Beloved Bounty

Let us go early to the vineyards to see if the vines have budded, if their blossoms have opened, and if the pomegranates are in bloom-- there I will give you my love.
The mandrakes send out their fragrance, and at our door is every delicacy, both new and old, that I have stored up for you, my beloved.

Song of Solomon 7:12-13

While not very early, the 3 Winos +1 did arrive in the vineyards just after the Sun was over the yardarm for day two of the Get Fresh passport programme. Bees worked valiantly among the flowers to do their part in nurturing nature but the buds of this year's crops remained elusive on the vines and branches except to the most optimistic eye. I guess we are still a little early in the season.

Certainly, the Twenty Valley vintners laid every delicacy before us. Angels Gate's offering of succulent "Spicy Korean Fried Chicken Bites" on a salad of spring greens with goat cheese dressing celebrated spring along with their bubbly Archangel Chardonnay. A little further up the road, I swooned like a swallow over Fielding's "Lemon Poppy Seed Cheesecake with Rhubarb Sauce". While the pairing with their NV Sparkling Rosé was perfectly good, I cannot leave Fielding without a couple of bottles of their "G" wine tucked under arm. (Gewürztraminer challenges my verbal skills so "G wine" it is.)

Over the two days, we sampled 24 wines and 24 delicacies from seared albacore tuna to beef bourguignon. I give thanks for the bounty of Earth, some of the best of it laid out for us today. And I give thanks for the opportunity to have such a fun and soul-nourishing weekend in the spring fresh outdoors with family. Amen.