I mentioned yesterday that I was planning in stopping at Tuscan Market, and I did.
Mitch always has wine tastings in the afternoons, and I’m something of a straight man for him. When he sees me coming towards the store, he pours a tasting of wine and when I walk in the door he hands it to me without looking at me. Never fails to crack up whoever else is there at the tasting.
Last night I learned what an “Old Vine Zinfandel” is. Evidently, when this type of grapevine gets old (as in 125+ years), it becomes really gnarly and is difficult (hence unnecessary) to maintain. These vines are commonly found in mining areas, where the miners didn’t have the time to work the vines at all, until it was time to harvest the grapes. Then they’d pick them and make wine. Now all these wine companies are seeking out real estate in old mining ghost towns to look for the old vines.
The couple of wines he had last night were good, if you like dark zinfandels. As I sit here I can’t remember the name of the one I liked better, but if it comes to me I’ll post it.
Sorry if that was a short trip nowhere, but you learned something today, I hope.
Today I was back at the store for a beer tasting. Yay! He had a couple of beers from some local guys– Two Brothers Brewery, whose “Prairie Path Ale” is an excellent Belgian-style beer, and it’s named after a really cool bike path that’s nearby. The others ranged from pale ales all the way to a chocolate and a vanilla stout. The one I came home with, though, was Left Hand Sawtooth Ale, which seems like it’ll be a good summer beer. This stuff is brewed in Colorado.
There seems to be a lot of alcohol in this posting. Oh well, it was educational at least.