Chariot Gypsy

Last weekend was far too busy, just like most of the school year. On Tuesday I took a day off. I didn't leave my house all day and I didn't clean or straighten a darn thing.

I started my day outside with small bits of gardening. I potted some plants folks have given us over the past two years. [We really can be trusted with plants, I promise! and we're much better at tending to the kids.] I went after a few weeds. I put up a rock border on the flower bed. Then I attacked the ivy that has been choking our rhododendron and crowding my periwinkle. It felt amazingly good to bring order to my yard, and to put boundaries on my world. (It would be even more wonderful to do that with my internal world but I'll take the progress where I can get it.)

Around 5:00 I decided I was done. I grabbed a glass of wine for myself and a sippy cup of juice for Puddin'. Puddin' happily dug in her dirt pile and drew with chalk. I listened to the birds and reveled in the breeze. We rolled in the grass, played hop-scotch, blew bubbles, and did other giggly things. It was a wonderfully clear and relaxing afternoon. This wine perfectly matched the atmosphere.

Chariot Gypsy 2008 has plenty of jammy fruit, but is not overpoweringly sweet. Think dark cherry with hints of strawberry, very little wood or mineral flavor. It's tannic but not uncomfortably so. The alcohol content was a little high for the adult in charge but I sipped slowly and didn't operate any heavy machinery.

Stan came home to find us still on the carport sipping our drinks, with evidence of our relaxation strewn all around us. He grabbed a drink of his own and sat down to join us. A huge point in Gypsy's favor is that Stan didn't get a headache.

You can find your own bottle for about $5 at Trader Joe's. If you don't have a Trader Joe's, consider moving - or come to visit me since I'll be stocking up for the summer.

[For the record, I recently went on a cheap-wine-buying binge at Trader Joe's. You'll probably be hearing about a lot of these wines. It's hard to find cheap bottles with personality that don't give headaches. TJ's is the best source I know. Don't tell them though - I wouldn't want them to get a big head.]