Simple pleasures of food and wine and......all that is mine!: Festival weekend follies

Growing up, Festival Weekend at Colonial Beach was a big deal. It was the one weekend that you couldn't miss during the summer in that town. A fire engine parade on Friday night and the Potomac River Festival on Saturday afternoon. When I was in high school it was such a time to look forward to - we'd cruise the strip, have our favorite songs cranked up on the car radio, meet friends or make new ones on Reno Hill, drink wine coolers or beer, and just enjoy life. (A country artist really should have written a song about my summers back then.) Friends who had grown up and finally "escaped" that town would come back on Festival Weekend even if they hadn't returned any other time during the year. I have so many memories it would take days to recount them all.

I hadn't been down for Festival Weekend in probably a decade or more. As I got older, life got in the way for various reasons or it was just too hot. Well, this year I decided I wanted to be there. It wasn't the same and honestly, I'm not sure why I thought it would be. In all actuality, it wasn't the parade or the excitement of the fire engines that made Festival Weekend. It was the friends I was with and the new friends I made. It was the crazy antics of Luke, Kyle's hound dog, jumping out of Steve's jeep. It was seeing Charles driving the fire engine. It was knowing the girl who was crowned "Ms. Colonial Beach" riding on that gorgeous Z24. It was playing it cool and hoping the guy you wanted to notice you would drive by at just the right moment. It was daisy dukes, flip flops and sunburns.

It was Bartles and James and Boone's Farm.

This Festival Weekend was spent with my parents, our good friend, Betty, an hour long joke of a parade, good food and good wine.

It was a weekend to appreciate what we have and remember the good times in the past.

After sitting in the heat for the parade, it was a pleasant change to walk into an air conditioned house!!! Later, while relaxing on the front porch, I decided to open the Peach Wine that I had been saving since January for just the right hot summer day.

Classic Peach

The Winery at Bull Run

Centreville, Virginia

When the Evil Red Genius and I went to this winery after a snow storm, (see the post about our visit in January) we were both surprised that we enjoyed this peach fruit wine. Made purely from fresh peaches and fermented it truly was a delight. We bought a bottle each because we were told it wouldn't last long at the winery and saved it for a special occasion. Knowing how my mom doesn't like wine, I'm always trying to find one she will like. If it takes like fruit juice, I'll typically hate it but she'll love it. This one, I had a hunch, we would both enjoy given the right moment.

Mom and Dad both enjoyed it, as did I.

Was it because it was refreshing?
Was it because it just felt right to be sitting on the front porch on a summer afternoon?
Was it because it smelled and tasted like biting into a fresh juicy peach?
Was it because it made me want angel food cake or pound cake?

Yes, all of those!

Oh yeah and then Dad said it reminded him of Christmas. Hmmm.... leave it to Dad.
Fresh peaches.
Christmas?
Ok, Dad. There's no wrong answer.

A few years ago, I came upon a Sean Minor 4 Bears Pinot Noir from California. Typically, I am an Oregon Pinot snob but for some reason this was not your usual California Pinot. I haven't been able to find it since, of course. However, I did find the Carneros Sean Minor Pinot and figured I should try it out.

We were having burgers and sausages Saturday night for dinner so I figured this light red wine would be just fine as an accompaniment (and it was)!

Well, guess what? It is nothing like the 4Bears Sean Minor Pinot. This is what I call a typical California Pinot -

a HUGE CHERRY BOMB!

Now, for those of you who like light, fruit forward, overwhelmingly cherry tasting wines, then this is for you. However, I am not a fan of cherries (unless they are dark cherries or Michigan cherries) and this a cherry explosion. Bleh! Dad liked it but he also said that it smelled like a pack of unfiltered cigarettes. Uh.... yuck!

However, boys and girls, there should be at least one thing you have learned from my blog thus far.....
When you have a red wine that you're not quite fond of,

EAT CHOCOLATE!

A red wine drinker should ALWAYS have a bag (or 2 or 5) of dark chocolate chips on hand - for wine emergencies, if nothing else. Not only was this wine better with dark chocolate, but it also got better once Keith Urban's song, "Cop Car" came on the radio.

I mean, come on!

What wine wouldn't get better paired with Keith Urban and chocolate?

Right, Evil Red Genius?

By special request from Mom, I made lamb ragu on Sunday night for dinner. How on earth I was able to do that without taking any pictures is a mystery. I have made this dish numerous times and never had a picture of it. Makes absolutely no sense to me but yet again, no lamb ragu shots. So sad.

I did take a picture of Mom's deviled eggs and my roasted butternut squash though!

"It's not a party without deviled eggs." - Jeffrey

The weekend tasting at my happy place was French wines and the very last red was one that I became fond of. I immediately thought "aha, this could go well with lamb ragu!" When Arthur agreed and I saw the price was under $20, I bought a bottle to take for Sunday dinner with the family. I am an American girl when it comes to drinking wine. It's not that I don't like French wines. It's just that I haven't had many and don't know much about them. Well, we were going to be guinea pigs on Sunday and man did I knock this one of the park!!

A blend of Grenache, Syrah and Carignan

Aromas of forest, bark, and dark fruit with a bit of spice on the palette

Tautavel is a village located between the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean and recognized as one of the cradles of human civilization. The vineyards are planted on pebble soils, limestone rich terraces and south-east facing hillsides. Someone take me there, please.....

Dad said it reminded him of a Merlot which is a huge compliment, Mr. Bertrand!

He then said, "It tastes like Lucy stomped on the grapes with her feet and they were dirty."

Yeah, I'll let you ponder that for a moment.......

Earlier in the day, Mom and I stopped by the Tides Inn Market to see what yummy treats we could find. To our surprise, we found homemade almond pound cake for sale. So, we bought one plain and one with chocolate drizzled over the top to have with wine later in the evening. YUM!