May 14, 2020

Villa Wolf: Pinot Noir

I don’t know if I want a refund or a “do over” for the beginning of 2020.  I know many of you feel the same way.  I’m at the end of December, thinking next year is going to be a great year.  Then…all of this.  It doesn’t seem to stop.  Each time I think, “it must get better from here,” a new learning experience decides to show itself.

This week’s learning experience: this German Pinot Noir is delightful.  Lots of raspberry, pomegranate, and cranberry with hints of stone and mineral on the finish.  Light on the tannins.  It’s a light, fruit forward wine that is perfect for a warm afternoon with burgers or steaks on the grill.

On the upside, I’m fairly certain that by now I’ll be able to survive the zombie apocalypse.  I’ve figured out how to grocery shop for two weeks at a time.  I know where all the small shops are the sell things you can’t find in the grocery stores.  (Kroger out of meat?  I have the super-secret hook up.  I’ll meet you in a back alley and trade you toilet paper for pork chops.)  I have two gallons of hand sanitizer hidden in a secret compartment in my house. 

My wine cabinet, on the other hand, is woefully empty.  I have actually empty spots on the rack (my OCD hates to have empty spaces) and somehow, I ended up with an abundance of Italian wines.  I am not in an Italian wine kind of mood.  I can honestly stare at the wine rack or browse through my wine refrigerator for ten minutes and not be able to figure out which one I want to open.

My main complaint is that if we’re suddenly forced to live in a dystopian society, I want to be a lot cooler than this.  When do we get to wall off cities and turn them into Divergent?  I volunteer for Dauntless.

The first few weeks of the shut down, I probably overindulged in wine and should have taken the time to catch up on this blog.  After three weeks of daily tears, fear for my business, and general loneliness, I started to pull myself into “lets get things done” mode.  The beauty of an entrepreneur is that we don’t stay down for long.  I got motivated.  (I also turned off the news.  I haven’t seen “numbers” or a single news report in weeks.  It’s amazing what that action alone has done for my psyche.)

Today, we restart the blog.

Most of my regular readers know I keep saying I don’t like Pinot Noir.  I keep being proven wrong, darn it.  This bottle was a gift from a friend, one to encourage me to blog again.  She knows I have a soft spot in my heart for German wines.  Last night was steak night; I opened this bottle to give it a go.  (Side note: do you have any idea how difficult it is to buy groceries during a meat shortage when your household is a keto household?)

It would seem 2020 is teaching me to keep an open mind and that the “new normal” might include wines I wouldn’t otherwise drink.  (I refuse to accept the term “new normal.”  It’s silly and inaccurate.  Every day is a new normal.  We create our normal.)

If you’d like something unique, interesting, and easy to drink, find a bottle of Villa Wolf Pinot Noir.  As far as I know, there are no wine shortages at this time.  (Really, America, what is wrong with your priorities?)