The Inaugural Dose

Lately I've been thinking that my daily intact of beer, wine, and/or spirits has become too regular. I even read someplace that they were suggesting that drinking every day was an addiction.... and I got a little bit concerned.

Then it dawned on me... Wait a minute! I BREATHE every day. I eat FOOD every day, in fact on the rare occasion when I have not eaten food in a day my body has sometimes collapsed into a seizure... NOT something I am fond of repeating. I pretty much WORK every day, I sleep every night. I walk, talk, listen to music, read (I even check email), spend money,brush my teeth, and take a shower pretty much EVERY DAY. Does that mean that I am ADDICTED to each of those things? Am I addicted to breathing, nourishment, cleanliness, emotional and intellectual stimulation? Maybe so... but if so, guess what?

There's a term for someone who has given those things up... DEAD.

Besides all that... Drinking is even patriotic! It was Benjamin Franklin after all who declared that, "beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." In other words, if we stop drinking... say it with me... The Terrorists Win (this is actually even true in a twisted sort of way).

So, instead of altering my intake of one of the most sublime substances that the God/Goddess ever put on the planet, I've decided instead to BLOG about it (something else I pretty much do every day).

Tonight I've decided to start a new feature here at FoodFetish... a little thing I'm going to call The Daily Dose.

It will be a daily (or at least almost daily) sampling of some lovely (or perhaps on occasion, not so lovely) glass of grape or grain that I happen to try out that day. Every once in a while I will ask others to guest post, and from time to time I may even steal an idea from a reader (so please comment!).

I have no idea where this will lead, and I have virtually no concept of what I will be trying... but here goes.

The wine I'm drinking tonight is a fine Red that ran me $12.99 ($14.16 w/ tax) at the nearby Petaluma Market here in P-town. It's Marietta Old Vine Red (Lot Number 42). If you click that link there, you'll get a nifty little flash driven website with a whole bunch of Robert Parker quotes about the wine, but don't let that deter you... This stuff rocks!

At a price point of just over $10, winemaker Chris Bilbro has crafted a big bodied, fruit forward Zin blend (the label says it's a field blend but they don't let on about what other grapes were on the vines) that is perfect for sitting on the back deck and sipping as the sun sinks slowly in the west (which is what I was doing before I started writing this and what I will be doing after I finish) or combining with BBQ, or pulled pork, or spicy mexican. My personal plans for the bottle include accompanying left over planked salmon and chipotle cole slaw in some fish tacos I'm about to make. I'm pretty sure it's gonna be a match made in heaven.

The wine is smooth, bold, mellow and velvety with just the right back bite on the end to stand up against real food and spice.

I almost passed it by tonight, but I'm awfully glad I didn't. Now I'm curious to try all of the rest of the wines on their list.

So there you have it... the Inaugural Dose... Marietta Old Vine Red Lot Number 49

Cheers!