7 Tips to Improve Your Mind and Body While Enjoying Wine...

Wine can enhance your quality of life if light or moderate sipping is experienced throughout your week or month. Here are a few things that will help your mind and body. Some items are simply nicer with wine.

1. Turn a few pages and read to shield your brain from decline. Add your favorite wine and slowly sip while you enjoy stimulating your mind and your palate.
2. Make a fruit salad of oranges, apples, grapes, and blueberries providing 5x the antioxidants matched with your favorite chilled Viognier or Sauvignon Blanc. It is a nice summer mid-day delight.
3. Begin dinner with a cup of soup and you might eat 20% less of your main couse. Stick with broth-based soups. If you are weak and are treating yourself to a cream-based delight, an equally creamy Chardonnay or smooth Pinot Noir is a perfect pair.
4. Eat smarter at parties that have a buffet and eat small amounts of different items. If you are pairing with wine, pick something universal and make sure your foods match as well. This will help with digestion.
5. Express your gratitude. People who write about the things they are thankful for are optimistic and more satisfied with their lives. When you sit down to write those thank you notes, a glass of a light sipper and a small plate of cheese and crackers is a nice touch.
6. Stretch those legs while sipping your favorite grape or blend. Sit in a chair and either pick up rolled up socks and make alternate piles or lift your legs, point your toes, hold for 5 counts and work up to 10, release your pointing, and lower legs. Do it 5 times notice your calves later.
7. Focus on the positive and spend time with friends, laugh when you have the opportunity, and cultivate your curiousity. Add a little vino and life is enhanced just a tad.

Sunday Sip, June 16, 2008 at the Manassas WIne and Jazz Festival

Hello Sippers! Happy Father's Day! Saturday I didn't sip but glad it was saved for today.

The weather was beautiful. Warm with a breeze and not too much traffic on the road leading towards an intimate festival with only 12 wineries. Since I have sipped some of the wineries in the past, my target was the new wineries, as well as those I hadn't tasted before, and see what they have to offer our palate.

So, First Colony, Pearmund, and newbies Delfosse, Stafford, and Vino Curioso were my sips of the day. I could have sipped more, but these were worth the time spent. The time was so well-spent, I bought two wines that caught my tongue and I couldn't leave them there.

• First Colony Winery, 1607 Red Dessert Wine 2005 Vintage...an aromatic and yummy nose with a warm on the palate. This dessert wine has complex flavors of brandied cherries and candied figs made in the traditional port style and finishes any evening with elegance and grace. $20
• Delfosse Rose Under the Tree...this Merlot and Cabernet Franc has a wonderful, heavy, smoky, earthy nose that is great with or without food and is great from simply sipping to entertaining and apertifs through a nice summer grilled meal to an evening sip. Chill the red and it will be perfect! $18

Other must-buys of the day were:

• First Colony, Meritage 2005...nice wine for September and October Fall grilling with its bright red fruit and plum flavors and a hint of mint on the finish. Elegant and rich. $18
• Delfosse Deer Rock Farm White 2006...this very nice multilayered, light crisp summer wine with sweet tropical aromas convey through the light floral notes and fresh fruit on the nose. The pear and pineapple that integrate nicely with the acidity. The finish is long and rich in an off-dry style. This Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc blend is great as a cold apertif or with lighter fare. $14
• Delfosse Deer Rock Farm Red 2006...now I normally don't like or try wines just called "Red" but this approachable, Tuesday, AP wine has very nice aromatics and is very conducive to the palate. Blended with Cabernet Sauvignon and Touriga (a Portugal red grape), this soft Bordeaux style carries scents of orange peel and cherry. This rich concentrated red wine has soft tannins with a slight oak with a rich structure that is a versatile, food friendly wine that can be paired with light fare, cheeses, pasta, and light meats. $14

The Honorable Mentions include:

• Pearmund Viognier 2006...smooth, floral, and apricot are in this smooth balance.
• Pearmund Reserve Red...red and purple fruit nose and beefy, grapey taste.
• Stafford La Belle Vie White...totally, wonderful beach, deck, porch, picnic wine.

Yes, I tried others but I wrote about the best. Enjoy your next glass.

Salut!