Get me Outta Here!

I can hear them yelling out, "Hey I'm ready to come out! Do you hear me? Help! Let me outta here!" All said like a class of kindergarteners let loose at the opening day at Disneyworld.

This is when I love this area most. There's still a coolness in the breeze, but the sun is the summer sun. The sky is the most beautiful cobalt blue. When you look up, you get lost in the "blueness". Gorgeous.

Here in the Vinelands, the cherry trees are in full bloom. The aroma is exquisite. Not quite jasmine, but a hint of jasmine with a bit of rose. And the blossoms are unmistakable. A blue white, delicate flower with an extremely pale, purple center, and green and orange tendrils exploding from the center. The beauty demands you stare at its wonder. And with the orderliness of the pruning, the trees hint of a Japanese garden. It is a very zen picture.

The peach trees are also in bloom with their bright pink flowers shivering in the breeze. Their centers are as demanding as the cherry trees. Their bright pink centers draw you to their posture like a bee to nectar. In the distance, the blossoms look like dusty rose clouds rising up from supportive brown branches, not like flowers at all. Only when you are within their heady aroma can you see the full splendor of a temptress.

I take comfort in knowing that all those blossoms are for another purpose besides their obvious beauty. If they make it through the frost, they'll become lucious fruit. The cherries come first and then there's peaches from June until August. Yum.

The grapes are not so showy. There's no true flower with the vines. Maybe that's because the grapes are so tempting to the bees by their sheer nature, that no accoutrements are required. Naked blossoming. Hmmm.

And now I believe it's time for a nice 2007 pinot gris from the Lurton bodega in Valle de Uco Argentina. Valle de Uco is a splendid wide open valley right against the Andes' mountains. A beautiful area. A must see.

Remember, enjoy and imbibe.