Debauchery Pinot Noir

As we have just come out with a Debauchery Pinot Noir, it seemed fitting to take a quick look at a wine that’s one of the most versatile and yet sought after wines available.

Pinots tend to be a “light” red wine. Not necessarily in color, but in the way it feels in your mouth.  Delicate might be a word that’s used, but when it’s paired with complex foods, it more than holds its own.

It’s fruity, though not sweet, which is an important distinction for many!  But it’s that fruitiness that makes dessert (or at least a really sweet dessert) one of the few foods or courses that doesn’t go well with Pinot Noir.

Pinot Noirs work well with a lot of different kinds of foods.  Because it is “light,” it works well with lean meats and vegetables.  It won’t cut through a super heavy, rich sauce like a Cabernet would but handles fish easily.

As usual, we think one of the best ways to pair a wine with foods is to try it! Pour yourself a glass as you’re making dinner and enjoy the flavors that pair with the wonderful smells coming from your stove.  Another way to pair wine with your food is to actually use it in the cooking.  If it works in the dish, it’ll work in the glass alongside the dish.

Look for the Debauchery Pinot Noir at your favorite store and restaurant.  And if you don’t see it, be sure to ask for it!

What is your favorite use for Pinot Noir?

A hurricane taken from a space satellite

Hurricane season is upon us and this year, NOAA is predicting that this will likely be a higher than normal hurricane year.  The LA Times predicts 9 to 15 “named” storms in the Atlantic.  Now this isn’t to say that hurricanes aren’t to be taken seriously – I think Katrina changed that perception forever.  But here at Debauchery, we try to find the fun and positive in everything, so we want to take a look at what to have in your shelter.

First, you should have the basics, right? Water, canned food, medicines, pet foods, etc. But then, if you’re going to be stuck for a couple days (hopefully not longer), you might as well have some things that make life a little happier.  So put away a nice bottle or two of a good wine.  We’d suggest a red because it can be served at pretty much any temperature.  And crackers, because even if you can’t have cheese, crackers will stick around for quite awhile.  You may want to throw a few Ziploc baggies in your stash so you can keep them fresh.

Glasses – they don’t have to be anything other than the red or blue plastic ones, but glasses make having that small luxury of a glass of wine just a little better than drinking from the bottle.  Olives might be a nice addition; even if they’re just the bottled variety, they can last for a bit.  And nuts – nuts are always welcome as a nibble treat at the end of the day with a glass of something in front of you.

It pays to be prepared in case the worst happens, but if it does, make sure you have that little stash of luxury ready. It may help you make something difficult bearable.

Back to school checklist

It’s the Friday after Labor Day and that can mean only one thing.  The kids are back at school.  Did that sound celebratory? It actually was.  There are a couple things to celebrate about “Back to School” (if you’re not a kid that is):

~ There seem to be more hours in the day.

~ The air is getting cooler in the evenings, which seems to signal it’s time to enjoy a glass of wine at the end of the day.  Hmm, I think the warm summer nights did too, but this is different somehow!

~ Activities are gearing up and your social life might get a boost (though it probably won’t rival that of your teenager).

As a bottle of wine, all of those reasons are good enough for me to say, crack me open, sit down for a spell and relax.  Or crack me open, invite some friends over and make it a good time!

Creating a bottle of wine like me is laborious. I mean, it takes all year for the vines to create the bud, then the flower, then the grape, and then go dormant to gain strength to do it all again.  And once the grape is taken from the vine, it takes a lot of work to get the right mix of grapes and barrels and timing to make me all that I can be.  Maybe easier than joining the army but harder than growing peas.

Since Labor Day, next Monday, is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of workers, we want to raise our glass not only to those that create the goodness that comes in my bottle, but those that keep the gears of the country moving.  With the economic struggles we’ve faced in the past years, those that are working are picking up extra duties, or even extra jobs.  So we crack open our corks and salute the workers that make everything from cars to wine to sliced bread.

Since Labor Day is also the unofficial end of summer, we look toward cooler weather, more red wine and more fires to snuggle around.

Happy Labor Day.

harvesting grapes

I am a bottle of wine.  I show up, get opened, enjoyed and I’m done.  In general, there isn’t much thought given to the behind the scenes work of getting me to your table. We’ve talked before about how I get to an actual store, restaurant or bar, but in honor of Harvest Month (there are lots of things to harvest in this world besides wine, so we all get lumped together in one month), let’s look at the end of one process (growing the grapes) and the beginning of the next, very important process (harvesting the grapes).

When to harvest depends on the type of grape, the weather the region has had over the year, where the grape vines are planted (do you have to be a goat to be able to get to them, thus picking them by hand) and the weather that is expected at the point when the grapes are ready to be picked.There are so many factors that go into how the grapes taste as wine, it’s no wonder that no one year is like another.  That’s a good thing, in our opinion.

As long as the weather cooperates and doesn’t rain on our parade (literally), this period of ending on phase and entering another is cause for celebration. Truly, it’s a time for people to come together and while they may not crush the grapes with their feet (or if they do, we hope there is some filtering going on later down the line) and dance around, there is much partying, dancing, singing and well, general debauchery that can be had at this time.

Which is why we raise our glass to those that work the field, picking each luscious grape to be crushed into what we fill our glasses with.  Any experience that is cause for celebration is worth paying attention to in our book!

Have you ever experienced a harvest of any sort?

Feel the pop in your mouth

The definition of Debauchery, depending on where you look, focuses on indulgence, either basic indulgence (whatever that may be) or extreme indulgence.  It also requires the concept of sensuality – so you’re either indulging in sensual pleasures or extreme indulgence in sensuality.

Both those words – indulgence and sensuality – have such different connotations to them.  Coming from the accepting side, indulgence is simply the ability to do something.  A verb that implies a bit of naughtiness, but can also reflect a special treat, something not usually attained.  And sensuality is simply the acute awareness of the senses – eating a tomato can be sensual to some people.

Coming from the more uptight side, indulgence reflects an inability to abstain from something – eating or drinking or sex – and has a tainted feel to it. You shouldn’t indulge, you should be able to stop yourself.  And sensuality, whew, from that perspective, if you got extreme pleasure from eating that tomato, well, 50 strikes with a wet noodle for you.

The point it, Debauchery for us is letting go, finding that extreme enjoyment and allowing yourself to feel it.  That’s right – go out on a limb and let yourself have fun or get pleasure from your experience (eating, drinking, having sex, heck playing bocce if that’s what it takes).   We embrace that indulgence AND sensuality.  Come share it with us and share your legal photos!

What is casual debauchery?  It’s that end of the day, thinking about dinner or even starting to make dinner, glass of wine that starts off the night right.  Even when your dinner recipe doesn’t include wine, opening up a bottle and pouring a glass to accompany the cooking process may start off a solitary event, but often becomes social as other adults are offered a glass and things heat up.

Indulgence – that basic tenant of debauchery – is something we don’t do enough of in the day to day rat race and so we applaud those that pull the corkscrew out of the drawer to add some positivity to the end of the day and create some casual debauchery.

Do you add a little wine to the menu while making dinner? Does it stop there?

That point is probably true – we have this expectation that the government is some sort of higher level playing field, in reality, the people that work there are just that – people.  We all have our quirks and foibles, and while we hope that just like any company would, when “our” employees (ie government employees) go oversees they’ll represent us well, often times the lure of possibility is too much to ignore.

Should we require people to put aside all personality when they represent our country? Is that even a reasonable request? Once you start the list of what is acceptable and what is not, you start down a slippery slope.  But, if the government is going to practice debauchery, they might as well start off on the right foot with a nice glass of it!

But take the time off from the drudgery and step out of that comfort zone.  We highly suggest finding a bottle opener and trying a bottle of wine that you may not have seen before (hint, hint).  There are so many different types out there, so even though you may revert back to Debauchery for dinner, try something new for sipping beforehand.

Even if it means using a boogie board rather than body surfing (though we hope you’re able to stretch a bit further than that!!), do it. Bungie jump. Skydive. Take the road less travelled. By using the little time you have away from the everyday norms, you can expand your horizons, extend yourself and come back a person that has a little spring in their step (or maybe a secret smile that will keep everyone guessing!).

What was your favorite vacation? Have you ever tried something completely new while on vacation?

Shake, shake!

Okay, so the 3 Martini Lunch doesn’t happen any more unless you happen to watch Mad Men during your lunch hour.  But there is a place for wine in a business setting.  Some people might be a little reserved in ordering up some Debauchery during lunch, especially if in mixed company, but that just goes to show that names do hold some meaning for people.

Wine at a business function is still a common occurance.  I remember in college, I took a course on wines and the professor spent an entire lecture explaining that if we were at a dinner and tasked with ordering wine, we’d better be able to do it with confidence.  That really boils down to just not looking scared to death when taking a look at the wine list.

Think about it – even if you’re not a wine buff, and really, who among us is? – the restaurant has gone to some trouble to put together a list that makes sense.  Which translates to: the wine on the list probably doesn’t stink.  And if someone comments that you chose a red wine when everyone ordered fish and chicken, you can always respond that the rules of white wine for white food went out the window decades ago.  Nicely, of course because you want to keep the business!

The ordeal of sniffing the cork?  Well, the staff will probably present you with the cork and pour you a bit to taste, that’s true.  But here’s a little secret – the cork will smell like a cork!  You just want to make sure it’s wet because that means the wine has been stored properly (on its side).  As for the taste? As long as it doesn’t taste like vinegar, and you’ll know, you’re good to go.

So order up that bottle/glass with confidence and move on to closing that deal!