I love spending time with family.  I don’t do it enough.  I have spoken of my semi-regular gatherings with them, in particular on Thanksgiving, that post can be found here.  We don’t get together enough with the ones we love. A lot of verbiage may sound rehashed and regurgitated but when focusing on the positives, I don’t see it as an issue.

Admittedly, we become so wrapped up in life, we want to keep in touch more, but things happen.  Life happens.  I’ve usually been solid at keeping in touch with close family and dear friends.  Even the ones I’m not too close with I’d give a call or send a message. But I’ve been occupied so much too.  This blog is a part of that but I love it.  It keeps me focused. But I miss the ones I love, so any opportunity to meet up with them, I’m there.

This brings us to last Friday.  It was a mini reunion of sorts.  My cousin wanted to bring a bunch of us together to see some family that was visiting from overseas.  As an added bonus, this was the opening ceremonies of the Olympics.

We snacked, we dined, ate some more, drank a little, and were glued to the tv. Well some of us were.  At times, I was engaged in necessary and long overdue conversations with people I care about.

To mark this occasion, I needed to bring a wine that would somehow symbolize the Olympic spirit as well as the joy of family.  That sounds like a lot of added pressure.  It’s almost as if I’m an Olympic athlete or competitor myself. All hyperbole aside, it wasn’t a challenge at all.

Brazilian wines are not the easiest to find in Maryland.  At least that’s been my experience.  It would have been the perfect bottle to find and write about.  I didn’t give myself enough time to track one down but neighboring Argentina always comes through. Their wines have proven to be simple, easy-to-drink, and often affordable.  Take out Argentina and you can put just about any country or region in there.  That’s the true spirit of the Olympics, our world, and our universe.  It shows how even though we’re unique, we’re also all the same. Ah well, enough of my dramatics.

The winery is not unfamiliar to me but their take on this grape sure is.  The 2013 Perlita Chardonnay from Diamandes Winery is a winner.  Yes I said winner.  I’ll give it any medal you like.  Upon uncorking I could sense it.  You just know sometimes.   And as a close friend pointed out in the past, the label looks like a flag.  The colors may even seem familiar to you. What else needs to be said? But I’ll say some more.

That golden color is just what I was looking for.   Actually I wasn’t looking for it, more so you can say it gravitated towards me. Of course it would be gold. You can’t plan this stuff if you tried.

The crispness and apple taste immediately stood out.  This was refreshing, tasty, and throw in other adjectives as you’d like.  The tasting notes tell you everything you need to know.   Lots of summer fruits dominate this vintage.

I’m not even a Chardonnay fan, but I’d gladly have another glass right now.  Speaking of which, I was lucky to have one.  The bottle was finished in minutes.

For more on this wine you can go to Diamandes’ website right here.   More on their Chardonnay here.  And I gave a hint earlier as to having a wine of theirs before, I will get to that soon.  I will have many good things to say about their Malbec-Syrah as well. Actually I’m suggesting you get both if you can.

DM Vineyards is the domestic distributor here in the states and if you’re looking on where to find their wines, click here.  It’s a label I’ve seen at many wine shoppes in Maryland, so hopefully you won’t have a problem finding it.   And I hope that expands across the nation and across the globe.  It’ll be worth the search.

The price range is $10-$13. That’s worth it’s weight in… I’m here all night ladies and gentlemen, watching the Olympics.

When you have a big family and many that love wine that’s to be expected.  It was gone but not before I got my photos in.  You’ll see a plate of some amazing food my family cooked. I’m of Iranian descent, yet born here. I fully embraced the mix of foods from my family’s homeland and a little bit mixed in from everywhere else. Sound familiar?  Sound dare I say, Olympic like? I may be reaching but this gathering, this meal, and this wine was perfect.   And the gathering by itself was perfect enough.

I hope we get to do it again soon.

Like what you see above?  I’ll get to that sometime.

Take good care and enjoy the Olympics.

 

Ideen