What are you drinking for the Fourth of July Holiday?

[James Roscoe]

First off let me wish a much belated Happy Canada Day to all the Canadians out there. It was a grave oversight that nobody made any notice of the great national holiday of our northern neighbors. Please fell free to chime in with what you had at your picnics or other celebrations on Saturday.

So how are my fellow Americans going to celebrate the National holiday? (Okay, I realize we should have celebrated yesterday. Take it up with the Founders.) Are we drinking strictly American wine? Is it a beer holiday? I always think it's good day to drink French wines to celebrate the French contribution in the American Revolution.

Given the 90F plus heat that's expected in the DC area tomorrow, I would expect to drink a lot of rose. We have one from Sobon Estates in Armador Co. that's a Grenache-Syrah blend. It should be good nice and chilled. I'll probably drink a couple of slightly chilled Burgundys to go with the steaks I plan to grill. Let me know how you're going to celebrate.
Cheers to all!
James

[Robin Garr]

Is it a beer holiday?

If we do anything out of doors tomorrow and this hellish heat continues, it sure will be! Or an iced tea holiday or something ...

I always think it's good day to drink French wines to celebrate the French contribution in the American Revolution.

I've always thought of the major American holidays as a great time to honor our immigrant roots by drinking wines of our family heritage, and having bits of Italian, French and German in me makes it easy. The English portion is a little more problematical.

Frankly, during this era of loud patriotism and bad politics, I find these national holidays a lot less fun than I used to think they were anyway. There'll sure be no Texas wine uncorked around here for the Fourth.

Good idea, Robin, but in my case that would involve drinking Manischewitz, so I think we'll stick with carnitas, guacamole, and Anderson Valley Boont Amber beer. (Maybe there's a political message about multilingualism lurking in there somewhere, ¿no?)

cheers

Patchen

[Robin Garr]

Good idea, Robin, but in my case that would involve drinking Manischewitz

Woops!

so I think we'll stick with carnitas, guacamole, and Anderson Valley Boont Amber beer.

Sounds like a plan!

(Maybe there's a political message about multilingualism lurking in there somewhere, ¿no?)

Aux les barricades, citoyens!

[James Roscoe]

Good idea, Robin, but in my case that would involve drinking Manischewitz, so I think we'll stick with carnitas, guacamole, and Anderson Valley Boont Amber beer. (Maybe there's a political message about multilingualism lurking in there somewhere, ¿no?)

cheers

Patchen

If it's beer it's got to be Dab or Warsteiner for me. None of that sissy microbrew stuff! Maybe a Yuengling from Pottstown, PA! As I'm grilling steaks, it will probably be wine and probably be French although I'm sure a Californian might slip in.

Have at your political speech. I'm feeling all ecumenical today. On the Fourth of July there are no red states and blue states only United States!

%^)

The weatherman promises it'll only be 103 or so at fire-up-the-barbie time and a "cool" 96 when the first fireworks light up the sky ... hamburgers with all the fixin's, potato salad, baked beans, watermelon, and home-made ice cream ... everybody's bringing wine ... Kathleen and I's contribution -

2001 Midnight Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Paso Robles NEBULA
2003 Tobin James Cellars Petite Sirah Paso Robles BLACK MAGIC
2004 Tobin James Cellars Zinfandel Paso Robles BALLISTIC

Seems like fitting wines for the evening's festivities !

Clink !

%^)

[James Roscoe]

Bill,
Very cool wines. Enjoy the fireworks. If it got that hot in DC the humidity would make it unbearable. At least you have the lack of humidity to be thankful for. Have a great Independence Day!
Cheers!
James

[quote="James Roscoe"]
I always think it's good day to drink French wines to celebrate the French contribution in the American Revolution.

I think its great to look back on our history, but then again we should never forget. Prior to the American Revolution there was a war known as The French and Indian War (this is what it was known as in the American Colonies and it was the French allied with the Indians vs. American Colonies).
The only reason why the French sided with the American Colonies during its struggle for independence from the English crown was that they hated the English more.

On the 4th of July drink a “true” American wine- Zinfandel!!!!!

Salute

[James Roscoe]

On the 4th of July drink a “true” American wine- Zinfandel!!!!!

Salute

In the end my palate wins and I will just drink what' goes best with what I'm having. As it's rare NY strips, it'll probably be some Bordeaux or Burgundy depending what's in the que. I was recommended some good cheapies Burgs at my BAWS on Saturday so I may go with those out of the cooler. It's going to be in the 90s both heat and humidity.

Beer.


Seems fairly traditional

[quote="James Roscoe"]
In the end my palate wins and I will just drink what' goes best with what I'm having.

I'll raise my glass and toast you on that statement. BTW I have no doubt that your choices of wines will be a perfect match for the foods you are planning to have.

Have a Great Day and Happy 4th of July

Salute

On the 4th of July drink a “true” American wine- Zinfandel!!!!!

Shhh.... PaulB might read this and the whole Primitivo, Catawba, Concord, Norton, Delaware thread may get resurrected.

Depending on the number of guests, a super-cooled sangria (light on the added alcohol), a Vihno Verde, and some 2005 Del Monte pear juice... er... "Dr. L" Riesling.

[James Roscoe]

On the 4th of July drink a “true” American wine- Zinfandel!!!!!

Shhh.... PaulB might read this and the whole Primitivo, Catawba, Concord, Norton, Delaware thread may get resurrected.

Paul B. has been noticeably quiet these last few weeks. I assume he is on a much needed vacation. I do hope he gets back soon.

Yeah I miss the young fella. Wonder what he was drinking on Canada day?

2004 Chateau de Coulaine Chinon to watch Germany defeat Italy..

What better American pastime..

[Robin Garr]

2004 Chateau de Coulaine Chinon to watch Germany defeat Italy..

What better American pastime..

Not so fast! Latin spirit might yet overcome Teutonic precision. One can hope, anyway.

(I'd love to watch a France-Italy final ... )

[James Roscoe]

Deutschland!

I'll be singing in a men's chorus. We're doing a new setting for the last three verses of "The Star-Spangled Banner" with the community band. Even if our local paper can't seem to understand that "verses" and versus" are different words. Sheesh.

http://www.gazettetimes.com/articles/20 ... /cov03.txt

Gin fizzes and something sparkling for brunch. Something light in alcohol, white or pink for the ribs in the afternoon.

Mike

[Jenise]

James, I live in a very odd place. Right at the British Columbian border in a seaside town where a lot of Canadians live or have second homes. And there are the "mixed marriages" like my neighbor: American, who grew up in Portland OR and Vancouver BC, and he's married to a woman who grew up in Edmonton, Alberta. Anyway, everybody who lives here stays home for this holiday, and everybody who has a second home here comes to town along with 20 or 30 relatives. Between us all, a couple hundred thousand dollars worth of illegal Chinese fireworks purchased on the Lummi Indian Reservation will be shot into the bay, though the fireworks have been going off nightly since Saturday. As homegrown spectacles go, I've never seen the like of it in my life.

So we started celebrating on Canada Day (with Canadian wine) and things reach a crescendo tonight. Between us and the aforesaid neighbor, we're having a hundred people here tonight--I've just started smoking the 40 lbs of baby backs I'm contributing. The wines will be varied as almost everyone on my invitation list will bring wine, and I'm putting out a dozen zinfandels because there's something so all-American about it. I'll also have a cooler full of Alaskan Amber and Summer Ale.

How about you?

[James Roscoe]

It sounds so right. I wish I was there, but there are so many places I wish I could be today. Fortunately I'll be right were I want to be. Enjoy!

You holiday celebrations are amazing, Jenise. We're on a lake, and a few folks set off a few small displays, and all the surrounding towns have displays -- spread over five days so addicts like me can take them all in.

We are grounded this Fourth, so I'm cleaning the freezer out -- we'll have some of the Batali/Jenise meatloaf and a potato scallop/bacon slice. For no particular reason, we are matching these with a La Motte 1992 from South Africa. It's a Millennium release and the winery was founded in 1695. Somehow all that history seems to fit our constrained circumstances this year.

Regards, Bob

The New York Times reflected some of your feelings about the Fourth and national celebrations, Robin. They do seem highly political, much more than I remember them being several years ago. A lot of the fun seems to have evaporated. The Times piece reads in part:

Independence Day is celebrated once a year in most of America. In Queens, the most ethnically diverse county in the nation, where an estimated 44 percent of the 2.2 million residents are foreign born, it is celebrated again and again and again.

On March 25, Astoria was aflutter with blue and white flags, commemorating the 185th anniversary of the beginning of the Greek war of independence from the Ottoman Empire. The next day, Bangladeshi immigrants from Woodside to Bayside marked Bangladesh's secession from Pakistan. And on May 5, Mexicans across the borough loudly celebrated a national holiday that has come to eclipse the country's actual Independence Day of Sept. 16.

Then there are May 26 (Guyana), Aug. 6 (Bolivia and Jamaica), Aug. 24 (Ukraine) and Sept. 1 (Uzbekistan), to name a few, all observed with that bittersweet mix of homesickness and pride that is the lot of even the most enthusiastic new American.

[The writer indicated there are others -- I note that Norway's Independence Day is celebrated with a parade going through both Brooklyn and Queens, for example. The basic point is that the Fourth in Queens at least is a day to celebrate a common identity.

Link; free registration required: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/04/nyreg ... ourth.html