12/21: Home For The Holidays.

There is no other place I would like to be than home for the holidays. After my 6:20am flight out of New Orleans was cancelled yesterday due to the Nor'Easter which dumped record levels of snow up the east coast, I finally arrived home this morning. My parents did an amazing job with decorating the house with all of our jovial christmas decor. I usually like to be a part of the "decking the halls" tradition, but because I was arriving only three days before Christmas, I preferred to arrive home to an already joyful house. The tree is one of the best one's we've had in years, the nutcrackers are proped in their cordially bellicose stance, the porcelin carolers are caroling and the candles are all lighted. My mom surprised me by putting colored christmas lights around the two pillars in my room. In the four years we've lived in this house she has never done that; I guess she really missed me.
Besides hugging my parents and going to the bathroom, the first thing I did when I got home was put mulling spices on the stove--cinnamon, cloves, allspice berries with pieces of orange peel simmered in water--in order to heighten the holiday ambiance. I find it tough to get in the holiday spirit when I'm travelling in a van for hundreds of miles a day far, far, far away from your family. My holiday spirit is slowly gaining momentum now that I am home and by Christmas it should be fully restored.

12/16 Wine Wednesday :: 2008 Shoofly Shiraz

Shoofly Shiraz
Australia
2008
$10

There is something unromantic about opening up a bottle of wine without having to uncork it. Truth be told, unless you're drinking wine out of a box, the corkless bottle is not a quality demarcation. The only reason a cork is necessary is if you are planning on aging the bottle of wine properly. With that said, the deep plum hued liquid has a bouquette of dark fruits (mulberries, plums, blueberries and raspberries), spicy licorice and earthy notes. Upon touching the tounge, the palate is inundated with more dark fruits, cedar, smoke and pepper with medium tannic qualities and a lingering finish.

12/2 :: Wine Wednesday :: 2006 Paul Jaboulet Aine Cotes Du Rhone Parallele 45

Paul Jaboulet Aine

Parallele 45

France

1996

$10

This Cotes Du Rhone, straight from southern France, was my Thanksgiving wine this year. Composed of 60% of the Grenache varietal and 40% Syrah, this slightly brick hued, deep ruby, medium bodied wine, contained flavors of plum, black cherry, raisin, and traces of pomegranate. It's earthy nose hinted at leather, coffee and woodchips. For $10, this smooth Cotes Du Rhone proves to be quite an enjoyable wine.