Riesling Icewine, Schmitt Sohne, 2008

For this Thanksgiving, my husband and I hosted a small (in numbers but not in food!) dinner with some very good friends who live in the area. Military families don't always travel for Thanksgiving because often we opt to see family for Christmas. Friends become family in a blink of an eye and you get to taste different recipes that have been passed down through families that you might not have been able to try otherwise. Pear Cheesecake is awesome! My friend Anu likes Rieslings and sweeter white wines, so I picked up an ice wine to go with dessert- awesome pear cheesecake! I have never tried an ice wine before but I knew through wandering around wine shops that they are usually the most expensive wine per milliliter. I spotted this small, tall, skinny bottle next to the organic wines at my local grocery store. This price was $19.99 for 500 mL, not bad, I can swing that. We had a fabulous traditional meal, broke out the awesome pear cheesecake, and popped the cork. I poured a small measure into my new champagne coupes. I think cordial glasses are the best option if you have them.

First impression is ohh, what a lovely golden-amber color. Pouring it, you can feel how much more thick and dense it is compared to non-ice white wines. That viscosity has a big drawback when you just ate a HUGE meal. At first sip, it didn't taste cold enough (even though it was as cold as the rest of the drinks from the fridge), and was WAY WAY too sweet for me. The heart of this dessert wine are golden raisins. Think of the juice from a thousand semi-chilled golden raisins squeezed into a glass, that is what it tastes like. Also, it has a really long finish. One glass is all I could do and it took me a long time to sip through it. After everybody went home, I wondered what the heck I was going to do with the rest of the bottle? I came up with a cocktail. One ounce ice wine poured into a champagne coupe, topped off with your favorite lemon/lime soda, garnish with a lemon twist or a maraschino cherry. The soda added enough brightness and effervescence to balance out the honey sweet wine.

Here is the description from the wine makers, Schmitt-Sohne from their website www.schmitt-soehne.com.
Eiswein (Ice wine) is produced from grapes harvested and pressed while frozen (not higher than – 7 ° C) to concentrate sugar, acidity and extract. Truly a unique and complex wine with an intense concentration of fruits like honey, caramel and raisins. Eiswein is the crowning jewel of German Viticulture.

Varietal: Mainly Ortega and Optima grapesRegion: Rheinhessen/Pfalz
Alcohol: 8,0 – 9,0 %
Total acidity: 7,0 – 8,5 g/l
Residual sugar: 140 – 160 g/l
Sizes available: 500 ml

Overall impression, glad to try something new, not going to buy this particular wine ever again.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I owe my discovery of this trilogy to my friend Ali. She heard about it from a friend, read the first book of the trilogy, and would not stop about it! So THANK YOU because I truly love this book. It is technically a trilogy of three books, but through my e-reader's Sony bookstore, I was able to buy it as a single continuous story of 805 pages. I recommend you do the same, it has three distinct story lines, but if you love the first part, you will not want to put it down until the end.  So have all three ready to go once you start.

Here is the basic premise of the novel. It is a couple hundred years in the future, and Collins does not tell you what year it actually is, either because people don't know, or (what I think) the author wants you to forget about every other "futuristic" novel you've read and discover how this future world works without any preconceived ideas. Panem is a post-apocalyptic country comprising all of current North America and it is divided (very strictly divided) into twelve districts. None of them have names, they are only known by numbers. (so interesting to me...) Katniss, the protagonist, lives in district 12, which is currently Appalachia. The government is a very strong dictatorship run by PRESIDENT Snow and requires the districts to send two children, one boy and one girl, between the ages twelve and eighteen to fight to the death gladiator-style once a year. The fight (called the Hunger Games) is televised and mandatory viewing for every person. The selection is through a lottery system, but of course is seen to be rigged by many. The first part of the trilogy is Katniss in the 74th Hunger games, the second part is the 75th Hunger Games, and the third is how the government and the people react after the 75th Games. I really don't want to spoil anything with more details than that.

I love the characters, the setting, the villains... EVERYTHING! It is an odd mix of Bladerunner, Little House in the Big Woods, and Saw. It is labeled as a young adult fiction series, but I was WAY too moody as a teen to handle this much struggle and strife without going into a deppression. If you're feeling blue about life in general, wait till things turn around a little to read it. Collins is awesome at creating a world with unique customs and triditions so very different than our own. But, she is able to connect with the readers by illustrating experiences common to so many- a little sister who adores a cat, a boy who appreciates lovely cakes, and a classic love triangle. What resonated with me so strongly was the human struggle for survival against our amazing ability to kill each other . Maybe because I'm still not sure if good will triumph evil in our world. I see President Snows out there and I'm just hoping a Mockingjay can stand up one day.

 It is going to be released as a movie in March 2012 and the trailers are already out! Usually, I am pessismistic about books becoming movies, but not with this one. I believe that they casted extremely well, especially Lenny Kravitz as Cinna, and Woody Harrelson as Haymitch. The big screen will be able to show amazing juxtaposition (one of my favorite words!) of the extreme poverty of the districts verses the extreme opulence of  the Capital.

Read it! And tell me what you thought... I hope you love it as much as I do. May the odds be ever in your favor.