fall picks

In spite of my intent to drink more Italian wine, France still dominated this fall with 20 wines. I also tried 6 from Italy, 4 from Spain, 3 from Canada, 2 from the US and 1 from Portugal, Australia and Germany. Ouch! my liver must hurt but there were some great wines drunk, here are the top fall picks.

1. Veuve Cliquote Ponsardin, Demi-sec - Riems, Champagne, France (18/20)
"I challenge anyone to drink this and not like it", for more tasting notes look here.

2. Abrazo, Garnacha & Carinena, 2003 - Spain (18/20)
"fruity, peppery, light, cheap and bloody nice", for more tasting notes look here.

3. Nino Franco Prosecco, - Valdobbiadene, Italy (16/20)
"a refreshing sparkling white, not too dry, a good, cheap alternative to champagne"

4. Tres Picos, Garnacha, 2003 - Campode Borja, Borsao, Borja, Spain (16/20)
"blackcurrant, earthy, leather, expensive but nice"

5. Chateau Thieuly, Sauvignon Blanc & Semillion, 2004 - Bordeaux, France (16/20)
"gooseberry, citrus, grassy"

6. Beaurevoir Tavel, Rose - Chapoutier, Rhone Valley, France (15/20)
"dry, fruity, minerally, slight tannins, a classic rose"

There is just so much good French wine, I must try harder to extend my sampling beyond the riotous Gallic borders. Revelations this season included the sparkling wines which I have always avoided. Thanks to my wife for introducing me to Tavel which won me over to rose, look for the distinctive braille on Chapoutier's label and give it a try.

Of course Beaujolais Nouveau season is upon us and although no Nouveau made the top list I have enjoyed drinking some of the Beaujolais cru, namely the Morgon from Joseph Drouhin and Moulin-A-Vent from that great marketeer Georges Dubeouf.

I expect the winter season will see us crack open some more sparkling wine to celebrate the festivities and some hearty reds to savour before a wood fire. Before then I hope to give my liver a little rest, poor thing.

For more information ...
veuve cliquot
abrazo
prosecco
tres picos
beaurevoir tavel
sorry no link for chateau thieuly

paradise lost - paradise regained I

Eden, Shambhala, Hy Brasil, Atlantis. Across time and across cultures, we have sought a place to live a better life. In the case of Eden and Shambhala they have been intimately linked with religious and spiritual development. In the case of Hy Brasil and Atlantis they have weaved their way through our cultures.

They all evoke images of paradise where happiness and peace are shared by all, in a long living and abundant life. The beauty of these paradises is only surpassed by their inaccessibility. In spite of our best efforts we can not gain entry to the garden, or find the mountain kingdom or sail to the island.

We have fallen from grace like Icarus fell to the ground and continue to be bound to this more earthly realm. Yet as we walk on this earth we wonder how this paradise lost may be a paradise regained. Our youthful wanderings are begun in naivete, searching for new and plenty. But as we wander we may wonder that the only paradise to be regained is one of our own making and solely within the mind. No longer looking toward the sun, we can turn our attention to the earth and busy ourselves with activities that ward off idleness, vice and want.

Voltaire expresses it best in Candide, ' il faut cultiver notre jardin'. A theme also alluded to by Brueghel's 'Landscape with the Fall of Icarus'. Breughel casts Icarus in a minor role and the simple ploughman in a major role. One falling from the sun in a vain attempt to enter a paradise lost, the other realizing that under his feet lies a paradise very much regained.



For more information ...
eden
shambhala
hy brasil
atlantis
icarus
candide
brueghel the elder

peek and boo discuss the simple life

Somewhere in this land. Night. Peek and Boo walking across a moonlit field.

Peek: So how did you get on with Seeke?

Boo: Good, we scratched each others itch. And you with Hyde?

Peek: Nothing, we don't know each other, we talked. It was nice, that was it, that was all.

Boo: You and your talking, you make things complicated.

Peek: Things do seem simple for you, I'll grant that.

Boo: Not always though, even God knows that.

Peek: But you have the simple life?

Boo: And what is that?


Peek: A life free from unnecessary complication, a life driven by purpose.

Boo: My aim in life is straight forward, a belly full of food and beer and an arm around a woman. My life is simple not because it has purpose but because the purpose I have is simple. And how about your life, is it simple?

Peek: Do I want anything different from you? Not much, you can see I like food and drink and Hyde is a woman I wouldn't mind to fumble with.

Boo: But you want more!

Peek: Do I want more? Maybe a conversation of interest or two, an idea, no more than that.

Boo: You and your ideas, with that you have already made your life more difficult. Men and their ideas, the world would be better off without them.

Peek: Better off without men or better off without ideas?

Boo: If you ask Seeke she'd probably say both!

Peek: We have to tend the fields tomorrow, let's go.

Boo: Yes, let's go.

Two exit.

For more information ...
peek and boo discuss life and meaning
peek and boo discuss thought and action
peek and boo discuss existentialism
peek and boo discuss writing
peek and boo discuss god
peek and boo discuss power

the simple life - why and who?

Our life is a series of responses to questions. The choices we make define our answers to questions such as when? where? how? what? who? and why? The choice to start work at 8am is a response to a when? question. The choice to be a lawyer is a response to a what? question. The choice to put your family first may be a response to a why? question.

Even though some of our responses feel determined, we do have a choice. We choose to live in a house that requires a mortgage so we go to work at 8am because that is when 'the man' expects us. We could choose not to go and this would have its consequences but we could choose. Our life is a series of chosen responses.

The responses we choose for certain questions can drive the responses we choose to other questions. For example, if I chose that what I want is to be a lawyer then that will dictate how I realize that ambition. The what would also affect when I could achieve that since I will spend a few years at college. Similarly I could decide that where I want to live is the Outer Hebrides, so that will dictate what I can work at and how I will live my life. Our life is a series of chosen responses that are connected.

However it does seem to me of prime importance to understand our response to why? and who? questions and let those guide us in answering the other questions. If we are unclear on the meaning of our life or who we want to share it with then the answers to the when? where? how? and what? questions will be nothing but a distracting drama. Eventful, even amusing but purposeless.

A clear understanding of the responses you choose to the why? questions and the who? questions in life will focus you on the important. The unimportant will fall away and your life can become simpler, not easier but simpler. Come back for more, there is more, this simple life is far from easy and needs more work.



For more information ...
the simple life - time and disorder
outer hebrides

the simple life - time and disorder

Life becomes complicated and perhaps we create the complications. A constant entropic force seems to challenge any order we seem to impose and any order we impose seems to come at the cost of disorder somewhere else.

Each day we experience this ever present tendency for increasing disorder. We get old, even from birth the order of our body begins to degrade. Our houses are built and we impose order but they begin to break and need repair. Nostalgia is a sense we have for times past and their simplicity. Childhood seemed simple because it was, the lives of our ancestors seemed simple because they were. Time is the experience of increasing disorder.

Are we destined to live our lives under a descending cloud of complexity and fuzziness? Can we have the simple life? Come back and find out in our next installment.


For more information ...
arrow of time

bear rug

I went shooting in the woods one day,
A bear shot me and got away.
With a surprised expression on my face
I now lie before his fireplace.