Birthdays...

Imagine not seeing your Kellogg crew for more than 12 weeks...now imagine the first week back...Sacrifice yourself -- skip sleep and head out to see everyone.

First on the agenda-- Catching up with those that are a year older!

Raz's surprise party at Bar Louie...Ashish, what's that on your forehead? You look like your glowing -- Must be all that wiseness...

Pati's celebration and Barbara's goodbye party at Sound Bar:

Here are photos from dinner at Quartinos (where the wine is cheaper than water), my own birthday celebration.
Interesting, I don't think Jeff's ear would be tasty...

Special thanks to Matt K for the photos -- as my camera was stolen from the dinner table!

Finger Lakes -- New York

Yes, the state of New York has a wine industry...

Dr. Konstantin Frank: 2006 Dry Riesling
Dr. Konstantin Frank: 2006 Rkatsiteli
Dr. Konstantin Frank: 2006 Dry Rosé
Ravines: 2003 Pinot Noir
Hunt Country: 2006 Pinot Gris

This blog is dedicated to Carl Messina, who sold his soul to the evil company that starts with P that competes with the M company...The Finger Lakes is his sales region.

Anyways, interesting wines. I can't say I have much experience tasting these varietals - so this was about exploring and trying something new.

According to Craig -- our fabulous host -- Dr. Konstantin Frank is the most recognized brand from the region.

I liked the dry reisling best. As pointed out -- that's their specialty. Not a big fan of the rose. For something off beat -- try the Rkatsiteli.

Cheers,
Aline

Courtesy of a classmate...

In a number of carefully controlled trials, scientists have demonstrated that if we drink 1 liter of water each day, at the end of the year we would absorb more than 1,000 grams of Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria found in feces. In other words, we are consuming 1,000 grams of Poop. However, we do not run that risk when drinking wine (or rum, whiskey, beeror other liquor) because alcohol has to go through a purification process of boiling, filtering and/or fermenting. Remember:
Water = Poop
Wine = Health

Therefore, it's better to drink wine and talk stupid, than to drink water and be full of shit.

Driving back to Evanston

Fred and I drove back out to Chicago on Tuesday. Back in June, we came across 36 states plus 2 Canadian provences during our cross country adventure. This time -- I am sad to report that we only saw 34 US license plates and 3 Canadian plates. And here are the winners (in order of appearance): Massachusetts, Texas, New Jersy, New York, Ohio, Wisconsin, Rhode Island, Florida (this car and I played tag for over 2 hours...), Vermont, Virginia, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Maine, Maryland, Ontario, Tennessee, Illinois, Brunswick, Connecticut, Montana, California, Michigan, Oklahoma, Quebec, Utah, Louisiana, Kentucky, Georgia, Iowa, Washington, Alberta, Nebraska, Minnesota, Nevada and Colorado. Overall -- I was disappointed with Florida, although usually a very popular plate during long trips, the state was under represented...

A special thanks to my brother for enduring the long car trip. A shot out to Red Bull for allowing him to be fully operative at 6AM (about 6 hours earlier than his usual wake up call).

Harvest

Figures that the day I have to catch a plane to head home we'd start harvesting. Very cool -- we've got a team of about 35 collecting the sauvignon blanc today. I am taking pictures -- but since the docking station is in the suitcase, you'll have to wait to see.

Last Friday was my last day at my internship. To celebrate, I was treated to a bottle of '97 Mouton Rothschild for lunch yesterday. Although I was the designated driver, please understand that I could not pass on the content of my glass. Luckily, the meal at Café Lavinal absorbed the alcohol sufficiently. The team and I also celebrated at Coutet on Monday night (both the end fo the summer and my birthday -- for anyone that may not have remembered....) with a dinner featuring champagne, fois gras, chocolate cake, and a bottle of '80 Coutet of course...

Not sure that my usual at Nevins or the Keg will measure up after this summer...