Forty Bottles of Ringboree

Yes, I've been inactive a very long time. There are many very good reasons for this. And there are many good wines in that time. But the main reason that I've been inactive is that, for the most part, I've been drinking cider and beer, rather than wine. It is time to come out of the closet and admit it. I love beer. I love cider.

Lately, I've been drinking two ciders. Strongbow, and Woodchuck Dark and Dry 802.

Woodchuck has a fairly wide selection, but most of their ciders are too sweet for my palate. The Dark and Dry 802 is, as the name suggests, dark and dry. It has wonderful apple flavors, but not so much sweetness to make it unpleasant. And it's sufficiently dark that you can actually taste the apples - whereas some other ciders are merely sweet, with very little flavor. I like my ciders like I like my beers - DARK.

So, if you like ciders, the D&D is highly recommended, but if you're just getting started with ciders, and want an easier entry, I recommend their Amber Draft or the Granny Smith. All of them are delightful summer sippin', and wonderful with picnics and friends.

20 bottles of Ring-Bo-Ree, but many of them for sentimental reasons. I think it was a 2001, but I actually didn't pay much attention. Sharing a bottle of wine with friends necessarily makes it better. Heck, Lambrusco with friends is better than a cab alone. Ok, maybe not really, but almost.

The Foppiano always reminds me of the Fortino Petite, which, of course, I'll probably never get a chance to try again. Fortino is a teensy family-owned winery in Gilroy, California, which I always make a point to visit when I'm in Santa Clara. But, alas, Santa Clara got so expensive that all of the conferences moved north and south of there, and I don't know when, or if, I'll ever get to Santa Clara again.

Gilroy is a delightful town to visit - not sure if I'd want to live there or not. As you go down the 101 south of Santa Clara, you smell it 3 miles out. No, I'm not exaggerating. Gilroy grows most of the garlic consumed in the USA. The next time you buy garlic down at the Piggly Wiggly, look at the label, and 10 to 1, it says "Gilroy, CA" on it.

Anyways, back to the Foppiano. Classic Petite, although it was rather too young. Raspberry and smoke and delightful tobacco aromas. Mmm. Good stuff.

I have long had a dream of taking a wine vacation in northern California, biking through Sonoma, and perhaps through Gilroy. I don't know if I'll ever actually get to do that, but it's still a dream of mine.

I've been drinking the Lindeman's Bin 50 the last few days, and I've been quite surprised. Not so many years ago, I thought this stuff was wonderful, and now it seems sticky sweet. I wonder if it has changed, or if I have. I found it in a Rite-Aid, which is hardly where I expect to find fine wines. Perhaps they have shuffled their labels around, and "Bin 50" means something different from what it used to.

Anyways, 8 bottles of Ring-Bo-Ree. Perhaps with chili or barbequeue it would be better. As a sipping wine, it wasn't anything to write home about. Of course, folks tell me that normal people don't consider Shiraz a sippin' wine anyway. Thank the good Lord I'm not normal.