Something Different

Not really different, since it still involves drinking.
My friend Andrea and I sallied forth to the city last night to a nice little place we've discovered. Vino 100 is a small wine shop that carries wines under $20 and you can sample them before you buy. They hold special wine tastings as well and last night was wines of Missouri, specifically from Chaumette Winery of St. Genevieve, Mo. I purchased a nice red table wine- Assemblage- a blend of mainly Norton and other estate-grown grapes offering aromas of cherry, strawberry, citrus peel and hints of black pepper- it is delish!
We had just talked about how wonderful a trip centered around wineries in Missouri would be when we struck up a conversation with a couple that had been doing just that with a group of 14 or so for a few years. We exchanged cards and are thinking about something in November.
Missouri has had wineries for the last 160 years producing enough wine to rank second in the nation but during Prohibition, they used the cellars (caves) for mushroom growing (I think those would be the non-hallucinogenic sort). Since 1960 they revitalized the area and many wineries have sprung up.
The St. Genevieve wineries take advantage of the visitors to the oldest French settlement west of the Mississippi. I wouldn't mind taking all the kids to visit sometime. It's quite a historic place.

Other activities last night included a nice little appetizer of bruschetta and beer next door to the wine shop and then after the tasting, we made our way to a pub that was showcasing an "assemblage" of old farts from a band from my youth. They were rather decent. A large group of long haired freaky hill people made for interesting people- watching. We danced, we flirted, we laughed, we drank (I was designated driver which wasn't as hard to manage as I thought it would be- I was careful).
It was definitely a change- except the drinking part- I know. I have almost become a hermit and this was exhilarating just getting a change of scenery.

Cheers!