Toasting The New Year!

Well, it took 70+ years but I finally found a wine I like, and so I'm celebrating the new year with Snuffy and Lizzie in style.

A couple of years ago Mark, Derek, Lisa and I went on a little wine tasting jaunt to several of the wineries in the area. I was really happy they took me along because I don't like wine and they do, so I could have been a real drag on the day. Somewhere along the way we encountered an ice wine which made me change my mind entirely about wine. Everyone else said it made their teeth hurt because it was so sweet, but I had finally found MY wine.

Ice wines, we were told, are made by picking grapes that are frozen on the vine then pressed before they thaw. Since much of the water in the grapes is frozen, the resulting juice is high in sugar and acid. Well, who cares about the technicalities -- the stuff is pure heaven, but it is indeed sweet, and I mean sweet! It comes in tall, elegant bottles that don't hold much wine, and it's frightfully expensive. It's considered a desert wine, and sometimes is desert itself.

Well, one thing led to another and since a habit of drinking ice wines is beyond my budget, a little investigation found the next best thing -- a moscato d'asti. It's also quite sweet but less expensive and more readily available. After work tonight I stopped at our local wine shop, The Purple Smile, and purchased my very own bottle to celebrate the new year with. Snuffy and Lizzie weren't interested.

So, whatever and whoever you're celebrating with, I wish all my blip buddies a very Happy New Year. Here's to another year of blipping fun.

p.s. I'm a lightweight drinker so I'm moving on to hot chocolate now.