Mama always said – “life is like a box of chocolates” – Probably one of our all-time favorite movies is Forrest Gump.  It was the ideal combination of a storyline that you could relate to along with a killer soundtrack.  We’ve seen the movie – maybe fourteen, fifteen times.  It doesn’t get old.  A great cast combined with sharp writing, acting and directing gave us some of the most memorable lines in movie history – “Run Forrest Run”; “Stupid is as stupid does, Ms. Gump”; just to name a few.  It’s hard to believe that the movie has been out since 1996 yet its dialogue seems timeless.

“Thinking Outside The Box” also seems in short supply these days.  Of course, with Election Day tomorrow, a lot of decisions are going to be made regarding our future, but very few, if any of them, have anything to do with thinking outside the box.  It doesn’t really matter which ‘side’ you’re on; the lava spewing from both sides isn’t getting much of anything accomplished.  We’ve met some pretty innovative people as we’ve been writing this blog ,and there are times when it seems like it’d be better to scrap the whole thing and start over again than to keep doing what we’re doing.  There’s a great line that says something to the effect that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results.  Hmmm .  .  .  sounds familiar.

This past Saturday after visiting daughter #1 we made our way back to the home town and stopped in College Station – the home team had an away game, so navigating around the area was relatively easy.  Being fans of a store called, World Market, we stopped in to see what was on special in the way of wines.  It’s a store that catches you off guard .  .  . you know there is a lot of imported furniture, decorating accessories, some food items, imported beer, glassware, kitchen items, rugs. . .you name it and they probably have it.  What a lot of folks don’t realize is that they also sell wine–lots of wine with lots of different labels from–you guessed it, all over the world.  We find great Italian, German, Spanish, Australian and of course, American wines at these stores, so it was decided that we needed some ‘blogging wine’ and World Market was just the place to add to the supply.  Among our favorites, we found numerous new labels, blends and assorted whites and reds, but tonight’s wine was a stretch.

When we pulled the bottle out of the rack, the immediate thought was that we don’t want Chocolate Wine.  Period.  Upon closer inspection, the wine was actually a Shiraz from Australia and its name happened to be Chocolate Box.  Reading further, it had all the elements of a big,bold wine and when we opened the bottle, the nose immediately let us know that we were in for a ride!  The nose was big and ripe–almost juicy.  It kind of reminded us of the first time we tried Tait’s Ball Buster wine. . .so thick and chewy, and this wine fit the bill.  It was thick and chewy as well as fruity and complex.  It was like a meal in a glass but you finished with desert.  This 2010 version was quite impressive, and for less than $13 a bottle, we think it might be the steal of the century.  We decided that not only did this wine go good with food – we had grilled chicken breast with sauteed vegetables – -but it would be nice to sit around a fire on Friday or Saturday night and enjoy this with friends.  At the price we paid, we could see this becoming a ‘house wine’ –  all because of a side stop in College Station at World Market.

When we go back and watch Forrest Gump and we read the credits of who was in the picture, it’s easy to understand that it was destined to be a classic.  When we opened the 2010 Chocolate Box Shiraz, we thought the exact same thing, but that’s only because we were willing to think outside the box–hopefully, it’ll be something our elected officials try to bring everyone together.  Until tomorrow, enjoy your favorite wine responsibly and remember to recycle whenever possible.