Cigars & Wine (formally Cigars & Soju)

[ehowton]

Went to a new smoke shop in Wichita. Box a third of a box of Acid cigars, the 6x60 size. DAMN. Wife allowed purchase because she wanted the box. Those of you not familiar with the Acid brand, it shows the silhouette of a Rastafarian adjacent a Ninja motorcycle with a cigar in his mouth against a physchodelic rainbow backdrop. Nice. I also purchased some humidifier solution for my humidor, and nice, dual-sided guillotine cutter. I'm going to smoke one on my way home.

Then it was onto the wine shop. A new Kansas-wine shop. You heard me, Kansas grapes. I sneered at the bottle of spatelese and was outright disgusted when I saw an icewein. My wife was busy tasting wines and I asked, "So how is it you sell an icewein?" She explained they followed the German recipe (I sneered at this as well, but was impressed they followed the tradition). At any rate, I followed this up with, "And how is it you can sell a spatelese?" She admitted that at the end of this year, they would no longer be allowed to use the name (no shit) but asked, "Would you like to try some?"
"Sure." Then, my entire demeanor changed. It was fantastic. I was beyond words. I asked, "How..." but it was clear I could not finish. The wine maker had spent time in Germany, and used the same 4 grapes the Germans use to blend theirs. I felt like I was back on the Rhine. I bought two bottles. She said, "Would you like to try the icewein?" I admitted that I would have never asked. You see, icewein is only made when the grapes are left on the vine in hopes of an early frost before they turn bad. In Germany, you could only get icewein about once every three or four years. As it turns out, this crop was a 2002 edition, the last time they were able to get a frost on the grapes. On the day of the frost, you have to pick the grapes that day, and press them immediately. It's a lot of work, and icewein is usually sold only in .375 litre bottles at three times the price. Its...well, thicker than most wines. She poured a tasting sample in the glass. I swirled it and brought it to my nose. The bouquet alone told me this was going to be good. I sipped it, swished it, swallowed it. IT BLEW MY MIND! Despite the cost. I bought a bottle, letting her know that she had exceeded any expectations I had of Kansas wine. I left with tears in my eyes thanking her profusely. "Thank you for your comments. It's customers like you that make our day." She said as I left. Perhaps it was the amount of money I spent that really made her day. Regardless, I have my icewein now.

Comments

[drax0r.livejournal.com]

This thread is useless without pictures.

Grats on finding the motherload.

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

The pictures are embedded within the links. You're the only person on the face of the planet I know who feels that 'clicking' 'links' is a waste of time. I'll try to keep this in mind in future posts. That being said, I was awfully descriptive. Have you ever read a book with just words in it? Once you master that, it's like pictures in your head as you make out the words. Reading is fundemental.

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

The links are the underlined, highlighted words within the paragraph.

[drax0r.livejournal.com]

I was actually hoping for a link to a photo of your own taking. Similar to the photo you posted right after you got your new humidor.

I wanna see your haul, not representations of what you got from the manufacturer's website.

cigar

[(Anonymous)]

That absolutely must be the cigar Clinton used with Monica. L

[leonardii.livejournal.com]

Jimminy Crickets! Your blog goes back! How is it that I missed this!?

Well, can't change the past - just got to go forward. :)

I spent a year of my army tour in Germany, so I know how to appreciate a good eiswine.

But from Kansas? However, they do use the genuine frost method instead of the un-natural process of cryo-extraction used by some winemakers to produce a faux-eiswine. Hey, that's giving respect to tradition and flavor. And I can also appreciate that.

If you say it's delicious - that's good enough for me. I think you've found yourself a hidden gem. If you ever want to send me a birthday and/or Christmas gift - I would love to sample that Kansas Eiswine!

For my immediate family - I have started the tradition of drinking Eiswine for Christmas each year. At other times throughout the year, we celebrate with an auslese or a trochenbeerenauslese.

Lots of folks rave about the canadian icewine. I've tried plenty but always had a bottle of German eiswine to compare and contrast. Really, there is no comparison.

Enjoy your wine shop.

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

Gentle sir,

My blog goes back much further than this...

And yes, the first thing I asked her was 'how?' She explained that the master winemaker spent several years in Germany learning from them. Thus, when they did have an early frost that year, they picked the grapes immediately as in the German tradition.

It was fantastic. Alas, that smallish 375ml bottle was something like $30.

I haven't opened it yet.

[schpydurx.livejournal.com]

still saving it?

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

Oh yes. I think I'll crack it when I get back to Texas.

[schpydurx.livejournal.com]

would a visitation from me and the Mrs. be a similar suitable occasion?

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

For that sir - I crack open my finest bottle of scotch!

[schpydurx.livejournal.com]

hmmmmm...I foresee a slight change in the itinerary...

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

If you wait until I get back to Texas, I'll really show you a good time!

[schpydurx.livejournal.com]

can you do so by the end of May?

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

No comment.

[schpydurx.livejournal.com]

Holy fucking shit!

I'll put in the call to U-Haul for you.