Linden Vineyards

I haven't been feeling well of late—a herniated disk in my back impinging on my sciatic nerve has been causing major grief—and so Sunday was a designated rest day. But somehow the damned dogs decided that 7am was a great time for hijinks and our day was rolling then, rest be damned, like it or not. It's hard to hate the little bastards when they are all wiggly and oh-so-happy to see you all the time. But it is hard to love them at 7am on my one day off a week.

Nonetheless, we're all coffeed up and have accomplished a prodigious amount of yard work by 10am. The weather was so damned nice, it just enticed us into the back yard, and from there, well, let's just say that a lot of weeds needed pulling. Fall weather this spectacular—clear, cool, and imperceptibly humid—comes never at the tail end of August when by all rights, it should be blazingly hot and chokingly humid.

As we were winding down weeding the garden (euphemism for Ann yanking out all the rogue fennel that she finds detracting and I find charming; she needs to impose her will on the garden; it just cannot be to do what it will), I felt the need to get out and away from the house and just experience this beautiful day. It dawned on me that we haven't been to Linden Vineyards since the library tasting in January. I feel drawn to that place especially on a gorgeous day, because it is one of the most beautiful places in this part of the world. Spectacular weather deserves a spectacular locale. And a spectacular bottle of wine.

Spectacular View; Spectacular Wine

For the spectacular bottle of wine, I chose the 2009 Hardscrabble Red, which we had with a slab of Grayson cheese from Meadow Creek Dairy and some local whipped (but pretty flavorless) goat cheese. This particular Grayson, a Taleggio/Livarot-style washed rind cheese, was pretty young and not quite as funky as we like it. Still, some Grayson is better than no Grayson.

This One Never Has Any Fun!