Congratulations!  We’ve made it through another week and it’s the first week of October.  Brian is flying to Chicago to be with family as his niece gets married and so tonight’s blog is being done in two different cities  – but with the same wine.  It’s amazing how fast time flies; when we’re young, we can’t wait to be older and when we’re older, well, in many cases we wish we were young again.  Having nieces and nephews in their 20’s and 30’s is one of those things that sneaks up on you.  We can remember them as children just yesterday, and now they are adults, getting married, starting a family, buying homes and cars, changing jobs and it’s all done before our eyes.  Even our own children grow so amazingly fast that when they are through with their teenage years, we both stop and ask what just happened?

From the time we got older, we saw our nieces and nephews  as kids on the playground or on the ball field and in the blink of an eye, we see amazing young women and  men carving their own niche’ in life and it’s really awesome to watch from a distance.  Because jobs took siblings in different directions over the years, we haven’t always been able to get together as an extended family, but this weekend Brian will be combining four generations of family for the wedding.  Wow, four generations – with birth years ranging from the mid-1920’s through just last month.  And if ever there was an answer to the question people have posed to us on a number of occasions in the past 34 days . . . Why Are You Doing A Wine Blog?  Well, it’s because life’s too short not to try something completely different.

Which brings us to tonight’s wine – a really nice Baus Family 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon.  We picked this up at Twin Liquors during their 75th Anniversary sale at the end of August, but it’s one of their regulars in stock. They also carry the Baus Family Zinfandel and Chardonnay as well.  This wine is what you’d expect from a value-priced cab; at a little less than $15 a bottle, you’ll get the usual big cab taste, finish and satisfaction.  While it’s not as smooth as say a Simi Landslide or Adelaida Cabernet Sauvignon, it’s big berry taste and toasted oak aroma will keep a smile on your face.  We enjoyed it with some spicy Kung Pao chicken and steamed rice and it held up just fine.  Funny thing about this wine, we enjoyed it so much that when the bottle was empty, we asked each other where it went?  (Hint:  We KNOW where it went!)  With the other wines we’ve tasted up to this point, some have been good and some not so much, and we’d probably rank this one in the upper half.  Any time you can get a decent cab for under $15 a bottle, then it’s probably worth stocking up on it.

Because wine gets better with age, and we keep telling ourselves that WE get better with age, we chose to lay some wines down for six months or longer.  Aging them just a little longer helps smooth the tannins and gives a lot of good wines a very smooth and silky taste.  And just like with family, they get older before your eyes and get better with age (for the most part!).  Which is probably the best reason to go to a wedding where family is gathered and some that we may not see again.

Enjoy some good wine this weekend but remember to enjoy responsibly and please recycle whenever possible.