Wine and Work for The Weekend

NPH can't sleep for anxiety over tonight's wedding and tomorrow's Pentecost worship. So NPH has gleefully trotted over to Panera at 6:00 am on a Saturday to hammer out a wedding message and Pentecost sermon.

Last night NPH and the wife took part in a novel idea: a wine-tasting party. About 20 people gathered at the home of a colleague, each bringing a bottle of wine. Upon paying $5 at the door, party-goer's wines were wrapped in a paper bag, numbered, and placed on the table. Then, over the next 2 and 1/2 hours, everyone sampled all the wines, giving each one a score from one to 10. Reds and whites were scored separately, and, at the end of the night, the bringer of the best white and the best red split the door money. The worst white and red each got their $5 back.

We were pretty confident with the Riesling that we picked up at Berbiglia on our way; it was, after all, on a special tasting display by the front door. But we did not win (we didn't finish last either). The winner of the white category was a brand simply called "House Wine," while the red that won was a Folie a Deux winery production called Menage Trois.

Not to be confused for actual wine experts, our party scored this red gem higher than any other, even higher than another bottle of the exact same wine of the exact same year.