My Bride had retired and was honored at her work and by her client, but she thought that there should have been a party among the family.  There was a lot going on that whole last month along with some problems that were not foreseeable, So, she left her party, more on the back burner.  She can be a take-charge individual, and there were plans afoot, that I had to try at my end to keep her from deciding on doing something herself.  Originally, there was going to be a Tiki pool party for all the July birthday celebrants, and then one celebrant, didn’t want to be part of the big group, and then the Louisville family was coming up, for an airshow at Selfridge Airforce Base, so we had a time schedule, so she knew that we couldn’t get to the house for the party until two in the afternoon, otherwise she would have wanted to get to the party at eleven or so in the morning to help with the food preparation and cleaning and what have you. 

The day arrived and my Bride was tired, and since she was only going to a pool party, she didn’t want to do her makeup or get all dressed up, though I told her that she could use a little color.  She wanted me to drive, normally she drives as she is always in a hurry, and I have told her repeatedly that she must relax and start calming down.  As we were driving to the pool party, we got a call asking if we could pick up a bag of ice, and of course I was trying to make every red light on the way, and she was getting upset with my driving and the traffic.  When I got to the street, I saw that there was a lot of cars parked up ahead and I saw a tent up on a front yard, so I parked several car lengths away and we unpacked the car.  She wanted to know why I brought so much wine this time, and I told her, that the last time, she made go light and I was embarrassed, because I had a thirst still.  As we started to get on the sidewalk to walk to our destination, she was a bit flustered as we had to get back on the street, because someone was power washing their motorized tricycle.  She didn’t even look up, as she has a tendency to look down at her feet, because of some prior tripping accidents. 

“Surprise!!!!”  I immediately went and opened up a bottle of wine and got a couple of glasses.  I knew that she would want a drink, and I figured that she would be totally mad at me for not wanting her to get all dressed up, when she thought, she was going to a pool party.  It didn’t even dawn on her at first, that the party was in her honor.  She got teary eyed and couldn’t immediately focus and she saw a couple of faces that didn’t belong at the family get-together.  I gave her a glass of Gazela Vinho Verde DOC Minho 2019 from Portugal and owned by Sogrape Vinhos; as this has become one of her go-to wines at the house.  Sogrape Vinhos began in the wartime environment of World War Two and was started in 1942 by a group of friends and the vision of one man to promote Portugal into an international wine making country.  Fernando van Zeller Guedes led the group and the first global brand that they developed was Mateus Rosé which is now sold in over one-hundred-twenty countries and was a total success.  They began as a negocient buying barrels of wine from small producers in the Douro and bottling in a rented facility.  Through wise investments and careful development, they now own over eight-hundred-thirty hectares of vineyards in all the key Portuguese wine regions. In 1982, they acquired Solar and Quinta de Azevedo in the Vinho Verde region and created their brand of Gazela in 1984. Vinho Verde DOC in the Minho region is famous for their straw-colored light, tangy youthful wine, in fact the wine is so youthful, that is how it got the Vinho Verde name, which means “green wine” and it is also used for the small amount of red (tinto) wine from the district as well. The wine is so “green” that there is a natural petulance or effervescent finish, not enough to be considered a sparkling wine, but distinct from a still wine.  This wine is pure Loureiro for a varietal, which is a light skinned grape famed in Minho, it tends to be blended with Albarino, which is thought to be a relative, but the jury is still out.  There are references to Loureiro going back the late 18^th Century in Minho of this grape.  The party was a success and more to come, and she didn’t kill me.