Wine Snob

I used to get wine and champagne confused.  I never knew the difference.  Growing up, the parents would allow me to indulge in a sip of champagne on special occasions and I never really liked it.  The "fizz" always seemed to go straight up my nose.

Tina though is quite the little cultural and social butterfly.  She moved around a lot during her childhood and even lived and went to school in Egypt for a bit so she has experienced more culture in her lifetime than I have.  To me, cultural eating was going thru the Taco Bell drive thru or ordering delivery from Pizza Hut.

Sadly, if she ever wanted a nice evening out for wine and fine dining, she had to go out with her friends cause I wanted no part of it.  I was fine grabbing some BK, a six-pack and watching a game on the couch.  She always wanted sushi, thai, Mediterranean, authentic italian or some other kind of food I was uncomfortable with.  Now that I've grown up a bit I can admit that my apprehension was due to a fear of looking stupid while ordering.  It's a guy thing, much like asking for directions; we never want to expose our vulnerability to the ladies in our lives.

So fast forward to now and I'm the one that is rarely satisfied with in and out food.  She and I will drive around for hours, wasting countless gallons of gas in search of some small asian bistro, sushi bar or mom-n-pop italian restaurant.  She is an excellent cook and rarely makes the same dish twice unless I fall absolutely in love with something--like her Caribbean Jerk Chicken thighs.  Over the summer I really enjoy grilling and cook that way 2-4 times a week.  Tonight I'm thinking about making provolone-bruschetta burgers and probably tuna steak for her since she doesn't eat beef.  Did I mention that she's not the only one who enjoys cooking?

So, back to my original idea, over the years she has cultured me a bit.  I've become a food snob and part of enjoying nice food is enjoying a nice wine to go along with it.  I have fallen in love with riesling.  If I had my way we would drink a bottle a week but Tina thinks that is unnecessary.  She has yet to get me into red wines, they just aren't for me (I say that now but a few years ago I never would be drinking any white wine either).  Our favorites are Columbia Winery, Chateau Ste. Michelle and Dr. Loosen's.  The Chateau is probably the one we buy most frequently; Total Wine and More sells it for $8.97.  We try to buy a new brand about every other time.  Last week I bought a brand called Blitz.  It was a 2007 Riesling and I only bought it because it was in the fridge at TW&M and I didn't want to wait to chill anything else.  I thought it was OK but Tina really enjoyed it.  Usually when we buy a new brand we base our purchase on the coolness of the bottle or label, unless someone recommends something.  A few months ago we purchased a bottle of Eroica, which I was told was a collaborative effort between Dr. Loosen and Chateau Ste. Michelle.  It was a $20 bottle, which is a bit high for us.  We normally spend $9-14 per bottle.  We thought it was pretty good.

We've got a bottle of Chateau in the fridge right now.  I may pop the cork on it tonight.  How well does wine go with burgers?

Coming next week: COLLEGE FOOTBALL!  I am Atlanta bound for the Alabama/Clemson game.   

The Weekend is Here!

My first official "heading into the weekend" post.  Tina and I are fairly routine oriented.  As a matter of fact, we're almost neurotic (OK, I'm far worse than she is but I'm lumping her in with me; that's the price of marriage).   Saturdays consist of sleeping in late, getting our day started even later, catching an afternoon matinee movie followed by a trip to Target or the mall for some necessities or window shopping.  Then its home for dinner with the parents and an evening of television watching or card playing if my grandmother comes over.

Sunday is our exercise day.  For us, exercise consists of a 3-4 mile walk on the beach.  If we don't get up early--before 9--and make it to the beach, we try to go in the evening after it cools down.  Tina plans the menu for the week on Sunday; this is quite the operation.  She gets out all of her Cooking Light Annuals, her Everyday Food magazines and spreads them out on the couch and starts searching for stuff she hasn't made before.  She usually shows me the courtesy of asking for my suggestions but often turns them down for one reason or another.  Our weekly diet consists of fish twice, pork once, chicken once and a main course salad once.  BTW, have I mentioned that Tina enjoys cooking?  Weekends are kind of play it by ear as far as dinner is concerned.  We usually end up going out to eat on one of the days and I fire up the grill on another.  After she gets the menu planned and grocery list made its off to the grocery store, almost always right around 4 o'clock (routine, remember?).

So that brings us to this weekend.  We're not interested in the latest installment of The Mummy franchise so the movies are a no go this weekend which means that we'll probably talk about washing our cars and we might even do it.  A few Saturdays ago we made a spur of the moment trip to Jonathan Dickinson State Park where we rented a canoe and paddled our happy selves up the Loxahatchee River and back.  Maybe some seat of our pants adventure trip is in our future this weekend, too.  Eventually we would like to buy a couple of mountain bikes and find trails to ride on the weekends.  We're determined to become weekend warriors.

As a side note about me, I'm a bit of a beer snob when at home.  I try to find new beers all the time.  Total Wine & More has become my favorite store for alcohol shopping because they offer so many beers and they allow you to mix and match six packs.  Anyways, this weekend I believe that I will be trying Amberjack Ale which is brewed and bottled right here in West Palm Beach.  I'll let you guys--all 2 or 3 of you who are reading-- know what I think about it next week.

Have a good weekend--ELI3