The holidays can be difficult for someone like me who loves wine or a cocktail and wants to celebrate along with everyone else, but happens to be in a situation where she can’t drink. But being pregnant or having a health issue that prohibits you from drinking doesn’t mean you can’t raise a glass of cheer — you just have to pick something non-alcoholic.

A couple weeks ago, we were at The Christmas Tree Shops and I saw a bottle of non-alcoholic Chardonnay (which I have since lovingly nicknamed “Chardon-not”). I joked to Drew that I’d be drinking the St. Regis Alcohol-Removed Reserve on Thanksgiving. At a mere $3.99 a bottle he suggested I give it a try. So we left the store with two bottles — one to try that evening and one for Turkey Day, provided it wasn’t terrible.

St. Regis is produced by Inglenook. It is made in California and has an APV of less than 0.5%. To my surprise, it was actually decent! There were floral notes on the nose, as well as hints of apricot and apple. Upon tasting I detected mostly apple flavors as well as a bit of grape (which didn’t surprise me). Overall it reminded me of flat champagne. Drew thought it reminded him of some of the Australian whites he had tasted. Now, obviously you can’t compare a bottle of alcohol-free wine to a bottle of regular wine. To try it with the same expectations is ridiculous, honestly. If I weren’t pregnant I wouldn’t be drinking this, but for the price it ain’t bad and I will happily chill a bottle for myself for tomorrow. I’ve had worse “real” Chardonnay, and I find this to be an acceptable substitute.

Another problem I’ve had to solve is the pre-dinner cocktail. In our family, we always like to enjoy a drink while we nibble on cheese, crackers, and sausage. Under normal circumstances, my go-to drink is a gin and tonic. Luckily, this one is easy to solve. I simply mix together tonic water, a twist of lime, and some sweetened lime juice. I used to prefer Rose’s lime juice, but recently I discovered Master of Mixes lime juice. I find it to be less sweet. (As a bonus, if you’re plagued by leg cramps later in your pregnancy, this make a mighty fine remedy as the tonic water contains quinine, which helps alleviate the cramping.)

My other favorite cocktail is a whiskey sour. By chance, last night I discovered a drink that comes pretty darn close. I simply mixed Cuervo margarita mix with ginger ale (I think I did I one-to-one ratio). Again, it has no alcohol in it so it’s not as potent, but hey — when you only have so much to work with, you make the best of it. Garnish with an orange slice and a maraschino cherry or two and enjoy.

Tomorrow we’ll be bringing a bottle of BEX Riesling to have with Thanksgiving dinner, so I am planning on tasting and spitting and seeing if it tastes any different to me now than it did when I tasted it a few months back.

To all my American readers, I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving! Please remember to enjoy responsibly.

Maybe it’s because when I was growing up, a giant bowl of mixed nuts and a nutcracker seemed to magically appear right around Thanksgiving, but I think that nuts and the holidays are inseparable. They’re one of my favorite snacks year-round, but I am sure to have them on hand this time of year. So when I was asked to taste and review the nuts offered by Oh Nuts! I was happy to oblige.

I received a bag of Dry Roasted Unsalted Almonds, a bag of Cinnamon Almonds, and a bag of Cranberry Pecans. The nuts themselves were all quite large. Only a couple of the pecan halves had broken during packing/shipping. Just on looks alone, I’d be happy to put these nuts out for company.

Taste-wise, all three were delicious, but Drew and I agreed that the cranberry pecans were our hands-down favorite. They have a hint of sweetness, but we didn’t find it overwhelming. I threw some in my oatmeal one morning (very yummy!), and we’ve been enjoying a handful as dessert after dinner. A 16 oz. package sells for $11.99. The dry roasted unsalted almonds ($6.99/lb) have a wonderful flavor and are an excellent addition to a fruit and cheese plate. You could also chop them to use in baking, and I think they’d be great. The cinnamon almonds ($5.99/lb) also are quite good, though I think they’re a little sweeter than the cranberry pecans. They do have the perfect flavor for this time of year, though and would make a lovely hostess gift.

Overall we both were impressed with all three varieties we tried, and I’m glad to have discovered a new source for interesting nuts and dried fruits. (I’m intrigued by the dried cantaloupe!) Oh Nuts! sells a variety of seeds and candy as well. Judging from the samples I received, the nuts are a good value for the price and I would happily order from them in the future.

OK, OK, it’s time to come clean. I really do have a reason for neglecting my wine blog. The truth is that I am pregnant, which kind of takes the fun out of wine blogging. I happen to be of the belief that a glass of wine with dinner is acceptable while pregnant, but only later in the pregnancy. I am just over 10 weeks along, so my personal choice is to abstain for now. Though I can still taste and spit if Drew has opened a bottle of something interesting. When I was pregnant with our second baby, he didn’t drink much else than Gallo Burgundy in the jug. He felt bad opening anything “good.” I certainly don’t expect him to do that this time around!

Of course I now face the dilemma of what to do with this blog. I am considering skewing the focus towards food for the time being (thanks to Richard for the suggestion). After all, I do still eat. Randy of Wine Biz Radio commented on Twitter that he would find wine tasting from the perspective of a pregnant woman interesting — would wines taste the same as they did before the pregnancy? I might be able to incorporate that as well. If Drew opens a bottle we’ve had before I can swirl and spit and then compare notes.

So I hope you’ll bear with me as I temporarily retool the blog! Thanks

I think that pretty much everyone knows that it is recommended (at least here in the U.S.) that pregnant women abstain from alcohol during the pregnancy. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), alcohol abuse can have many negative effects on your baby including:

• Miscarriage
• Fetal alcohol syndrome, the most common cause of mental retardation in babies
• Physical defects
• Low birth weight
• Hyperactivity
• Decreased attention span

So I thought it was interesting to read about a study performed by the University College London that claims boys borns to mothers who drank lightly “are better behaved and score more highly in tests at the age of three than the sons of women who abstained.” The article does not define what constitutes a “light drinker.”

Here’s an excerpt:

Boys born to mothers who drank lightly were 40% less likely to have conduct problems and 30% less likely to be hyperactive, even when the differences between social and economic circumstances were taken into account. They also scored more highly in vocabulary tests and were better able to identify shapes, colours, letters and numbers.

The research has the authority of a large study - it involved 12,495 children - but is likely to further fuel the controversy over alcohol in pregnancy.

I’ve read other studies that claim a drink or two per week (mostly likely with a meal) won’t harm an unborn child, but of course there are plenty of other studies that show it is best to not drink at all. Interesting stuff, though.

After all my talk about drinking from the cellar, I felt that I had to come clean with you. Yesterday afternoon we went out for a quick lunch and a bit of shopping. We passed by one of our favorite wine stores, and decided to go in… just to look of course.

I’m not going to lie to you. When I saw the Sinister Hand, I gasped a little bit. It’s a wine I’ve been wanting to try for over a year and while it may well have been for sale in New York, I’ve never seen it. I set my three year old down on the floor with my purse to keep him occupied while I carefully stood on tiptoe to retrieve a bottle from the top shelf. It didn’t even cross my mind that I was going back on my promise to myself. But after a minute it set in, and I started to have second thoughts.

I found Drew looking in the Bordeaux section and he immediately showed me the 2005 Chateau D’Alesme Becker. (I think he might have gasped just a little upon discovering it.) Chateau D’Alesme Becker was one of the vineyards we visited on our honeymoon and to our knowledge has not been available in New York. Of course, there is a chance it slipped under our radar, or was only available through a certain importer. Or perhaps it wasn’t available in the Metro New York area (where our store was located), but it is available upstate. Who knows? And really, it doesn’t matter. When I showed him the bottle of Sinister Hand and expressed my uncertainty over buying it, he insisted that I did so that we could use our wine club card. (Hey, that logic worked for me!)

I don’t have buyer’s remorse, but I’m going to still try to keep my wine purchases at a minimum. The Bordeaux, obviously, we’ll cellar for a few years. The Sinister Hand… well, that might be a fun Halloween wine. You only live once, you know?

Political blogger/cartoonist/wine blogger/wearer of many hats D. Honig of 2 Days Per Bottle has come up with a rather challenging topic for this month’s edition of Wine Blogging Wednesday: A toast to the end of the Bush Era. I’ve been thinking about this for weeks and honestly, I’m still not sure of an answer. I think what I choose to drink will largely depend on who takes over the White House next. If it’s my candidate, I will obviously feel quite hopeful and celebratory. If it’s not… well, I might just want to drink myself into oblivion and stay there for the next four year. OK, I wouldn’t go quite that far but I certainly won’t be dancing around.

But for the sake of this post, let’s assume my candidate wins and I’m feeling not only relieved that the last eight years are behind us, but for the first time in those eight years I’m feeling that our country will start moving in the right direction. The natural choice for me is a Champagne. But let’s remember that the U.S. economy is not in the best of shape. I am trying to drink from our cellar and not purchase anything new. With that in mind, I think my choice shall be this bottle of Pol Roger Brut Reserve. Even if you’re purchasing this at a wine shop, it won’t totally empty your pocketbook. It retails for around $30.

I’ve actually not tasted this wine before, and since we have only the one bottle, I wasn’t going to open it just for this. I chose it for a couple reasons, though. First of all, it’s French. Thinking back on the absurd “boycott” on all things French that the Bush administration encouraged, I figured at the very least I can stick some bubbles in their eye. But another reason I chose it is in honor of one of our favorite customers at our former wine shop — Buzz. Buzz shared our political views and would drop by with a copy of an article that he’d insist we read right then and there so we could rant and rave about the sorry state of our country and how we would hope that people will be intelligent enough this time around to vote for change. Buzz also lovedthis particular Champagne. I’m pretty sure he and his wife bought the better part of its inventory. So I feel it only makes sense to pull this bottle out of the fridge on January 19th.

Hopefully we’ll be ushering in a new era of government, and not just bidding adieu to the old one.

I decided to count David’s two comments as one and consulted Randomizer to pick a number between 1 and 10. The winner is Commenter #3: Amy of Happy Homewrecker! Congratulations, Amy! I will be mailing out your book later in the week.

::Sniff, sniff:: Summer vacation is just about over. Harvests are beginning. My son starts 1st grade next week. And it’s Labor Day weekend. Cooler, chillier weather will be making its way to upstate New York. In fact, it has already — it’s been dipping down into the 40s at night. Fall is my favorite season. It brings stunning foliage, apple picking, reasons to wear stripey socks and wooly sweaters, my birthday, Halloween, and Thankgiving. All good things Fall is also the perfect time to pour a glass of wine and curl up with a good book so I thought it would be fun to give away a copy of Passion on the Vine by Sergio Esposito. The book is a memoir of Mr. Esposito’s childhood in Italy and his journey to America. Mr. Esposito founded Italian Wine Merchants in New York City in 1999 along with Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich.

The book is full of wonderful anecdotes, but it is also full of great information on Italian wine, food, and culture. It’s a book that I enjoyed and I think that anyone who is interested in wine — especially Italian wine — will enjoy as well.

To enter the contest, simply leave a comment on this entry. On Monday evening I will randomly choose a winner and announce on Tuesday evening who it is.

Be sure to enter a valid e-mail address, otherwise I won’t be able to get your address and you won’t be able to get your book! Have a wonderful Labor Day weekend, everyone!

For the sixth consecutive year, Fat Bastard wines will be donating a portion of its sales during the months of September and October to help in the fight against this disease. During these two months Click Wine Group will donate 25 cents from every bottle sold in retail stores and restaurants up to a total of $75,000. Over the past five years, the company has donated nearly a quarter of a million dollars to the cause.

In the past, money donated by Click Wine Group has helped pay for 25 months of rent, utilities and nutritious food for breast cancer patients in Southern California. It has also allowed the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center to participate in one of the largest breast cancer prevention trials ever conducted.

During September and October, Fat Bastard wines will have special “Live Large, Spread Hope” neckers around the bottle with an attached enamel pink ribbon pin for consumers to wear in show of their support. The wine retails for around $10.99 and are widely distributed.

I’m my free time, I’m a knitter. (Though don’t try drinking wine and knitting at the same time… it’s a really bad combination. Don’t ask me how I know!) A common knitter’s resolution is to give up yarn buying and “knit from the stash.” You see, there is just so much yummy, beautiful yarn out there that most knitters can’t help it. They see a few hanks they love and they just have to buy them. Does this sound familiar? I think many wine drinkers are the same way. They go into a wine shop “just to browse” and come out with a mixed case. I know that I have done both myself.

Earlier this year, I vowed to knit from my stash, and with very few exceptions (when I needed a particular yarn for a project I was working on) I’ve been successful. When we sold our wine shop in June, of course we brought home all the wine we’d been squirrelling away for ourselves. I was astounded how much it amounted to. We easily have 250 bottles of wine in our basement! Many of those bottles need to age for a few (to several) more years and a couple are investment bottles that we won’t drink ever. But most of the wine is drinkable now. It just doesn’t make sense to buy more until we’ve put some kind of dent in our current inventory. I suppose there will be times when I’ll make an exception (Wine Blogging Wednesday, for example), but I’m going to try my best to stay out of wine stores until we’ve worked our way through a wine fridge or two.

I wonder if I can do this. Of course, I’m thinking about what I might miss… But is it better to be a wine drinker or a wine hoarder? Personally, I’d rather be the former.