Coolest Wine Box Ever

Wine is so intriguing to me because of the fabulous stories behind each bottle.  Check this one out. So JL and I received our wine order from Dan Cook yesterday.  Now I know what I bought.  We both purchased a nice little variety of US Syrah's, and Argentinian Malbec, a GSM (Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre) blend from Australia, a Chablis and a wine with the coolest wine box I have ever seen. "Le Cigare Volant".  This wine is packed in a big Cigar box!!  It's awesome.  Check out the picture.  The bottles necks are even wrapped with a cigar label!  (3 Chablis bottles to the right)  The wine is produced from a wacky producer in California called Bonny Doon.  The wine is a classic Chateauneuf-du-Pape blend of Mourvedre, Syrah, Grenache and Cinsault.  The name of the wine honors a classic french story.  In 1954 some French wine producers were quite nervous about extraterrestrials. So, the council of Chateauneuf-du-Pape passed an ordinance prohibiting flying saucers or "Flying Cigars" as they called them from landing in they vineyards and damaging the vines. The ordinance called for impounding any Flying Cigars that dare to land on their grapes.  Since then, it seems the existence of the law has deterred any ET landings.  They have all stayed home! Check out the great art on the label with the Flying Cigar shining a red light on the land.  

Cool.  And the for the fitness, Diane and I had to lift 4 cases of wine into our house and load it into the wine fridge.  That was the workout for the day!!  More structure tomorrow.

Check out Bonny Doon's website www.bonnydoonvineyard.com. It is also one of the coolest websites I have seen.  Thought: good things come in cool packages.  

RH

Gatorade killed the Chablis?

One of the greatest things you can do before you buy wine is taste it. It is good to get hooked up with some importers who sell things that fit your price range and tastes. Recently JL and I went to a tasting organized by a friend of his Dan Cook. The tasting was set up at Dan's beautiful home and included 38 wines from him and 2 other importers. It is a little hard to get through 38 wines in one night but JL and I had a plan. First, an hour hockey game to get the pre-calorie interval burn before the big taste. Than a quick Gatorade followed by a protein bar followed by 2 glasses of water. We were good to go. We quickly toured through the 16 whites, spitting as much as we swallowed. Nothing much appealed to us and we swore it was because or our pre-tasting routine. It must have ruined our palate. We marked down one white as a keeper. Than to the reds . We were lead through he most appealing 15 and then had to give up. The palate was fried. My tonge felt like I licked a velcro strip - not the soft side. Thank goodness the caterers server us tenderloin on a stick and mini burgers to keep the tannins down. We found some very affordable wines in the red section as well as an amazing Marlborough NZ pinot noir. Unfortunately that Pinot came with a price tag of dinner for 2 and a movie. $75. wow. JL and I ordered up about 3 cases of wine each and off we went for a beer and game 6 of Lakers vs Celtics to wash it all down. A very successful evening except for surely going over budget. More about my wine picks when I get them and remember what they were!! An intense calorie burning session programmed by the Fit and Busy Dad, Chris Lopez was needed the next day to combat the fun we had.

Thought of the day: Don't pound Gatorade before you hit the Chablis.

In the Begining...

Hi,
I couldn't imagine my life without fitness or wine. I love both wine and fitness in moderation, and sometimes not so much moderation (mainly the wine). This is about my daily adventures in learning about wine and continuing to battle the calories by trying to keep fit. The fit part: I have played sports and worked out all my 35 years and will continue to be active for the rest of my life. The wine part: I discovered wine shortly after University, and once I got past the homemade stuff I fell in love. I distinctly remember my first bottle of amazing wine. I was out for dinner at North 44 in Toronto with one of my personal training clients and he ordered a Duck Pond Merlot. I remember saying "this is what wine tastes like............... no more Baby Duck for me." Then I remember peeking at the wine list and breathing a sigh of relief as I knew I wasn't paying for the Duck Pond which at the time would have cost me 2 days wages!!! I have been hooked ever since. Over the past 9 years I have learned that the more you know about wine, the more you realize you don't know. I experience the same in fitness. Thought for the day: Wine and Fitness are basically the same. The harder you go, the more pain you feel in the morning.