Winning in the time of Covid
March 29, 2020. Day 14 of Self Isolation. Last day!
I knew we'd be "winning" but it came a day earlier than I expected. So much winning. Winning winning winning. Chants of "U.S.A.! U.S.A!" went through my head day after day as I saw the covid-19 (aka "Covfefe-19" or "American Arrogance Virus") numbers rising in the USA. I didn't coin the Covfefe-19 btw. Yes- there's a reason I ran away. I saw this coming and I was terrified. And it is proving to be worse than I expected.
Before I talk about wine: let me share a bit of wisdom I've gained in the past few years. I had a manager who was always telling me how honest and what a straight shooter he was. After several months I thought, "Well, then, why isn't that my experience?" It took me months to untangle the gaslighting but I've become way wiser in the process.
What is the wisdom in a nutshell? If anyone tells you that they are X they are not. When they say they are X they are trying to convince you/themselves. Don't be fooled. I've *never* had a smart person tell me they are smart. And I know a lot of brilliant people. I've never had an honest person tell me what an honest person they are. For people who actually are honest it is obvious as hell to them so why would they tell people? The smartest people I know don't go on about how smart they are- they'll tell you their limitations. Because they are smart enough to know what they are.
You can also often tell more about someone based on what they tell you about someone else. So- for people who say that covid-19 is an elaborate hoax: what kind of person would think other people would do that? That the whole world would be putting on such an elaborate farce: to the extent of wearing hazmat suits? I would never dream of accusing someone of that. It has to be something you've thought of yourself for you to guess that other people might do it.
That's enough whining about winning for now. How about pictures of wine?
Celebrations tomorrow: I did not bring covid-19 with me from San Francisco. Tomorrow it'll be official as it'll be day 15 and I haven't gotten sick. I got a bottle of champagne! Pictures to follow in future blog post.
About a week in I tell Jacqueline we can open a second bottle when we've already got one opened. Oh my! Here we have opened a Margrain which we have thought been one of our favorite wines in the past.
We also have a second bottle of Tk Pinot Noir 2017 because that is what we had on the first night. We have discovered it is not the same as we had the first night, though.
A couple days later she says, "If we have multiple open we can compare them!" (And I said that's why I said that: not just to have all the wine *right now*)
Back to the wine we thought was one of our favorites...
Here's Jacqueline in 2005 Margrain, looking at the lunch menu before our tasting.
We call it the racist winery because the guy pouring said something quite racist about certain people stealing money if you leave it out. I went through my photos and I even have a picture probably at the time he was saying the comment. :/
I suppose this will show you what people who are discriminated against see vs those who don't. I gave a half-smile, was confused and after we left I whispered to Jacqueline, "Was that kind of racist?" She let me know it was definitely racist and told me about more racist things that happened while we were in there that had gone over my head to another woman who came in and wanted to do a tasting.
All these years we thought the Margrain was the wine I liked so much and what I brought back to share with my super bestie. BUT- I have picture proof! He and I had a wine I brought back and then a Francis Ford Coppola, which I normally like. Not after the the wine I brought, though because it was so good. The wine was advertised "The Best Pinot Noir In The World", which I thought was ridiculous. "World famous in New Zealand", I'd say (that is a local soda's advertisement slogan). Anyway- I think I've agreed. Best Pinot I've had.
I just discovered looking through photos;
Martinborough Vineyards!
No wonder Jacqueline and I were less impressed with the Margrain this go round.
*phew* Now we can boycott instead of buying it reluctantly.
I need to go order some Martinborough Vineyards!
I hope they aren't out. Tk nearly was the last I checked.
Several days in the isolation period and we are opening more wines. These are three of my self isolation friends. They don't know much about social distancing. (That's actually Jacqueline's joke. She's more clever than I.)
The winning wine is still the first night's Tk Pinot Noir. If only we spent time on tasting notes. Well- room for improvement. The Tk runholder Pinot Noir is lighter and more jammy. The second favorite so far is the Craggy range.
Maybe I should mention all the wines are from regions and wineries Jacqueline and I have been wine tasting before: Martinborough (just north of Wellington) and Hawke's Bay/Napier.
How ironic is it that the one wine I drank from my poison cup was the Margrain?
I knew we'd be "winning" but it came a day earlier than I expected. So much winning. Winning winning winning. Chants of "U.S.A.! U.S.A!" went through my head day after day as I saw the covid-19 (aka "Covfefe-19" or "American Arrogance Virus") numbers rising in the USA. I didn't coin the Covfefe-19 btw. Yes- there's a reason I ran away. I saw this coming and I was terrified. And it is proving to be worse than I expected.
Before I talk about wine: let me share a bit of wisdom I've gained in the past few years. I had a manager who was always telling me how honest and what a straight shooter he was. After several months I thought, "Well, then, why isn't that my experience?" It took me months to untangle the gaslighting but I've become way wiser in the process.
What is the wisdom in a nutshell? If anyone tells you that they are X they are not. When they say they are X they are trying to convince you/themselves. Don't be fooled. I've *never* had a smart person tell me they are smart. And I know a lot of brilliant people. I've never had an honest person tell me what an honest person they are. For people who actually are honest it is obvious as hell to them so why would they tell people? The smartest people I know don't go on about how smart they are- they'll tell you their limitations. Because they are smart enough to know what they are.
You can also often tell more about someone based on what they tell you about someone else. So- for people who say that covid-19 is an elaborate hoax: what kind of person would think other people would do that? That the whole world would be putting on such an elaborate farce: to the extent of wearing hazmat suits? I would never dream of accusing someone of that. It has to be something you've thought of yourself for you to guess that other people might do it.
That's enough whining about winning for now. How about pictures of wine?
Celebrations tomorrow: I did not bring covid-19 with me from San Francisco. Tomorrow it'll be official as it'll be day 15 and I haven't gotten sick. I got a bottle of champagne! Pictures to follow in future blog post.
We also have a second bottle of Tk Pinot Noir 2017 because that is what we had on the first night. We have discovered it is not the same as we had the first night, though.
A couple days later she says, "If we have multiple open we can compare them!" (And I said that's why I said that: not just to have all the wine *right now*)
Back to the wine we thought was one of our favorites...
Here's Jacqueline in 2005 Margrain, looking at the lunch menu before our tasting.
We call it the racist winery because the guy pouring said something quite racist about certain people stealing money if you leave it out. I went through my photos and I even have a picture probably at the time he was saying the comment. :/
I suppose this will show you what people who are discriminated against see vs those who don't. I gave a half-smile, was confused and after we left I whispered to Jacqueline, "Was that kind of racist?" She let me know it was definitely racist and told me about more racist things that happened while we were in there that had gone over my head to another woman who came in and wanted to do a tasting.
All these years we thought the Margrain was the wine I liked so much and what I brought back to share with my super bestie. BUT- I have picture proof! He and I had a wine I brought back and then a Francis Ford Coppola, which I normally like. Not after the the wine I brought, though because it was so good. The wine was advertised "The Best Pinot Noir In The World", which I thought was ridiculous. "World famous in New Zealand", I'd say (that is a local soda's advertisement slogan). Anyway- I think I've agreed. Best Pinot I've had.
I just discovered looking through photos;Martinborough Vineyards!
No wonder Jacqueline and I were less impressed with the Margrain this go round.
*phew* Now we can boycott instead of buying it reluctantly.
I need to go order some Martinborough Vineyards!
I hope they aren't out. Tk nearly was the last I checked.
Several days in the isolation period and we are opening more wines. These are three of my self isolation friends. They don't know much about social distancing. (That's actually Jacqueline's joke. She's more clever than I.)
The winning wine is still the first night's Tk Pinot Noir. If only we spent time on tasting notes. Well- room for improvement. The Tk runholder Pinot Noir is lighter and more jammy. The second favorite so far is the Craggy range.
Maybe I should mention all the wines are from regions and wineries Jacqueline and I have been wine tasting before: Martinborough (just north of Wellington) and Hawke's Bay/Napier.
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