My friends and I lost our regular trivia spot when Connolly’s Irish Pub, in Cary, canceled Big Slow Tom’s trivia last week, which was emceed by the fabulous Dave. We looked forward to his excited yesses and dramatic noes, complete with slow motion head-shaking in disappointment each time we turned in an incorrect answer. And
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Wine: Cribari Cellars California Madeira Region: California This is my first madeira, which I accidentally bought instead of marsala for a recipe. My quick googling informs me that Madeira is a fortified sherry wine with some Muscatel thrown in and is used as a dessert and cooking wine. It’s heated up to reproduce oxidation that
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Wine: Lindemans’ Bin 75 Riesling 2008 Region: Australia On first sip, I like it. A lot. There’s a mild sweetness that contrasts with its acidity. Fresh honeydew and tangerine notes linger. There’s some flower in the party, too — perhaps lavender, but I’m no expert at guessing floral notes.

Wine: Rustenberg Stellenbosch John X Merriman 2006 Region: Stellenbosch, South Africa This full-bodied red is a blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, petit verbot, cabernet franc, and malbec. If you think that’s a lot for any one wine to handle, you might be right — but John X Merriman gets pretty close to doing the job!
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It’d been a good long time since I made it home to Los Angeles for Christmas. Most of the extended Gomez family lives in the area, including my sister, aunts, uncles, cousins, and those removed by a degree or two or five whom I’ll just refer to as whatever relation suits me.  I’d heard good
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