60 Seconds Away from Wine

Yes, Le Monstre du Vin does more than wine and music. I have two other passions, the first of which I'll reveal now...

I have been a golfer ever since going to college. My father, who is the smartest and most steady person I ever met, diabolically introduced me to the game as a young kid. I don't know if I should thank him or flip him the bird. For after all these years of bashing balls, spending money, traveling to courses all over the country and incessantly seeking a golf ideal (the perfect round) that really doesn't exist, I have finally come to peace with the game. Golf has a way of exposing your every facet. It's a game based on honor. The rules and etiquette involved are revered, as well they should be. In what other sport do you call penalties on yourself? Have you ever seen an NBA player that actually thought they EVER committed a foul?

Bad rounds of golf used to kill me. I'd take that sinking feeling with me off the course and often let it affect my life outside the links. These days, I'm so busy with work, fatherhood, family issues, musical endeavors and just generally living, that I rarely get that upset by golf. It's the fun diversion that it should be unless your name is Tiger. I'm proud to say this new outlook has manifested itself in my reaching the Finals in the Mercer County Match Play event, by winning my match this morning 2 & 1. Since I have been enjoying just playing, I've actually been playing better and having more fun in the process. Don't get me wrong, I'm still extremely competitive and want to beat your brains out on the course. But it doesn't rule or define me. Le Monstre just might be growing up after all.

Since this should have taken you less than 60 seconds to read (unless you read slow like me), I'd like to get back to wine for just a second. A couple days ago, I had the 2007 Lamblin Bourgogne Chardonnay, a super tasty white from declassified Chablis vines. It was so lovable and so cheap, just another re-affirmation of the value spectrum and how fantastic wines can still be made for a song. So tasty with Chinese food from Sesame in Montclair on Sunday night.

JCB the 4th