Wine Pairing

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How did the TexPat miss National Wine Day on May 25?

For National Wine Day, Medium posted an article If Books Were Wine where they paired wines with popular books. Which of course inspired me to ponder the appropriate wine to pair with my upcoming novel, In the Heart of Texas.*

 

image4.0-Mourvedre

 

A Texas wine, of course.  Upon Texas Monthly’s recommendation, I choose 4.0 Cellars by Brennan Vineyards 2013 Mourvèdre.  Described as “deeply structured wine with ripe fruit and a kiss of earthiness” where notes of raspberry and blackberry “dance like dervishes in the glass,” it appears to be a perfect match for protagonist, Jo Randolph’s, calamitous return to West Texas from Hollywood.

*Lest one forgets, In the Heart of Texas is to be released by She Writes Press on October 25, 2016.

Word to the Mother!

Three Generations

Silhouettes of me, my mom and my mini-me by V. Rose

The TexPatch has been slow to roll out because the TexPat was phenomenally lazy on Mother’s Day – and has been phenomenally crazed ever since, as a result of her hubris in taking a day off. So this is a belated word of shoutout and solidarity to mamas who find themselves having become so absorbed in the cleanup from their one day off that they’ve already forgotten their salmon and scallion egg white omelette or their hot stone massage and aromatherapy pedicure or their day to put up their feet and watch unlimited, uninterrupted hours of E! on demand while slurping a large goblet of pinot grigio (what?).  For me, it was an herb and cheese omelette and bottomless mimosas prepared by the spouse, dinner courtesy of Balducci’s instead of moi, no judgment regarding refills, and an on-demand movie marathon in bed eating ice cream with mini-me – with pop-ins by my 85 year old Texan mom when she felt like it.  Just what the shrink ordered!

Many are missing their amazing moms around this time of year – including the adolescent daughter of a younger friend and sorority sister, Barbra Watson-Riley, the “pinkwellchick,” who hung on as long as she could but succumbed to breast cancer late last year.  One of my writing instructors and mentors, Hope Edelman wrote poignantly of “motherless daughters,” and is marking a bittersweet 20th anniversary of her best-selling memoir, Motherless Daughters – a memoir so powerful that it has spawned a worldwide support network and movement.  Hope is also a producer of the just-released HBO documentary, The Dead Mothers Club, which is definitely worth a watch.  And another friend, Lori Hall Armstrong, has launched her own blog, Once Upon A Soapbox, in which she also writes eloquently regarding the loss of her own mother at a young age, and which features photos of our phenomenal soror who has left all of us too soon.  These are not melancholy, maudlin mentions on my part.  They are celebrations and attempts to carry on legacies and strengthen support of all mothers and those impacted by their light and love.  Not to mention our loved ones and friends who share motherly-like love and support of us in our day to day lives, whether or not they are technical “mothers” or not.  The TexPat shrugs and smiles at Hallmark holidays, but Mothers make such an impact that they will never be something to shrug at.