Being Afternoon- Wined in the Bottom

When I got the invitation to attend the opening of the new wine shop/art gallery C'est Le Vin in the Bottom, I had every reason to RSVP yes.

After all, my first foray into the place, here, had been magical.

Why would I not want to go back once they were serving wine and food and had art on the walls?

With no clear expectations, I headed down there this afternoon.

The place was fuller than I expected with wine tastings, tons of food and art hanging everywhere.

The wine shelves were not completely stocked, but they at least had a South African section, so I felt that there was some promise there.

The first wine rep that grabbed me was Dave Camden of Quattro Goomba's Winery in Aldie, south of Leesburg.

They were especially high on their Frascati, sourced from Italian grapes because their vineyard plantings are only a couple of years old.

Probably the most popular among my fellow wine tasters was the Chilean-sourced Vino di Nonni, an easy-drinking red best chilled and served outside.

They even had a packet of secret ingredients with which you could blend a bottle of the wine, a bottle of water and the result would be a wine slushy that was dangerously drinkable, according to the couple tasting alongside me.

It wasn't my style, but I could see it appealing to a lot of people.

I preferred the Jefferson Winery tasting mainly because when I'd worked the Wine Expo back in February, a friend has insisted it was the one winery I needed to make time for.

After a full day of wine snobs and wine idiots, though, I'd gone straight home.

Now was my chance to see what he was talking about.

The Meritage, a blend of Cab Franc, Merlot, Cab Sauvignon and Petit Verdot was everything I'd heard it would be.

Even more siren-like was the Petit Verdot, full of flavor but with a bone-dry finish.

As the wine rep and I discussed, this is a bottle I could take home every day of my life and enjoy.

And with a lamb dish, well, my, my.

It was great fun to have someone with whom I could discuss the adventure that working the Wine Expo is.

We talked about the crowd that attends, the sweet wine fanatics and the drunken masses; it was satisfying to hear that it wasn't just me judging the crowd or eager to be done with it all.

The art was interesting; often African-influenced (as was the food available today) and a DJ provided the music.

The store is officially open for business and they're hoping to satisfy a niche in that neighborhood, which I can see easily happening. Given the reasonable prices, they'll no doubt succeed.

As for me, I have some new wine and had a great time talking to strangers.

And it's only 3:30. As the Jefferson wine rep, said when I begged off more tasting because I had so much more planned for today, "It's Saturday, after all."

True that. Mom will never notice if I'm a bit worse for the wear tomorrow.