a new thing and an old thing
My new discovery this year is Moscato D'Asti. Really mainly moscato, the type of grape used for this particular wine and Asti, I'm told is the origin. I'm not a big drinker, ordinarily. We don't go out to bars as it is generally too expensive. We get the occasional bottle of wine at home, maybe some beer and I went through a hard cider phase where we would include a 6 pack of a particular variety of Angry Orchard to our grocery run sometimes. They've since stopped stocking it at Wegmans and a quick check of the company's website tells me that maybe they just don't make it anymore. But see, the operative word here is particular. It seems I've become quite particular about what I want to drink, if I ever do have some alcohol.
Fast forward to September, the wedding anniversary, another Italian place, another offer of wine with dinner. I asked for something white, sweet and not dry, just like I did at the other place in June. One of the choices offered was Moscato so I got a glass of that. The server actually gave me the name of the bottle that he served. I should have taken it down because I've forgotten now. When Eataly opened, I read that they served Moscato D'Asti in the restaurant. I actually hadn't yet tried ordering because I am always driving when we are there and I always get an espresso but with the student back home for the weekend, I thought it high time I just walked into a proper wine and spirits location and found myself an affordable bottle to bring home. We got some takeout from bar taco (love the tempura style fish tacos) and I opened a bottle of Bartenura Moscato D'Asti that the sommelier at the wine and spirits store recommended. So lovely... and it brought a strange sort of Christmas sensation that made me want to pull out a very special album from my library of music: A Tenors' Christmas, with Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti and José Carreras from way way back. All so I could listen to O Joyful Children... over and over.
I didn't know this song prior to hearing it on this CD. I loved the CD so much after I first heard it (it was my dad's) that I actually kept a copy of it in my car well past Christmas and I would just listen to it. It made my grad school friends laugh whenever one of them would enter my vehicle because I would actually be playing this CD, and it's probably May already. I couldn't understand half of what they would be singing even if some of it was in English, but I enjoyed it. O Joyful Children, most of all. It wasn't until maybe a couple of years ago when I decided to look up the words so I could playfully sing along for my children to appreciate this beautiful song... well, Plácido Domingo is Spanish and you can tell with the rolling R's and the long eeeee sound that he makes when pronouncing the short I, both obvious in the word children, oft repeated in the song. Oh cheeldrren, I should say.
It makes me wonder now, if maybe that was part of the charm of it, that Señor Domingo says cheeldrren. Is that the thing that makes me feel relaxed when I listen to it? Well then, try explaining why whenever I had an exam coming up, my CD of choice to attain inner calm was... The Carpenters, greatest hits. OMG I'd forgotten about that. Now it brings me back to those dreaded voice lessons from 1984. But when I'm upset and I want to scream, the thing I really like to turn up is Survivor. No, not Destiny's Child. Survivor, as in Eye of the Tiger. Yet another one of the infamous CDs that lived in my car back in the day and my co-workers at the radio station (where we played only the hippest of light rock/alternative music) never understood... guilty pleasure, what can I say?
Just like my new favorite drink. Between us, it seems I have gotten this reputation in my home that I cannot get drunk. This is grossly unfair to anyone I might be partaking with, but also not true. It was the thing that The Flash frequently complained about because of his lightning metabolism. I imagine my metabolism is slow as heck but I guess, I've just finally learned how to handle it. The secret is to make sure you eat. I don't drink for the sake of drinking or with the express purpose of getting drunk, at least not in this stage of my life. I also don't bring out a bottle on a regular basis. It's not every Friday, or worse, every night. It's literally a special occasion thing and we've just had a few since the year started. On these special occasions, what I want is a drink that simply tastes good. Sweet, not dry and with only 5% alcohol by volume, a glass or two max with a proper dinner hits the spot.
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