Wine, Thou Art My Red Muse

I’ll probably be sharing wines I like….since all alcohol-related stories will either be too explicit or (most likely) I won’t be able to remember them.

Jenga – It’s Not Just for Kids

Posted on December 7, 2012 by Wendi Nitschmann
Jenga Machine Gun

Jenga Machine Gun (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After a doubles match in tennis, our friends came over for dinner tonight. (We would have played a second match, only the lights went out during our fifth game, leaving us all scrambling for our iPhones and flashlight apps.)

They brought clam dip and wine, which we dug into enthusiastically while skewering beef kebabs and veggies to put on the grill.

After dinner, the kids all scattered, leaving us adults at the dinner table, talking and nursing our wine. I looked over to see the three little ones (ages 9, 9, and 11) sprawled on the couch. playing games on their iPods.

“It’s time for a game!” I said. I went into the office and fetched Jenga.

“Noooo,” the kids all said in unison. “We don’t want to play!”

“Yeeeesssss,” we parents insisted. “Put the iPods away.”

The kids came to the table reluctantly. Before long, we had an exciting game of Jenga under way. The engineer in the group – who gave lots of strategic advice – somehow ended up toppling the tower, to the delight (and relief) of the children. They made their escape back to the couch and their iPods.

Meanwhile, we adults decided to play another round. (We had learned some good tips from the engineer.) So we cracked open another bottle of wine and carried on. Jenga is actually a very fun game … without kids!

photo copy 5

 

Categories: Family, Fun Stuff, Wine, Thou Art My Red Muse | Tags: , , , , | 2 Comments

The Best Wine Website

Posted on December 5, 2012 by Wendi Nitschmann

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I just realized I have been blogging for a few months and (gasp) I haven’t written a single post about wine!

So without further ado I will begin this – my first – wine post with some very good information for all my fellow wine lovers.

If you collect wine, or even if you just want to know a little bit about wine, the best website out there (IMHO) is CELLARTRACKER. This website has an app called CellarVu, which allows you to keep track of your collection on your smart phone or iPad..

Once you have entered all your favorite wines, CELLAR TRACKER  allows you to:

  • Keep track of what wines you have in your collection
  • See the drinkability (i.e. the best time to drink it)
  • See what other people have paid for the same wine
  • Read reviews of said wine
  • Follow auctions for collector wines

When you have drunk a bottle (or two, or three), with a few clicks you can remove the wine from your collection. That way, you know what you need to replace the next time you are at the wine store.

I think it’s brilliant! 

No more wandering the aisles aimlessly, reading blurbs, checking “Parker Points” and getting distracted  by interesting labels.

Me, I can only remember a few names of wines that I especially like – Layer Cake, Cedar Knoll, Meiomi, Conundrum, Joel Gott. I am hopeless when I don’t have a list…if in doubt I’ll pick wines with cool labels. But that hasn’t worked out too well for me, personally. I suspect crappy winemakers compensate for their wines by putting beautiful labels on the bottles.

So if G isn’t with me to remind me of what I like, the next best thing is CellarTracker.

And in case you’re wondering, I am not a paid sponsor.

Cheers! I’d love to hear what other winos wine lovers use to keep track of their favorites/collections.

Tempranillo varietal wine bottle and glass, sh...

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Categories: Wine, Thou Art My Red Muse | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

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