With Labor Day right around the corner, I started thinking about the various efforts we put forth in our lives. We work; we play; we love. After putting long hours and sweat equity into endeavors, everyone deserves to relax and savor the fruits of their labor. Here are recommended wines for the worker, player and lover on this Labor Day.
You work in an office from sun up to sun down and still the "in pile" is never done. Spending eight to 10 hours a day inside a cube shuffling papers is no fun. But hey, it's a job! And to commemorate that fact, pour yourself a goblet of Line 39 Central Coast Pinot Noir. For about $12 a bottle, you'll get sumptuous berry flavors and a soft, drinkable wine that doesn't need a whole lot of food to bring it to life. Who wants to cook on their day off anyway?
Not the office type? You need to either construct or destroy; something that gets your blood pumping and the sweat dripping. At the end of the day, it's a bottle of BB King's Signature Collection White Wine that will cool your senses. The crisp, fruity flavors quench the dryness and, at $14 a bottle, this wine doesn't break the bank. The wine is from Spain where the Verdejo grapes are picked in the coolness of the night. Try it with some Parmesan cheese and pieces of crusty bread. This isn't cooking; this is breaking off pieces of cheese and bread. You don't even need a plate.
Enough work — it's play time! There's always the end-of-game food and drink ritual — pizza, burgers, wings and mounds of fries are essential whether you bring home the cup or the booby prize. Grab a bottle of Highflyer Centerline Napa Valley Red Blend, pop that cork, and pour this luscious blend of syrah, petite sirah, zinfandel and grenache into your teammates' glasses. Be generous with that pour — another bottle is easily affordable at about $16.
Finally, the hardest work of all: the efforts that bring us love. From figuring out if it's OK to call your beloved today or wait till tomorrow to wondering if roses or petunias are the flora du jour. Falling in love can leave us exasperated yet exhilarated. Either way a bottle of Moet & Chandon Grand Vintage 2004 is always appropriate when dealing with affairs of the heart. Flavors of peaches and almond explode with every little bubble that rises to the top of the flute. Put the petunias down and express your feelings with this lovely bottle of REAL champagne. It's $80 a bottle but, trust me, you'll get around those bases a lot quicker with the Moet than with the petunias.