Lake County California
High Elevation Edition
Syrah, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, Mourvedre & Grenache
Vanilla, oak, pepper spice, & dark cherry flavors were the main flavor players in this medium bodied multi-varied blend. I was pretty happy about the blend layers. This wine is very good. I just don't know that I would pay $19 for it. Maybe $14. I was hoping for a longer finish and more depth. I would like to try it again with grilled steak and mushrooms. It is recommended to serve with red meat and barbecued pork. I had it with Sweet Italian Chicken Sausage & Kale & Spinach Ravioli sauteed with garlic. I preferred it with the meal more than on its own.
Today I was driving in the beautiful sunshine with the sun roof completely open listening to Carly Simon's "You're So Vain" and thinking about the associations I have with almost every piece of music I hear. I can remember hearing this song for the very first time as it came on the radio and my brother and I were riding in the backseat of our old black Dodge Rambler going to get our Christmas tree. My mom was driving and my dad was riding shotgun which was unusual as he usually drove. This song came on and I just loved the beginning where Carly whispers: "Son of a Gun" before she begins singing. My mom told my dad about some couple they knew who was getting divorced and how the wife played this song for the husband and had told her husband how it reminded her of him.
For quite awhile after that Christmas I would hear the song. It became my favorite that year. I remember telling my neighborhood friend about it and asking her if she knew it. She said: "Is that the song about the clouds in the coffee cup?" I said it was and she said: "I hate that song. It's so stupid. What does it even mean to have clouds in your coffee?" Mind you, we were both like 7 or 8 as we sat evaluating its meaning. I remember shrugging and thinking it was her loss that she didn't get it. What's funny is I knew at my young age that it was just a metaphor, but I didn't truly grasp it other than I figured it was adult speak for describing something deeper. I couldn't make my friend get it. Listening to it today, those memories came back and I smiled. Especially as, since growing up, I love getting to know meanings behind songs and reading autobiographies of artists, etc.
Long before Adele wrote about her first love gone bad, or Taylor Swift hung John Mayer, Carly Simon wrote about her previous beau, Warren Beatty. In classic self-assured pride, Beatty reportedly thanked her for writing the song. Carly has said it was actually about a combination of men. The apricot scarf was reportedly for Nick Nolte. The cheating boyfriend was reportedly about Mick Jagger's preoccupation with David Bowie's wife. I just love how much she set the entertainment world abuzz with vain speculation with that piece of music!
Anyway, I have always loved the lyrics, and the "clouds in the coffee" reference I interpret now as foreshadowing in an otherwise simple, happy life - like finding that the morning comfort of drinking warm, soul-filling coffee while sitting in the sun suddenly portrays the presence of clouds overhead as if providing warning to an unseen emotional storm dead set ahead. It's one of those awesome self-discovery items like poetry, open to great self-interpretation.
You had me several years ago,
when I was still quite naive.
Well you said that we made such a pretty pair,
and that you would never leave.
But you gave away the things you loved,
and one of them was me . . .
I've had some dreams there were clouds in my coffee,
clouds in my coffee and . . .
You're so vain . . .
--Carly Simon (with, incidentally, Mick Jagger on backup!)
8.0 out of 10
$19 / 750 ml. bottle
14.5% alc. by vol.
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