The Queens feel that wine is most important. Second in fact, only to chocolate when it
comes to kitchen staples. Out of
milk? Bread? Eggs?
No problem. Low on wine? All is dropped so someone can make a run to
the store.
Yes, we like our wine (red wine, to be specific) and drink
it frequently. Never much
at a time; bottles in the Queens’ home are usually open for a day or two before
they are drained and re-corked, at which point they join their empty fellows in
collecting dust on a corner of the countertop.
It’s rare for the Queens to finish a bottle the same night it’s opened,
and even on those seldom occasions, it only comes out to two glasses per queen;
not enough to constitute a drinking problem*.
Wine adds such a lovely color to an evening. A glass of red is warming and soothing, sweet
and tangy and bitter and complex – much like the Queens. The bulb of a wine glass fits perfectly in
the palm, and there’s something sexy about the stem; it invites idle fingers to
trace their way up and down its length.
A glass placed in a friend’s hand is a welcome, an offering, a gift, and
an invitation: “Sit down. Be easy. Enjoy.”
And refilling that glass a time or two makes for low lit, lingering
evenings, as we open ourselves to late night conversation, the kind that’s
heartfelt and vulnerable.
Then there’s food.
The multi-layered flavors of a good pinot noir or cab blend complement
and enhance so many of the wonderful things we eat; it’s as if everything put
in our mouths becomes twice as amazing, twice as satisfying for the presence of
something ruby jeweled or dark purple.
When cooking, a glass of wine keeps Queen Emily from eating as she goes,
and makes time in the kitchen into a celebration.
Mostly, it’s the toast.
We Queens pour a glass and raise it with intention, with love and
gratitude and awareness, fully aware of the blessing that is that particular
moment. Not just the wine, but
everything. From the roof over our head
to the food in our fridge, the amazing people we have in our lives, the
sunshine and breezes, our dogs, and everything else in the beautiful lives we
are living, that moment when we bring the wine to our lips is an affirmation of
all of it. It is our prayer and mantra,
and a way we connect to the grand everything that we are a part of. We say
it whether we are the Queens in our
simple privacy, or together with 100 other shining souls. We pour, we smile and offer our cheers, then
we clink our glasses and murmur our affirmation: “To us.”
*This paragraph is
solely for the benefit of the Queen Mother, should she ever read this posting.
