This isn’t going to come as a surprise to anyone – going back to work after a vacation is NOT an easy thing to do.  Going back to work on a Thursday after a vacation makes it more palatable but it’s still NOT any easy thing to do.  When the alarm went off this morning, we were pretty sure that something was wrong with the alarm clock.  You see, after spending a week on the West Coast, our bodies had gotten used to the time difference.  So, when we hit the bed last night at 11, our bodies thought it was nine and when the alarm went off at six, our bodies thought it was four -if you’ve done any traveling between where you’re at and the coast, you know it takes a while for your body to catch up.  However, we got up – not because of the alarm but because of our four-legged family that doesn’t know about, doesn’t care about and has one thing on their minds at that hour of the morning.

Jean got the first round of going out to ‘take care of business’ but she was off and getting ready for work, so the second round of  ‘taking care of business’ fell on Brian’s shoulders.  In our dog’s minds, we could be gone for a month, two months, six months, and the minute we get back home, they fall immediately back into their routine.  They are amazingly faithful, if not true to their owners, kinds of dogs.  They typical morning, and today was no different, starts with a growl from the youngest, Jasmine.  This is usually followed by ‘bed pacing’ from the middle dog, Andie.  For those of you not familiar with ‘bed pacing’, let us explain – bed pacing occurs when one or both humans IN the bed show any signs of being awake during the pre-dawn morning hours.  This can include, but is not limited to, snorting, snoring, scratching an itch, moving your hand, slightly opening your eyes, rolling over in bed or simply breathing.  When ANY of these occur at that particular moment, an amazing genetic trait comes to the surface of the middle dog, Andie.  She begins the pace from one side of the bed to the other.  Sometimes, the pacing is accompanied by yawning and stretching with strange noises, and sometimes the pacing is accompanied by a long, cold, wet snoot either in one of our faces or under a hand that has conveniently dropped out of the covers.  Dogs are opportunists that always look for the easy attention opportunity.

This all leads us to tonight’s wine from South Africa, a 2007 Faithful Hound from the vineyards of Mulderbosch.  This is an interesting blend comprised mainly of Cabernet Sauvignon, but with added amounts of Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and Cabernet Franc.  From it’s opening, we weren’t sure if it was wine we had opened or a bag of salad greens because the green pepper on the nose was very prominent as was the toasted almonds and a certain earthiness.  The first sip was, well, it was interesting.  Not good and not bad – just interesting.  It had almost no finish when the bottle was first opened, but at the same time it had a certain smoothness that we both really enjoyed.   A later tasting confirmed that the green pepper was there to stay but the finish opened up to a nice smoky, silky after taste.  Not a bad way to salute our first day back to work after a vacation.  A dinner of grilled salmon, roasted potatoes and sauteed asparagus, helped give the wine a much-needed boost in taste.  Clearly, this wine is going to be better with food than just sitting around having a glass.

Through all of the sniffing, tasting and dining this evening, the ‘girls’ were right there at our feet or should we say under our feet wanting to get their fair share of attention.  They really are ‘Faithful Hounds’ when you get right down to it and so as this first day AFTER vacation comes to a close, we invite you to try Faithful Hound wine from South Africa; at less than $12 for a bottle, it’s not going to break the bank but it won’t exactly make you king of your castle either.  One thing to look forward to is that tomorrow is Friday – a two-day work week is one good reason to go back to work on Thursday.

Thanks for reading and please, always remember to enjoy your wine responsibly and recycle whenever possible. (Go Cards!)