My W(h)ine in Arizona

I'm here at MEC 2008, the Micro Computers in Education Conference in Tempe, Arizona at Arizona State University. I haven't posted in awhile.I've been traveling and working very hard with the online training component of my company, Moodlerooms. However, I have not stopped drinking wine.
Traveling last week in Las Vegas at the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education
Conference 2008 (SITE), I had a distinct pleasure. I had a Delmonico steak dinner paired with a Rancho Zabaco Zinfandel. The combination was fabulous!! Delicious! I wish you could have been there!

Kool-Aid

I drink wine daily and always with meals.I think one of the greatest inventions in the 20th century was the invention of box wine. I know purists may shudder to think of people drinking wine out of a box.Before you wince,shudder or cringe at this thought, I urge you to try drinking some box wine.It is quick, inexpensive,convenient and like that pitcher of Kool-Aid or lemonade your mom had in your refrigerator at home, it quenches your thirst. You don't have to open a whole bottle of wine for one person, it's easily available by the glass, it may be a tad bit more alcoholic than your average bottle of wine but it's NOT bad!

Before I Forget....

I'd like to create a short list of the wines I've had the pleasure of drinking since April 2007. They are in no particular order.They are all available from Wine.com, my trusty online source for great wine.As a New Yorker, I do have access to some wonderful wine stores. My favorite store is Sherry -Lehmann in Manhattan. I'd also have to give kudos to Morrell's and PJ Wine, also in NYC. On Long Island Stew Leonard's is a great wine shopping experience as well. I can only highly recommend these selections listed below.From the first sip to the last, these wines made me want to inform wine lovers in cyberspace of their attributes and encourage others to run out and purchase them at their favorite wine location.

• Harrison Syrah 2001 Napa Valley- Whoa!
• Simi Sonoma County Zinfandel 2005-Yes!
• Vero Pinot Noir 2003-Bourgogne- Sleek -France
  
• Innocent Bystander 2004 Shiraz-Viognier- Australia
• Red Diamond -Shiraz-Washington 2002
• Yalumba-South Australia's Shiraz-Viognier 2005
• Zen of Zin -Old Vine Zinfindel 2004 Sonoma
• Four Sisters-Shiraz-Australia
• Taltarni- Three Monks 2003-Cabernet Merlot-Australia
• Sergio Rose- Sergio Mionetto Extra Dry Rose Sparkling Wine
  

Red Diamond Shiraz

Wine.com just delivered to my door another winner of a wine. For those of you not hip to this site, I suggest you join and select one of their wine clubs for a monthly delivery. Depending of course on the state in which you live, Wine.com will gladly deliver you a selection of good wine values.

Tonight I'm drinking a wonderful Shiraz from Washington State. It's called Red Diamond 2002 and it is tasty indeed. Moderately priced, $10.99, it is a fruit filled concoction with wonderfully full mouth feel . I enjoyed it tonight with a meatloaf and mashed potato dinner. With Marvin Gaye playing in the background,this wine transported me to yesteryear. As Marvin says, "Baby, Get to This!"

Simply Complex

Wine is such a simple yet complex entity.Throughout history the grape has played an important part in establishing cultural identity and smoothing political paths around the world.Diplomacy owes a lot to the imbibing of the local grape, whether in Italy, France,Spain, South Africa, Australia, Greece, Argentina, Chile, or the United States.

As a relatively new wine lover my journey towards developing an interest in wine came with sampling Chilean wines at a local restaurant on Long Island. If memory serves, it was a Sauvignon Blanc, Casa Lapostelle ,that garnered my attention and rave reviews in the mid 90's. I think prior to that I had been drinking an inexpensive vintners such as Santa Rita, as well as, Concho Y Toro chardonnay. I enjoyed those two, however the Casa Lapostelle stood out and began my wine tasting and buying that continues today.

Introduction...

To w(h)ine, or not to wine… that is the question? When I think back on my salad days, primarily during the swinging sixties and early seventies, it was a time period characterized by excess, of a kind. I was young, in college and having fun. It was a time of tremendous freedom, sexually and politically. I had a large Afro hairstyle, along with my mini dress or on occasion, African dress. We protested, marched, sat in school administration buildings, used the pill and loved the one we were with, at the time. We even drank wine.

Our pocketbooks were spare and like students today, we drank affordable beverages. Boone’s Farm, Scuppernong, Bali Hai, Ripple and the infamous MD 20-20. Looking back, I know that I never liked those wines(and I use that word loosely to describe them ). I became a social drinker of spirits, vodka, usually mixed with fruit juice.

I believe my palate had been ruined in college by those frou-frou pseudo wines. Throughout the ensuing years of marriage and later divorce,I never re-trained my taste buds or tried to educate myself about wine until the early 90’s.

So essentially for twenty years, from 1971-1991, I did not drink wine, outside of an occasional spritzer at a social event.

As I write these words, I am appalled at all the years I LOST, by not drinking wine and educating myself to its attributes, varieties and complexities.If this sounds like a w(h)ine, then so be it! So my focus, my raison d’etre for this blog is to chronicle my wine journey.I want to keep a record of the wines I’ve enjoyed and share with others the characteristics and qualities that impact my wine experience.

Cheers!