ÿþ<html> <head> <title> TheWineRater.com </title> <META name="description" content="Information about wine."></META> <META name="keywords" content="wine, grapes, vini, vino"></META> </head> <body> <iframe src ="./banner.html" width="100%" height=160 frameborder=0> </iframe> <table><tr><td valign=top width=180> <iframe src ="links.html" width="100%" height=400> </iframe> <td> <table><tr><td valign=top> <P> <center><font color=maroon> <h1>Welcome to TheWineRater.com</h1> <i>in vino veritas</i><br> </center></font> <p> <table><tr><td align=justify valign=top> <font color=red><i>NEW!</i></font> April 25th, 2011 - A new year and a new take on many old bottles. Moving requires a tidying up of the cellar as wine doesn't really fair well on a moving truck in the heat of June. There are wine shipping options available, but not within the budget of the small collector like myself. I have thus far avoided the urge to acquire thousands of bottles because of our fluid lifestyle, but I still haven't bought any wine this year as I drink down our collection. It has been nice to pass back by many an old bottle, re-acquaint myself with it's flavor, and remember the trip upon which I acquired it. Wine is for me an intimate way to remember a journey, or a day when a bottle was acquired. Today I opened up a bottle of <a href="vinyards/northamerica/usa/california/napa/havens_wine_cellars/hudson_syrah/2001.html">Havens 2001 Syrah</a> which I got on a hot summer day five years ago. It was the day of the Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon, along side of which they used to run a 10K. I ran the 10K that day (59:19) and afterward there was a tasting with local vineyards in Sonoma square. We continued tasting that afternoon, driving around and found Havens. We were the only ones there that day and had a wonderful time tasting outside in the sunshine with our 1 and 3 year old running about. So many Napa tasting rooms frown on children so it was a welcome respite as I remembered running about vineyards while my parents tasted wine 2 decades before. I bought several bottles that day from Havens, and the winery has since been sold to a company that went bankrupt, so that is an experience I will never have again - but the memory of it is captured in a bottle. <p> <center> <a href="articles/archives/index.html">Archives</a> </center> <P> </table> <p> <td valign=top> <script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "pub-7854718838870175"; google_ad_width = 120; google_ad_height = 600; google_ad_format = "120x600_as"; google_ad_type = "text_image"; //2006-10-31: www.TheWineRater.com google_ad_channel = "0729782333"; //--></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script> <br> <script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "pub-7854718838870175"; google_ad_width = 120; google_ad_height = 600; google_ad_format = "120x600_as"; google_ad_type = "text_image"; //2006-10-31: www.TheWineRater.com google_ad_channel = "0729782333"; //--></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script> </table> </table> <p> <!-- ------------------------------------------------------------- --> <hr> <H5>This page last modified: 25 April 2011 by <a href="mailto: TheWineRater@TheWineRater.com">TheWineRater</a>.</H5> <iframe src ="./copyright.html" width="100%" height=100 frameborder=0> </iframe> </body> </html>