Gen Text (of which I'm not)

The conversation at Matt's strayed to why I don't use the text feature on my phone and how antiquated I am when it comes to technology. Heck, I just learned about blogs last year and RSS feeds yesterday. I realized tonight that the reason I don't have an affinity to texting is two fold; 1) I car pool with my wife to almost everything (work, runs, groceries,) meaning I don't have to text "Where U at?"--because I know she's right next to me and 2) My Mom and Dad taught me that grammar is important: I can't read a sentence with a misspelled word or improperly used verb or noun without cringing. How am I supposed to read a whole conversation with both problems? I think I'll just wander over to Grammar Girl and see if she wants to chat...

Another Equinox, Another Great Night

Looking at the calender, one might think that the Equinox was on the 23rd of September this year. If so, we observed the Fall Equinox early this year--tonight. We convened at Matt's once again for our quarterly celebration of the passing of the seasons. This time there was a total of 9 people, up from previous meetings. I have to tell you, this is one of my favorite nights of the year. Seriously, how can you beat Jucy Lucys and a bunch of friends (including the founder and inventor of jucylucyrestuarants.com)? Conversation was great, food was great and the weather outside was frightful. Did I mention that I had a great night?

Indestructible Wine

Another month, another post, another wine. And this one isn't a whine about bad wine--it is actually a celebration of a pretty darn good one, especially considering the price. After my disastrous encounter with Trove wines, I stopped in and purchased a different box-- a Black Box. I was hesitant, of course, but the 2 employees of the Byerly's Liquor Eagan store both swore by Black Box, with one even claiming the Cab was as good as any of the $20 bottles of Aussie wine in the store. The beautiful part? A box of wine holds the equivalent of 4 bottles of wine for the nifty price of $23 (likely cheaper at other liquor stores). So, I picked up a box of Black Box Monterray County Chardonnay, brought it home and threw it in the fridge...

The verdict? Very nice, particularly for a summer porch sipper. This wine has quite a bit of citrus nose to it, some melon undertones, and a nice silky texture. No malalactic fermentation has occurred, leaving out the buttery flavor you sometimes get in a chardonnay. There was a little bit of oak, but definitely nothing like Kendall Jackson. If you are a Sauv Blanc drinker who has shied away from America's best white grape (and there is not doubt that Chardonnay is California's best white grape), this is the box Chardonnay for you.