Gas Station Revelation

One thing I've always been great at is being disappointed. In my teens it was my "super-strict" parents, in my early 20s it was the entire male species, and now...after befriending my parents and finding a man worthy of woman, I have mediocre wines with clever marketing tactics as a target for my nagging discontentment. Horray!

So imagine my surprise when I twist the top off my twelve dollar bottle of red wine, purchased from a gas station in Georgia, timidly pour myself a glass (expecting a subtle sadness to fill my mouth) and instead taste...what is it?...no, it can't be...near...perfection?!?

My impossibly lush fantasies of a simultaneously velvetty, spicy, jammy, and meaty purple juice, finally materialized in a plastic cup! Just when I thought I was destined to an eternity of deep, disturbing discontentment, my sanity is rescued by the suspiciously simple phrase "California Red Wine".

It's not very often that my palette encounters something as blog-worthy as this (and the date on my last post will confirm!) ...Frontier Red Lot No. 91, from Fess Parker Winery in Santa Maria, CA is a revelation. It's the kind of wine that you are afraid of being left alone with (especially in a sparse/ lonely/ cable TV-deprived hotel room). It's the kind of wine that a very cunning gentleman would bring on a first date. The kind of wine that, I dare say, would turn the frown upside down on even the most pleasantly pessimistic wine nerd. It can be done!

Syrah, Grenache, Petite Syrah, Mouvedre, Cinsault and Carignane make a luscious crew in Fess Parker's Frontier Red. My high-priced wine dealer friends will surely be enraged when they run across this superstar red for around $12. Blackberry jam, bbq smoke, purple silk, and a liquid smile...why are you still sitting there?! Go get some!

Woman's Best Friend

I spend about 10 days per month at home living a fairly normal life, with a charming man and snobby cat named Margot. I get 8 hours of sleep, hit the gym, and cook dinner every night. It's a wonderfully stable existence for those 10 short days.

The other 20-odd days a month, I spend packing and unpacking a suitcase with the same 4 outfits and ziplock bag of 3 oz toiletries, navigating high school parking lots, giving pep-talks to apathetic teenagers, GPS-ing the nearest Whole Foods for dinner, and sleeping in predictably-decorated hotels, by myself. For weeks at a time.

"How do you do it?", my friends say. "Dont' you get lonely?"

Sure, loneliness comes in minor spurts, but it's no match for Woman's Best Friend. Supposedly, men have dogs (or cats, in the case of more eccentric man like my own) to bring them comfort and companionship. But some gals needs a more portable companion; One we can count on the minute lonliness, fatigue, or boredom hits; A friend who doesn't need to be entertained or nurtured, but who can calm the most turbulent storm within and rescue us from the edge of insanity - like all great friends do.

So ladies, if you haven't been acquainted yet...it's time you meet your new best friend, the reliable rescuer: PINOT NOIR.

Ahhh, just the name itself casts a spell...can you feel it? Then, go grab yourself one of these beauties...

RHEINGAU PINOT NOIR - GERMANY

I know, drinking Pinot Noir from Germany is a bit like giving grandma a bb-gun for her birthday...it just doesn't make sense. But this one is the exception to the rule. It's subtle, complex, and incredibly drinkable. And for $5.99 you'll be going back for cases of this juice from the Fatherland. Find it at Trader Joe's.

HIRSCH VINEYARDS PINOT NOIR - 2006 SONOMA COAST

For a splurge, this wine will make you feel like a queen. When a friend of mine bought a half-bottle for $35 I called him crazy and reckless and...then I tasted it and shut up. It's explosively delicious and a bit meatier than most pinots, making it the perfect quaff for coaxing you off the ledge. $35 will get you a 2-glass split, but it's worth the magic. Fine wine shops carry this gem.

LIOCO ROSE - 2008 Sonoma Coast

Lioco Rose of Pinot Noir is liquid romance. You'll still get all the lusciousness of Pinot Noir in a corally-pink pour. Perfect for summer picnics (or drinking alone in a dismal hotel room). $12-$14 at nicer wine shops.

So what if you don't have a dog, a boyfriend, or a shoulder to cry on? You've got the entire wine aisle at your nearest grocer. And it's much cheaper than a therapist. Pinot to the rescue!