ANA Wine (or whine) Club

[ppearl214]

Carried over from AN Issues/Blood Pressure thread. Have fun all!

Phyl

[wendysig]

Hi all-
I see you startedthe wine pary without me!  I don't know that much about wine, but I like to drink it!  Did I hear it can cure ANs?  What a great excuse... er I mean reason to have a bottle... oops, I mean a glass of wine.

 Lori, are you and James doing garage surgery while you're sharing a bottle of wine or using it as anesthiesia?  Since you mentioned he didn't use any anesthesia before, maybe this is the answer to the problem.  Just liquor the paitents up until they can't feel anything.  They won't know if their heads hurt from the surgery or if it's a hangover.  You can be like real doctors and just say "Take two aspirin and call me in the morning." 

Debbi - There you are, right in the thick of things as usual!  Don't forget to same a glass of wine for me!

Jan -  First tattoos, now drinking too?  Good to know you're my kind of person (well, I'm still not sure about the tattoo, but drinking sounds good!)

Wendy

[LADavid]

So this is where the wine and grog went.  Sneaky how you do that stuff, Phyl.  Especially since you're on leave ashore  .

[leapyrtwins]

Wendy -

truth be told, I probably drank more before I was legal than after    - which in my case translates into not drinking a whole lot for many, many years now 

I'm glad that Phyl gave us all the option of either wining or whining - that way when we get off topic (like we usually do) she won't have to move us again 

Jan

[Lorenzo]

I think the wine lured her back to the fold, temporarily.

Anyway, just to prove the point I started with: my readings have been in the 150s / 100 or so. Last couple of days I had a glass of wine with meals, and hey presto, my BP was down to 129/78. If that doesn't prove the beneficial properties of a good Chianti / Cab Franc / Petite Syrah / plonk, then I don't know what does!
Oh, sorry. I should have posted this on the BP thread... oooops. It's the wine.

Going to go and investigate a new wine shop up the road here and see what they have from the west coast. Porbably the usual suspects from CA. sigh.

Morning all! (for me it is anyway)

Ciao, Lorenzo 

[Kaybo]

I didn't really drink much at all when everyone else was partying up when they weren't legal - I was a good little church girl (my crazy friend now, vicki, couldn't stand me in high school b/c I was too goody-goody!!).  I am not some wild Bohemian now, but do enjoy a glass of wine new & then!!  Never got to open one tonight...  

K

[Lorenzo]

small glass a day with meals is just perfect. complements the food nicely! Even  my docotr suggested I should drink a small amount of wine to help with my BP! It's good for us!!!    When I think back at the stuff we used to drink when we were students... yikes. Eurk.

[wendysig]

Lorenzo,
Glad to hear the wine helped yor BP.  Mine is okay, but maybe I'll have some as a preventive measure.  Sounds like a good excuse anyway, doesn't it? 

Jan - I know what you mean, and I was really just kidding you!  In my younger more carefree days I actually partook of alcohol spriits more frequentlyl.  Maybe that's what made me feel so much more carefree.  Hmm...another reason for a glass of wine!  It just keeps getting easier to come up with reasons to celebrate!!

Wendy

[Lorenzo]

I always listen to my doc (well, nearly), and if he says drink some small amount of wine, who am I to question his wisdom? It's all about health and taste. Just like dark chocolate lowers cholesterol, or can, apparently. But that's for another thread I think. Or maybe not.
Right now I'm planning today's wine choice. Not sure yet, probably a toss between south of france and south of italy. Feel like robust flavours.
Ciao, Lorenzo

[Dan]

I remember as a kid they drilled into us the 5 major food groups and fruit was one of them.  A grape is a fruit and wine is only grape juice.  So every one told me I should drink
wine, teachers, doctors, parents, and even TV commercials.  Wine must be good for you.

Lorenzo I live 40 kilometers NE of Ramstein only 6 kilometers from the start of the Deutche Wine Strasse (German Wine Street)

Dan in Germany   

[Lorenzo]

See? Wine IS good for us, in moderation, of course. I agree, it's just fruit juice.

Ramstein. Ok, don't know it, but the closest I've come to live near there is Starsbourg in France. Don't know that part of Germany at all in fact. Weinland! Good reason to visit there!  I'll collect the wine from there myself so! 

Ciao, Lorenzo

[yardtick]

Lorenzo,

My taste buds have change so much since I've had surgery.  Last night while I was frying a variety of mushrooms for the roast, I opened a bottle of Louie's Petite Syrah.  I always add wine to the mushrooms.  You know with fresh garlic, fresh parsley from the garden and a bit a butter, the wine just adds another depth of flavour.  I smelled the wine and decided to taste it.  I poured myself a glass.............yummy.  It was nice and light in colour and very light on taste.  I was really impressed, remember I like white wine, so this was a pleasant surprise for me!!!  Louie came into the kitchen and almost dropped seeing me drink red wine. 

I enjoyed one glass slightly before dinner and during dinner, and one glass after dinner.  Now Louie made this wine from grapes, not juice.  He has really mastered the art of wine making.  I think I will be kissing the sweet stuff good bye.  When he starts to make the wine in the fall, I'll post pictures, its quite the operation he's got going on here.  Mind you for about 4-6 weeks my house smells like a wino's delight!!

Salute,
Anne Marie 

[Lorenzo]

Yardtick,
Never mind photos, I think I'll just come over and document the entire thing and take part in it too. Produce a book on the original garage wine operation.   Sounds wonderful. I'd love to see images of that!!! Hoembrew... lovely.

Glad you're getting to enjoy red wine now! Great!! Much better than sweet stuff.

Ciao, Lorenzo

[Debbi]

Good idea on the personal, up close supervision, Lorenzo! 

The whole wine making process fascinates me. For my birthday this year, my husband paid my "tuition" to a wine making school at a local vineyard (hey, no jokes about NJ wine, we all know if's pretty bad.)  This vineyard actually imports grapes from Chile and California.  They are starting the Chilean wines now, so I am planning to head out to the vineyard in the next few weeks for the pressing (I missed the crushing as it occured when I was in the hopsital).  I'm planning to take tons of pictures and learn as much as possible. 

So, you all now my favorite reds are the Willammette Valley, OR pinot noirs (IMHO some of the finest, most refined pinots in the world) - what are some other favorites?

Debbi (hic...)

[Lorenzo]

I wonder does he give classes on wine making, her husband! I could do two things then, document and learn at the same time!!    I can just see it: Urban Wine School!!

Ok I think I've listed mine already. Anybody else for their favourite wines? Ok, mine are many and international.

Italy: fond of wines from the south, Puglia. Also of course soem of the Piemonte and the the Tuscan guy aren't bad either. South of Tuscany, Unmbria and their nice red.
Specifically: from Chianti, Sassicaia, Flaccianello and Tignanello. Chianti Riserva, From Piemonte: Barolo, Nebbiolo and Barbaresco. Then, from the Veneto (my area): Soave (the good stuff, not the water one gets here), Valpolicella Classico and Amarone, (same comment) then Prosecco of course. Further into the mountains, some of the wines from the Valtellina.

And that's just Italy! Hemmm... this might take a while....
Onwards. France. Skip Champagne, overrated mostly as far as I'm concerned. Except for the bottles that cost the same as a small car. Burgundy: some nice reds. My preferred from Fra are from the south, Corbieres, Maury, Fitou, Cote du Rousillon. Rose from Bandol, and one particular one I like, even just for the: La Clappe.

Spain. Rijoa Riserva, most of them, Txacoli from the Basque country (YUM) then some Navarra wines.

CA: I'm a novice at those. Last trip we loved some wines from Napa, Coppola in particular. Only ones we could afford. Further south we found  nice Petite Syrah from the Santa Ynez vallery, Epiphany. OH YUM YUM! Others too, but I can't remember them. have to go back and test some more!

After that, I go blanc. Fendant from the Valais in Switzerland, Some nice Riesling from Alsace in France, Whites from New Zealand...

Ok, I think I need a glass of something now.  List complied after years and years of travel by car around Europe and bringing back wine to try.



Ciao, Lorenzo