Sunflowers and Annabella

After a hot, humid, morning picking sunflowers and photographing barnyard animals in Haymarket, I went grocery shopping.

 

Pollinators were in full force but they didn't bother us!

 

 

 

 

 

Hello, beautiful!

almost ready to say hello

 



gorgeous moth

My "Redskins" sunflower



Loved this dude! So laid back and cool. I swear he was posing for me.
 

 



As I suspected, the grocery store was pure chaos but I had no choice.

Sometimes we just have to make sacrifices.

 However, turning the corner and seeing a nice lady giving out free samples of cheese seemed to make the chaos bearable. I tried a type of swiss from Vermont that was spectacular!

If she hadn't told me it was a swiss I would have never guessed.

Of course, I had to buy a small block to take home to enjoy!

  

 

Well, now that I had a block of cheese in my cart, I surely had to go find a bottle of wine.

 Even though my wine rack and my wine fridge at home are full, I still sometimes want to try something inexpensive and new.

This was definitely one of those times.

 



While perusing the wine section, nothing seemed to jump out at me until.... I saw something I recognized, or at least I thought I recognized. You might even say I was drawn to it.

 

2012

Annabella

Chardonnay

 

 

Special Selection

Michael Pozzan Winery

Napa Valley, California

 

 

I wanted something light to go with the cheese and when it is hot and humid outside I long for something refreshing. Usually, I don't have a taste for wine at all on a hot day, but today I needed a little happy juice.

(At $12.99, I couldn't pass it up!)

 

Why did this wine seem "special" to me? Like I had had it before but I couldn't place it?

Suddenly, it hit me.

 

The day we buried my cousin, Bobbie, in June, the family went to lunch at Overwood in Old Town Alexandria. I was the only one drinking wine and decided I just wanted a glass. I didn't recognize anything on the wine list but there was a Napa Chardonnay listed. When in doubt, I always choose a Napa Chardonnay and I'm hardly ever displeased.

 

Annabella!

 

This was THAT wine!

Annabella Chardonnay is a lemon chiffon color and its aromas follow that same delicate form.  With fragrance and flavors of green apple, hazlenut, pears and a subtle hint of oak, this is a very uncomplicated simple wine. 

Michael Pozzan named this collection of wine, Annabella, to honor his beloved grandmother -

"a woman of remarkable grace and spirit whose love of family, friends and home-cooked meals are celebrated to this day."

 

 

Simple, delicate, easy to drink, grandmother, love of family and friends, home-cooked meals.

 

It's almost as if Annabella knew when I was walking in the wine section that she needed to find a way to make sure I bought "her" wine.  Perhaps it was a sort of conspiracy of "grandmothers" - Annabella, my grandmother and Bobbie (who was also a beloved grandmother).

 

 

In staying with the simple and delicate theme, I chose to sautee fresh squash, zucchini and tomatoes in olive oil over angel hair pasta for my meal.

A no-frills meal with a no-frills wine.

 

Excellent!

 

 

 

"The pleasure of good wine is not just about balanced flavors, a fragrant nose, or lush colors.

It’s also about the moment when that first sip is taken, with family or friends, over favorite foods or during special occasions."

- Michael Pozzan