While my son went with his pals to the Ponca Bird Tavern to watch this year’s Super Bowl, and my daughter and her family cloistered around the flat screen at home with her delectable munchies, I found myself headed to Atom Road near Delta for the first annual ‘Wine Tasting and Super Bowl’ private party.
Les ‘Caneman’ Whiteford was invited to a S.B. Party in Rolling Green near Churchville, and many other friends either threw a party for friends, or went to a party, an American Legion or didn’t watch the game at all.
The invite to the wine tasting, combined with watching the Super Bowl, seemed unique, thus I accepted with no idea what to expect.
The gathering was told there were five basic steps in tasting wine: color, swirl, smell, taste, and savor.
Wine tasting began at 1 p.m. with an Allegro Vineyards offering called ‘Harmony.’ For me it seemed a bit too sweet, had a nice bouquet, and pleasing to the palate nonetheless. Our hosts offered Mrs. Rector’s ‘Cremica Maria’ biscuits, which were excellent between-sip neutralizers. And they did the trick, completely clearing out an aftertaste before the next offering.
One of our servers, Alice Kenkaid, then produced the second wine of the afternoon, Logan’s View ‘Orchard Cherry’ which was much more pleasing, not too sweet yet quite fruity.
This would be a good wine to serve anytime, on nearly any occasion.
Third sampling was another Logan’s View, ‘Black Berry’ which offered a more pungent aroma and taste. This one suited me just fine, but there were more samples to come, according to Alice.
As the more experienced ‘tasters’ well know, as an alcoholic drink, wine can affect judgment, and generally the wine is spit out after assessing the quality. This group, as far as I could tell, didn’t spit anything out.
To my amazement the next wine offered was one from the past, a favorite of many for over fifty years, certainly not a newcomer to any event where alcohol is served.
This was one I had never tried, although many at the tasting had and were amused and pleased that it was on the list for the day. ‘Mad Dog 20/20’ also known as ‘M.D. 20/20’ was presented in nifty little wine glasses and it was powerful. The smell and taste were pleasing and this offering packed a pretty good punch. It is produced by that old winery, Mogan-David.
The last offering of the afternoon was Dekuyper’s ‘Hot Damn 100.’ The ‘100’ indicating 100 proof and this little number had a bite almost like a strong mouthwash, at least to my taste buds. Determining the rating for the savor category was difficult and most in the room requested a second sampling.
The guests then discussed the wine list for the day with each one offering their personal choices.
A 52-inch flat screen television and impromptu music by the ‘Knit-Wits’ rounded out a friendly occasion.
One of the guests, a professional trapper and big-game guide got the attention of a few attendees as he spoke of recent Bigfoot encounters somewhere in York County near the river.
Audience participation in this part of the room was lively and at times heated.
The guide also dismissed as ‘bogus’ a recent e-mail circulating showing a mountain lion with a white-tail buck in its jaws.
I wasn’t in on much of that conversation, instead I took a breather outside, and gave my pups, Frisco and Dude a chance to stretch their legs, take a whiz and drink, and then they were set for a while, so I could get set for the game.
The tasting was a fun time for one and all. The game, well, most of us thought and wanted Green Bay to win. It looked like the Packers were going to pull it off in the early going, then a couple of injuries, a terrible face-mask call against Green Bay and to be honest it looked like they were goners.
But in the end, the Packers prevailed, 31-25 in one of the best Super Bowls ever and I was happy, as were most of the attendees at the wine tasting.
During the Super Bowl, on the TCM channel they were showing ‘East of Eden’ a breakthrough film for the late James Dean. As the Steelers inched back into the game, we opted for the game and let Cal and Aaron battle for the love of Julie Harris and their father.
The game ended with all the confetti in the world pouring down like rain, amid idiotic commentators asking the dumbest questions imaginable of the players. It would be great just once to see one of these buffoons ask a simple question and let the player say whatever they want. But, ‘nnnnnooooooooo.’
As the announcers rattled on about the Lombardi Trophy coming home to Green Bay, it was time to let the pups out again and head home.
In my opinion, the best commercial was the early Silverado pickup truck commercial for Chevrolet. It still makes me laugh when I think of the guy at the end saying, ‘I didn’t know we had a volcano around here!’
If you’re not a football fan, and like the commercials, you came out ahead, especially if you were switching channels to catch East of Eden or something else to your fancy. Next year, if you want a bit of excitement you might want to host your own wine tasting event. Sure was fun.
i spoke with the guide and a fellow passenger he had with him, when he saw ‘large tracks in the snow’ as if they were following ‘a deer’ that went up an embankment along the old Ma and Pa roadbed, a stream and Booker road, east of Delta.
this occurred approx.. 3 weeks ago, he said, ‘the prints were 6 or 7 feet apart, large and were clear in the snow’. the embankment was steep, so they didn’t attempt to climb it or follow the tracks up the hill.
I was hoping to get in contact with Mr. Holden to get his advise on a project I am working on. I am the President of the Maryland Green Marble. I am restoring the office at the property. I wanted to get 5 pictures enlarged to 36 by 48 inches. Just like the pictures in the lobby of PNC Bank in Whiteford. If Mr. Holden could contact me I would greatly appreicate it . If he wishes to call me my cell phone number is 410 459 5783. Thank you Gary Thompson