It's Gotta Be May
It’s been a big week here at Wiz Manor. I’m writing this on the one-year anniversary of my move-in day! And earlier this week, I took Johnny to his new vet for his first full checkup since he came to stay. It’s the same veterinary practice where I took my cats, and they still don’t let you inside the building with your pet. So I had a lot of time to reflect on when I was last sitting in that parking lot.
Yeah. It’s been a week, y’all.
A lot has changed in the last year, but much of it has been for the good to outright great. I have exciting plans for the Manor grounds and a new landscaper who’s quickly become besties with Johnny. My COVID hair actually has a bit of style now. My handyman is still speaking to me. Johnny and I have lots of new friends in the neighborhood. The new job is terrific, if, like me, your idea of terrific is cussing at Python code till you wrangle it to do what you want. Summer may be — finally! — coming, and I can’t wait to get Johnny a pool and watch him splash around.
This calls for a celebration!
I went into the basement cellar, which has also had a lot of work done of late, and pulled out this 2014 Ravines Pinot Noir. I last visited their Keuka Lake tasting room in October 2017, with Ma and Pa Wiz in tow. The cool climate of upstate New York is ideal in a lot of ways for a Burgundy-style pinot. But one of the biggest challenges of this already famously challenging grape, writes Martha Gioumousis for Edible Finger Lakes, is that the vines are early bloomers, at a time when frost and even snow are still hovering around the beginning of the growing season. And as viticulturist Phil Davis writes here:
…Growing Pinot in a cool, unusually high humidity climate like the Finger Lakes can be a daunting task. Their thin skin and tight cluster configuration makes them particularly susceptible to invasives such as powdery mildew and botrytis rot….
As soon as the wine hit the air, the color began to turn brick red, typical for a wine of this age. But it’s still got a bright ruby at the heart of it. The nose has quite a bit of earth, and bright cherry on the palate. While the finish is a little rough after all this time, the wine still has acidity and freshness. A great sippin’ wine, which also went nicely with my leftover balsamic chicken plus pasta I cobbled together.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to bring my wine in from the patio where the sun has set. There is a smart home that needs more smartening up, and living room sofas to pin, but there’s also a doggo insisting on snuggles before bedtime, and who am I to argue with that?
Happy home-aversary. Cheers to the next year, and the next after that.
