It's Thanksgiving week so this post will be about what we are thankful for...at the winery.
Vivac is owned and run by my husband and his brother, myself and my sister-in-law. The 4 of us have given blood, sweat and tears to the winery over almost 2 decades and hope to reach a point where we can pass it on to our children as a lucrative inheritance. As we built this winery, literally from the ground up, we have moved from working outside jobs to fund buying grapes and barrels, bottling at night at the end of a long shift and doing every last part of the process personally, to now having a division of labor, a fantastic staff and we are no longer on food stamps! As the winery has grown, so have we. We have won International wine competition awards, learned the hard way what works for us and what does not and are deeply involved in the development of the industry in the state as a whole. We have learned not to take every last thing so damn seriously and that taking time off is just as important as the time put in. So what better idea is there than to gather up our staff and visit some of our friends wineries to do a little compare and contrast; give us perspective on what we can be grateful for and where we need to improve?
We hired Cindy with New Mexico Wine Tours to take us around Albuquerque on her luxury bus and back home to Dixon. I highly recommend doing this at some point, Cindy is fabulous and having a bus allows you to imbibe safely. She can tailor the tour to your needs/ wants and get you up to visit us where you can drink in the view. There are several wineries on the way up to us and (cue unabashed plug) with phenomenal wines, local beers on tap, local cider, handmade chocolates, handmade cheeses, and all kinds of goodies, you really shouldn't visit NM or live in NM and not make it up to see us.
We couldn't include every single winery we wanted to or we'd drown, so we selected a variety to show different sized wineries as well as different approaches to winemaking and/ or customer experiences. I hesitate to name the wineries we visited because I want to share some of the things we learned and some of that may color your idea of that winery, which isn't fair. We all have off days or things that don't go smoothly. It is important to go out and visit all the wonderful wineries in our state without prejudice.
And let the complaining begin! You didn't think you'd escape my complaining just because this is a post about being thankful and doesn't include running did you? Silly readers, I always complain!
Of all the wineries, the thing we walked away with is that we are a thirsty group and most of the time the wine flowed like molasses. No joke! Perhaps you have had the same experience? It took too long to get a glass in your hand or too long between pours or too little of a pour...whatever it is (and we have dealt with complaints too), it comes down to POUR THE DAMN WINE! It is a legal standard that we all have to adhere to with how much to pour, but if the tasting is going so slowly that you spend most of the time twirling your empty glass, it feels like you were not given enough wine. Also, if you are not being entertained, the lack of wine becomes your focus. At one winery, we had to wait so long between pours and with absolutely no information or "entertainment" that we left. Lets face it, we are in the service industry and people expect you to 'dance' for them...so do it! At another winery conversation became too personal with the server oversharing to the point that it felt more like a therapy session...AND we had no wine in our glasses. It was borderline painful, clearly not the experience customers want. We are thankful for those that are not shy to ask for a taste of the next wine.
At one of the wineries, there was actually too much entertainment which made the tasting take too long. We all agreed too much was better than too little, but that the focus also needs to be on the group enjoying themselves and a little less about the winery's need to lecture. That said, the wine flowed well and constantly which made for a happy group. We are thankful for drinking wine in the morning.
At another winery, they relied on reputation to do all the work for them. This made that winery pale in comparison to other wineries. This is definitely not the desired goal. I don't think any of us want people leaving our tasting room saying "that was nice, but..." and while reputation may have gotten people in the door, it is your job to wow them while they are there. Here it is again, do the dance people! We are thankful for delicious wines even if there is no fanfare.
We also managed to sneak in lunch at a place that was fabulous with beautiful atmosphere but crap service. I am pretty understanding and give people a lot of slack, but this poor girl couldn't have figured out how to take an order or remember what she was supposed to do to save her life. It was a great lesson to our staff in how being distracted or flustered makes for a terrible experience for the customer. Breath, slow down and BE NICE! Seems simple, but over and over again that seems to be the challenge, just being nice. We are thankful for getting to finally leave.
Then there was the winery that had such screwy hours that it became difficult to visit, even with a scheduled appointment. When we were late (we know that is an annoying thing to do to someone that is waiting to meet you, but also unavoidable that day) and we could not connect with the owner to update our timing, we showed up to a locked gate. The high number of signs during this interaction that said to us "I don't care" really wasn't good for business. Talk about a good learning opportunity! We are thankful for ordering drinks at lunch to get us through the dry patch.
Not to sound full of myself, but in truth, most wineries, even in high profile areas like Napa, roll out the red carpet when they hear winemakers are visiting (yes, we are now totally spoiled). We hope that our staff does the same in return. However at one winery, the staff was so busy that they were not only distracted, but gave us the distinct impression that we were a pain in the ass for being there. Pretty sure that winery did NOT want us to have that experience. Server after server came through, trading off who would throw wine at us, each server worse than the last. At one point when I asked the server to share with our group the story of the winery, she said with an exasperated huff "I really don't know". Hmmm...that sucks. We are thankful for knowing when to leave an abusive relationship. Yes, our experience tasting wine is a relationship.
It wasn't all negative though. Over all the wineries were lovely and welcoming and we had an amazing day tasting wines that were different than ours. We had a wonderful time with a group of incredible people that made us so thankful they are our staff. We were able to make that trip happen and take a day off to play, boy oh boy are we thankful to be at a point where we can do that! We saw that our staff is engaged and excited and that they are doing a fabulous job. Each one of them is always trying their best, and for that we are so very thankful. We also saw that the industry as a whole is growing and evolving and yet showing individual personality and that is very exciting. We learned that we are doing so much right and that we need to be grateful for how far we have come.
So this Thanksgiving, be thankful for the little family owned businesses around you, be thankful for the people that make your dreams come true, be thankful for the changes you've made in your life and above all, lets be thankful for the wine in our glasses!
*this post is brought to you by the newly released Heaven & Hell Artist Series wines: Divino & Diavolo. These wines are off the charts amazing, the label art by Jessamyn Lovell is mind blowing and they are a must have for your Thanksgiving meal.
-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family!
www.VivacWinery.com
Running on Wine; from Marathons to Rafting to "Fueling" on the Patio, We are Fueled by Vivác.
Monday, November 20, 2017
Thursday, October 5, 2017
Diet? What Diet?
I'm starting to wonder if I should have named this blog "Complainie Complainerton". But then that is half of what all of you seem to love... at least your private messages to me say that; you are a shy group! So why make excuses, let's get this complaining party started!
Crush is heavy under way (the time when we get grapes coming in from all the vineyards and wine making starts) which coincides with huge fun filled wine festivals and events. During this time, we are exhausted, excited and stressed. So of course I decided that NOW was the time to really kick my butt and start a diet. I mean why head into your busiest time and be easy on yourself? No, no, why not add a complex diet to your stress load so you can intermittently fail and add hating yourself to the fun? Clearly that is the correct choice.
You thought I was already on a diet from reading my previous posts didn't you? See? I'm a spaz! I was and then realized that I suck at dieting. I hate meal prepping. I hate cooking so spending a full day cooking all the crap, I don't want to eat, for the week sounds like torture. Not to mention I drink when I cook so that leads to a tipsy lady by the end of the prep day. In an effort to be safe, I cut out dealing with sharp objects and fire and just sat on the sofa and drank. No prepped meals, but soooo much more enjoyable AND I believe me when I promise to eat 'right' all week.
Every single weekend, as I sit on the sofa and drink wine, I also promise to workout all week. They talk about "beer goggles", well I think I have "wine-exercise goggles". Every time I have a couple glasses of wine, I think I am going to train for the Olympics the next day. Guess what? I don't. In fact, I am not even doing very well keeping up with my Physical Therapy exercises. I know, it is pathetic. And to end your curiosity, I do NOT eat 'right' during the week.
I am also not surrounded by much support. My talented winemaker husband MAKES me taste new wines. Famous Guest Chef's to our events MAKE me taste their special dishes. Travelling winemakers from prestigious wineries around the world MAKE me taste their award winners. Friends with free tickets to specialty events MAKE me go eat lobster and fried oysters and duck and little delightful pastries and then wash it down with the world's very best wines! I mean, really it is a cruel cruel world when you are trying to diet.
Needless to say a friend recommended a lazy person's option with protein shakes and limited calorie meals. I decided if I ever wanted to take this 'brain tumor weight' off, I needed to do it before I got so comfortable with my humpty-dumpty shape, I stopped seeing it. I immediately lost weight and felt good on the diet! I felt so great about it, that I decided I was invincible and attended some of the aforementioned events. It started slow with a work event and a few sips of wine, I skipped the enticing food and felt I'd escaped fairly unscathed! I was a dieting badass. Next was the event with friends where I decided calories didn't count, boy was that a fun day! Clearly less of a badass day. And then finally I closed the week with an event that had lots of wine, lots of phenomenal food and ended with tequila shots and a bowl of pita chips. That day was zero badass and 100% dumbass. Amazingly, I didn't loose any weight that week.
"Enough woman!" I screamed into the empty wine bottle. The next day I got right back on my shake train and vowed to kick this pudgy butt to the curb. It's going pretty well too. All I have to do to stay away from delicious food and choose to eat vegetables, say no to the beautiful ruby liquid of the Gods and just drink water...is to go to bed at 7:00pm. It is really amazing how much willpower I have when I experience the world from the other side of a locked bedroom door, wearing an eye mask and ear plugs.
* This post is sponsored by all my scorned lovers: Vivac Malbec, Vivac Aglianico, Vivac Refosco
-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family!
www.VivacWinery.com
Crush is heavy under way (the time when we get grapes coming in from all the vineyards and wine making starts) which coincides with huge fun filled wine festivals and events. During this time, we are exhausted, excited and stressed. So of course I decided that NOW was the time to really kick my butt and start a diet. I mean why head into your busiest time and be easy on yourself? No, no, why not add a complex diet to your stress load so you can intermittently fail and add hating yourself to the fun? Clearly that is the correct choice.
You thought I was already on a diet from reading my previous posts didn't you? See? I'm a spaz! I was and then realized that I suck at dieting. I hate meal prepping. I hate cooking so spending a full day cooking all the crap, I don't want to eat, for the week sounds like torture. Not to mention I drink when I cook so that leads to a tipsy lady by the end of the prep day. In an effort to be safe, I cut out dealing with sharp objects and fire and just sat on the sofa and drank. No prepped meals, but soooo much more enjoyable AND I believe me when I promise to eat 'right' all week.
Every single weekend, as I sit on the sofa and drink wine, I also promise to workout all week. They talk about "beer goggles", well I think I have "wine-exercise goggles". Every time I have a couple glasses of wine, I think I am going to train for the Olympics the next day. Guess what? I don't. In fact, I am not even doing very well keeping up with my Physical Therapy exercises. I know, it is pathetic. And to end your curiosity, I do NOT eat 'right' during the week.
I am also not surrounded by much support. My talented winemaker husband MAKES me taste new wines. Famous Guest Chef's to our events MAKE me taste their special dishes. Travelling winemakers from prestigious wineries around the world MAKE me taste their award winners. Friends with free tickets to specialty events MAKE me go eat lobster and fried oysters and duck and little delightful pastries and then wash it down with the world's very best wines! I mean, really it is a cruel cruel world when you are trying to diet.
Needless to say a friend recommended a lazy person's option with protein shakes and limited calorie meals. I decided if I ever wanted to take this 'brain tumor weight' off, I needed to do it before I got so comfortable with my humpty-dumpty shape, I stopped seeing it. I immediately lost weight and felt good on the diet! I felt so great about it, that I decided I was invincible and attended some of the aforementioned events. It started slow with a work event and a few sips of wine, I skipped the enticing food and felt I'd escaped fairly unscathed! I was a dieting badass. Next was the event with friends where I decided calories didn't count, boy was that a fun day! Clearly less of a badass day. And then finally I closed the week with an event that had lots of wine, lots of phenomenal food and ended with tequila shots and a bowl of pita chips. That day was zero badass and 100% dumbass. Amazingly, I didn't loose any weight that week.
"Enough woman!" I screamed into the empty wine bottle. The next day I got right back on my shake train and vowed to kick this pudgy butt to the curb. It's going pretty well too. All I have to do to stay away from delicious food and choose to eat vegetables, say no to the beautiful ruby liquid of the Gods and just drink water...is to go to bed at 7:00pm. It is really amazing how much willpower I have when I experience the world from the other side of a locked bedroom door, wearing an eye mask and ear plugs.
* This post is sponsored by all my scorned lovers: Vivac Malbec, Vivac Aglianico, Vivac Refosco
-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family!
www.VivacWinery.com
Monday, September 4, 2017
Celebrating the Labor
Ever notice that people that are in the food/ beverage/ hospitality industry are never excited about the big holiday weekends? That's because, while YOU have off to play with your family and friends, WE are working... A LOT.
For winery people, not only are the tasting rooms bustling with events and promos, but in September, we are smack in the middle of crush (harvest). This means that grapes are coming in that need to be made into wine; with constant attention and care during fermentation. We are also making more space in the winery for the wave upon wave of grapes needing to be processed. THEN we have the wine festivals. Whomever decided that it was an ideal time to have a huge wine festival when we are all at our wit's end in not just one city, but two (Albuquerque & Las Cruses), should be tortured by a long slow death... of restricted wine.
Needless to say, we are happy to do what we do and love seeing all your happy faces at the festivals and our tasting rooms. This is a time when people flock to their favorite local spots and enjoy an extra laugh or two. We know that you work hard for your money and when you choose to help us live our dream by spending that money at our place, it not only makes working extra over the weekend worth while, but warms our hearts. Thank you for making us a part of your holiday!
* followup to my 2 previous posts about dieting...you simply can NOT diet on a holiday weekend. Also, I am typing this with a glass of wine in hand. I know all of you are drinking this weekend and it isn't good to drink alone so I'm having a glass of wine "with" you. You're welcome.
-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family!
www.VivacWinery.com
For winery people, not only are the tasting rooms bustling with events and promos, but in September, we are smack in the middle of crush (harvest). This means that grapes are coming in that need to be made into wine; with constant attention and care during fermentation. We are also making more space in the winery for the wave upon wave of grapes needing to be processed. THEN we have the wine festivals. Whomever decided that it was an ideal time to have a huge wine festival when we are all at our wit's end in not just one city, but two (Albuquerque & Las Cruses), should be tortured by a long slow death... of restricted wine.
Needless to say, we are happy to do what we do and love seeing all your happy faces at the festivals and our tasting rooms. This is a time when people flock to their favorite local spots and enjoy an extra laugh or two. We know that you work hard for your money and when you choose to help us live our dream by spending that money at our place, it not only makes working extra over the weekend worth while, but warms our hearts. Thank you for making us a part of your holiday!
* followup to my 2 previous posts about dieting...you simply can NOT diet on a holiday weekend. Also, I am typing this with a glass of wine in hand. I know all of you are drinking this weekend and it isn't good to drink alone so I'm having a glass of wine "with" you. You're welcome.
-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family!
www.VivacWinery.com
Monday, August 28, 2017
She's Been a Bad Bad Girl
I feel like a complete loser. I started a diet, was off to a grand start and then I seriously dropped the ball.
My son had a camp-out so my husband and I had one of those stay-up-talking-all-hours-of-the-night kind of nights which I love, but I have to admit, they always have wine involved. I had not been drinking my beloved wine, but when your winemaker husband comes home with different vintages of Syrah to taste side by side...well, you HAVE to! Ok, maybe I was the one that suggested we taste them side by side, but let's not point guilty fingers, the point is we then had multiple open bottles of wine that were begging to be enjoyed.
The next day I had a marathon of a hangover. Why is it that when you haven't been drinking, it hurts so much more? Shouldn't your body be in a happy place and able to weather the storm better? Biology class aside, I simply could not stay on my diet and succumbed to every desire my tummy threw at me. Flour tortillas? YES (those are definitely NOT on my gluten free diet). Candy? YES! More wine? Uhhhhh duh, I said I was hungover didn't I?
OK so 2 days in a row and back to the diet. Or so I thought. I am now on day 5 of having wine and honestly, I don't think I will be skipping it tonight. I feel a cold coming on and clearly need the alcohol to burn the germs out. I will work on being good on my diet on Wednesday, Wednesday has a nice ring to it.
*This post was brought to you by Vivac Winery Syrah, available in wine growlers from our wine kegs. The perfect way to fall off your diet.
-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family!
www.VivacWinery.com
My son had a camp-out so my husband and I had one of those stay-up-talking-all-hours-of-the-night kind of nights which I love, but I have to admit, they always have wine involved. I had not been drinking my beloved wine, but when your winemaker husband comes home with different vintages of Syrah to taste side by side...well, you HAVE to! Ok, maybe I was the one that suggested we taste them side by side, but let's not point guilty fingers, the point is we then had multiple open bottles of wine that were begging to be enjoyed.
The next day I had a marathon of a hangover. Why is it that when you haven't been drinking, it hurts so much more? Shouldn't your body be in a happy place and able to weather the storm better? Biology class aside, I simply could not stay on my diet and succumbed to every desire my tummy threw at me. Flour tortillas? YES (those are definitely NOT on my gluten free diet). Candy? YES! More wine? Uhhhhh duh, I said I was hungover didn't I?
OK so 2 days in a row and back to the diet. Or so I thought. I am now on day 5 of having wine and honestly, I don't think I will be skipping it tonight. I feel a cold coming on and clearly need the alcohol to burn the germs out. I will work on being good on my diet on Wednesday, Wednesday has a nice ring to it.
*This post was brought to you by Vivac Winery Syrah, available in wine growlers from our wine kegs. The perfect way to fall off your diet.
-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family!
www.VivacWinery.com
Monday, August 21, 2017
Take it Off Baby!
OK people, long time no post! Summer flew by and if you are anything like me, you did NOT start that workout plan and did NOT diet. I have some "brain tumor" weight lingering that I would like to take off, but food tastes so good! And wine tastes even better.
I've had it with carrying this extra weight though. I'm feeling better now so I want to look better too. I still have my ankle injury to contend with, but I'm serious in my focus. I have already gone over a week with very limited alcohol intake and a Gluten Free diet. I know you are all thinking "limited" wine in my diet must mean I'm down to a bottle a day, but I swear, over this past week I only had 4 glasses of wine! One glass on two different nights and 2 glasses of sparkling wine on another day. It is impossible to only have one glass of sparkling wine... and maybe illegal. Anyway, that means lots of nights without anything. It isn't fun, but I'm already down 4 pounds so lets keep this train movin!
I know that exercise coupled with calorie restriction is the best way to shed pounds, yet each of the days this past week, as I went to bed each night, I would plan the next day to start working out and each and every day, I forgot. I even looked up YouTube exercise videos, but still, the next morning I woke with a fresh, blank memory.
So now that my son is back in school and I can focus on me a little more, I am determined to start working out. I mean, not today. Today is the 1st day back at school and I wore a cute skirt without thinking about it (see?!? I completely forgot that I had ANY intention to work out today). BUT I am going to research possible workouts I'd like to try...so that I can forget about them tomorrow.
Cheers! Wait, not cheers for me, I'm not drinking today. Will you drink for me? A good friend would drink for me.
* this post is brought to you by the wines I am fantasizing about today: Vivac Winery Gruner Veltliner, Vivac Winery Montepulciano & Vivac Winery Malbec
-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family!
www.VivacWinery.com
I've had it with carrying this extra weight though. I'm feeling better now so I want to look better too. I still have my ankle injury to contend with, but I'm serious in my focus. I have already gone over a week with very limited alcohol intake and a Gluten Free diet. I know you are all thinking "limited" wine in my diet must mean I'm down to a bottle a day, but I swear, over this past week I only had 4 glasses of wine! One glass on two different nights and 2 glasses of sparkling wine on another day. It is impossible to only have one glass of sparkling wine... and maybe illegal. Anyway, that means lots of nights without anything. It isn't fun, but I'm already down 4 pounds so lets keep this train movin!
I know that exercise coupled with calorie restriction is the best way to shed pounds, yet each of the days this past week, as I went to bed each night, I would plan the next day to start working out and each and every day, I forgot. I even looked up YouTube exercise videos, but still, the next morning I woke with a fresh, blank memory.
So now that my son is back in school and I can focus on me a little more, I am determined to start working out. I mean, not today. Today is the 1st day back at school and I wore a cute skirt without thinking about it (see?!? I completely forgot that I had ANY intention to work out today). BUT I am going to research possible workouts I'd like to try...so that I can forget about them tomorrow.
Cheers! Wait, not cheers for me, I'm not drinking today. Will you drink for me? A good friend would drink for me.
* this post is brought to you by the wines I am fantasizing about today: Vivac Winery Gruner Veltliner, Vivac Winery Montepulciano & Vivac Winery Malbec
-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family!
www.VivacWinery.com
Tuesday, June 6, 2017
Uncharted Territory
The last we left off, was with Anxiety Wine Pairings... now it is the beginning of June and it seems a whole new world. Physical Therapy has proven helpful and I am becoming less of a marionette, liable to fall apart with the slightest breeze, however the past month has not been easy.
A few weeks ago, a young boy had a tragic accident. Out of respect for the family I will leave the details out of this post. All I will say is that you never know when it could be the last time you hug your loved ones. As a mother of a similarly aged boy, my empathy for his mother is enough to break my soul; the family is in crushing pain. If you can help, please contribute to GoFundMe by clicking here.
Attempting to not wallow in the depths of darkness, it seems to be a good time to check in with our own families, take an inventory of how everyone is doing and start a conversation about how to handle our feelings and share them. My personal family had to start this process as my health sharply declined last year and I had to have the most difficult conversation of all time with my 10 year old son... you will be ok if mommy isn't here with you. Man just typing that made my throat swell shut and tears spring to my eyes. Needless to say it put every moment of holding hands to cross a street, every head slumped on my shoulder while watching a movie, every single "I love you" into blazing clarity. After this recent tragic event, it has given these treasured moments even more weight; parents aren't suppose to lose their children. It isn't easy, but we have started having the super scary discussions about depression and suicide and teenage hormones. I'm pretty sure Nightmare on Elm Street's Freddy Kruger would even be terrified of these talks.
It can feel daunting to speak about the things that scare us the most, it seems easier to work a little more, add an extra activity to the schedule, take the smiles at face value and call it ok, but what if it isn't? As I head back to work full time and an event season for the winery that is dizzying, I try to remember to slow down, not to lose the incredible insight I've garnered, but I find my instincts are to allow distraction to take precedence. Like a mantra I keep repeating 'slow down', something I've never been good at.
And so this summer stretches out in front of us full of uncharted territory. Always remembering to stop and slowly sip your wine.
-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family!
A few weeks ago, a young boy had a tragic accident. Out of respect for the family I will leave the details out of this post. All I will say is that you never know when it could be the last time you hug your loved ones. As a mother of a similarly aged boy, my empathy for his mother is enough to break my soul; the family is in crushing pain. If you can help, please contribute to GoFundMe by clicking here.
Attempting to not wallow in the depths of darkness, it seems to be a good time to check in with our own families, take an inventory of how everyone is doing and start a conversation about how to handle our feelings and share them. My personal family had to start this process as my health sharply declined last year and I had to have the most difficult conversation of all time with my 10 year old son... you will be ok if mommy isn't here with you. Man just typing that made my throat swell shut and tears spring to my eyes. Needless to say it put every moment of holding hands to cross a street, every head slumped on my shoulder while watching a movie, every single "I love you" into blazing clarity. After this recent tragic event, it has given these treasured moments even more weight; parents aren't suppose to lose their children. It isn't easy, but we have started having the super scary discussions about depression and suicide and teenage hormones. I'm pretty sure Nightmare on Elm Street's Freddy Kruger would even be terrified of these talks.
It can feel daunting to speak about the things that scare us the most, it seems easier to work a little more, add an extra activity to the schedule, take the smiles at face value and call it ok, but what if it isn't? As I head back to work full time and an event season for the winery that is dizzying, I try to remember to slow down, not to lose the incredible insight I've garnered, but I find my instincts are to allow distraction to take precedence. Like a mantra I keep repeating 'slow down', something I've never been good at.
And so this summer stretches out in front of us full of uncharted territory. Always remembering to stop and slowly sip your wine.
-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family!
Thursday, April 20, 2017
Anxiety Wine Pairings
Anxiety wine pairings...this is not for people that have anxiety ABOUT pairing wines, this is for people that suffer from anxiety and need wine. Anxiety pairs with pretty much any wine you can drink in copious amounts, of course I am a professional so that means literally any wine I can get my hands on. Only problem is the medication I was on to pull my cortisol levels down and return me to a human being, was extremely hard on my liver meaning I have to be super careful with adding alcohol back into my diet...which causes my anxiety to rise. Sounds like a fun merry-go-round doesn't it?
Why are you so full of anxiety you ask? Didn't that tumor in your head shrink and haven't you started feeling good? YES and yes, but due to the mega amount of cortisol that made itself at home in my body for a year and a half (tumor had my body make excess cortisol and not dump used cortisol so a 6-19 normal range for cortisol became 47 for me); that cortisol then damaged my tendons and ligaments...all of them. I feel like a marionette liable to break free from its strings and fall into a heap on the floor. Let's face it, with the ankle sprain that tore 2 tendons and ruptured 2 ligaments completely, coupled with the dislocated shoulder from doing practically nothing, that is a close reality.
I am now clunking around in the boot the doctor gave me to help my ankle, giving me a lopsided hobble that puts stress on my hips, knees and supporting ankle...just waiting for the strings of one of these spots to break free too. I also worry about the possibility to actually heal these injuries. See the cortisol damaging the ligaments and tendons also makes it take longer to heal. If I am not properly healing, then surgery will need to happen to reconnect the ruptured ligaments. An MRI will determine if significant damage was done to my shoulder which then could result in surgery as well. My body is just so damned excited about having surgery that evidently when the brain surgery was put on the back burner (if the tumor starts to grow, surgery is a possibility once again) that it is having a party trying to get me on that operating table! Feeling like a bottle of wine a day for each individual injury should be mandatory, don't you agree?
Then, my son got sick. A strange cold of sorts that has given him headaches and a bout of the crummies. I THINK I may be catching his bug, a headache has attacked me, but having a headache sends me into a panic that would rival a tsunami warning for someone living beach side. I try to relax, but evil thoughts swarm inside my head like a beehive "Maybe it's back! Maybe it's growing! Maybe you are getting sick again!". Headaches should not be this stressful. Surely an additional bottle of wine daily should be prescribed. Oh and I can't sleep due to all my crazy thoughts so probably another bottle for that. What are we up to? 4 bottles a day? Sounds like liver failure for sure. Great another stressful thought.
So back to anxiety pairings: a bright light wine like our Gruner Veltliner should start off your morning. Something happy you know? Then mid-morning a lighter bodied red, like our Pinot Noir, it can even be served slightly chilled making it a perfect choice for running from your problems. This will be followed by our Divino red wine blend, because your anxiety levels at this point in the day are driving you to start praying to the heavens for help. And finally our Diavolo red wine blend in the evening, because after a day of juggling depressing thoughts and surges of adrenaline from the anxiety, you feel like you are in hell. Big bold reds also are equivalent to comfort food so you can have it as dinner and not feel guilty. Oh wait we need to add in a glass of our port style wine Amante (not a bottle, a glass! See how restrained I am?) with cheese because you skipped dinner. I don't know if that cures anxiety, but you'd be so drunk you probably wouldn't care. We can call it the anxiety medicine diet. The word medicine makes it not just OK, but good for you.
Not being able to drink all this delicious "medicine" makes me mad all over again at that bitch cortisol. Man who knew a hormone could reek such havoc? I should probably create a pairing for punching cortisol in the face. Wouldn't that be great if drinking a specific wine was actually like physically punching your problem in the face? Well, and not make you a raging alcoholic of course.
-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family!
www.VivacWinery.com
Why are you so full of anxiety you ask? Didn't that tumor in your head shrink and haven't you started feeling good? YES and yes, but due to the mega amount of cortisol that made itself at home in my body for a year and a half (tumor had my body make excess cortisol and not dump used cortisol so a 6-19 normal range for cortisol became 47 for me); that cortisol then damaged my tendons and ligaments...all of them. I feel like a marionette liable to break free from its strings and fall into a heap on the floor. Let's face it, with the ankle sprain that tore 2 tendons and ruptured 2 ligaments completely, coupled with the dislocated shoulder from doing practically nothing, that is a close reality.
I am now clunking around in the boot the doctor gave me to help my ankle, giving me a lopsided hobble that puts stress on my hips, knees and supporting ankle...just waiting for the strings of one of these spots to break free too. I also worry about the possibility to actually heal these injuries. See the cortisol damaging the ligaments and tendons also makes it take longer to heal. If I am not properly healing, then surgery will need to happen to reconnect the ruptured ligaments. An MRI will determine if significant damage was done to my shoulder which then could result in surgery as well. My body is just so damned excited about having surgery that evidently when the brain surgery was put on the back burner (if the tumor starts to grow, surgery is a possibility once again) that it is having a party trying to get me on that operating table! Feeling like a bottle of wine a day for each individual injury should be mandatory, don't you agree?
Then, my son got sick. A strange cold of sorts that has given him headaches and a bout of the crummies. I THINK I may be catching his bug, a headache has attacked me, but having a headache sends me into a panic that would rival a tsunami warning for someone living beach side. I try to relax, but evil thoughts swarm inside my head like a beehive "Maybe it's back! Maybe it's growing! Maybe you are getting sick again!". Headaches should not be this stressful. Surely an additional bottle of wine daily should be prescribed. Oh and I can't sleep due to all my crazy thoughts so probably another bottle for that. What are we up to? 4 bottles a day? Sounds like liver failure for sure. Great another stressful thought.
So back to anxiety pairings: a bright light wine like our Gruner Veltliner should start off your morning. Something happy you know? Then mid-morning a lighter bodied red, like our Pinot Noir, it can even be served slightly chilled making it a perfect choice for running from your problems. This will be followed by our Divino red wine blend, because your anxiety levels at this point in the day are driving you to start praying to the heavens for help. And finally our Diavolo red wine blend in the evening, because after a day of juggling depressing thoughts and surges of adrenaline from the anxiety, you feel like you are in hell. Big bold reds also are equivalent to comfort food so you can have it as dinner and not feel guilty. Oh wait we need to add in a glass of our port style wine Amante (not a bottle, a glass! See how restrained I am?) with cheese because you skipped dinner. I don't know if that cures anxiety, but you'd be so drunk you probably wouldn't care. We can call it the anxiety medicine diet. The word medicine makes it not just OK, but good for you.
Not being able to drink all this delicious "medicine" makes me mad all over again at that bitch cortisol. Man who knew a hormone could reek such havoc? I should probably create a pairing for punching cortisol in the face. Wouldn't that be great if drinking a specific wine was actually like physically punching your problem in the face? Well, and not make you a raging alcoholic of course.
-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family!
www.VivacWinery.com
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