She says: We have a habit. It’s a benign habit, but it’s a habit. Often we will take pictures of the light in a restaurant as it shines through the wine in our glasses. Sometimes we capture candle light, sometimes it’s the light above the table. Just depends. Whoa, can you believe how adventurous we are? Ha, ha!! We’ve set a few to music, and we share them with you here. Enjoy!
He and She both say: While traveling in Europe we came across something interesting. The European Union (EU) campaign for responsible drinking of wine called Wine in Moderation. http://wineinmoderation.eu/
Begun in 2008, in an effort to promote the “Art de Vivre” or lifestyle of moderation in drinking wine and to reduce harm that might be associated with over drinking, the European wine industry developed “Wine in Moderation” program. The European wine industry is certainly doing its part to promote responsible drinking. Wine in Moderation is the EU wine industry’s formal contribution to the European Commission on Alcohol and Health.
We saw the logo displayed on vineyard websites, in magazine wine ads, in the windows of bars and restaurants and WIM brochures in the lobby of some wineries we visited. The logo is prominently displayed here on the National Wine Month “Make Time for Wine” website. Also, while on the Make Time for Wine site, there’s a link to a website with a very simple app to help you stay “Drink Aware” which is especially helpful for people who are new to tasting and drinking wine and ares still learning how to pace themselves. The Drink Aware site separates fact from the fiction regarding alcohol so you can enjoy yourself responsibly. Go on… click on the link… it’s really very educational, entertaining and helpful. http://www.drinkaware.co.uk/
She adds: Once I started dating “He”, I learned very quickly that I absolutely could not keep up with the Olympic wine tasters in his circle of friends.
He says: I will refrain from publishing the photo from her first wine tasting. Her cabernet did win first place that night, she however was not awake for the winning moment.
She says: Thanks for that. Anyway, they are very conditioned California wine tasters with years of experience from the days of Napa/Sonoma wine expansion, to the Santa Barbara area wine explosion – and I will never catch up. And I’m OK with that. I’m a committed lightweight – one too many sips and my palate becomes numb, my stomach talks back to me and the relentless computer in my brain is counting the calories. I taste, I spit and I enjoy wearing the designated driver crown, or being the one smart enough to call a cab. 
If you’d like to read the full report on RESULTS from the Wine in Moderation Programme 2008 – 2009 to see how each EU country is participating, you can click here for full FREE REPORT. Wine in Moderation Implementation Report 2008 – 2009
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HE and SHE both say: NewsMax Magazine emailed us a few weeks ago while they were writing an article on the best wines of Argentina. Nice work if you can get it. They requested permission to re-print Melinda’s photo of three bottles of Achaval Ferrer wine, a photo taken in the Achaval Ferrer tasting room in Argentina.
So here you go… proof of our emerging clout in the wine industry…ha, ha… It’s two photos of the photo! It appears in NewsMax March 2010 issue. Yeah, it’s that tiny little thing in the middle with a barely perceptible credit on the far right hand side of the page. On newsstands now! Hurry before it shrinks any smaller.
It’s actually a really great photo in it’s original size and you can see the original photo at this post:
http://barrysentials.wordpress.com/2008/11/16/achaval-ferrer/
Melinda’s photo published in NewsMax magazine, March 2010 issue.
Melinda’s photo of 3 Achaval Ferrer wine bottles published in NewsMax magazine March 2010.
HE SAYS: She’s finally published. I wonder if she’ll chill now.
SHE SAYS: Nope. I love to share!
SHE SAYS: We had dinner last night with a friend who is living in Los Angeles for just a few months. She mentioned she had a neighbor in her building who kept inviting her over to see his wine collection. Riiiiight.
So ladies and gentlemen, there it is. “Would you like to come over and see my etchings?” has been replaced with
“Would you like to come over and see my wine collection?”
Just one of the ways that HE got SHE. It works.
HE is a former TV sports producer who turned to the more inspiring world of education – and HE’s a constant foodie. SHE is an actress, author, producer, and a stuck-like-a-magnet to HE kind of gal.
HE has spent a lifetime tasting wines. Beginning with the wines his parents brought back from Napa, Sonoma and Santa Barbara area from the 1970′s and 1980′s to his own collections beginning in the late 80′s. Add to that experience a professional wine-making brother (again in Napa and Sonoma), his time selling wine in Beverly Hills, and making taste distinctions for every sort of food and wine imaginable, HE is a true Olympian in the food and wine tasting space. SHE on the other hand thinks fine dining is anytime you sit rather than stand to eat your Cliff Bar and is cursed w/a simpler palate.
HE has perfected the art of the sandwich for tailgating before USC football games. SHE has been to one only two USC games and thinks USC band leader Art Bartner is God.
HE married her to get her family’s spaghetti sauce recipe (3 generations, thank you) and SHE married Him for His wine collection, His stunning memory for restaurants, and becuase HE does his own laundry.
No doubt, He is the more wine experienced and more wine sensitive of the two. She is usually asleep and snoring w/in 40 minutes of her first sip of wine. He has time to sniff and taste and consult with his tastebuds about every little thing he thinks he tastes. She’s likely to doze off, so she’s only got a minute to tell you what it’s all about. She’ll make it brief and to the point. Stay tuned. The 2005 Blind Pinot Noir tasting notes are coming right up!
He is a man with a refined palate — She thinks he’s making it all up. He sips wine and tastes fruit, foods, herbs, earth tones. She sips wine and it tastes like, well, wine – but she can tell you the personality behind the wine in just a few words. Check in often to see how their battle of wits and wines will leave you laughing and asking for more.
