As a retired merchant, it bothers me to see a business closing or filing for reorganization or going out   business.  This year I have been watching many businesses closing either on their own accord or by mandates of local governments.  There have been national chains and small Mom and Pop operations and it means that more people lose their jobs, their livelihoods, their future dreams for themselves and their families.  Watching all of these companies that were mandated to close, means that the tax coffers dry up and then the local governments blame the pecking order above them to correct everything and since I have to live within my means, I think that everyone from businesses to governments must do the same, especially if they caused some of the problems. 

Oh well, my Bride and one of her sisters, went down to visit another sister to help out, and they stayed a little longer than anticipated.  On the drive back, they ran late, I mean who knew that a side trip for shopping would take so long.  Any ways, my one Brother-in-Law decided to meet up with the wayward shoppers out our way, to help my Bride, otherwise my Bride would be in the car for another two hours going and back and forth to drop off her sister, who lives on the other side of town from us.  We had quite a few gift cards that had accumulated for this one restaurant that had a location near our house, so I was going to make a reservation there and we could all meet there and then unload part of the car in the parking lot and then we could all go home.  The restaurant near us, that we had been to, just a couple of weeks earlier was closed and they were suggesting that we should go to another one of their locations, as they are a national chain.  We got everybody in sync for a new location at a big shopping mall and it was rather crazy and the two husbands got their first and made sure that we had a table for the group, meanwhile out in the parking lot, I guess I have been in a sheltered lifestyle, because I could almost get high from all of the “shoppers” blowing weed as if they were at a rock concert in the cheap seats.  There was another national chain across the hall from the restaurant that we were meeting at, and you would have thought they were giving away food for free, with the huge lines to pick up carry-out orders and not much concern about social distancing.  We found out once we were seated that the restaurant that we were at, had filed and may be going out of business, and since our brother-in-law was doing us a favor, we picked up the tab and we even ordered some to go food for them and for ourselves, and we will still have to hurry and eat there another time or two, to make sure that we use up all of the gift cards.

All of this excitement caused us to develop a thirst and they have an excellent white wine that always works and is far above, better than the usual Chardonnay that is offered in most popular priced restaurants.  We ordered a bottle of Sonoma-Cutrer Chardonnay Russian River Ranches 2017 for the table.   Sonoma-Cutrer Vineyards was founded in 1973 by Brice Cutrer Jones and the main estate vineyard is two-hundred-fifty acres planted with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.  They have several other vineyards in the Sonoma region and they produce five different Chardonnay and four different Pinot Noir wines, all in the Continental style.  This particular wine is a blend of maybe a dozen different vineyards.  The wine is pressed whole-cluster and the juice is free-run and stored in a tank for a few days, before being aged in either new French Oak and neutral French Oak sur-lie and Stainless Steel for the balance; and aged for eight months.  We are partial to this wine and this vintage offered aromas of pear and apple, with some balanced acidity and a nice finish mixing in some smooth buttery notes without being overpowering.  It was great to get my Bride back home.