mad Eye Moody thing going on.  I thought it, and then I said it. I immediately wanted to take it back; because it was a weird thing to say.  But it was also a Me thing to say.

Maybe too Me? 

For a second we all looked at each other, measuring.  Then Laura snorted, and the rest of us dissolved into laughter as Melanie refilled our glasses.

Maybe not.