Just discovered that I like wine.

[Gilberticus 374]

I've never liked wine; it's either too acidic or too sweet for me. I've had this bottle of 19 Crimes that has set next to my minerals for years; never touched it because I haven't had a drop of alcohol in years. Once in a blue moon, I have a bout of.... what do you call it, survivor's guilt? When I was enlisted, my fiance (God love her) was killed in front of me. Those who have been in similar situations know the types of thoughts that bounce through your head. Mind you, I have a wife and a son and love them both dearly, but Kym's death has probably scarred me for life. Anyway, when that crap pops up, I usually go to my study, listen to Skynyrd's "Simple Man" a few times, and I'm good to go. Not this time, though. Nasty thoughts just kept clawing at me; guilt, blame, shame, all types of stuff. Which panicked me a little; Connor's 3 and doesn't deserve to see his dad like that. So, I poured a glass of this wine, and I'll be a sumbit, not only do I kind of like this, but it does indeed take a little bit of the edge off. Now I think I understand why some like wine.

[gogoblender 3,068]

On 9/16/2018 at 7:49 PM, Gilberticus said:

I've never liked wine; it's either too acidic or too sweet for me. I've had this bottle of 19 Crimes that has set next to my minerals for years; never touched it because I haven't had a drop of alcohol in years. Once in a blue moon, I have a bout of.... what do you call it, survivor's guilt? When I was enlisted, my fiance (God love her) was killed in front of me. Those who have been in similar situations know the types of thoughts that bounce through your head. Mind you, I have a wife and a son and love them both dearly, but Kym's death has probably scarred me for life. Anyway, when that crap pops up, I usually go to my study, listen to Skynyrd's "Simple Man" a few times, and I'm good to go. Not this time, though. Nasty thoughts just kept clawing at me; guilt, blame, shame, all types of stuff. Which panicked me a little; Connor's 3 and doesn't deserve to see his dad like that. So, I poured a glass of this wine, and I'll be a sumbit, not only do I kind of like this, but it does indeed take a little bit of the edge off. Now I think I understand why some like wine.

I'm sorry for the loss of your fiance   Regarding oenophile g... well it's something I've been wanting to become a good part of... but I somehow never keep going back to it.  I guess it's the lack of sweetness in what a "good" wine is supposed to be? Unless of course it's a desert wine, and those are pretty expensive .  As a rare way to chill for me...and I even opted to get some cool but very expensive big glasses down at a department store, its a good, rare occasion, and who knows, even some cheese may show up

And...I never even heard of this 19 crimes! Terrific title.. certainly adds some flair to the experience?

http://www.lcbo.com/lcbo/product/19-crimes-cabernet-sauvignon/461525#.W6IvD2hKiUk

 

 

gogo

[Delta! 985]

 

Yay. Someone else who likes wine. 

Ill admit, I have only been drinking wine for about 7years. I started appreciating wine more and now love it since I've moved to the Western Cape Of South Africa, which is our wine country. Living in Stellenbosch It was like being surrounded by amazing wine farms. The Majority of them producing Exceptional wine at very decent prices.

 

I prefer bold, heavy flavourful reds. Shiraz/Syrah being my favourite, especially a spicy one, but I also like Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Pinotage, Grenache, Mourvèdre, Malbec, Sangiovese, Tinta Barroca and Touriga Nacional and good red blends my favourite being a Bordeaux Style, or a simple Shiraz/Mourvèdre/Viognier or a Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz or a Cape Blend (it contains Pinotage). DO NOT GIVE ME MERLOT!

My number 1 wine, (in my humble opinion) is Simonsig Tiara, a Bordeaux style blend

 

https://www.simonsig.co.za/wineclub/product/tiara/

Followed by the Simonsig Mr Borios Shiraz

https://www.simonsig.co.za/wineclub/product/mr-borios-shiraz/

 

For white wines, I prefer a woody, buttery Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer and Riesling, all of them very chilled...

 

I currently have a good selection of Sweet wines, most of them Noble Late Harvests (I do not know all the varietals used in them), and also a few port style reds and Cape Vintages.

 

One of my favourites is Four Paws Picatso. it is not cloyingly sweet, has a very rounded finish with nice acidity and lingers for a while...

 

And then... there is Amber Forever. The only other woman that I have ever loved (other than my mom and sisters) From Muratie Wine Farm

her story...

During the 1940s, when Muratie was owned by George Paul Canitz, the novel Forever Amber was published by Kathleen Winsor. Set in seventeenth-century England, it told the story of the orphan Amber St Clare, who rose through the ranks of British society by sleeping with increasingly influential men (King Charles II among them). Canitz insisted (almost too emphatically) that his fortified sweet wine was named after this fictitious character but the truth is that the renowned painter and worshipper of wine, women and song had an Amber of his own. She was his model and muse and her picture hangs in the Muratie cellar to this day. ‘To happy days and glorious nights, Forever Amber,’ was his famous toast.

[Gilberticus 374]

19 Crimes is fun. What a lot of people don't know is that there's an app for smartphones. You link this app to your camera, point it at the front of the bottle, and the guy on the front becomes animated and tells you about his crime. I like going to the wine store and making all the guys talk; people look around in astonishment. Your link is for a Cabernet Sauvignon, mine just says "red wine". But thank you for that link, because I've learned that there are a lot of different types of red wine. I always thought of wine as just "white" or "red".

[Gilberticus 374]

Wow, thank you, Delta, that's a lot of information to research! Once I become more knowledgeable on wine, I think I might start a wine and mineral club. The reason being: wine, to me, feels conducive to intellectual conversation and debate. Now, my father says "what type of intellectual discussion can be had about minerals? Ya hold up a rock and say 'amethyst?' then a bunch of other people squint then say "yup, yup, yup, amethyst." This is something I find great amusement in. Minerals aren't just like some type of byproduct that the earth produces; life and minerals are intertwined, they have helped each other evolve. This thread is about wine, not minerals, but for those interested in minerals, geology, or even biology, NOVA's website has all types of free programs on it. I think my favorite one from there, "Earth's Rocky Start", is also on Netflix. It just fascinates me about how much of life is intertwined.

[Delta! 985]

My pleasure. If you do ever get the chance to travel to South Africa, DO IT. we have some great stones and minerals heres... The Cango Caves is something spectacular. I have been there once, and would love to go again - http://www.cango-caves.co.za/ 

It is about 6 hours away from Cape Town, and encompasses the Garden Route "The Garden Route runs along the Western Cape coast from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth and is so called because of its abundant plant life. Grootbos Nature Reserve alone has over 750 species of Fynbos. The Garden Route is sandwiched between the the Outeniqua and Tsitsikamma Mountains and the Indian Ocean. The Outeniqua and Tsitsikamma indigenous forests offer hiking trails and numerous eco-tourism activities. Nearly 300 species of bird are found in a variety of habitats ranging from fynbos to forest to wetlands.

Ten nature reserves embrace the varied ecosystems of the area as well as unique marine reserves, home to soft coral reefs, dolphins, seals and a host of other marine life. Various bays along the Garden Route are nurseries to the endangered Southern Right and Humpback Whales which come there to calve in the winter and spring (July to December)."

 

I am pretty sure there are some unique rock foundations in the areas as well.

 

And then of course, why we are here... the wine lands... 

https://www.capetownmagazine.com/things-to-do-cape-town/south-african-wine-regions-and-routes/15_52_55869

 

I will recommend you get a guide for it... it might have to be a new guide for each of the outlying areas... but for Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Franschhoek, Paarl, you could get away with 1 guide... or just a friend who is a local... "wink wink". 

Bring a camera as well...

 

most wine farms also delivers to the US.. and with the Dollar - Rand Exchange rate, it won't cost you that much... depending on where you stay and how smart you work with cash.

[Gilberticus 374]

Thank you  I will be in South Africa soon, but it's more for business than fun; places like Pongola Supergroup, White Umfolozi River; that type deal. I won't have a lot of spare time this round, but I'm definitely marking this for next round  If curious, the reason why I'm going,the tl;dr version, is sciency geology rock stuff. The more detailed answer involves a funny word: stromatolite. Once upon a time, we believe (through fossil records and whatnot)that the earth was very poorly oxygenated. You hear that in many geology and evolution documentaries. The next part is "and then, nature learned a new trick" or "and then, a life-altering phenomenon/magic took place". That "new trick" is that cyanobacteria (those microscopic green water worm-looking things) started using the sun for energy (which we all know as photosynthesis). Millions of these tiny green worms pumping oxygen into the air for an extended period of time created an environment more suitable for life. In addition, because of photosynthesis, those green water worms were excreting calcium into the water. All this calcium floating around in the water helped squishy water critters become less squishy (bones, legs, shells, etc). People such as myself are looking at fossil records to answer "why?" Nature doesn't just learn a new trick. Those records exist in these platforms that the green water worms created, called stromatolites. Which auto correct is trying to turn to the word Stromboli, which I find very comical. Autocorrect is trying to tell you that Stromboli are the mounds of sedimentary rock formed by photosynthesizing microbes. So, scientists and geologists are turning to these Stromboli for fossil records  That right there is some very old, very hard Stromboli!