Since ancient times, joyful people have shared wine to celebrate important events. I have enhanced that tradition. I’ll drink some fine wine if my hangnail heals.
My splendid son and delightful daughter-in-law are expecting a baby in September, so I’m sampling wines to commemorate the grand birthday. I believe that sipping and sharing an exquisite wine is a better tribute than shooting bullets into the sky or organizing a regional festival complete with marching bands, roasted pigs, and jumping castles.
After my daughter had her first baby, we shared a Quintessa Cabernet. It was a sobering decision to choose between wine and a week’s groceries, but the special occasion called for a superior wine. And, continuing my valuable bloodline certainly is cause for jubilation and excessive merriment! While the perfect little cherub nestled in her handmade basket swaddled in an organic blanket, her proud parents and I toasted her birth and savored our way through the Quintessa.
My serious research to find the best wine to welcome Baby Boo Nielsen will involve global strategy. I prefer bold Italian reds such as Amarone or Ripasso, but there are some excellent Malbecs from Argentina, Cabernets from France, and delicious Pinot Noirs from Oregon. Or, I could limit my search to Napa Valley because it’s close enough to drive home with several cases. (I’ve eliminated the cheaper option of getting a keg of Budweiser from the Silver Spur Saloon in Wendell.)
I recently found a nice wine from Idaho, a 2008 Snake River Valley Cabernet from Fraser Vineyard. It’s velvety and peppery, and it’s recommended by Ilene Dudunake, owner of A New Vintage Wine Shop at Eagle Road and Fairview. It sells for about $24, so I can purchase several bottles to share as I continue my intense market research.
Right now, Baby Boo is the same size as a grape. By the time he/she is the size of a potato, I hope to narrow the selection of celebration wines to a dozen choices. It’s a demanding task, but I’ll raise my waiting glass and power forward, knowing that the future brings laughing families, more celebrations, and another bundle of wonder who will crawl into my lap and say, “Tell me another story, Tutu.”