First of all, thank you to the numerous comments and shout-outs received regarding last night’s blog.  We all have people in our lives who leave us far too early, and the best and most important things they give us are the memories from when they were here.  We also want to give a shout-out to Rick Koch with BobcatFans Magazine .  .  . thanks to Rick, we are mentioned in the November, 2012 issue of his magazine and we’re talking about – of all things, our wine blog.  Take a few minutes to look up BobcatFans Magazine on the web – it’s not just for college students!

Today was a long but productive day – we were up and on the road by 7:30-ish this morning on our way to Nacogdoches to see daughter #1 and deliver some much needed information and equipment left over from last week.  Our goal was to get to Nacogdoches by lunch time; deliver the stuff, have lunch with her and be on our way for adventures.  Our meeting location was in downtown Lufkin, Texas at a new retail store that has opened up there.  The parents’ and family of a friend of daughter #1 opened a gift shop called, Twisted Sister and if you EVER get to Lufkin, you owe it to yourself to stop at this store.  There Brian got to meet Robin and her sister (thus twisted sisters???) where Jean proceeded to support the Lufkin economy.  While there, Jean’s phone needed a car-charger for the battery and because we know the newspaper publisher, Greg Shrader and his wife, Laura who live there, we sent a message to them which led to a visit after lunch.  It’s always amazing catching up with people who end up playing a role in today’s blog.

So in the end, the people that were instrumental/crucial for today’s road trip include Brian, Jean, Robin and her sister, Greg and Laura and daughter number 1 – seven people = 14 hands and thus the carma for today’s wine was set by – the events of the day!!  We opened at 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon from 14 Hands Winery of Patterson, Washington and were immediately impressed with this wine.  Most of our previous wine tastings from Washington wines were blends, Pinot’s and Merlots–none of which inspired us to switch our allegiance from California.  This wine was different – in a good way.  A nose of cranberries, vanilla and earth were completely unexpected.  The taste was fruitful but structured and well-balanced.  The taste stayed true from palate to finish.  Lots of fruit, black cherry, cranberries – and the vanilla was so spectacular, we thoroughly enjoyed this wine, and with a price well under $20 a bottle you can enjoy it without breaking the bank.

After getting back to the house around 9:30 p.m., there is no doubt that it has been a LONG day.  Lots of storms between Livingston and Huntsville made for treacherous driving for Jean, but an excellent job nonetheless.  We stopped outside of Huntsville before College Station to view a spectacular sunset complete with a rainbow as a result of the rain that we had driven through; the clouds reflected gorgeous colors of red, orange and maroon and the unique cloud shapes were a clear message to ‘stop and enjoy the beauty’ which is exactly what we did.  Even with taking some pictures, they don’t do the beauty justice, but it was yet another reason for today’s wine – it takes many hands to enjoy the fruits of the vine!

Please remember to enjoy your favorite wine responsibly and remember to recycle whenever possible.  One final note, remember to ‘fall back’ one hour tonight and enjoy that extra hour of sleep.  Cheers–until tomorrow.