Chronic Negress

The Negress owes the title of this post to her absolute favorite band from Western Canada, 54.40 You may remember some posts back a mention of my studies for my Advanced Certificate from WSET. Well, this week, thanks to makeups, I had two classes. Next week I have three. So much for a relaxing summer. On top of that, the brain trust at Dying Media decided that I would be the perfect person to lug my laptop to Central Park for the free Bon Jovi concert Saturday in conjunction with the baseball All-Star game festivities. As a serial killer on Law and Order once said, “Problems are just solutions in work clothes.” Maybe they could send Tony Robbins. I get to update continuously and review the show for the dead tree dance on Monday. Happy Happy joy joy.  Anyway, when I haven’t been swishing and spitting, I’ve been delving into my cellar for some relief from the ongoing daze. First off was the 2007 Domaine CC Rose. This hails from Corey Creek Winery on the  North Fork of Long Island, one of my favorite places. The wine is everything you might want in a rose — light, fruity, easily imbibed. Very light on the palate with some touches of strawberry. I’m saving the second bottle for when my cousins roll through on Sunday and will visualize it during the ozone alert scheduled during Bon Jovi fest.

My favorite burrito place went on hiatus for the Fourth of July, but they are back now and I have  reconnected with the fajita goodness they often provide. Feeling a rare outburst of patriotism, I had to pair this burrito with a zinfandel. And not just any zinfandel.The 2005 Murphy Goode Estate Liar’s Dice zinfandel. What a rich knockout of a wine. It would probably smack most food in the mouth and not break a sweat, but the combination of guacamole, sour cream and peppery skirt steak gave the wine some serious dance partners. Initially, with the wine just out of the cave, I wasn’t getting much of anything on the nose, as though the wine was living up to its name by playing everything close to the vest. But a little air and warmth revealed some plummy notes and touch of green pepper. I polished off the rest of it while watching  the sanitized version of “Con Air.” The wine was also a good fit for the movie and ignored all advice to put the bunny back in the box.

another rose at Corey Creek