Saturday—-a day for getting things done around the house.  It’s also a day for kicking back and relaxing as well as a day for trying something new!  As the day unfolded, it became clear that cleaning the carpets was going to be a priority as was the need to move some rocks along the drainage creek behind the house to help stimulate the movement of water.  Unfortunately, the way the rocks had been placed – either by nature or man – created some dams that kept water in the creek long after it had rained.  As most know, when standing water is left to its’ own devices, well, mosquitoes have a tendency to breed.  Enough said about those little boogers!

Between the two of us, we cleaned the carpets and moved some rocks today to, hopefully, make a difference around here!  In addition, the dogs got a much needed bath and because the Grounds Guys came yesterday, a lot of the wood scrap that we had taken down was picked up an moved out of the way.  We got a lot of work done today so that we could play tomorrow!  With Daughter #1 and the grand dog out of town, it presented ideal surroundings for getting a lot of work done inside and out. . .we like these kinds of Saturdays, because we can see it coming!

Tonight we opened a 2009 Kiss Ass Shiraz from Australia.  If there is one thing we’ve learned over the years about Australian wines is that they have a tendency to name their wines in a wide array of contexts and that some times they don’t live up to their names!  So, when we saw this Kiss Ass wine, we were somewhat guarded with its’ name.  Sure, the label was pretty and the copy about the wine was professionally written, BUT could the wine measure up to the standards of other BIG Australian wines that we’ve enjoyed??  We really shouldn’t have wondered!  The grapes were selected from premium vineyards in South Australia. Only when optimum maturity and flavor profiles had been achieved, was this fruit harvested.WINE MAKING: The carefully selected fruit was gently crushed into a series of small open fermenters,where daily rack and returns took place, with careful monitoring of the wines evolvement. Gentle basket pressing took place between 7 to10 days after crushing.  Up to 30 months of maturation in a mixture of new and used French and American hogsheads, stored in temperature controlled cellars resulted in this flavor some well made wine.

All in all…a big, beefy wine with lots of structure, body and a huge finish. For less than $11 a bottle, it’s one of those wines that deserves a separate place in the wine store! We know that if you try this wine, you’ll be pleased with its’ nose, taste, finish and all of the extras that good wines bring to the table.  We hope you’ll try this wine—and we’d like to know how well you enjoyed it.  Write and tell us about your adventures with the 2009 Ass Kisser Red wine; please remember to enjoy this wine responsibly and recycle whenever possible.  Until tomorrow, have a terrific Sunday and CHEERS to a great wine hunt!!