Touring the Hudson, One Wine at a Time

It seems a lot has happened in the world since I last updated. Thank god they found the Boston Marathon bombing suspect, and my Boston friends can have a bit more peace.

Columbus Circle will never get old to me. I don’t know if it’s because it reminds me of the first “adult” experience I had in NYC – taking the train up from DC for the day when I was in college for the opening party of the Time Warner Center, where my cousin worked at the time – or if it’s that it evokes all the happy race and running memories from the park, but I love it.

I started out yesterday with a little run in the park. Although I used to primarily run on the West Side, heading up to the park on weekends for a run has become a nice little tradition. I met the Lulunatics ladies at the 66th Street Lululemon and did a little 5-miler in the park with the lovely Abby, Michelle, Jocelyn and Allison.

I ran home (not literally) to change and get ready for the afternoon’s fun activity: A WINE CRUISE! Yes, wine on a boat. Obviously I agreed to this in approximately 2.5 seconds.

Lacey and I got quick manicures before grabbing the boat, and we both decided to go with ridiculous colors. (YOLO colors, as she called them.) I went with Where’s My Chauffeur? (No, really, where is my chauffeur?)

The wine cruise was such an amazing way to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon. (Oh hey Lady Liberty!)

We went on a Classic Harbor Line wine cruise, led by Wendy Crispell.

She is both a sommelier and a fromagier. SHE GETS PAID TO STUDY, TALK ABOUT AND TRY WINE AND CHEESE. Can I be her when I grow up!?

We got the tickets on Goldstar (similar to LivingSocial/Groupon/etc.), and the session we ended up at focused on natural/organic/biodynamic wines. As you’d imagine, natural wines are made with the least possible use of chemicals and additives. I usually stay away from red wine because of sulfites, but I figured that this red wine would be a bit safer because there’d be less additives.

We started from a light, sparkling wine (OH YES PLEASE) and worked our way into darker wines.

The fabulous Wendy also had a cheese pairing for each wine. Maybe the bubbles had already gone to my head, but I was so deliriously happy, that I couldn’t stop giggling and smiling on the boat. Wine? Cheese? Friends? Boat? Oh god, yes.

We started with a Montinore Pinot Gris. Pinot Gris, Wendy explained, is a fuller grape than its buddy Pinot Grigio. We paired this one with a goat cheese, and I basically died and went to heaven.

Next up was the Casa de Mourazo Encruzado, a Portuguese wine that was paired with Gallego cheese, a creamy cheese that had a similar texture to Brie but with a slightly more acidic taste.

It was around this point where I stopped taking pictures of the wine and started taking pictures with my lovely friends.

I’ll never let go!

Also cool about the cruise was that it started at Chelsea Piers and then circumnavigated Manhattan. Most other boats I’ve been on have just gone down to the harbor and turned around or up to the George Washington Bridge and turned around. Not this one!

So, it was a little windy.

The boat even went up to near where the Columbia team rows. Wendy told us a story of sometimes the Columbia dudes mooning us from on top of this cliff. Awesome. We missed that on our cruise.

The other three wines we had:

Claret de Centeilles Cotes Brian La Part des Anges (say that five times fast.): This was a slightly deeper rose that was a lot less sweet than typical roses.

Bonn Heure, Bourgeil, Cabernet Franc, a Cabernet Franc with hints of pepper. Because it’s been a while since I’ve been able to drink red without a reaction, I’m not very familiar with reds, but I liked this lighter one.

Dona Silvina Malbec, a Malbec that is a blend of young and old vines from two different vineyards. It could have been that this was the last one, and anything would have tasted good at that point, but I enjoyed this one a lot more than I expected, too.

After the cruise, we meandered around a bit and ended up at The Cabanas at the Maritime Hotel. It was too chilly for many people to be sitting outside, so we got a table outside right away and continued giggling and gabbing until the sun went down.

And then we ended up at a pet store, where I played with this little muffin. LOOK AT HIM! Look at those furry little paws and snuggly face. And, um, don’t tell Bailey.

This morning, I hit up a nice, gentle yoga class and then had brunch with Eileen, my high school buddy, at Rocking Horse Cafe, one of my fave brunch spots in the city. Breakfast burrito with steak, egg and avocado? Um, yes please.

And now Bailey and I are blogging and relaxing.

Happy Sunday everyone!

How was your weekend? What’s your favorite wine? My all-time favorite wine is Babich Sauvignon Blanc. It is one of my goals to take a trip one day to Marlborough, New Zealand and just explore New Zealand wine country, as all of my favorite sauvignon blancs are from there. Who’s in? Until then, I’ll settle for a weekend in Sonoma next weekend for a friend’s wedding, which I am RIDICULOUSLY excited for.