Last night I attended a wine tasting party at a friend’s house. Each guest brought two bottles and something to eat; I brought a good Zinfandel that I like, a Sauvignon Blanc, a wedge of manchego cheese, and an entree of thai chicken sliders with sriracha mayonnaise. The hostess, who is far more of an expert than myself, provided four bottles to try, as well as cheese and crackers. All told, we tasted eight wines — four white and four red.

It was far more of a studious affair than I had anticipated, which pleased me, as I had wondered if we would just sit around drinking. The hostess gave us all pencils and tasting note sheets to fill out, and as we tried each bottle, we talked about the color, the bouquet, the texture, the body, the finish, and so on, then scored each one. All the while eating and chatting. It was pretty great. And though I drank from eight pours, I did not become drunk. Though I did get pleasantly buzzed.

In history news, I am almost done reading the Washington biography. 820 pages! (not counting footnotes) High five! Also it’s incredible the amount of drama and bullshit George had to put up with from Thomas Jefferson, who is literally the worst. More on that once I’ve finished.

I found another great history website: Journal of the American Revolution. Well worth a look.