12 Nights of Wine

See that red box and that white box on the table? They're gracing my workspace these days. Outside, the ground is hard with ice and salt, yet sunlight fills my house. So different from the last few days, which brought unrelieved rain and snow. Last Friday, on an especially rainy, sleety night, my daughter and her boyfriend were supposed to come by. Given the weather, I wasn't surprised when my daughter called to say that she'd just gotten home, had walked the dog, and now she couldn't get up off the couch. But, she said, her love still planned to come over because he was determined to give us the Christmas gifts he’d got for us no later than that night. "You'll see why," my daughter said.

It turns out he had got my husband and me a Vinebox each, an advent calendar in the form of twelve different wines, each glass vial containing a perfect 6.3 ounce pour. Last Friday was the first night of Christmas, and he wanted us to be able to have a wine tasting on each of the twelve nights before Christmas. It's a stupendous gift, but best of all was his excitement in giving it, his joy as he watched us open and appreciate it. My mother and aunts always said 'tis more blessed to give than to receive, and his obvious enjoyment in giving made his thoughtful and entertaining gift that much more special.

So now every night we get to try a red, rosé or white with no sugar or additives. Many of the wines I've never tasted or even heard of before, but every one so far has been beautifully balanced and delightful, at least to my humble palate. Last night's offering, for example, was a flirtatious Loire Valley 2017 Tuffeaux, a mellow, full-bodied red with apple and clove notes that went down just fine. The man and I are having great fun trying to describe to each other what we're tasting, as our respective Vineboxes offer different selections each night. Can you tell we're both enjoying our wine advent calendars? I didn't even know that could be a thing.