Vintage Tuesday - Wine, Food, Travel and Insanity

I can’t believe this.  I have not had a nasty cold in a very long time and here I am up to my elbows in used tissues, shivering and bundled up in a sweat shirt sounding like a duck and looking like Rudolph the red nosed reindeer.  (feeling sorry for me yet?)  And it’s Tuesday again - Tuesday’s are not suppose to suck.  Trixie drug me off kicking and screaming to the doctor to get me back on my feet. 

Now the real question, what kind of wine is suitable for a bad cold.  Since I am not thinking very clearly, Trixie pointed out that the real question is:  what kind of wine goes with the chicken soup that she is giving me while I have a cold.   I am thinking that chicken often goes with a good white wine but extreme times call for extreme measures and my answer was…  Scotch!  She did not find this funny and brought in a bowel of soup and a glass of red wine.  She was doing an experiment and did not tell me what the wine was.  I was suppose to sniff and taste and tell her what wine I thought she brought me.  What a Joker, I can see this isn’t going to work.  I thought I would be able to figure it out but….   I can’t smell or taste!!  I guess my Vintage Tuesday wine skills are temporarily on hold until this thing passes.

Where is my aspirin?

Cough, Sniff, Snort and Cheers!,

Angus  

What a formula!  The East coast’s largest outdoor wine festival, a beautiful Island, sandy beaches and sunshine - this is one of those “It doesn’t get any better than this” kind of days.  Continuing our road trip from Orlando to Charleston, SC we spent the weekend at Hilton Head, SC for the Hilton Head Wine Festival, Tasting and Auction held at Shelter Cove Park.  When we got there we saw a never ending sea of white circus tents housing zillions of bottles of wine with their vintners and distributors all trying to impress us with their selection.  And impress us they did.  A great blues band was playing, wine was flowing, the sun was shining (although it was quite windy) and we got to try some really great wines.

Plungerhead?  Now there is one we have to try to get things rolling.  It was a Zinfandel from Lodi, CA and was great.  With hundreds of wines and dozens of tents we felt the pressure to try and taste them all.  We roamed from tent to tent like a couple of wine seeking vagabonds tasting as we go.  During mid afternoon, we found ourselves taking a break and camping out at a large table with ten other wine lovers sipping from the vine and watching the people and crowds.

We also made a new friend that day.  Pouring wine at one of the tents we met Jen Foulke who along with her sister own Stripes Restaurant - an American Grill. Angus and I did not have any dinner plans and thought - why not?  So we wandered into her place later that evening.  Stripes has been an island tradition for 18 years and it is well known to the locals.   We walked inside and everyone one was quite cheery and friendly -  I think it was either that Southern Hospitality you hear about or perhaps it was just an island thing - it was probably both!  The first thing I noticed were the loaded wine racks right as you walk in.   That’s a good sign.  Then I saw the wine list which was quite impressive. (Of course I would notice this!)  The menu made us both very indecisive.  Everything sounded great - where do we begin.  I know!  With a glass of wine!  I finally decided on the Petite Filet with a gorgonzola creamed custard on the side.  Angus had the salmon that he said was one of the best he has had in quite a while.   Being big veggie eaters (Mom would be proud) we also ordered a side of Asparagus.   It was presented with a layer of shredded parmesan on top.  Wow, I almost cried when I took the first bite it was sooooo good.

The locals know where Stripes is located and now you do to.  Head down the main highway Rt. 278 and go to the traffic circle near the end of the island at the intersection of Rt. 278 and Pope Ave.  It is located at 32 Office Park Road on the Southeast side of the big traffic circle. 

Thanks Jen, it was quite a memorable dining experience.

Cheers!

Trixie

The alarm went off at 5:30 AM.  Ugh!  This was the day I fly to Orlando to meet up with Angus who was off slaying corks again. (see Cork Wars posting)  The shuttle bus stopped by Vintage Tuesday’s corporate headquarters and I was off to the airport.  Probed, prodded, questioned, scanned, searched and finally I was able to walk onto the airplane.  Looking for seat 29A as I go down the aisle, I pass row 10, 11, 12….  Are there even 29 rows on this plane?  Is this the seat that flushes?  Finally, the last row and my seat is jammed against the window.  Three screaming kids strategically planted around me and one very large person next to me.  I am trapped against the window.  Maybe I can just look out the window at the clouds and see what shapes I see.  But all I see is the side of the engine at the tail of the plane.  29A has no view, no room, no sanity.  AND THIS WAS TUESDAY!  Tuesday’s are suppose to be my favorite day.

Several hours later I land in Orlando.  They almost have to scrape me off the seat and carry me out in a bucket.  Dazed and confused, I head to baggage claim and the shuttle to the hotel at the Disney theme parks.  Finally about 9 hours after the alarm went off this morning I am there….   … but Angus is not.  He is still out slaying corks with a mouse and a duck  What a strange land.

When Angus finally returned, he opened the hotel door and saw my suitcases laying in front of the door where I dropped them, and me collapsed on the bed babbling something about the plane and screaming kids.  He propped me up and walked me to the balcony.  “Where do you want to go for dinner?” he asked.  All I could do is mumble and point from the balcony to the Olive Garden down below  Are you kidding me? He said.   We came all this way to go to a restaurant that we have back home in the state of Denial? 

So we walk through the front door of the Olive Garden and the person asks how many in our party.  We just pointed straight ahead and said “Bar” and kept walking.  That’s when we met our new friend “Stella”  She had seen this travel condition before and knew exactly what to do.  “We have four dollar drink specials until 7PM” she said.  Wow, I saw the time and it was only 5:30.  I asked what kind of wine they had (already my speech was returning) hoping not to hear “we have both kinds, red and white”  I was stunned.  They had a wine list with some pretty good selections.  Suddenly my choice of places to go seemed like a good idea after all.  The bar was quite nice, it is not as I remember Olive Garden bars.  She said they had gone through a major renovation.   I saw a Super Tuscan on the list for $9.50 that looked promising.  $9.50 a glass is way out of the Vintage Tuesday budget.  Is this wine really only $4.00?  “Yes it is” she said.  Things were beginning to return to normal as we each had a glass (maybe two).  The wine was really great.  It was a 2003 Villa Antinori blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot & Syrah.  I always love a good blended heavy red, and this wine did not disappoint.

It was a nice evening outside and everyone was at the theme parks so we had the bar to ourselves and got to talk quite a bit with Stella.  We learned she was smarter than both of us.  She had the wisdom to escape the great white north in New York and seek greener (and warmer) pastures living in a land that people suffer long plane rides to get to.

Thursday night was our last night in Orlando so we walked next door to say hi to Stella - and have another glass of our $4.00 Super Tuscan. It was raining outside and the place was packed.  She looked up at us and said “two Super Tuscans?”  As much as we travel, I always remember bartenders that stand out.  We have been to a few places, that even after several days or even months, the bartender remembers you as soon as you walk in.  They call you by name and know exactly what you want.  Even though they serve hundreds of drinks a night to zillions of people they are the real stand outs.   That particular Thursday night Stella had her side kick Manny working with her as both of them tried to keep up with the growing crowd.  As we talked a little longer we realized, they both had quite a few stories of their own, but we’ll leave those stories for them to tell.

Thanks Stella for helping me recover from Tuesday’s “Travel Hell” and keep doing what you do – you are one of the standouts!

Cheers!

Trixie

Any music lover knows these words - “All I’ve got is a red guitar - three chords and the truth.”   The legendary words of Bob Dylan’s All along the Watchtower were made famous by Jimi Hendrix and in later years covered by many other artists..  

I have been playing (torturing) guitar for a long time - and yes, it is Red.  A 1992 Fender Stratocaster so in honor of my very own special baby parked in front of the amplifier, we are celebrating with a Red Guitar 2005 Tempranillo from Spain.  Spain lays claim to the modern day 6 string guitar.  Could you imagine life with only wine and no guitars?  I guess that is better than guitars and no wine! 

My first guitar was the basic acoustic that my mom bought me for Christmas. However, my second guitar has a questionable past that I can’t get it to talk about.  Years ago when Trixie and I were in college, we would clean apartments in our complex as people moved out during the beginning of the school year.  There was one unit in particular, the “noisy” one down on the end that always had people’s attention.  The person that lived here did not seem to want to move out and it was the last day August 31 - D-day.  That evening he was still in there - we think.  There was some seriously loud music coming from inside.  The next morning, September 1^st we went upstairs, knocked on the door - no answer.  Was this guy alive?  The door was unlocked so we cautiously opened it yelling Hello.  As we gazed around the room,  it looked like he had not take the trash out all year.  The key was on the counter but we had to wade across a toxic waste dump to get to it.  We were thinking the EPA was going to show up at any moment.  

Walking around the dump, I saw an acoustic guitar propped up against the closet door.  It had a great sound and apparently it was now an orphan - being abandoned in the middle of the night.  Hey I could give this a good home.  Trixie and I opened the closet to look inside.  We were surprised to see it lined with aluminum foil and about 6 inches of dirt laying on the floor.  Trixie asked “what was all this - he must have been a real pig!”  This was the first time I had seen anything like this but I told her, “I think he was into indoor agriculture.”  The ever naive Trixie said  “So do you think he was a horticulture student and got an “A” on his class project?”  I just smiled and said - I don’t think so.  To this day I still have the guitar.  It sits here near my laptop at Vintage Tuesday’s world headquarters. 

The Red Guitar 2005 Tempranillo has a bit of a fruit and cherry taste with a hint of spice.  A great ruby color and a warm comfortable finish.  It makes a good reasonably priced wine that would go great with a hearty beef dish.  ….or just have it by itself with the hum of the amplifiers and the scream of the guitar. 

Here’s to Jimi, Bob, Eric and all the other legendary and not so legendary guitar players of the world.    And….   here’s to my Red Guitar

Cheers and Keep on Rockin!

Angus