Merlot laced wedding cake

She had sat staring a far – drinking some sweet cocktail trying to consume the liquor with haste. This was a nightly dalliance with the dark for her. She would venture to this place and read her book of Hippocrates, Aristotle or the like. A dark noisy place, sitting and sipping. Writing notes in her first editions with lead pencil. This woman was of some interest to few for anything but sport. Clueless of this fact her confidence to her stature around strange men was un wavered. She felt different inside all the time and all the times, but there was an unrelenting eagerness to connect with others.

Suddenly there was an exploit there, waiting to be had. A man came and sat close to her, he said hello and she said hello straight back. She waivered. Her throat swell and butterflies flew in her stomach as he asked her if she would like to share a bottle of wine. She wrestled with the wine list for a moment or two – remembering her father told her that Merlot was the best beginner’s wine – that it is severely underrated as a variety and that the products popularity would grow in time. She then remembered a respectable looking lady having ordered a wine named ‘Jetbird’ from that same wine list a couple of nights ago. She ordered that and he poured a glass of the Merlot for her and a glass of merlot for himself. The richness of this wine with blackberry, cherries and more delighted her – it helped ease her senses into this very adult and exciting encounter, she had hoped it would be the first of many more and vowed to give up the Cuba libre, French martini – and the rum.

She never expected a date on this night, a first date or any other, but this rendezvous for this girl with no name felt different than those she’d experienced before and she couldn’t help but hope that it was in fact a first date. When her ears heard the phrase ‘would you like to go out again some time?’ she knew her wish had come true.

10 days later they sat and drank wine on their first real date, Wandering Giants Merlot this time, they shared a pot roast for two. And again, and again they met and they sipped. 10 years later Merlot was their drink, nightly with meals and on their wedding day. The conception of their child took place on their honey moon – by a vineyard in Tuscany after a night of sipping their first Super Tuscan, a Merlot with a name that precedes it.

Merlot and its unassuming nature seems to calm the mind more than any other elixir. It seems to open doors more than any other pastime. Merlot creates lives, livelihoods, liveliness. It helps us create our most romantic dreams and dares us to fill in the blanks of our own futures. Its’ subtleness doesn’t push or tempt us, it merely drifts us into a wonderland of our own making. Its non-acidic nature settles the nerves without riling up. Its’ versatility is nothing if not outstanding .