WINE AND MUSIC MONDAY: MONTES ALPHA SYRAH AND ALBERT KING

I am not what you would call a big celebrator. Yeah, today is my birthday, but I’ve not a lot of special plans. I do take satisfaction in the fact that 20 years ago today, the Berlin Wall finally came down. Now that was a cool birthday present (I know it’s not all about me). So in lieu of self-serenading a few bars of that dreadful Happy Birthday song, I would much rather share with you one of my favorite blues guitarists, Albert King, and his hit “I’ll Play the Blues for You”:

I’ve been asked most of the day what kind of big plans I have. It’s funny, because my biggest superstition is not working on my birthday. I have maybe taken three birthdays off from work since I started working, and every time I took off, something bad happened. Hence my working today. And due to the craziness of this business I participate in on a daily basis, a nice quiet evening with my wife and my four-legged children is the best thing I could hope for, along with a simple dinner and a good bottle of wine. Tonight, I think it may be a Montes Alpha Syrah 2006. While not a big splurge, the Alpha Syrah has always been one of my favorites and a rock-solid example of great Syrah from anywhere in the world and the fact that the Alpha Syrah hails from Chile makes it even more special.

Albert King and Montes Alpha, two things that make for a very nice birthday, or any day for that matter. Cheers!