You may have noticed over the years that my Bride is a planner, and she often plans things with her one of her former work associates.  I joke because sometimes, I am the afterthought, as they were going to see the play “The Neil Diamond Musical A Beautiful Noise” and it was going to be at the Fisher Theatre in an area, that historically was referred to as “Uptown.”  Uptown was where General Motors built there high-rise and sprawling two block headquarters, they have since moved to the Renaissance Center, and as they downsize again to the new Hudson block that is being built at the moment.  I ramble, as I am prone to do.  As I am writing this, it is appropo, that yesterday was Neil Diamond’s 84^th birthday.  He has been writing songs since my youth back in the Sixties, and I must say that it was a lovely outing for the three of us. 

Way back in the last year, when the two conspirators were making plans, the play was almost completely sold out, as they plotted possible dates and times.  Her friend actually worked in the building where the Fisher Theatre is, but she was not in the automotive industry.  As for us, we had season tickets there for years, but eventually there was a dearth of new plays offered, just repeats; and I have to admit that I have lost interest in “musicals” where the music is the same dirge played with different lyrics and tempos.  I am old fashioned, but I do enjoy leaving a theater with a bounce to my step and singing the lyrics that I had just heard.  I think the last time that happened was “West Side Story” and “Fiddler on the Roof.”  So, these musical medleys that tie a series of songs with a story line is appreciated. The only tickets available two months prior for the three of us was up in the nose bleed section and we had never been this high up before, but for this theatrical production they were fine.

It had been a while since we had been to the Fisher Theatre, and I was surprised at the security system that was in place to see a play.  It was like going to catch an flight, as we had to go through a metal detector, and the women’s purses were inspected, and it was like we were in a police state; I guess they were after domestic terrorists who didn’t appreciated pop music from the Sixties and later.  After going through Checkpoint Charley, we then had to stand in another line to get a drink and I may have created a riot, if I tried to get a photo of my wine glass and a bottle of wine, so I cheated and got an official photo from the winery; but the good news is that they actually used a glass flute, instead of plastic, so a bit of civility.  We had Marques de Caceres Cava Brut NV from Catalunya.  Marques de Caceres is a large wine producer, predominately known for their Rioja wines and more than half of their production is exported.  The estate was founded in 1970 by Enrique Forner, whose family had been in the Spanish Wine industry to the 20^th Century.  The winery is still family-owned and currently managed by his daughter.  Originally the wine was called “Champana” as it was made in the Methode Traditionelle, but in the Sixties Champagne authorities objected and in 1970 Cava DOC was introduced.  The wine is a blend of Xarel-lo, Macabeo and Parellada.  The vineyards are more than twenty-five years old and planted in a clay-calcareous soil, and hand-harvested.  The fruit is chilled before pressing to obtain the flower must, and the Initial Fermentation in oak barrels.  The Second Fermentation is achieved in the bottle, and the wine sits on the lees for eleven months before the disgorgement.  The pale-yellow wine displayed fine bubbles and offered notes of apples, white flowers and flaky pastry dough.  On the palate there were tones of apricot, honeydew, almonds and orange zest ending with short count finish of brioche and fruit.