“Suppose they gave a war and nobody came.  Then war will come after you.”

Is often attributed to Bertolt Brecht as he wrote about the rise of the Democratic Socialist Party of Germany after the First World War and the Depression that followed.  I feel the same way about the holidays that have been missed and Memorial Day was very sad.  There were no parades, no pomp and circumstance and even for the children that are not taught the meaning of the holiday except that it is usually a long weekend and there is a barbeque.  A very tragic accident occurred in my state, a private dam that was in the midst of going from private ownership to the state could not contain the water and several communities were destroyed and thankfully no one was killed.  It turns out that the attorney-general, an elected official demanded that the dam, raise the water level to protect some fresh-water mussels, not only are the mussels gone, but so are homes, possessions, communities, schools, places of worship etc., etc., etc. I am sure that people that lost everything are going to appreciate that the mussels were so important.  It also shows that the attorney-general’s knowledge is minimal concerning dykes and engineering.

It was a very quiet day, just like every other day has been and my Bride has done the most to make our Sundays special.  We started out with a brunch of lox, capers, onions, poached eggs, bagels and cream cheese.  Just like what we might have ordered out at a restaurant, if you remember that word and what it means.  Then we had an early dinner of Roast Beef, with Peppers and Onions, Mashed Potatoes and Corn on the Cob, followed later on by Chocolate Pudding. The food is great and so is the company, I might add.  Though it would be nice to see some other walls and let someone else cook, and clean up; and perhaps one day it may happen.  After our early dinner, we then had another marathon three-hour Zoom session that was fun, and my Bride was very animated and it was good to see those that showed up.

It was another day to enjoy the labors of the cellar.  I think it would be a sin to use Dom with orange juice, so we used Korbel California Champagne, which is produced in the time-honored way of “Methode Chanpenoise” and it is a blend of Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, French Colombard and Pinot Noir. A perfect way to start off the day and Korbel is one of those houses that have been grandfathered in using the term “California Champagne.”  We now make them in the steakhouse method that we discovered in Las Vegas, which is to fill the glass with Bubbles and a tincture of Orange Juice.  While I was in the cellar earlier, I found a bottle that I thought needed to be liberated as well, a bottle of Barton & Guestier Roi Chevalier Saint-Emilion 2001.  Barton & Guestier or in the old days, when the labels said B & G is the oldest wine house in Bordeaux.  They are a negocient with over two-hundred winegrower partnerships, as well as their signature Chateau Magnol in the Haut-Medoc.  The company began in 1725 when the Irishman Thomas Barton settled in Bordeaux and became a wine merchant.  In 1802, his grandson Hugh joined forces with Frenchman Daniel Guestier and a partnership was created that is still going on today.  The current version of this wine is a mix of eighty percent Merlot and twenty percent Cabernet Franc with about three months of aging in oak.  Since the 1900’s, the Saint-Emilion has been named Roi Chevalier, in reference to Edouard III, King of England and Duke of Aquitaine at the beginning of the 14^th Century.  I wasn’t sure what to expect, and I am happy to report that the wine was perfect, though I had to decant, because even with The Durand, the cork crumbled a bit.  The color was still good and the nose offered some fruit still, and so did the taste.  The tannins and the fruit had mellowed a bit, but still a perfect pairing for the Roast Beef, and the bottle kind of evaporated during the course of the Zoom session.