We’re a little late posting tonight – we know, you’ve been waiting up all night and couldn’t go to sleep until you read today’s blog – okay, we’re sorry.  .  . we went to a fund \raising dinner in north Austin tonight for St. Dominic Savio with Dr. Ned and Judy ?  If you don’t know about this high school, you should do some research – seriously well-run and their academics and fine arts programs are the envy of the area, and the school has only been in existence for four years!  There are some remarkable people who commit their professional lives to the education of young minds, and in a setting like Savio, the minds are cultivated, mined and polished.  We sincerely hope they did well tonight.  One of the formulas to success is building an event where people feel comfortable and they see opportunity.  We think they did both!

The other thing that has the entire region buzzing is the arrival of the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) Formula One Race in East Austin.  Depending on which news report you hear, there are either 100,000, 200, 000 or 300,000 more people in town as a result of this race.  A visit to the San Marcos Airport on Friday confirmed that more than 70 planes will eventually be parked on the tarmac of this facility – they all will need fuel and other items which is good news for San Marcos.  Today we went to the world famous Outlet Mall in San Marcos–it’s actually two separate companies: Tanger Outlets on the south side and Premium Outlets on the north side.  Together they encompass more than 1 million square feet of retail shopping bliss.  Today’s trip included learning about the variety of cultures involved in COTA and that they love shopping in America.  This was confirmed when we visited with an employee at the Polo Factory Outlet who told us that yesterday (Friday) they had a sales goal of $90,000, but they ended up DOUBLING it to $180,000 – in ONE DAY!  Today, the place was a zoo and with the kick off to the holiday season coming up at the end of the week, this is good news for San Marcos.  Another formula for success is being in the right place at the right time, and San Marcos is most definitely in the right place.

Our wine tonight came from a trip to H-E-B and it’s yet another excellent value under $20 – this one was $18 and is from the Silverado Trail outside of Napa, California.  Some of the wine country’s best wines come from this exact area.  Tonight we opened a 2010 Black Stallion Cabernet Sauvignon.  Wow, what a beautiful color . . . deep, dark purple – so dark as soon as you poured it in the glass, you couldn’t see the bottom of the glass!  The nose was fresh – young and smoky (asked for an id to make certain it was of age).  It definitely is a wine that could benefit from laying it down – 6 months, a year maybe a little longer.  The wine tasted good – lots of black cherry, currants, spice and toasted oak, but the tannins weren’t as smooth as they could and should be.  Thus, the need to probably lay it down for a while.  One thing we did notice was that the longer it was open, the better the nose and the better the finish.  What’s kind of interesting is that this was a small operation–family owned and operated–until 2010 when the Indelicato Family bought the winery .  .  . they make many kinds of wine and are a much larger company.

While the wine has potential, it’s not there yet.  We think that it will be delicious by this time next year, and if you’re in a position to try something new – buy this one and put it away in your closet until next fall; we think you’ll be glad you did!  The formula for success in wine-making is starting with great fruit and letting nature take its’ course.

So, whether you’re going to a fundraiser for your favorite organization or church, or you’re heading to the track to watch the race, be sure to enjoy your favorite wine responsibly and remember to recycle whenever possible.  Until tomorrow night, cheers!