RWW: The Relativity of Value

This week's Red Wine Wednesday provided a lesson in the relativity of value.  All things have value and all value is relative. I am open to the possibility that there are certain things in life that have an absolute value that is neither variable nor relative, but I'm not sure what those things would be.  Certainly not anything related to emotion. The concept of relative value is a personal favorite of mine, probably because it relies so heavily on one of my other favorite human concepts; perspective.  The way I see it, relativity of value is a five phase cycle being played out on an infinite loop. Phase 1: Know Nothing. Phase 2: Experience Something.  Phase 3: Process the Experience and Determine Value. Phase 4: Discover Something Else. Phase 5: Process New Experience and Adjust Value. Regardless of our level of awareness, this process is happening in all of us all of the time.  It is the heart of life. 

Red Wine Wednesday #3: Night Harvest Cabernet Sauvignon

This weeks activity was a play date and craft session at my friend's house.  For the kids the craft was decorating visors with stickers and glitter glue. For the grown ups, my friend found a neato project of making coasters out of wine corks.  Pretty much the only things you need are some wine corks, a hot glue gun and some ribbon.  It was really easy and fun! Here is my finished product:

 I'm sorry to say that this week the streak of near flawless behavior from my girls came to an end.  We  had a few meltdowns over sharing glitter glue, then some really dramatic animal phobia reactions, all wrapped up together in a general package of sassy-ness. Better luck next week.

As for the wine...

My friend chose a seven dollar bottle of Night Harvest Cabernet Sauvignon and it was lovely. After our first few sips we had a very quick lesson in the relativity of value.  While we didn't originally find the week 1 and week 2 wines to be bad wines, after tasting this wine we agreed that the week 1 and week 2 wines wouldn't be worth purchasing again.  Our favorite wine so far, it will definitely be purchased again by both of us.  Fruitier and smoother than the previous weeks' selections, we both enjoyed it very much. Never thought I'd say it but hooray for Cabernet!

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RWW: Cellar No. 8 Cabernet Sauvignon

This blog 4 days late.  Mediocre things come to those who wait, so here we go...

For this week's Red Wine Wednesday it was my turn to chose the wine. Seeing as my friend unselfishly selected my favorite type of wine last week (Merlot), I decided to reciprocate and chose her favorite type this week. As you already know from the title of this entry, her favorite type is Cabernet Sauvignon. If my memory serves me correctly, the first (non Boones Farm) wine I tried was a Cabernet Sauvignon.  I was living in an apartment with two girl friends at the time and we made some kind of fancy dinner and bought a couple of bottles wine to drink along with it. I figured out quickly and definitively that I wasn't a "white" girl. As for the red, I enjoyed it not so much for the taste but for what it stood for and how it made me feel. I was a naive, inexperienced kid fumbling my way through my early 20s a semester way from graduating, but put a glass of red wine in my hand and...BAM!  I'm a well educated, sophisticated, cultured lady.  A philosopher. A theologian. A grown up. I must confess, that even as a 30 something, drinking wine still makes me feel classy.

Choosing wine can be a very complex process because there are many factors to consider when doing so. If you prefer to disregard the particulars, however, choosing a wine becomes very simple. Which label catches my eye and draws me in? When you have a moderate regard for the particulars (like me) but take your kids with you to the store (also like me) then choosing a wine becomes next to impossible.  You will stand there in the aisle scanning the rows of bottles going back and forth between several wines all the while listening to the background noise of your children alternating between bickering with each other and asking you for toys. You do your best to ignore them, but then you feel bad because you're paying more attention to booze than your babies.  Then you remember that if you didn't have them, you probably wouldn't require the wine you're trying to select and so you don't feel so bad anymore. Scanning, reading, scanning, reading....and.....Cellar No. 8 it is! Cellar No. 8 caught my eye because 8 happens to be my favorite number.  It has been since I was a kid and no other number can hold a candle to it it my mind. It's even, and round, and symmetrical.  Plus if you turn eight sideways, it becomes infinity and infinity is awesome.

 Red Wine Wednesday #2: Cellar No. 8 Cabernet Sauvignon

For the activity this week, we chose an indoor play date at our house, complete with a jumbo poster board painting session. The ambition to take the kids somewhere new each week quickly melts away when the temperature reaches 100+. For the second week in a row, the kids played together fantastically.  They cleaned their plates at lunch, played freeze dance, "kill the bad guy season 2," and various other imaginative games.

As for the wine...

Cellar No. 8 Cabernet Sauvignon can be purchased at Target for 8.99 a bottle. The challenge for me in tasting this wine was trying to ignore that fact that Cab Sauvs aren't my favorite.  I don't despise them by any means, but I just don't like 'em the most. It's like eating regular Cheerios when you prefer Honey Nut. You'll still eat and enjoy the classic Cherrios, but you won't have that little extra honey nuttiness to round out the corners of the experience. I popped the cork (albeit much slower than my friend because I don't have the magic rabbit wine tool) and poured.  Clinky, clinky, "Cheers!" First sip and...alright.  Smooth and spicy with decent balance. Good wine at a great price.

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