We love red wine. So does our fiancé. So does our sister. So do our good friends, Brandon and Taryn. Our boss, he loves red wine too. Because so many people love red wine, we enjoy giving it to them. Red wine is delicious, of course, and it makes for a simple, versatile and much appreciated gift. For example, we have a co-worker, Chris, who gives all the colleagues with whom he works closely the same variety of red wine every December. That’s ten or so people who get identical gifts. If he’d given us all the same tacky ornament, that’d be lame. But, he didn’t. He gave us all red wine, so he wins Co-Worker of the Year. Plus, when the holiday luncheon ends, the in-office celebration can continue. Cheers! This holiday season, be a hero like Chris. Give...
We sit mere days away from Thanksgiving. It ranks as our favorite holiday. Well, probably. We say probably because in the summer, we herald the Fourth of July as our favorite but in the winter, we declare it to be Thanksgiving. Whatever. Each is a great American celebration. You’d be unpatriotic if you made us choose between the two. On Thanksgiving, we act as consummate freeloaders. We attend three separate, full-fledged family celebrations. Each has turkey and green bean casserole and stuffing and mashed potatoes and pie. On our family’s Italian side, they even have meatballs and pasta. We feast. We show up—having neither prepared a thing nor helped a bit—and we gorge ourselves. Then, we collapse onto the couch and alternate between watching football and napping until the time comes to move to the next house for the next...
With age comes wisdom. Only recently have we understood the value and versatility of wine. We already knew that we enjoyed drinking it. We knew that certain types paired well with certain foods. Now, though, we recognize the true magic of wine; it’s synonymous with celebration. Occasions define our lives. People receive degrees. People move into houses. People earn promotions. People get engaged, then married. People have children. And, each year, everyone gets a little older. These occasions merit revelry. And, when a gentleman arrives to make merry, he should be bearing gifts. What should he bring? Wine. Often, the answer is wine. (It’s sometimes whiskey or scotch.) What wine depends on the giver, the recipient and the occasion. Aficionados may always tend towards fine wines. Folks like us with less demanding palates reserve nicer wines for special occasions. We...
