Category: Serenities

That’s right. ‘Pastoral scene of the gallant south/ the bulging eyes and the twisted mouth’.  I remember that one.  It’s funny the associations you make with some of these McLaren Vale stand-outs.  McLaren Vale

I’ve no idea, but the name for this brilliant shiraz may have something to do with it’s being placed in oak barrels previously containing Kentucky bourbon. Just sort of sleeping in there for a bit.  I like bourbon.  So it nailed it with me.

“Fruitatious” is a word I’ve just invented.  I like it better than “Fruit forward”, which is just the beginning of what this blast of Aussie joy-juice can do for you.  And it’s a whopping 16% alcohol by volume.  Bejeezus, mate.  Stand clear. This James Jean guy is terrific.  James Jean  Talk about designer labeling.  This is a well-capitalized wine.  The Belle Dame carries in her raiment the skulls of her defeated suitors.  As they used to say in the south, and still do, “It is a fine day, sir.”

These images are a bit out of focus and that’s good to remember.  They got that way honestly.  The bottle is empty.  I’ve been to Mclaren Vale and it’s a nice little Vale.  No.  I haven’t been there.  I meant to say it sure would be cool to get down to the hot south and visit Mclaren Vale in old Australia.

‘Strange Fruit’, the work from which the above quotation is taken, was originally a poem written by Allan Lewis, whose real name was, apparently, Abel Meeropol.  Billie Holiday recorded it in song on April 20, 1939.  It was a hit.

It still is.  Thanks for stopping by.

I didn’t know that. Know that February is 25 today. Congratulations! That’s a nice number.
There’s been some chatter around the site that things can get confusing occasionally with all these fluffy white dogs climbing up everywhere and licking everybody and wagging their tails and looking for treats.

It’s true. It’s totally true.  I’ve felt that way myself.  If it was up to me I’d say ‘Absolutely right.’  Right on.  Righty-O.  Right as rain.

You can get kind of addicted to these images.  These strips of, what are they, landscapes?  Panoramas.  Profiles.  I forget the rest.

This Malbec is quite tasty.  And, for reasons not entirely understood, I’m thinking for some reason of Duff Cooper.

Duff Cooper quoted in Alexis Lichine’s Encyclopedia of Wine

“I can truthfully say that since I reached the age of discretion I have consistently drunk more than most people would say was good for me.  Nor do I regret it.  Wine has been to me a firm friend and a wise counselor.  Often wine has shown me matters in their true perspective, and has, as though by the touch of a magic wand, reduced great disasters to small inconveniences.

“Wine has lit up for me the pages of literature, and revealed in life romance lurking in the commonplace.

“Wine has made me bold but not foolish; has induced me to say silly things but not to do them.

“Under its influence words have often come too easily which had better not have been spoken, and letters have been written which had better not have been sent.

“But if such small indiscretions standing in the debit column of wine’s account were added up, they would amount to nothing in comparison with the vast accumulation on the credit side.”

Duff Cooper:  “Old Men Forget”

 

7:17 pm.  There’s a dog howling around here somewhere, but it’s not ours.  Down below.  It’s an Aussie Dalmation yearning for it’s Aussie master and mistress.  The wind sets fair Saturday and everything is bent for Australia!  Hooray!  Howl howl!