Thursday, July 12, 2007

What I Did on my Summer Vacation

I’ve been treating myself to a summer break from blogging. Here in South Carolina, we’re into the part of summer when slowing your activity level is necessary for survival. One hundred degree days with humidity that wraps you like a hot, wet blanket will slow just about anyone’s pace.

Although the break has been nice, it’s time to get back to work. I even missed Wine Blogging Wednesday #35, and the topic was Spanish bargain wines, a subject which I can drone on about for hours. If you’re so inclined, check out some of my past Spanish posts. This month's WBW is hosted byMichelle and Kevin at My Wine Education.

I have quite a few posts rattling around in my head, and I have a couple posts that are long overdue. I’ll be writing about some of my favorite dining haunts here in hot, sultry Columbia, S.C. With lots of fresh produce on hand, I’ve been working on some new summer dishes I want to share, along with the wines I’ve been enjoying with them.

So, what did I do on my summer vacation from blogging? Well, I slept in, instead of getting up early to write. I enjoyed several great wines without taking notes. As I mentioned above, I did some work in my test kitchen. Summer also brings more outdoor chores, which require a significant chunk of my time.

The rest of the time was spent relaxing in the AC, directly under a ceiling fan. That’s the place to be in July in the Deep South.

Here’s one of the wines that is helping me through the heat:

Bodegas Castaño Rosado Monastrell Yecla 2006

Bodegas Castaño makes an excellent monastrell named Hecula that I’ve enjoyed several years in a row. This is the first I’ve seen of a rosé from them. Monastrell makes for a very full, round rosé with flavors of dark berries and cinnamon with just a touch of herbs. It’s one of the most substantial rosés I’ve ever had.

Dr. Debs of Good Wine Under $20 wrote a great post on another of their wines for WBW #35, and the Wine Doctor has some interesting background on Castaño in this post.

4 comments:

Sonadora said...

I am with you on the hot weather slowing everything down. This last week was awful! My poor lawn is completely dead. At least it seems to have cleared out of here for today, let's hope we get a few days of reprieve!

Joe said...

You drank a wine and didn't take notes?!!!! Castano is a nice choice - all of their wines are good. If you like the Hecula, try their basic 'Monastrell' (if you can find it) - dirt cheap and very nice. I even found their Dominio Espinal (dirt dirt dirt dirt cheap) to be pretty good. Welcome back, cheers!

Lee W said...

Very hot and humid down here in Little Rock as well so I feel your pain. Looking forward to your dining reviews. We're planning a trip to the Charleston area for spring or early Summer next year. I've got a backlog of posts to write on my site as well after being in Chicago the last eight days or so.

Unknown said...

Thanks, Rob. Charleston is a foodie's paradise. You could eat out for a week there and still not hit all the good places.

 
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