Everybody was Kung fu wine-fighting.

Thud and I bought this Kung Fu Girl, 2017 Riesling (Colombia Valley AVA), simply because we both liked the label.  But also because he was planning on cooking Chinese food for dinner.  (The Kung Fu Girl [KFG] was the first Riesling we spotted whilst out shopping.)  On Thud's part it reminded him of the killer-kiddie-Kung fu moves of his youngest daughter: on my part I thought that it would pair well with Thud's, own recipe, 'Chinese Chilli Chicken'.
The KFG did not disappoint.  What was initially a rather pedestrian wine, the KFG turned into a delightful citrusy, white-peachy, unexpectedly medium-bodied, food friendly wine.  When consumed with food this wine went through a really remarkable transformation.  Not only did it pair well with our dish, it didn't fight with the food - always important.
Admittedly, buying a State of Washington wine (in Costco) whilst on holiday away from the US is a little odd.  However, sometimes, when deciding on what wine to buy, I just throw my hands in the air like I just don't care.  Or like a drunken Kung fu-fighter.

Der Geschmack der Farben.

I arrived home in one piece.  My flight from SFO to Manchester, via Zurich, was without incident - very smooth and painless.
Now that I am home, I am in a state of amazement.  I have experienced better weather here in the past four days than all of 2019 in California and I have loved every minute of it.  Thing is, England is hard to beat when the sun is shining, it is just so pretty.  And so green.  Spring has always been my favourite season in Blighty.
Family OTW and I have busied ourselves with lots of activities; shooting, archery, bingo and other games.  Every meal has been outside, breakfasts, lunches and dinners.  Of note, yet another fabulous wood-fired pizza event (my sister-in-law's Thai chicken pizza could give California Pizza Kitchen a run for their money) at which I discovered that a particularly spicy pizza paired well with a Prosecco that Thud pulled out of his wine-stash.  Fun.
The Taste of Colours, kindly reproduced with the permission of Swiss Air (well, I'm sure they would have approved it if I'd asked), is not about the neurological trait synaesthesia.  Rather, the wine-article in my seat-pocket magazine maintained that there was a correlation between the colour of a wine and the way in which a wine is produced, even a vintage's growing conditions, with the qualities therefore inherent in a wine.  Not sure I totally buy the whole premise of the article as it's a little simplistic, besides I don't read German, but it made for some light, in-flight entertainment - a bit like the colour, Blasses Weissgelb.

Get back...

...to where I once belonged, Part 14.
Yes, this evening I will be winging my way back home to Blighty, hopefully with a glass of Swiss Air white wine in my hand.  Chasselas to be exact.
In preparation for my journey, I did a bit of research (wine research, my favourite) and drank a bottle of Swiss wine.  I even let Vinomaker have a little.  The 2017 Cave de La Côte, Chasselas Romand was an extremely quaffable, light wine.  Fresh and airy, with an aroma of lime and flowers, followed by lemon and melon on the palate this was a very nice Chasselas.  Besides, what's there not to like about a bottle of wine with the Matterhorn on the label?
I remember years ago driving past the vineyards in the canton of Valais (around Sion).  Little did I imagine that years later I would be sitting in the Napa Valley drinking a bottle of Swiss wine from the Upper Rhône Valley.  Life is funny.
Get back JoJo!

All systems go.

A little bit later than last year, but no too much, the Cabernet sauvignon vines are beginning to go through budbreak.  That's it, all of Vinoland's vines now have some green-stuff going on.  In fact, the white grapes are at the stage were I need to start suckering the trunks.  It's always something. 
Go Cab, go!

Fava beans and Chardonnay.

This is not a post about a food and wine pairing.  No, it is a post about the incessant rain that northern California is experiencing and the fact that I don't like it.  However, a neighbouring vineyard's cover crop is enjoying it immensely.  Every cloud has a silver lining, or something like that.

I'm nettled.

It has rained every day this week,  PPTHHPTHPFFTHPPPT!!!
The weeds, like this purple dead-nettle (Lamium purpurem), are loving the rain, whilst me, and Vinodog 2, not so much.  At least I have something pretty to look at, as I walk around with my head constantly bowed to avoid the raindrops.  Sigh.