I can’t believe it, I move to the Pacific Northwest where it is widely believed that it rains all the time and the temperatures stay in the mid-sixties and last summer we had a drought that lasted for months and temperatures in the eighties with a few nineties thrown in for good measure. Now spring is in full bloom and for four days this last week we had the warmest temperatures around, we even beat out Arizona and Nevada. So much for the prevailing wisdom.

Instead of walking around in a sweatshirt and raincoat, I’m been wearing short sleeve T-shirts and cooking on the grill. We had a very nice strip steak for dinner and opened a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon to go with the steak. The bottle was a birthday gift from my son and his wife. It was a California wine, Candle Magic Vineyards, 2014, bottled in Healdsburg. This is a vineyard owned by women and noted on the label. I checked out the website and found that they also produce a Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and a Chardonnay. You can find them online at http://www.candlemagicvineyards.com.

The wine was a dark red in the glass and on nose I smelled cherries and blueberries with a hint of cocoa or wood. I swirled the glass and took a taste. I could taste the fruit and a slight smoky taste. The wine was soft and full and when I swallowed the wine, it left a really nice finish. The wine was a very nice partner with the steak and salad. I can honestly say that the bottle was emptied very quickly.

I wandered around the website and found a section labeled “About” telling about the vineyard and their philosophy. Candle Magic has a scholarship program for women and has an Eco-Philosophy. I don’t what the wine costs since it was a gift, but on the website I found that it is sold at Target. I will have to make a Target run and try the Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc. I probably should buy another bottle or two of the Cabernet, you know just to compare against the first bottle.