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<\/a> <\/a><\/a><\/p>\nOne of the big challenges each year is appointing a Designated Timer, whose personal chronometer is in such “accord with the great sidereal movement with which time is generally reckoned” that we may be reasonably sure that we are celebrating at exactly the right time. Last night it was Jerry, sporting his new watch that continually checks in with the Great Vibrating Crystal kept at Greenwich or the Naval Observatory, or wherever, which keeps the Official Time of the World. So Jerry (an Alaska man taciturn enough to pass for a Maine Man) got the nod, and we all chanted JER-RY!\u00a0 JER-RY!\u00a0 JER-RY!\u00a0 JER-RY!, which might possibly have been the worst moment of his life, but we hope not.\u00a0 And speaking of Maine, a special welcome to our seldom-seen friend from Maine, Sarah here for the holidays with Bob and Marnie.<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/a> Said watch performed flawlessly, and our countdown 5!…4!…3!…2!…1!…ZERO!!!! and the crowd roared and soared and hugged and toasted and burst into a surprisingly Vigorous and Heartfelt rendition of Auld Lang Syne, two verses worth at the top of our collective lungs. AWESOME! or as Livvy would say “TOTES LEGIT!!” which we are not yet quite comfortable saying audibly, you know, in front of people.<\/p>\n <\/a> Great food, wonderful people, plenty of wine, and all over at a decent hour…it just doesn’t get any better than this, so thanks and cheers to all who made it happen, and Best Wishes for 2010 and the coming decade.<\/p>\n Which leads me to one other point, which may or may not be discussed more fully on a separate “Rant” thread someday. For no particular reason, during the 80’s I was so dismayed by the way the country was headed I named the 80’s the Decade of the Bottom Line.<\/strong> In the 90’s I was so dismayed with the way the country was going I named them the Decade of Vapid Pragmatism.<\/strong> Through the 00’s I have CERTAINLY been dismayed (actually we are now way, way, way past merely “dismayed”) that I have sought to find the slogan that captured the decade for me, never quite feeling satisfied. I am happy to report that a flash of Inspiration brought the words to me yesterday afternoon while I was out walking the dogs. We have now officially completed the Decade of Bullet-Headed Hypocrisy<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Maybe the best we can hope for is that things are perhaps no longer, as Kevin once put it, “getting worse faster than we are getting older.” However you look at it, here’s wishing us all the best year of our lives in 2010!<\/p>\n Wines this week:<\/p>\n Kurt Angerer Gruner Veltliner Spies\u00a0 07\u00a0 (Austria)\u00a0 $20: <\/strong>WA 91 pts\u00a0 <\/em><\/span>Sauvignon-like notes of lime, caraway, and honeydew melon on Stephen Vincent “Crimson” red blend 07 (California)\u00a0 $9: <\/strong>Firm and spicy, with appetizing blackberry, wild berry, pepper, spice Marquis Philips Shiraz 07 (Australia)\u00a0 $14: <\/strong>WA 92 pts<\/span> Fruit forward, with mouth-filling notes of crushed \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Townshend T3 red blend (Washington) $15:<\/strong> Full bodied, slightly jammy, non-vintage blend of cab, merlot, and cab franc<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In case anyone is online today (New Year’s Day) we WILL BE OPEN JANUARY 2 for our regular Saturday tasting, usual hours from 1-5. Then note WE WILL BE CLOSED TILL JANUARY 23 to take inventory, clean up the shop, maybe rearrange the furniture, who knows? Or maybe will take a weekend off and go […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wine-tasting"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artisanwineclub.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artisanwineclub.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artisanwineclub.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artisanwineclub.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artisanwineclub.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/artisanwineclub.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artisanwineclub.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artisanwineclub.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artisanwineclub.com\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nthe nose lead to a juicy, glossy, satisfying palate of
\ncooling melon fruit, with lingering finish of rich nut oils, caraway, white pepper, and
\nwet stone.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nand chicory notes that firm up on the finish. Syrah and Cabernet
\nSauvignon.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nstrawberry, blackberry, and dark chocolate.<\/em> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
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