Mardi Gras Wines

Happy Mardi Gras everyone! I love this holiday because it falls during the perfect time of year where we all really need a little celebration. This is that long period of time on the calendar once New Year’s is over that we have to make it all the way to Memorial Day for another holiday off work.

It doesn’t matter that Mardi Gras is on a Tuesday – you can still celebrate!

Here’s a couple of my favorite festive Mardi Gras wines for your party tonight. Even if it’s just a party of one.

Fat Bastard Syrah

This wine may not be called “Fat Tuesday” but it’s close enough! One of the most popular Mardi Gras dishes is Gumbo and this wine pairs perfectly. It’s a flavor-packed, fun Cajun dish that’s sure to complete your festive evening. This dish is traditionally spicy so you want something that can hold up to those heavy, complex flavors and not overwhelm your tastebuds. This Shiraz is just the ticket.

Marques de Monistrol Semi Seco Cava

Another traditional Mardi Gras treat is the King Cake. If you pick one of these up (or make one of your own) for your festivities, you’ll want something a bit sweet and definitely sparkling that can hold up to the sweetness of this dessert. Any sweeter, sparkling wine will do but be sure to avoid any of them that have Brut in their name. Those are typically drier and don’t pair as well with sweet dessert.

Honoro Vera Garnacha

One of my favorite varietals is Garnacha and it also happens to be a perfect Mardi Gras wine. This Garnacha specifically is easy-drinking and fresh and should pair nicely with pretty much any dish you end up serving tonight. And really, you can’t be the price on this one!

Cider and Girl Scout Cookies with Buskey!

Do you guys remember that time last year when I did a wine and Girl Scout cookie pairing party? It was awesome. It was also just a really great excuse to eat Girl Scout cookies. “We are PAIRING the cookies with wine. It’s fancy”.

Well, when I saw that Buskey Cider was hosting an evening where they paired their delicious ciders with Girl Scout cookies, I knew that I wanted in on the action.

Buskey Cider opened in April of 2016 in historic Scott’s Addition in Richmond. It’s ridiculously close to where I live and I was ridiculously excited to hear that FINALLY a cidery was opening in the same neighborhood that is home to quite a few craft breweries.

When the hubs and I showed up for the event, we got to spend a little bit of time with Will, the owner. It was really cool to get to hear him tell a bit about his story and why he loves what he does. Richmond itself is rich with history and Scott’s Addition is no different. Buskey laid down its roots in a cool old train car building. When speaking to Will, his desire for both preserving and highlighting that history while at the same time making something new was apparent.

Of course, I had to find out a little something about the name “Buskey”. It’s obviously a name with a story behind it. Much like Richmond, Buskey comes with a bit of history. Apparently back in the days of Ben Franklin, he and his friends used the term “buskey” to describe the tipsy feeling you get after drinking a few too many pints of – you guessed it – hard cider. How can you not love this?!

The cider tasting with the cookies was fun but I learned some stuff too! I had no idea that the cider making process was so similar to the wine making process. I feel like this is absolutely the reason why I love both wine and cider. Cider is a really cool sort of hybrid between beer and wine and makes itself a nice little home in the middle. Buskey does some fun things with their ciders. They aim for a semisweet to dry cider but love experimenting with different flavor combinations and techniques, like Randalling.

JUST GET TO THE CIDER AND COOKIES ALREADY WILL YOU?!

I hear you. Now that you’ve gotten your education – let’s talk delicious pairings.

First – let me give a shout out to Troop 4905 for providing the cookies for the event. FANTASTIC collaboration here y’all!

Thin Mints with Nitro Coffee Cider

I love me a Thin Mint cookie. I mean, who doesn’t really? They paired this with their Nitro Coffee Cider which is literally exactly what it sounds like. It’s a cider that tastes like coffee. I’m going to be honest here, this one threw me for a loop. Don’t get me wrong – the cider was not bad. It just played tricks with my mind. I tasted coffee but it was cider at the same time. The cookie was good with it too but I had a hard time moving past the brain games on this one.

Peanut Butter Patties with Cascade Hopped Cider

Next up – my favorite cookie! God I love peanut butter and chocolate. Because I don’t like beer, I typically shy away from anything that says “hopped”. This cider was delicious though. You got all the sweetness from the hops and none of the bitterness that you get in a beer. Peanut butter is usually pretty hard to pair up too but this worked very nicely.

Caramel Delights with Belgian Candi Cider

What about this pairing does not scream AMAZING? Just the words alone are awesome. This did not disappoint. The cider was semisweet and just rich and full of flavor. When you paired the caramel delight with this one – match made in heaven y’all. I could have eaten a whole box with a pint or two of this cider.

Lemonades with RVA Cider

OK, first of all, this was a new cookie for me and holy crap. It was so good. They paired this one up with Buskey’s traditional RVA Cider. I love this cider because it’s not fussy or fancy. It’s just a great, refreshing cider. It can literally quench your thirst. Paired up with this cookie was sweet, perfect harmony and possibly my favorite pairing of the evening. Jury is still out because I loved that Belgian too so I may have to go back for round 2 – just to be sure.

Shortbreads with Cranberry Basil Cider

The shortbread cookie is such a clean classic and Buskey had just the cider to pair with it. The Cranberry Basil is a great example of how they like to play with fun flavor combinations. The cranberry and basil flavors really shone through but weren’t too overpowering. The perfect balance. You could seriously serve this cider with Thanksgiving dinner and it would be a perfect match. Much like the shortbread cookie was!

As you can tell, I had a really hard time deciding which was my favorite. I walked around the event and polled some of the other attendees and the results were pretty unanimous. Everyone really loved the Caramel Delight with the Belgian Candi but an equal amount of people were super passionate about the Lemonades with the RVA Cider. These people all had great taste, obviously!

There’s nothing left to do but go grab some boxes of cookies and head back to Buskey for a final determination! Or maybe that’s just an excuse to go back for some great cider.

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
Publisher - Picador
Publish Date - September 2013
Genre - Fiction
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

I received this book as a gift for Christmas from my brother. I love getting and finding books that were never on my radar. I had never heard of this one so I was excited to read it. He knows me well too, because I love reading pretty much any book that has to do with a bookstore or Paris. Don’t ask me why, it’s just how it is.

The premise of this book is interesting. It focuses around Clay who is desperately unemployed in San Francisco. He stumbles across this 24-hour bookstore who just so happens to be looking to hire a night-shift clerk. After a few days on the job, he starts noticing that some of the customers that come in to the store are a bit strange. There is an entire section of the bookstore that these customers do not buy from, but rather check out these very odd, large volumes that don’t seem to make any sense.

Clay gets some of his interesting friends involved to solve the mystery – including his girlfriend who works at Google and a wealthy college friend who tends to invest in bizarre things. It takes them on a wild journey to discover the secrets behind Mr. Penumbra’s bookstore.

I’ll be honest when I say that after reading the summary, the book ended up being nothing like what I expected. That’s not a bad thing – it was just surprising. I didn’t expect the book to delve as deeply into the world of coding as it did. But it made for a fun, modern day twist on a bookstore that seems to be based in a time centuries ago. Even though parts of the book were a bit wordy, this was a quick read, I finished it in one day. It was the perfect “break” book for me in between the Game of Thrones series that I’ve been reading lately.

If you are into mysteries, adventure or computers then check this one out. It’s a fun read!

Pair This With: Mad Duck Zinfandel Lodi

I happened across this wine one day when I was "label shopping" in Total Wine. This 90 point wine is everything you want a Zinfandel to be - rich flavors of black cherry, easy drinking but bold. You can't beat the price either!

Favorites Friday - National Wine Day

Tomorrow is National Wine Day – what a great holiday, right!? I figured this was a great reason to share some of my absolute most favorite wines for this round of Favorites Friday. Go to the store and pick up one (or all) of these wines to enjoy on Saturday. What are YOUR favorite wines that I need to try?

Dreaming Tree – Red Crush

This is one of my go-to wines that I can’t get enough of. It’s not very expensive and it’s just an easy sipping wine that pairs well with pretty much anything.

Alamos – Malbec

This is one of my other favorite go-to wines. I always have at least one bottle on hand. This is always the wine I pop open when I don’t want to think too much about what I’m drinking. It’s smooth and easy to drink and is only about $10 bucks per bottle.

Voulet –  Casorzo

While I don’t typically drink a whole lot of sweet wines, my in-laws really enjoy them. I stumbled across this fun sparkling red wine at a local shop and they absolutely loved it. It’s been the perfect wine to enjoy at all of our family gatherings. It’s not the easiest wine to find but it’s worth tracking down if you have a sweet wine loving crowd to please.

Chateau Camplazens – Marselan

A new restaurant recently opened near our house and my husband happened to randomly choose this wine off the menu. I all but ended up stealing his glass of wine because it was so much better than the one I was drinking. I had never heard of Marselan before and was pleased to find out that it was a cross between a Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache grape. The only place I’ve been able to find this wine is at this local restaurant so if any of you out there can find it – let me know!

Seriously Underrated Books You Need to Read

I recently came across a Buzzfeed article that shared some of the most underrated books that their audience thought should be on people’s lists. Well, a few of them definitely made my to-read list and I thought I would share them with you today!

A Long Fatal Love Chase by Louisa May Alcott

We all know Louisa May Alcott for Little Women. Alcott was a woman straight out of the pages of women’s suffrage history as the first woman to register to vote in Concord, Massachusetts. Little Women was a semi-autobiographical account of her childhood. I loved Little Women and was excited to see another book with Alcott’s name on it. A Long Fatal Love Chase was published in 1995, well after Alcott’s death. It takes you on a journey with a young woman during Victorian times who flees her husband and then pursues her across Europe.

The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks

The cover was the first thing that caught my attention with this novel (I’m often time a cover shopper). Then I looked up the book on Amazon to get the summary and I was hooked. It sounds so bizarrely entertaining!

Meet Frank Cauldhame. Just sixteen, and unconventional to say the least: 

Two years after I killed Blyth I murdered my young brother Paul, for quite different and more fundamental reasons than I'd disposed of Blyth, and then a year after that I did for my young cousin Esmerelda, more or less on a whim. 

That's my score to date. Three. I haven't killed anybody for years, and don't intend to ever again. 

Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn

The English geek in me was absolutely intrigued by the concept of this novel. Dunn takes us on a fun linguistic journey through South Carolina and the home of the inventor of the phrase “The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog”. The townspeople erect a statue in his honor but one by one tiles begin falling off the statue. The leaders of the town see this as a message from beyond and ban the use of each letter as it falls. The book progresses with fewer and fewer letters until only a few remain and Ella discovers the phrase that will save their language. Seriously ordering this one NOW.

Wines for the Perfect Valentine's Day

I don’t think I’ve talked about this on the blog before so here it is – I HATE Valentine’s Day.

I think it’s a completely commercialized holiday made up so that companies can charge you ridiculous amounts of money for things. I suppose it is fitting that I’m not a fan of Valentine’s Day because I also don’t really like flowers (as a gift). Flowers cut from your own garden are awesome but, paying a million dollars for flowers from a company is silly, in my opinion. They last like a week then they die. Give me something useful – like food.

Anyways, there is a bit of silver lining to this whole holiday. That of course – WINE!

What a great excuse to pop open a bottle and celebrate your love of wine.

Here are some fun, Valentine’s type wines for you to try out this year.

Sexy Wine Bomb Red Blend

This is a fun little blend with a name and label perfect for a Valentine’s night at home. Flavors of plum, cherry and vanilla with just a hint of oak. It’s surprisingly complex for a wine with such a cheeky name.

Alexander Valley Sin Zin Zinfandel

This is a true Zinfandel that boasts flavors of pepper, vanilla, black cherry and plum. A delightfully sinful choice for Valentine’s Day.

Banfi Rosa Regal Sparkling Red

Sometimes you just need bubbles in your life and Valentine’s is the perfect occasion to indulge. This is a delicate, fizzy red that will pair perfectly with those chocolate covered strawberries.

Top 10 Most Popular Books In The World

I did some internet surfing recently to see if I could find some inspiration for new blog topics this year along with some new books to add to my list. It got me thinking about what the most popular books ever are. Of course, if you Google this, you will get a lot of different answers.

So, I decided to try to take some of these varying responses and put together my own Top 10 list of the most popular books. These are all based on the number of copies sold over the past 50 years and there are some good ones on here! Amazingly enough, I’ve actually read every single book on this list so let’s just say I have good taste. How many have you read?

Full disclosure – this list purposefully excludes the Holy Bible as it is EASILY number 1 on every list with almost 4 billion copies sold. My list here focuses on mainstream literature.

Here we go:

Winery Wednesday - Benziger

Every so often during the winters here in Virginia, we get these ridiculously warm spring-like days. Today, as I write this post, is one of those days. It’s going to be 74 degrees and sunny. I do my best to soak up every single bit of these days when we get them.

They also make me a bit anxious for spring to actually get here and make me reminisce about those warm days I’ve spent visiting wineries. For this Winery Wednesday feature, I’m remembering our trip to Napa a few years back and one of my favorite places we visited there – Benziger Winery.

When we planned our trip out to California wine country, we knew we wanted to spend some time in Sonoma County. It tends to be a bit more low-key and causal than Napa Valley which really is more our scene. My husband is a chemist so, when we saw that Benziger was a Biodynamic farming winery, we had to visit. The science gets him every time.

Beyond the Biodynamics, Benizger is beautiful. Though, I guess you really can’t go to any wineries in California that don’t provide amazing views. They have a bunch of different options when you get there from a tasting in the main room to a full tour of their facility or a private lunch with the head winemaker. We did a wine tasting and then we wandered through their gardens and grounds on our own. It gave you a great feel for their Biodynamic processes and provided some great scenery to enjoy.

Their wines were great too. We brought home a bottle of their Merlot with us since it was our favorite. Their Cabernet Sauvignon was really delicious too. Since we had 4 days of wineries, we had to cut down on how many we got from each winery at the time. As luck would have it though, we recently found a bottle of their Cab at a local store!

As you can see from the photo, the Merlot is still in our collection and has a few years of age on it now. We have this really bad habit of saving our good wines for some special occasion. We really need to just drink them! Now that I know I can find it around here though, maybe we will bite the bullet and pop this bottle open.

If you get the chance to go out to Sonoma, definitely put this place on your list. If not – keep your eyes open at your local shops and you might just score big with some of their delicious wine!

Author Spotlight - Ernest Hemingway

If someone ever asked me to pick my favorite author, I don’t think I would be able to do it. I have too many authors that I enjoy over and over. One of those author’s that I find myself going back to time and time again is Ernest

Hemingway. His books are so classic and full of life.

Hemingway was an incredibly interesting person who lived an incredibly interesting life. His writing career began during high school where he worked on the newspaper. After high school, he went on to work for a Kansas City newspaper. His time as a journalist really helped develop the stripped-down style of writing he is known for.

After World War I, Hemingway met and married his first wife and they moved to Paris. This was during an era of time now known as the “Expatriot Era” of history. Artists were fleeing to Europe left and right looking for that inspiration and free life that European living can offer. It was here in Paris that Hemingway met other famed artists like F. Scott Fitzgerald, James Joyce and Pablo Picasso.

Hemingway would go on to marry 3 more times and move between Paris, Key West and Cuba. His most well-known works are The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls and The Old Man and the Sea. It was for The Old Man and the Sea that Hemingway finally won a Pulitzer Prize.

Hemingway was never a very healthy person and struggled with old injuries, illnesses and depression throughout his life. Some say this is part of the reason why his books are so good. Others say it is because of the Absinth – his drink of choice. The world will never know as Hemingway committed suicide in 1961.

His creative talent could never be denied. When asked about his art, Hemingway famously said:

"From things that have happened and from things as they exist and from all things that you know and all those you cannot know, you make something through your invention that is not a representation but a whole new thing truer than anything true and alive, and you make it alive, and if you make it well enough, you give it immortality."

Game of Thrones Book Club - #2

I’ve really been trying to make more time lately to read as I am falling way behind. Taking on the Game of Thrones series has taken up more time than I had expected. The books are long and fairly wordy. It’s been a very long time since there was a book that I had a difficult time reading so this series has caught me a bit off guard. They are not easy reads, but totally worth the effort in my opinion.

I finally made it through the second book – A Clash of Kings. It’s been interesting because I’ve already watched the TV series which is incredibly backwards from how I normally do things. Even though I knew what was going to happen, it didn’t ruin anything for me. Probably because it’s been a long time since Season 2 was on TV.

A Clash of Kings takes you into the kingdom where chaos currently reigns. Joffrey is king in King’s Landing, Robb Stark calls himself King of the North, Stannis Baratheon makes his claim for the throne along with his brother Renley Baratheon. When there are this many kings, there’s bound to be trouble. 

Arya disguises herself as a boy and flees Kings Landing while Jon continues his journey north of the Wall as they learn more about the dead who rise. Bran remains lord over Winterfell while Theon plots his next moves to take his rightful place as the Ironborn King. All the while, Daenerys marches on building her army and watching her dragons grow. The action all comes to a head with the battle of Blackwater Bay where there can only be one King who remains standing.

Martin’s second book is full of suspense and action as all of these different plot lines grow. It’s in this book where you really come to know these characters deeply and begin to form theories on where the series may end up. It’s no secret that Martin doesn’t necessarily like to keep all of his main characters alive so be careful who you get attached to in the book. You never know how long they will be around!

Game of Thrones Book 2 - Pair this with

Stella Rosa Red

This is a fun red wine to sip on while reading A Clash of Kings. It has a crown on the label so that makes it perfect, right? Stella Red is semi-sweet with lots of berry flavor like raspberry and strawberry. The best part? It is even a little bit bubbly!!