Another Birthday, come and gone

I started this blog right after my birthday in 2006 recounting our bike trip along the Weser from Porta Wesfalica to Verden.  And here it is another birthday, one we intended to spend biking as well.  Oh well.

But birthdays come regardless of broken bones or altered plans.  And it was just fine.

The day was filled with phone calls from family and friends, visits from a few folks close by and one not so close by - Amina!  That was a treat.  Her gift was a paint-by-number work of a horse.  I do think Michelle did the very same one a long time ago.  Where is it now??

And though we couldn't go out, Werner made a dinner that of course rivaled any we could get at a fine restaurant:  oxen filet (tenderly mouth watering), baked potato with home-made green sauce (wonderfully savory), salad (crisp and moist).  And wine.  A special one.

Werner splurged.  An Italian red from Tuscany.  Lovely bottle.  Pretty label.  Served with style.

Totally forgettable wine!!  How is it that our vintner can bring his own wine to our door for one quarter the price and beat this one under the table? 

Who knows? But it didn't mess up my day.

Wine Delivery

We get wine directly from the vintner, or at least a lot of the wine we drink.  As I've said in an earlier post, and it is - compared to the US prices - unbelievably reasonable.

The family name is Wambsgans, and they've been doing this for 600 years.  That's a while.  And from time to time, the older folks retire and the newer ones take over.  That happened recently, and Oliver, the son, has made some changes.  There's a website!! And you can send an email! 

And they've changed the labels.  Radical

Here's the old one - three little wine spirits holding baskets of grapes.  OK, but doesn't really catch your eye, does it

The new one still has the wine spirits, but now they play among the vines.  I like it.

New generation.  And the wine is still wonderful. 

Hard Work

I don't have to tell all of you that Thanksgiving is around the corner but our corner is coming faster.  Saturday our usual group will gather for turkey and all the trimmings and we're all looking forward to it.  Our special guests this year are Nicole and Jeremy from Berlin.  Jeremy, the American of that duo, is particularly looking forward to a real traditional feast. 

Preparations get underway well in advance, and last week and this we had some serious work to do - wine tasting.  I said serious, not difficult.

There were so many lovely, tasty dry rosés in France last summer and I liked them all.  Our local shop didn't have so many French rosés, but a good selection from Spain and Germany, too. OK, but which one??

Were they all good?  Of course.  But we decided on the French one - dry, with a luscious bouquet, and maybe a hint of cranberry.