Sunshine and Rain

Every wine ever made comes from grapes that must have two things, sunshine and rain.  Approximately 1300 - 1500 hours of sunshine during the growing season and 27 inches of rain throughout the year to be approximately exact.  Although it is not impossible to have both sunshine and rain, (Any wealthy leprechaun knows that.) it is most unlikely to have them both at the same time.  Cloudy and rainy aren't the ideas one conjures up when they think about "wine country" anywhere.  There is a larger point to be made here with regard to sliver linings and gray clouds, but that would be hackie. So let's just say this, everything good that wine represents has a few gloomy rainy days all bundled up inside.  

Best Wine Improver of All Time

There are countless gadgets, widgets, "scientifically proven instruments", howdoyouwatchyoucallits and other stuff that can supposedly improve a wine that might otherwise need improving.  I am all for the advancement of science and technology but some "advances" just seem silly.  Like spending $25 on a piece of metal that when dipped in your $6 bottle of Cabernet makes it taste like a $20 Cabernet.  

My first thought is to buy a $15 dollar bottle and save your self the silliness of dipping a piece of metal in your wine.

Plus, I can suggest something that will improve the quality of any wine you purchase. Guaranteed.  Any wine, from a $5.99 1.5L bottle of something with a neon frog on it, to a 1947 Cheval Blanc (Arguably the greatest wine ever made. So I hear.) will almost instantly improve once this thing is added.  You don't have to dip this thing in the wine, strain your wine through it, wave it around the bottle in figure eights or any such other ritual hazing of your wine.  I'm not even selling it or saying you can only get this from a special place where you have to know a secret signal.  No, what I offer is something you hopefully do every day.  Laughter is the most powerful and secret wine improver in the world.

Laughter is what makes any wine seem more "smooth," "lush," or "soft."  Laughter gives wine all those special things that we look for in a good bottle, enjoyment, appreciation and relaxation. So save your money and wine gadgets for a re-gift next year.  Invite a few friends out for a glass of wine and laugh out loud with your head back and knee firmly slapped.  Best glass of wine you will have had in a long time.

Optimism is Delicious

Why would anyone try something new unless they were optimistic that they would like it?  There are a number of answers to this question, (My boss does it.  "They" say it is good for you. I just watched an hour and a half commercial on why this rotisserie thing is awesome.).  I still think unabashed optimism is what propels most us to try something new or different.  

I have always found Tuesdays to be the best days to try something new.  Tuesday is the day of the week that is often lost in the daily morass of week to week life.  Monday is Monday and cases of the "MOONdays" abound.  Wednesday is "hump day."  Thursday is almost Friday and Friday even has its own acronym.  Then it's the weekend!   Tuesday is the day with no more meaning attached to it than it is the day between MOONdays and hump days.  

So use your Tuesday to try something new and different with a bright eyed optomisitc outlook that this the new thing will be really great once you have tried it.  There are no limits to to "New Stuff Tuesdays."  You can try a new way to get to work or a new sandwich at lunch.  If you tie your left shoe before your right usually, try it the other way.  The only key is to approach a new task with wide eyed optimisim that whatever new thing you are trying, it is going to be totally awesome.  You may get burned a few times like when you try a lunch of iceberg lettuce and ketchup, but more often than not your optimism will be rewarded.

Salsify is a great New Thing Tuesday item to try.  Salsify is a member of the Goatsbeard genus of plants.  You should try alone on that fact.  It is a long tuber that has a sweat earthy flavor with a little tang of an oyster.  It is delicious in a puree, especially with fish.  Even more so with a perfectly cooked piece of Artic Char.  You could try the Salsify with the Artic Char and really send Tuesday over the moon.

Try something new.  Start a movement.  

Peach Pit

Usually, when a wine maker writes something on the back of their wine it ends up being foolish, condescending and just plane "crap."  Most of these wine bottle blurbs are written through careful marketing studies and focus groups.  

Then, then you read something on the back of wine bottle like,

"Sometimes fruit is simply found on the table that way. Other times it is purposefully arranged. Peaches are half cut open; their white insides clutching their pitted stones. Next to them a scrolling lemon peel, and behind them spotted pears in a perfect "Still Life". On one hand, there is the desire to feel the flesh of the fruit on the tooth; on the other, the sense of how much better it may be tomorrow."

This delicious little vin-yet is on the back of a bottle of Dominio IV Viognier, "Still Life."  It may not tell you the Ph of the wine or the Brix at harvest or even which way the slope faces where the grapes were grown.  What it does artfully do is give you a greater sense of the person who made the wine and an subtle allusion to the flavors in the wine.  You can almost see what the wine might taste like.  If nothing else, this wine bottle paragraph is a pleasant surprise, like a good fortune cookie. So sit back and enjoy both the prose and wine making from the fine folks at Dominio IV.  Simply delicious.  

The Importance of Being Earnest

We are finally OPEN.  

So come one and all and enjoy the simple pleasures of great food and great drink in our relaxed setting.  We have attempted to break down some of the foibles and hypocrisy of the wine world at large in our effort to let the true enjoyment of wine shine through.  

Nothing is more earnest than a plate of crispy pork belly and a glass of rich, lush and spicy Barrel 27 Syrah on a blustery fall day.  Such simple and assured flavors are undeniably delicious and spread contentment from the stomach to the face in a soulful smile.  Earnest indeed.

We opened our doors on Saturday of last week.  We were very pleased to have a full restaurant all evening.  We will be open tonight Wednesday 11/26 from 4pm until 9pm or later if need be. Starting tomorrow we will be open for lunch everyday at 11:30am except Mondays when we will be closed.  Please come by and have a glass and something to eat.  

We hope to see you soon.

The WK.

Funny Monkey Videos and Sparkling Wine

The thing about most any monkey video and most any sparkling wine is they make you smile and laugh a little on the inside.  Both can add a little something fun and/or delightful to any and all occasions.  As a matter fact you don't need an occasion for either.  Just the right frame of mind, access to youtube.com and/or an icy cold bottle.  

Another thing about monkey videos and sparkling wine is that they sometimes need clarification.  For instance "monkey video" can many times be used when referring to a video that actually consists of orangutan doing a magic trick.  While both monkeys and orangutans are part of the primate family they are distinctly two different fun loving knuckle walkers. 

In much the same vane, while all Champagne is by definition a sparkling wine, not all sparkling wine is necessarily Champagne. Semantics some say.  I say if you are enjoying a video of a primate of some type ridding a bike and/or a sparkling wine that just so happens to be made within the designated region of Champagne France (Thus earning it the name "Champagne."), enjoyment should be the key.  Though it is nice to give the right performer credit.  

Sparkling wine and a video of an orangutan pushing another orangutan over, a pairing for the ages.

Wash Your Hands

Sometimes you need a little extra time to give your hands a good scrub, splash some water on your face and look into the mirror and think today is the day that I will create my own opportunity.  I find it best to do this after coming in from walking the dogs or grabbing the paper first thing in the morning.  Sometimes it is even good to do at a time when you might not feeling you have time because things are moving so fast in the middle of your day.    

We are moving ever closer to throwing our doors open and providing two and a fake sinks in Downtown Leesburg where people can gather their thoughts and scrub their hands.  We hope people enjoy our hospitality, atmosphere, wine and food and take advantage of our gratis soap and water and mirror.

Sparkling wines are the sinks and soap of the wine world.  The tiny bubbles and crispness of most sparkling wines scrub your tongue and make it ready to go about another sip or bite of food.  The effervescent nature of sparkling wine can also lead to self introspection similar to looking at yourself in the mirror.  Go fourth, wash your hands and drink a glass of sparkling wine.  Your immune system, tongue and self awareness will thank you.