Fireworks!

When I was younger New Years Eve consisted of watching the ball drop on TV and at midnight heading outside with pots, pans, and wooden spoons to make as much noise as possible. Since moving south, where fireworks are legal, New Years Eve is a lot like how I remember the Fourth of July!

This past last week of 2013 has been a wonderful ending to a great year.  I celebrated a birthday, I ran my final race of the year, and I enjoyed some spectacular bottles of wine.

Cold Winter's Day is one of my favorite races in Columbia. I love the course, although it is not an easy one. Not ridiculously tough, but lots of rolling hills. All I wanted to do was break 20 minutes on this 5k race. Finishing in 19:51 got me sub 20 and also got me the age group win. I do have to thank my racing team ladies for the help in getting under 20 at this one. It was the perfect running weather! We always cap this race off with the annual racing team celebration in the man-cave. It was a fun post race party...complete with beer, wine, champagne, and moonshine!

I busted out the Cakebread Cabernet Sauvignon in honor of a great racing year and a sub 20 finale. I had tried the Cakebread Sauvignon Blanc earlier this year while in Chicago for my sisters wedding and was quite impressed. The Cabernet did not disappoint! I truly enjoyed this bottle and will be looking around the office for another bottle. This is a California (Napa Valley) wine from Cakebread Cellars. I would call this a medium blend deep red. For you carnivores out there, this would definitely go well with your steak. This was gifted to me from work...you can find this wine for around $60 a bottle retail.  Great special occasion bottle.

I had a very nice bottle of Simi Pinot Noir over the weekend. I am a huge Pinot fan and this did not disappoint. 100% Pinot Noir, a Sonoma County California wine. Very smooth and easy to drink. This wine retails for about $26 a bottle.  This is a top ranking Pinot in my book.

On New Years Eve I had the pleasure of opening a bottle that I received as a birthday gift from a friend at work. As I have mentioned before, I am still learning and testing out new wines. This was my first bottle of Malbec. Holy Mother of God! There is so much to learn!  This was absolutely amazing. Very very bold and rich! Deep purple, red in color and an amazing flavor. I am usually a bottle finisher, but I will admit this is a wine to savor slowly.  Trivento Golden Reserve 2011 Malbec from Argentina is amazing! This wine is another meat lovers dream come true with a steak. I truly just savored this wine while drinking it. Retails for about $20 per bottle.  I highly recommend this wine! I will be looking for more Malbec!

Happy New Year's to everyone! Here's looking at more wine love in 2014!