Wine Wednesday: Highlands 41 Black Granite Paso Robles 2022

 This is a fairly luscious wine. It's a red blend (I'm guessing mostly Cabernet) out of Paso Robles, and I like to think I can taste the terroir in it. 

It's a screw-top bottle and I didn't get a chance to taste this wine until a few days after it was opened. I think the taste held up, but I'm not sure about the nose. I smell a faintest hint of dried roses and maybe blackberries, but that's about it. 

The color is dark, almost purple. The tannins are soft--which, given it's from Paso, suggests (to me) that the main component is Cabernet rather than Zinfandel. I mean, it's only two years old. I think most Paso Zins would hold onto their ferocious tannins a little longer than that. I'm also going to guess Pinot and Syrah, but I'm lousy at picking out grapes in a blend, so I could be totally wrong. 

The fruit notes are boysenberry, cranberry and maybe a little fresh plum. I taste cloves and a lot of herbs--sage and lavender with hints of rosemary.  

This strikes me as a good all around wine. You could drink it with tacos or tri-tip (or brisket, if you're in Texas) or eggplant parmesan. Or you could drink it with ginger snaps. This is a wine that could stand up to being mulled, but let's not and say we did, mkay? 

It seems to me that this is a wine you'd like to bring along if you were leaf peeping or picking apples or carving pumpkins or just appreciating autumn. 

Romance Writers Weekly ~ Iconic Characters ~ #LoveChatWrite

 This week, on the Romance Writers Weekly blog hop, we're asked, "Who are your favourite iconic couples in romance literature and why?"

You know...I think I must be getting old--not in a bad way, necessarily. Because I'm looking back on some of the iconic couples I recall and used to love and, in most cases, they're somewhat problematic.

Take Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester. He lies and rages and comes close to tricking her into bigamy. Which was a big deal and not nearly as romantic as my teenage self thought. The upside of that tale is that, for once, the man paid the price for his deceit, rather than the woman. Which is kind of big.

Then there's the iconic couple from Rebecca--good old Max and whatsername. I think I still recall the quote: "You have a lovely and unusual name." "My father was a lovely and unusual person." And then they married and everyone referred to her as Mrs. DeWinter for the rest of the book. Talk about subsuming someone's identity! Here again we have a man who's soooo "in love" with a woman that he tricks her into marriage and puts her in danger--not just her reputation, this time, but her life, too! This time they both lose as a result in what I still find to be a less than satisfactory ending. I mean, I would definitely have married him for that house--dark and dangerous secrets notwithstanding--and it kind of sucks that she doesn't get to keep it.

Pride and Prejudice--I still read it every chance I get, but now that it's obvious that Darcy's neurodivergent, Elizabeth reads a little more like a mean girl for baiting him.

Sense and Sensibility--Here we have more men keeping secrets and ruining or almost ruining their heroine's lives. Not to mention that Colonel Brandon's a little old to be falling for someone as young as Marianne. And I say this as someone who writes vampire stories with HUUUUUGE age gaps. But what're you gonna do? When some people are immortal and others are not, all bets are off.

Speaking of which...do Peter Pan and Wendy Darling count? She grows up, he refuses to--that's looking a lot more realistic than it ever used to, atm. Although I still think the way Peter treated Tinkerbell sucked.

So, I guess that leaves me with Jo and her professor from Little Women. I think they probably had a fairly healthy relationship.In fact, they remind me of my maternal grandparents--a somewhat older, quieter, overly-responsible, scholarly man and the lively, independent, free-thinking woman with whom he's quietly in love. A woman who he doesn't try to change or deceive. Whose life he tries not to ruin--there's something novel!

Now, hop on over to Jenna Da Sie's page to learn who some of her favorite iconic couples are. 

Two final thoughts before I go. First, my novel Dream Under the Hill will be re-releasing soon--the end of the week, I think. It's a master class in toxic, damaging and inappropriate relationships, if you're really into that kind of thing. It's Dark Romance, so...what else is there to say? The main characters actually spend quite a bit of time dissecting the dynamic between Peter, Wendy and Tink. So, it might be worth checking out. It's dark, but I enjoyed writing it. 

And secondly, it's election day here in the states! So if you haven't voted yet, go and do it!  I suggest voting for the party that's not seeking to ban books and limit women's personal agency...but that's just me.

Dream Under the Hill

Oberon, Book 8.0

https://www.pgforte.com/the-oberon-series

Musical Monday: Never Tire of the Road (Andy Irvine)

 

I love this song. It's folksy and political (yeah, I'm going there. And if you haven't voted, yet--go and do it!) It's anti-fascist and pro-union and it's got Irish roots. Its central message is about keeping on keeping on. Or, as Robert Crumb would have put it, "Keep on Trucking." Fifty years ago I had a T-shirt with that cartoon image emblazoned on the front. That and a bucket hat and low-rise jeans was pretty much my out-of-school uniform. 

But I digress...

This is one of those songs that I listened to obsessively during a difficult period of my life. Now, whenever I'm feeling discouraged, I know I can put it on and I'll immediately start feeling better again. 

There was a time in my life when this song and a big ol' Cafe au Lait from Cafe Fanny in Berkeley could make everything okay--at least for a little while.

I miss those days. I miss faith and courage and Quakerism and fog. I miss my pretty green house, my big backyard, my chickens and my cats. 

Most of all, I think I miss my belief in these words by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr:  "We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice."

I'm actually feeling optimistic about that today. But we'll see what tomorrow holds. And, either way, we will keep on trucking. 

Wine Wednesday: Daou Chardonnay

So, a funny thing happened recently. I'd written a scene (see below) about what foods  pair well with Chardonnay. And--less than a week later!--I ordered a glass of Daou Chardonnay and paired it with almost the exact meal that my character had insisted wouldn't work. 

And you know what? It was good. 

I'm not sure you could do this with every Chardonnay but Daou has a creaminess and a weight to it that totally worked. 

There's a lot of ripe fruit on the nose: peaches for sure,  plus melon, and maybe a little yellow Delicious apple. Along with a very pronounced vanilla cream verging on caramel scent and a sweet, floral note that I couldn't quite identify. Honeysuckle? Jasmine? Texas Bluebonnet? Something light and delicate and airy--but not powdery. 

The lush fruit flavor and creamy mouthfeel were also present when I tasted the wine. Along with baking spices, caramel, cotton candy, and hints of buttery, toasted oak.

Sadly, I'd moved out of Paso Robles before Daou moved in. I think if they were making wines in Paso when I'd lived there I'd have been drinking it all the time. 

So, the meal I paired this wine with was the Pork Belly Bao Buns at Hotel Zaza in Houston (HOISIN-SESAME GLAZED PORK BELLY | CUCUMBER | CARROT | SCALLIONS | JALAPEÑO & HERB SALAD). I picked the dish and the wine for entirely different reasons, and only realized that--on paper and in theory--it was a horrible idea after the fact. But, honestly? I think I need to try out-of-the-box ideas more often. 

Oh, and here's part of the scene that had me cracking up in retrospect:

Allegra snaps a few more pictures, and then we settle in to eat. I have my own version of her “are you a local?” test—a non-verbal one, which she passes by not even hesitating to pick up her tostada with her hands. 

“Good?” I ask, amused by the happy little noises she’s making. 

“So good,” she responds between bites. “How’s yours?”

“Also good,” I say. The meat is perfectly smoked, with just the right amount of heat from the chipotle glaze. The blue corn tortillas are pillowy perfection, and the paper-thin sliced radishes add a note of crispy, spicy freshness. Before I think better of it, I find myself asking, “Wanna bite?”

She’s chewing, so she doesn’t answer right away, but the calculating look in her eyes makes me wary. Too intimate, I think to myself, as she puts down her tostada and carefully wipes her fingers clean. Too much like a date. 

“On one condition,” she says at last, then quickly amends, “Two conditions. If I can also try your beer, and if you’ll try my pairing as well, and let me know what you think.”

“Fair enough,” I say as I hand her my plate. She pushes hers across the table. We exchange drinks, and dig back in. 

The tostada is also excellent. The crab is sweet and buttery, the avocado and crema are offset by fresh green notes from the jalapeno and cilantro—but that’s all as I’d expected. The wine, on the other hand, is a revelation. It’s got…a weight to it and a creaminess. Almost like a Stout, except that (of course) it tastes nothing at all like a Stout. What it also doesn’t taste like is anything at all like my memory of what a typical white wine tastes like. Cheap. Generic. Yep, the lady might have a point.

“Well?” she asks, after I’ve gone back for a second sip. “What do you think?”

“I think you’re right,” I say as I hand her the glass, and we go back to our original dishes. “I think I could learn to tell wines apart.”

Musical Monday: Time of the Season by The Zombies

No big story here. Just a somewhat spooky-sounding song from a band called the Zombies.  It's Halloween season and this song got stuck in my head. 
 

Simply Spooky Halloween Event

This Halloween-themed event will run throughout October with posts going up 3 times per week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday). Included are short stories, flash fiction, poetry and even sample chapters. 

 

The theme of the event is Simply Spooky. So, think ghosts, demons, serial killers, horror, dark fantasy, etc. 

My story is up today! “A Meal Before Dying” is an excerpt from Going Back to Find You—which is on sale now through the end of the month!

https://www.skgauthorservices.com/blog/simply-spooky-going-back-to-find-you-by-pg-forte

Going Back To Find You

https://books2read.com/b/GoingBack

Because even a vampire deserves a second chance. 

When Jason Cook boarded the train to San Francisco, he didn't plan on coming back. He never really thought he'd see Nebraska or Lizbeth Petersen ever again. But when an unexpected turn of events threatens the woman he'd been forced to leave behind, he has no choice but to go back and try to make things right. 

 

Warning: This is not a drill. Vampires are invading your favorite, small Nebraska town this Halloween. Does this mean Type-O flavored Booze will soon be the new rage in Sapphire Falls? Hopefully, it won't come to that. But you never can tell... 

​

***This story was originally released as part of the Sapphire Falls Kindle World.***

Wine Wednesday: Purple Cowboy Paso Robles Trail Boss Cabernet Sauvignon

 

I visited my sister recently and we went through a lot of wine. In fairness to us, there were a lot of people with us and they were all drinking it, too, so while we opened a lot of bottles, I don't think any of us had more than a glass or two from each. So, the next few weeks I'll probably be exploring some of those wines, but I'm working from memory, so...I apologize in advance if the descriptions are thin.

So, recently I was writing about wine and my character was bemoaning the fact that while beers, boats and race horses all get phenomenal names, wines generally don't. Well, Purple Cowboy to the rescue. With wine names like Tenacious Red and Trail Boss they are definitely one of the more creative wineries around. I remember drinking this wine when I lived in Paso Robles (where the winery is located) and this wine was making me homesick.

Trail Boss has a distinct aroma of vanilla. The color is a dark red, typical for Cabernet. It's very full-bodied, without being harsh. Lots of ripe, dark fruit flavors--plum and raspberry--with maybe a hint of cocoa.  The website's tasting notes suggests pairing it with Tri-Tip, which is the most Paso Roblan suggestion ever. Tri-tip is to Paso what Brisket is to Texas. I imagine any red wine Paso makes will pair nicely with Tri-Tip--or else. 

I drank it with Italian food--Eggplant Parmesan, Caesar salad, and a few bites of Chicken Marsala, and it was the perfect accompaniment.

It has a hint of sweetness (all those dark-fruit-and-spice notes) that balanced out the acidity of the tomato sauce, and it's big and bold enough to hold its own against all the garlic and parmesan. 

According to the label, Purple Cowboy took its name for a group of Paso winemakers whose teeth were stained purple from all the wine they drank and who liked to ride rodeo on the weekends. I drank so much wine with my sister that my entire mouth was stained purple. But then I brushed my teeth. So yeah, weird flex, but okay. Paso Robles is apparently known as "Cowboy Wine Country." I can only assume it's called that by people who've never visited Texas' wine country. 

But--OTOH--Paso is practically the only place in California where people were cowboy hats and boots unironically. When I first moved there I saw this adorable mug at the Mid-State Fair that read, "the stars at night are big and bright deep in the heart of Paso." I shoulda bought it. I didn't. But I think my longing for that mug helped to manifest my moving to Texas where I bought a mug with a similar sentiment.