It’s National Drink Wine Day!

The purpose of National Drink Wine Day is to spread the love and health benefits of wine.  Wine has played an important role in history, religion and relationships.  We embrace the positive benefits of wine such as new friends, reduced risk of heart disease and the enhancement of food and life.  Nationaldrinkwineday.org

Works for me!  In honor of the day, I’d like to share with you these six bottles from my collection.  I am far from being a wine expert but I do know a little more about wine than that’s red, that’s white, and that one is bubbly.  Wines can range from very dry to very sweet; light to bold.  I like mine a bit in the middle.  When I first started drinking wine and didn’t know anything other than color, I was fond of the semi-sweet varieties but my palate has since changed and currently I am in a major Cabernet phase…but I wouldn’t turn down a Pinot Noir or a Syrah if offered.  And please don’t ask me if a wine has hints of cherry, chocolate, oak or whatever.  Wait!  I can tell if there are hints of oak but that’s about as refined as my palate gets.

While some wine manufacturers import their grapes from other regions or countries, my favorite winery that I visited often when I was still living in Missouri was the St. James Winery where they grew their own grapes and made great wine and grape juice too!  The Country Red shown here is one of those semi-sweet wines I first became enamored with.  During my semi-sweet wine phase all I drank was this and Rieslings.  The cherry wine came from the Hermanhof Winery  also in Missouri.  It had the most beautiful patio where you could sit and enjoy your wine and small plate while taking in the views of the hilly countryside.  I purchased this wine some years ago and never got around to opening it; I do hope it is still good.

I’ve only visited a couple of wineries here in Ohio – so far – and have attended some wine festivals to experience what Ohio wineries have to offer.  I hope one day to tour the wine country in California and France but I would not turn down the chance, should it occur, to visit and taste a good wine from any country.  Mentioning tasting, that is my favorite thing to do at wineries, have the samples or a flight or two.  The names some manufacturers give their wines today can be quite charming and even humorous as shown by these bottles from Ohio.  Lady in Red, a Cabernet Sauvignon, is made from Australian grapes and comes from the Good Vibes Winery in Westerville, Ohio.  The Call me a Cab Cabernet uses California grapes and is made in Powell, Ohio at the Powell Village Winery.  Both wineries offer excellent wines and delicious snack plates in cozy settings that invite you to relax and enjoy your wine and company.

The Big Red Monster is a red blend from California that I have enjoyed many times since first discovering it at a local restaurant three years ago.  It is sneaking up on the Duc de Monflory,  a French Merlot-Cabernet wine I purchased when I was in Martinique about 10 years ago; I forgot where I had packed it away after a move and I fear this may be another one where I question its drinkability.

Whatever your tastes may be in wine raise a glass today.  Cheers! Salud! Here here! Sante!  Please feel free to add your toast (be nice and keep it G rated) in the comments.