Smart People Drink Wine

There’s a reason for wine lovers to celebrate tonight. Not only because it’s Saturday night, but because drinking wine makes you smarter. At least according to Yale neuroscientist Gordon Shepherd. Now, I’m not Albert Einstein, or Albert Wine-stein for that matter, but that’s great news to me.

Dr. Shepherd says wine exercises both sides of your brain. Wine drinking requires sniffing& swirling the wine on the different sides of your mouth. Shepherd points out that this activity is a complex motor process involving several areas of the brain. The researcher covers the connection between interpreting wine flavors and the brain in detail in his book, “Neuroenology: How the Brain Creates the Taste of Wine.” And since wine requires use of so many of your senses, including smell and taste, it makes sense.

So here’s to great wine and smarter wine-drinkers.

So last week I told you I was taking care of the food for a few friends getting together on a balcony. We are allowed to get together on a balcony, not inside. Now some people froze, it was chilly, although 2 days later there was a heat wave warning.

So we had 2 salads, a Caesar, and a Mediterranean Orzo salad. Orzo is a pasta that looks like rice, but actually is a pasta, and is great in a salad. I added red pepper, red onion, chickpeas, tomatoes, fresh herbs & feta cheese. You can add whatever you like to give it a splash of color.

Then I made this delicious lemony herb dressing. And it’s even better the next day. In the dressing is fresh lemon juice, the zest of the lemon, 1 clove of garlic, red wine vinegar, honey, salt & pepper and of course olive oil. Delish!

We also had some marinated chicken skewers. It’s the Chef Spencer Watts recipe that I had mentioned in a previous blog. That recipe is here.

I also did taco boats, because the store was sold out of the small taco shells, but these worked out better when we were sitting on a patio. They were much easier to handle, and less mess. (My apologies for a next day picture, I forgot to take a picture the night before, and this was left-overs.) The homemade salsa, lime cilantro crema, and dipping sauce for the skewers were a hit as well. I had so much fun doing this. I want to do this for our next get together.

Now let’s talk some wine, & cocktails – my intelligent friends. This past week we had a heat wave for 2 days, so on days like that, I like a nice cold refreshing drink. Can you say Arriba! (I know you have to more mature to remember Speedy Gonzales, but that’s what he would cheer.)

Speedy Gonzales would love these. I know we did.

Just before this latest lockdown, my friends and I had a Mexican themed food night. And what better way to kick off the event than with a classic Margarita from Jose Cuervo, featuring the famous Jose Cuervo tequila. Jose Cuervo has been making tequila for 250 years and now they are making these delicious mixed drinks. They are affordable and not at all sweet.

Here’s another drink that is not the least bit sweet. I’m not a fan of sweet drinks. Before Riley went back to Newfoundland, after his first year of University, he handed me one of these, and said ‘give it a try’. Well, the only danger with this drink is that you can’t taste any booze and it went down pretty fast. Wouldn’t take long to go through a 6-pack. Delicious and refreshing and the watermelon is one of 3 new flavors introduced this past year.

My friend Angie shared this wonderful wine with me this past week. It was easy to drink and not overly oaky. I figured the winemaker can describe it even better than I can.

“These Reserva wines reflect the varietal character, which combined with an ageing of 6 months in French oak barrels, make them to stand out for their freshness, fruit and balance.”

Errazuriz was started by two great wine-makers, Eduardo Chadwick and Robert Mondavi. And the winemaker for estate, Francisco Baettig, has won winemaker of the year for Chile, and has been nominated for one of the ‘best winemakers in the world’. So you know it’s a great value at just $16.99

Thanks for reading, I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Till next week, Cheers