Tenuta Di Somaro

Description on the bottle:  Despite Italy's long and illustrious wine history, there are still small vineyard plots that have been lost or forgotten that the more intrepid of wine enthusiasts (such as myself) can only wish to discover.  So, when I stumbled upon a small parcel of gnarled old bush vines deep in the Puglian countryside, in an area better known for olives than vines, I was eager to track down the owner and persuade him to allow me to coax the vines back into production.  I did and we christened the vineyard "Somaro" after the local breed of donkey which originally worked the land.  This is a sumptuous blend of two of Southern Italy's best loved grapes: Aglianico, which provides depth and a mineral quality to the wine, and Primitivo, which gives ripe blackberry notes of vanilla and leather from six months ageing in small oak barrels.  This complex wine is the perfect accompaniment to roast beef, spicy pasta dishes and full-flavored cheeses.  Mario Ercolino, Winemaker

 

Sarah says:  All this time I've been drinking American wine, Italy is where the good things are.  This red wine is delicious.  I did enjoy it with spicy pasta (Hamburger with red pepper counts, right?) and then I enjoyed some more after dinner, while relaxing with my hubby.  I am thankful to my wine club for this bottle, I never would have tried it if it wasn't for them!  This is absolutely something that I would drink again, and it's perfect for sharing at a party.  As a side note, I also love the story on the bottle, who doesn't love someone who saves a dying vine and turns it into something great?!

 

Overall rating:  Thumbs up

 

Sarah says:  Where have I been?!  It's been over a month since my last post.  I wish I had some great stories about what I've been up to over the past month, but I do not.  I've simply been living. 

 

We're 6 weeks into 1st grade, and it's pretty demanding.  I'm suddenly terrified for middle and high school.  Everyday we have math and reading homework, and we have a spelling test every Friday to study for.  While this homework is fairly small, it takes us hours.  Our teacher has said she can adjust the work for Liam if we need to, but I'm not ready for that.  For now, I want her and Liam to know that I expect him to do the same work as everyone else.  We're not going to be the people that use ADHD to get out of certain things.  When Liam doesn't finish is work in class because he's distracted, she sends it home and we finish it here.  Liam's teacher is so freaking wonderful though, she is the best thing to happen to Liam in awhile. She's so encouraging and uplifting, she finds his strengths and praises them (unlike some other teachers I know that only point out the things that he did wrong).  I couldn't ask for a better teacher.

 

We're also 5 weeks into preschool.  Mary is the complete opposite of Liam (not that either way is good or bad, they are just different!).  Where Liam needs and wants a lot of help, Mary wants none of it.  She wants nothing more than to be 100% independent.  She has the attitude that she can and will do anything that she wants.  While I totally admire this spirit, and I don't want to "burn out her light", it can be incredibly frustrating when I actually need her to do something specific... like get dressed.  I've spent a lot of time over the past month trying to convince Mary to wear reasonable clothes.

 

I've also spent a lot of time not at home this past month.  I went to California with my sister and Dad to watch my beautiful cousin, Tish, get married (congrats lady!  It was awesome!). 

 

toes in the sand

Tish is married!

Speaking of cousins, I also got together with all of my cousins on my Mom's side of the family, and all of our significant others.  This is quite the accomplishment!  We talk about getting together, but this is the first time it has happened, and we all actually made it!  And to top it off, our grandparents (Garby and Pa!) made a surprise visit!  I got to spent an evening talking, laughing, drinking, and catching up with my family.  Loved it.

cousins!

 

I also spent a weekend in Holland celebrating my 8 year wedding anniversary with the hubs.  Side note:  We also ran a 5K at a winery while on this trip - which was awesome and hard!  The run was uphill, through wet grass, through skinny vines, through the woods, not an easy run.  The only thing that kept me going was the wine at the end (and the carefully placed signs that said "Don't whine now, wine later!" 

 

Winery 5k with Jon and Aunt Terry!

Here's something I learned over the course of these trips, since none of them included kids, closing your eyes is a luxury that I never appreciated in my life pre-kid.  Side note:  I don't get people who never leave their kids!  I love mine!  Watching them learn and grow through school this past month is awesome.  Talking with them is hilarious.  Playing games with them is totally freeing.  But, holy cow, I love getting away.  Both the CA and Holland trips included pool/hot tub time, both trips I found myself marveling in the fact that I could close my eyes and not worry about someone drowning.  Closing your eyes around water is totally relaxing, and I soaked up every minute of it! 

 

So, while I haven't been doing anything crazy and awesome this month, I've still been a mom, a wife, a sister, a daughter, a cousin, and that's crazy awesome enough for me.

 

What have you been up to?