Keep those kind comments comin' about my youth! ;-)

That Chianti Classico was rockin'! '04 Chianti has always been great but in the last several months they've really started to sing: http://peripheriquewine.posterous.com/montevertine-arlequin-romeo-and-juliet

I went to grad school at Cornell and spent many weekends traversing the Cayuga wine trail. I think it is what finally got me into wine. Swedish Hill at the top of Cayuga Lake was always a favorite -- great selection of wines with some being quite good. They are kind of like the V. Sattui of the Finger Lakes (and I'm trying to mean that in a good way re Swedish Hill).

I used to live in Angwin and my husband and I would go to Rutherford Vintners with a picnic, buy a bottle of wine and enjoy the day. My favorite was the Muscat of Alexandria and my husband's was the Chardonnay. The owner was there each time we visited the little house where he sold his wine. It was a very small business off Hwy 29 on the west side. The wine owner had two children, a son and daughter. I remember that his wife worked in the office, tasting room and orders. The daughter worked in the tasting room and sales. The son was a lawyer but worked for the winery's sales. I moved from the area in 1993 and when I returned for a visit I went by there only to see that it had been closed. I asked the locals in St. Helena what had happened. I was told that the owner's son had died and the owner was never the same The winemaker and president of the winery was Bernard Skoda.