Rod Serling: “Imagine if you will a world where Cinco de Mayo falls on Taco Tuesday only to be ruined by a virus named after a Mexican beer” and then the music.

That would have even been too bizarre of an episode even for The Twilight Zone.  It was Day 41 in Michigan and we had completed two cycles of the virus, if we had ever had it.  We were getting ready for a big session of Zoom with the families, as everyone has kind of settled into the routine of ennui.  There were several mini-vacations that had already been cancelled, thankfully there are no weddings on the horizons for anyone that we know, but we were going to go and throw a graduation party for our eldest grandson, and he won’t even enjoy the pomp and circumstance of the occasion. 

My Bride decided that she wanted to make a roast, and that would enable us to have several meals, afterwards, including maybe a couple of lunches and maybe a change of pace meat for some impromptu Eggs Benedict specials. A nice salad, Glazed Carrots, and Roasted Potatoes Parmesan finished off the meal.  She had also made Chocolate Puddings for dessert.  I had asked her, if she was going to use her Joule Sous Vide and she said that she preferred to do the roast the old-fashioned way.  We were going to have any early dinner, so that we could enjoy the craziness of a Zoom conference with maybe a dozen participants.

I went down to the cellar, to get something different and not a wine that we acquired in the last couple of years.  I saw a bottle that made me smile, and I knew that my Bride would as well.  A bottle of wine from our one and only trip to Napa Valley that was the real impetus for me to build the wine cellar.  It was our introduction to the wines of Peju Province Winery.  The estate was founded in 1983 by Tony and Herta Peju, he originally came from Provence to California and had a very successful florist business.   Peju is located in Rutherford, near Mondavi, Beaulieu and Inglenook.  Peju has grown from the initial twenty-two acres in Rutherford, as they now own another twelve-acre vineyard in Calistoga and two vineyards in Pope Valley with an additional one-hundred-sixty acres.  They also source some fruit from Sonoma and Mendocino and they offer a complete range of wines from sparkling to dessert wines.  The family is also fortunate to have two daughters that are fully immersed into the business.  Feeling very nostalgic I opened up a bottle of Peju Province Estate Bottled Reserve Cabernet Franc Rutherford Napa Valley 1997, and the Rutherford AVA was only established in 1993, so it was not as well known as the much larger Napa Valley.  The wine had been aged in oak for eighteen months and promised a vermillion red wine with notes of chocolate, coffee, licorice and cherry.  I opened the wine about an hour early and it was heavenly.  An earthy nose that accompanied a perfectly balanced and totally drinkable wine where the tannins had matured and were graceful.  The eucalyptus notes that were initially mentioned by the winery had blended seamlessly into this totally elegant Cabernet Franc that belied its birth.  I must also mention that it was at Peju Province according to my notes, that my Bride fell in love with Cabernet Franc.