Okay, Today we got ferrets, oh my god they are adorable idiots.

But enough about that, I think until such time as I am employed as a Camp Counselor this summer (and even then on the weekends perhaps) I thought I would share my wine and food experience. I like to buy my booze if it has an animal on the label. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, but I just wanna report on it so that if you want a tasty wine and a bottle to put on a shelf once you've emptied it you won't run into disappointment.

First off, if you are one of those people that does not like wine, man are you missing out. It's the best kind of drunk in the world. Wine drunk is just happy, murry, purry, and ready to curl up with new friends or total strangers and usually with no hang-over if you play your cards right.

If you have trouble with sulfites and have turned your back on wine for fear of bad migraines the answer to all your problems may lie with an animal-related wine label. Billy Goat has a line of sulfite free wines to choose from. I won't go into detail on that but for those of you that get a head-ache as soon as look at a deep red glass of wine this is an area you can look into for that blissful wine-drunk without the headache.

Spent all your money on commissions and you can't bear to buy a cheep five dollar bottle of wine only to find it weak? The value award has to go to Yellow Tail Chardonnay. Say what you will about Chardonnay but this is a real bargain and it get's the job done. Somehow by coming from Australia it's imbued with a tendency to take you by surprise and leave you feeling tingly and furry all over after just one or two glasses. Three or four will leave you feeling fantastic, but don't push it, the stuff goes right to your head. My one regret with this wine is that I tried to enjoy it with a salad including nutty fragrant Mustard Greens. After that every time I tasted the wine, I tasted the greens, and vice versa. The flavors are so similar you end up focussing on the one note in the wine if you have had anything to eat with a similar note. A complex wine is great but this one has a lot of notes running the race neck and neck with a lot of space between them. It's like playing chords on your tongue. A good wine to sit and contemplate if you want "The flavors you get by aging in white oak" for dummies.

I climbed out on a limb recently and spent close to $8 on a rather small bottle of wine, Gatao, Vino Verde from Portugal. It has a lovely blue-green cat on the label and almost no color what soever aside from a light blue-green cast. I had no idea what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised. The taste is tart and refreshing, and the finish is slightly sparkling. There is wisdom in putting it in such small bottles, as I'm sure if left over-night in the fridge it would go flat once opened.

Upcoming Review! FoxHorn Vineyards Merlot. Okay, it's a Merlot, what the hell am I gonna report on? So far it has a beautiful fox on the label and it's a nice big bottle. A domestic brew so I'm probably gonna report back saying "Yep... it's a Merlot alright." but stay tuned.

Also in my next review a recipe of mine for mulled cider with rum that has had nothing but positive receptions at parties and would fit right in with any Redwall Feast!

Cheers,
Apothacer