Author: David

Five years?

It’s hard to believe, but it’s been five years since my Mom passed away.

The coming (and going) of Passover is probably the most obvious reminder that another year has passed, along with the inevitable note from the synagogue reminding me when Kaddish will be recited for her, but this year, I got a special and unexpected reminder — a comment on my Driving Shiva posting.

I close posts for comments after a few months to reduce spam, but William, the person who sent the comment, didn’t let that stop him — he commented to a post that still was open for comment, and I’ve moved his comment where it belongs.

Thank you, William; I appreciate your thoughtfulness and your persistence!

BYOW

I’m pretty sure the statue of limitations has expired, I was a juvenile then, and I’m not in Virginia any more, so I hope it’s safe to admit that back in 11th Grade Honors Chemistry, I knew about the class still and the making of Ol’ Innertube. Actually, pretty much everyone in the class was in on the secret (and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to find that the teacher knew, too). I didn’t drink the stuff, of course, but it was a fun, if illegal, project.

Tonight, Diane and I blended our own wines at Cinnabar Winery. It was fun, and completely legal – and this time, I absolutely plan to drink the product!

We had three reds to use in our blending:

  • 2008 Sonoma Syrah, aged 29 months in Hungarian Oak, 30% new
  • 2007 Solana Vineyards Paso Robles-San Miguel Petite Sirah, aged 40 months in French Oak, 30% new.
  • 2008 50/50 blend of Paso Robles-Templeton Gap Grenache-Mourvedre, aged 29 months in American Oak, 20% new.

I tried each wine separately and decided I preferred the Petite Sirah to the other two; then I tried a few combinations before settling on 80% Petite Sirah, 12% Syrah, and 8% Grenache-Mourvedre as the recipe for Traffic Calmer.

Traffic Calmer label

Diane went for more balance, ending up with 55.5% Petite Sirah, 40% Syrah, and 4.5% Grenache-Mourvedre in her After Work Red.

We have to wait a few months for the wines to marry and mature…maybe for Thanksgiving!