Picture yourself in a vineyard nearly the sleepy town of Chateauneuf-du-Pape in France’s Rhone region. It is a hot, cloudless day in September, 1954. Ostensibly, nothing is going on to disturb the dignity and repose of the ripening grapes. Suddenly, you see a cloud forming on the horizon, and it is growing much too quickly as it heads straight for the vineyard. Hovering over the winemaker’s chateau, what can only be described as a UFO emerges from the cloud and proceeds to send a destructive death ray on the helpless vines below. Mon Dieu! Shall we call out the Gendarmerie! No, they will likely be ineffectual against this otherworldly assault on the lifeblood of France. Here’s an idea, LET’S PASS A LAW FORBIDDING UFOS FROM LANDING IN THE VINEYARD! Which is exactly what the City Council of Chateauneuf-du Pape did in 1954 to keep those pesky aliens from molesting the grapes from their cigar-like spaceships! And as a result, alien spacecraft have avoided those vineyards ever since, and we can all rest easier knowing that those fantastic Rhone wines will forever be in good supply for imbibing by carbon-based life forms.
Like any lover of wine and science fiction, I’ve spent countless hours wondering what wine would pair well with UFO watching. Finally, the above vintage from Bonny Doon Vineyard should serve nicely and is California winemaker Randall Grahm’s (a/k/a The Rhone Ranger) tribute to the wines from that region. It is a blend of Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre and of course (just my luck) it can’t be found in Western Michigan. Should pair perfectly with roast beast, wild game, or a night spent scanning the Lake Michigan horizon for cigar-shaped spacecraft. If only I could find a bottle, I’m certain that I would see numerous alien spacecraft cavorting about after 4 0r 5 glasses!
Thanks for blogging with me thus far, and Cheers!
