Winey Tasting Notes: Surviving the Election in a “Swing State” By Flipflopping (the Merlot)
Election season. When Americans exercise the right to choose their nation’s destiny. When they flock to the polls to let their opinions be known. When debate ranges freely among differing views. When voting is a celebration of our rights as Americans.
UNLESS you are like me and you live in swing state. Because here in Ohio, election season means that you do NOT answer your phone from primary season on. It means that we haven’t seen a television ad for food, clothing or cars since August. We live in constant fear of having our mailboxes explode due to pounds upon pounds of political mailings. And don’t even try to drive near the airport/major city/community college when one of the candidates is in town AGAIN to try and swing us to his side. Gridlock.
Let’s take this morning, for instance. Since returning from my morning walk 90 minutes ago, I have gotten 2 phone calls. Caller ID tells me they are from Middletown, OH. I don’t know anyone named Middletown, OH, nor do I know anyone from Middletown, OH. I don’t even really know where Middletown, OH is. So I let it ring. No message was left when the machine picked up either, so you know I was getting robo-called. Our caller ID list reads like this: 22 missed calls, one call from the schools, one from the Winey Hubby telling me he’s on his way home, and one the town library (I totally have to remember to go pick up that book). That is all in the past 72 hours. Now, the missed calls each represent a call we didn’t answer, because they were identified as “private”, “out of area”, Washington, DC, or other towns we don’t know anyone from. Twenty two!!! That translates to about 7 times a day that someone in the Winey household looks at the caller id and yells out “Don’t answer it!”
But then I came upon a bottle of wine that I thought just might make all this a bit easier to bear: flipflop Merlot (2009, 13.5%, California). I’m sure many of you are thinking “How does a wine named after summer sandals make election madness easier?” But remember, to us in the swing states, flip flop is a verb to describe what politicians accuse each other of doing. All day. On TV, radio… OK, I went through this already. So in an attempt to find some humor in all this attempted brainwashing, er, campaigning, I grabbed a bottle.
And let me tell you, if any Merlot could make this election a bit easier, this is the one. It starts with a bouquet of strawberry jam and a touch of cherry cordial. It tastes of black plum with some cherry overtones and a quick bite of blueberry at the end. It’s got a velvety feel to it. The tannins start to do their work in the finish, giving a lovely warm, toasty feeling on the tongue. They’re not harsh tannins by any means…kind of softer, but they do a wonderful job of keeping this Merlot from being way too fruity. This wine screams out for a good book, a comfy chair, a fire in the fireplace and a broken phone.
So now that I’ve got a wine to keep me happy during all this political madness, I just might make it to the end of the election season. And then the Christmas toy ads will start.
My name is The Winey Mom and I approved this message.
Winey side note: In all the election nuttiness, sometimes basic things get overlooked. So ponder this: a portion of the money from every bottle of flipflop wine sold goes to Soles4Souls, an international charity that gives footwear to those who have none. Now that’s a phone call I would gladly take!
