cat shepard

Well extra prayers that you kick it out the door fast!

Thank you for today’s Report & Daily, Rich! Bindi and I had a long walk this morning. The full moon was just setting as we headed out. A bit cooler this morning. And the deer were on the move. @rafinmdRoy, you haven’t mentioned how you are doing the past couple of days, so I hope this means you are definitely improving. My evening out with friends was so much fun. We hadn’t been to the wine bar for awhile because trying to synchronize our schedules with holidays & life in general has been crazy. So we were given the royal welcome by the owners. Enjoyed an amazing Grenache from Australia and a wonderful selection of cheeses. Today looks to be another beautiful day, so I will get out in the yard. Then this evening I have my H.I.I.T. Class. I will say workouts on garage floors & decorating for Christmas are tough on manicures. Prayers for all who need our support. @1ANGELCATextra prayers for the two firefighters, their families and the community. Cheers to all who are celebrating. Stay well everyone. ******* Sterling 2019 Vintner's Collection Chardonnay (California) California Might be a tad too oaky for some, but this Chardonnay has great consumer and critic reviews. Widely available with online prices starting at a reasonable $9.99. Distributor’s Notes Sterling Vineyards has earned a reputation throughout the world for producing wines with true character. This 2013 chardonnay is no stranger to that distinction. This classic white wine has aromas, flavors and textures that are unique, thanks to each grape being developed in a different region of vineyards. If you’re looking for a wine with personality and great taste to enhance any occasion, place your order for Sterling Vinter’s Collection Chardonnay online at Vine Republic. Sterling Vineyards has earned worldwide prominence for wines of true varietal character-that unique set of aromas, flavors, and textures that each grape variety develops in distinctive vineyard terroirs. Their wines enhance any occasion with exquisite varietal expression, inviting personality, and impeccable taste. Wine Enthusiast WE90

Thank you for today’s Report & Daily, Rich. Happy Joy Day, @Seasick Sailor! @grapau27 Graham, thank you for enlightening me! Another glorious morning here. We could use a bit of rain, but the weather has been so amazing, I hate to complain. Roy, hope you are still seeing improvement. Just one class for me today. Then some chores. This evening, friends and I are gathering at a local wine bar to celebrate the upcoming holidays. Prayers for all who need our support. Cheers to all who are celebrating! Stay well everyone! ******* Parducci 2019 True Grit Reserve Petite Sirah (Mendocino) This one might be a bit too bold for me, but I would love to taste it. Every released vintage shares the same excellent ratings. It is available from several online distributors with prices starting at $15.00. Winemaker Notes The True Grit Petite Sirah has heady aromas of oak, nutmeg and black pepper, followed by a lively rush of fresh blackberry, anise, plum and vanilla flavors. This bold wine boasts soft tannins and a broad, rich texture. Enjoy with blue cheese, glazed pork chops or Moroccan beef stew. Vegan. Produced in a "California Certified Sustainable Winery" (CCSW) WE92 Wine Enthusiast The deep, dark, inky color of this full-bodied and tannic wine is a good indicator of how intense and concentrated its blackberry, blueberry and charcoal flavors are. Quite firm and gripping in texture, this impressive beast will age almost indefinitely.

Happy Birthday! May your new year be filled with laughter, love, great health & a cruise!

Thank you for today’s Report & Daily, Rich! Another beauty of a day. Just a few clouds along the coast. Roy, glad to read you are still seeing improvement. @smitty34877 Terry, glad to read that Tana is doing a bit better, @ottahand7 Nancy, how wonderful that your DB is able to move to oral meds! I know that would be a huge morale booster for me! @ger_77 Gerry, finished your amazing video. What an amazing gift to the people of your region, Province, and Country! The video segments of the Fall foliage brought back great memories of my years in New England and the Mid-Atlantic. Thank you for sharing it. I try a new class at the gym. Designed for strong, older, adults. It is a major schedule change for Bindi and me, so I hope she deals with it well. She is getting ornery in her old age. Aren’t we all? Prayers for all who need our support. Cheers to all who are celebrating! Stay well everyone! ******* Brittan Vineyards 2018 Estate Chardonnay (McMinnville) Willamette Valley Ahhh, the aroma of “pea tendrils”…. Have any of you ever sniffed a pea tendril? Be honest. This Chardonnay actually sounds nice. Not too oaky. All released vintages share similar excellent ratings. It is available from several online distributors with prices starting at $35.95. Winemaker Notes The nose of this 2018 Chardonnay, the first vintage sourced exclusively from the estate, draws you in with a stylish flintiness and aromas of sweet Meyer lemon, pea tendrils, and a hint of honeysuckle. Scents of Asian pear carry through to the palate, mingling with lemon curd, yellow peach, and brioche. This sleek, taut, acid driven wine evolves in the glass and will continue to develop with cellaring. WE94 Wine Enthusiast This is the first estate-grown Chardonnay from Robert Brittan, and as you’d expect from this master winemaker, it’s a doozy. The influence of 15% new French oak is felt but not overwhelming, and the clean apple, peach and citrus fruit bursts open with exhilarating freshness. There’s a whiff of flint also, and a seam of honeysuckle. This clearly has long-term aging potential. Drink through 2032. W&S91 Wine & Spirits Robert Brittan’s Estate Chardonnay is a paradox, with a nutty, lemon-frosting scent that makes the wine read sweet, as do the candy apple flavors. But the texture is remarkably taut and lean, while its sliced apple notes are held by a firm phenolic frame. Give it six months to resolve a bit.

Close, but not quite.

Annie it is a deer. A very, very well hidden one.

It is a deer, Sandi. So well hidden, when we passed by this spot on our way home, it took me a minute to find it again.

Yes. Very good, Joy! It is really well hidden.

This will help. But it is well hidden. Had Bindi not been sniffing EVERY BLADE OF GRASS at the time, I would never had spied it.

I love how your ship displays the special beverage events!

Thank you for today’s Report & Daily, Rich! Very cloudy here this morning. I discovered the timer on two of my lighted Christmas decorations do not work. Need to see if I did something wrong when I set them up. Roy, happy to read of your continued improvement. Thank you for keeping our lists. I might tweak the Einstein quote a bit and replace “religion” with “faith”. Just one class for me today, but it is my favorite one, even though I can not do high jumps or burpees. Then Bindi walks. And if the weather cooperates, I need to get out in the yard and do some dead-heading. Bindi and I came across someone’s secret hiding place the other day. This one really fits me to a tee. Prayers for all who need our support. Cheers to all who are celebrating! Stay well everyone! ********** Kirkland Signature 2018 Red (Napa Valley) Napa This blend can only be found at Costco, but all vintages share a very good to excellent rating and a very reasonable price. The 2020 vintage did go up a bit, it can be had for $11.79. Review from “The Reverse Wine Snob” 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petite Sirah from Napa Valley, California. The wine is aged in oak for an unspecified amount of time. The Kirkland Signature Napa Valley Red Blend is available exclusively at Costco. Previous vintages have sold for $10.99 but the 2020 is priced at $11.79. Like many of the Kirkland Signature wines, it is cellared and bottled by DC Flynt MW Selections. Previous vintages were made by Glenn Hugo, the winemaker at Girard Napa and B.R. Cohn, but the 2020 does not mention this on the label. From the bottle: The 2020 red blend is a traditional blend of classical varietals which combine to create a finely nuanced wine from the well-drained gravelly loams and silt soils of Napa Valley. This blend has the concentrated notes of black cherry and cassis supported by silky tannins and the spice rack notes of oak and cedar finishing with the velvety notes of rich plum. This is a perennial favorite for us, so we were more than happy to see it arrive again in our local store. And once again this year the proportion of Cab has gone way up; in fact, this 2020 could actually be labeled as a Cabernet Sauvignon since it is above the 75% threshold for a single varietal wine. The 2020 Kirkland Signature Napa Valley Red Blend begins with a pleasing aroma full of ripe black cherry and other red fruits plus some sweet spice, vanilla, cola, black pepper and a hint of cigar box. Taking a sip reveals a balanced, smooth and silky medium-bodied wine but unfortunately it is lacking some of the depth and complexity of past vintages. In the mouth there's plenty of fruit (plum, cherry and assorted berries) and similar flavors to the nose like vanilla, cedar, sage, tobacco and more. Also, unlike previous vintages this iteration tastes a tad sweet to me. Some nice spice notes develop on the mid-palate and lead into the long finish. Overall, while it is still worth the price, we felt that it was not quite as good as the last time we reviewed it. 88 Wine Enthusiast

@aliaschief Bruce I am not sure that “addict” really applies. I know I really enjoy this amazing group of people. And I enjoy reading about what is happening in their lives. I get emotional when I read good or bad news. I look forward to reading it everyday. If that is an addiction, so be it. Ann

@ger_77 Gerry I am only part way through your video, but in addition to the wonderful videography and information, your narration is captivating. You annunciate so clearly! Thank you for sharing. I hope to watch the rest later. Ann

Safe travels & Bon Voyage!

Thank you for today’s Report & Daily, Rich. Just starting to get light here, but it looks to be another beauty of a day. Just a little cooler. Roy, hope everything continues to improve. Thank you for taking care of our lists. An endless task. Off to the gym, Aldi, a few more indoor decorations to get out & the big “turn on” of all my lights on timers this evening. Prayers for all who need our support. Cheers to all who are celebrating. Stay well everyone. ******** Bucci 2019 Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Superiore I would love to try this Italian white. I may have had this wine on a BHB, since I do not remember encountering a Verdicchio on dry land. Available from several online distributors with prices starting at $22.99. Winemaker Notes This wine is a deep straw yellow color. There is a pleasingly fruity and persistent bouquet, with notes of Golden Delicious apples and almonds. Good body on the palate, well balanced, elegant, with silky texture and distinct finesse. An excellent match for hors-d'oeuvres, first courses of fish, crustacean soup, light meat, or light cheese. WE95 Wine Enthusiast This gorgeous white opens with enticing aromas of Mediterranean herb, yellow spring flower, eucalyptus and citrus. The delicious palate delivers juicy yellow peach, fennel, white almond and the barest hint of grapefruit alongside tangy acidity. A mineral note suggesting saline adds depth. It's an absolutely phenomenal showing.

Hope everything goes smoothly, Graham. And thank you for all the food porn pictures! My stomach rumbled at a few of them.

I hope screwing up the wine post is not going to be an indication of how today will be going. I do believe we have had this wine as our wine du jour before today. And I suspect many Dailyites have enjoyed a glass, bottle, case of it.😎 Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling, Columbia Valley, Washington State Widely available. Loved by consumers and critics. It is off-dry, but a bit too sweet for me. Excellent ratings. Numerous online distributors with prices starting at $7.97. Winemaker Notes Chateau Ste. Michelle Columbia Valley Riesling is a blend of Riesling from throughout Washington's Columbia Valley. The wine offers crisp apple aromas and flavors with subtle mineral notes. This is Chateau Ste. Michelle's "everyday Riesling" that is a pleasure to drink and easy to match with a variety of foods. W&S92 Wine & Spirits Cold Creek is a warm site for riesling, which, in 2019, translated to a wine with exceptional and stalwart fortitude. It leads with yellow fruits, like mango and peach, along with a whiff of golden apple. With its firmly structured core, this is big and powerful, lingering on paperwhite and petrol notes that lend complexity and savor. A phenolic tour de force for pork loin. WE91 Wine Enthusiast The aromas intoxicate, with notes of white peach, lime, jasmine and flower. Off-dry leaning sweeter stone fruit and Nestea Lemon Iced Tea flavors follow, with a strong sense of acidity threading through it. The balance and intensity are exquisite. It’s everything one could want from this variety. Best Buy

Thank you for today’s Report & Daily, Rich! A spectacular morning here. Lots of water birds on the move. Roy, hope you continue to improve. @JazzyV Vanessa thinking of you and BFF on this most difficult day. I have a huge to do list today. I have to prep and bring my “famous” salad as part of my contribution to dinner at a friend’s. I have to decorate the inside of the house for the Holidays. Right now the only thing done is the tree, and my Thanksgiving visitors did that for me. I won’t be able to put the outside decorations up until tomorrow evening, since they are all on timers, and I will be away this evening. But I will get them ready to go up tomorrow. Not sure if this applies to any Dailyite, but I bet we all know someone this applies to…. Prayers for all who need our support. Cheers to all who are celebrating! Stay well everyone. ******** Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling, Columbia Valley Eek I will have to do the wine in a separate post, my edit time has almost expired. Sorry folk!

Nancy, glad to hear your brother is in good spirits. Hopefully the medical team will be able to get his wounds to heal.

Bruce, are you sure it is just a bad cold? Almost sounds bronchial.

Thank you for today’s Report & Daily, Rich! Very mild this morning with a big marine layer that has yet to burn off. The squirrels of the neighborhood were everywhere yesterday, obviously gathering their nuts before our 10 days of winter arrive. Roy, thank you for keeping our lists. Hope the new treatment works for you. Just one gym class today. Then rug cleaning, Bindi walks and finally a local community group’s winter concert that has been on hiatus because of COVID. Dinner out at an amazing Portuguese grill first - with wine, of course. Prayers for all who need our support. Cheers to all who are celebrating! @Quartzsite Cruiser Lenda, clearly the power of being home has worked for Steve! Stay well everyone! ******** Concha y Toro 2019 Casillero del Diablo Reserva Carmenère (Central Valley) Chile All vintages of this wine have very good reviews from consumers and critics. A bit elusive online, it appears to be widely available at brick & mortar stores. I found it online for $7.99. 88 Wine Enthusiast Spicy, minty green notes are a big part of this Carmenère's blackberry and black plum aromas. A full and solid palate is round and generous. Mint and blackberry flavors blend with peppery notes that spice up the finish.

Woo hoo!

Roy, I hope your new treatment works. Sorry to read you are still suffering.

Wow, Sandi! I can not imagine walking in those costumes, never mind dancing in them.