Christmas Vintage

It is Christmas 2018.  I am struggling to figure out how to capture this time.  I have all of my daughters in the house for a few days.  My son and his wife are on their way to join us.  My family will be under my roof again, though only for a couple of days. I'm old enough to know how special this time is, and the importance of paying attention and living in the moment.  Even so, I yearn to bottle the laughter and the noise, the happiness and the love so I can save it and sip it in those quiet, stressful times when I am alone and melancholy.  I think 2018 would be an excellent vintage to have in the wine cellar as a prized possession.

The experts would say that this award-winning vintage has an older, mature character to it, while still expressing a certain playfulness that occasionally borders on silliness.  As each glass is poured a noticeable bouquet of laughter arises from a deep, joy colored liquid.  This is a full-bodied vintage with a smooth finish, bereft of any hint of bitterness or harshness.  It has a sweet, slightly fruity flavor that comes from the harvest of stories, long remembered, carefully tended, pruned to remove some details while allowing the best part of the story to ripen and be reproduced in near perfection year after year.   With each sip, there is a crispness of spontaneous laughter that some may perceive as a giggle or wry smirk depending on the pallet.  This intensity of flavor comes from the complex interactions of inside jokes, vintage stories and the expression of new life experiences.  Altogether, this makes for a finish that will tickle for hours and resolve into calm contentment.  Be mindful that this vintage is intended to be served in large measure, as part of a feast and without hesitation; for, like love, its abundance increases as it is shared.