Bitch.

Or "The Story of How a Grenache and a Hug Saved the Day."

This post will be brief because I don’t have the patience- It is, after all, that time of the month. 

One of those days that feels like everything is wrong and nothing will ever be right… it’s quite simply the utter agony of being a girl.  And yet, there remains an even greater agony for a very select and special few…. having to deal with that girl.

On one otherwise pleasant, late-spring evening… such were the trials of a girl and her drummer.

Thankfully, he noticed the signs early: the shortness of temper, cravings for chocolate chips, the prolonged melancholy, and random bursts of laughter quickly evolving into pouty-faced blues.  It was a fast-devolving situation, one that could clearly go nowhere good- and fast.  But the astute drummer quickly took charge.  Although the potential for being completely unreasonable was exceptionally high, it was all deftly managed by a big hug, a pair of strong arms (and a knowing smirk). 

Having dodged that bullet, the girl and her drummer carried on with their night.

Later, unexpectedly, the rage returned.  On her own, and totally helpless, a hot bubble bath and a large glass of wine were the only things that could attempt to live up to that hug… and so soon followed.

The wine was a 2008 Grenache from South Australia with a pink label and aptly called ‘Bitch’. It was expertly paired with a chocolate cupcake with pink frosting, also aptly called ‘Diva’.

The ‘Bitch’ did its magic.  There was something in it’s bluntness that gave her comfort.  It had a clean, dry mouthful of flavour with a moderate acidity, that was easy to drink and seemed to temporarily balance the venom within.  The Grenache is an interesting grape.  It hints at a long, hot season, with delicate but potent flavours.  These grapes are often blended with others to create much 'stronger' and complex wines, like a Chateauneuf-de-pape or a Gigondas, but tonight in the bath, this Bitch held her own.  The notes of stewing fruit and tart, almost peppery berries were strong and unique- a flavourful, complex fruit with a thin skin... it felt exactly right.   

Little by little as the wine went to her head all the feelings seemed far away, and the only thing she could remember was that handsome, smirky hug.  No matter what the circumstances, it was there right when she needed it most- a hug that always seemed to remind her to take it all a little less seriously, much like the smirk that so often accompanied it.

After all, once the cravings die down, and the temper ceases to flare, when some pampering is in order and you’re all alone in a hot bath with a hug waiting on the other side… isn’t life too short not to find the smirk in a wine called Bitch and a cupcake called Diva?