As one of the mellowest, live-and-let-live kind of guys on the planet, I never thought anxiety would ever be a part of my life. Turns out, anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults or 18.1% of the population every year. In this two-part series, I open up and share my personal story about anxiety, and how I finally came to accept it and treat it. I also talk with Dr. Ronaye Calvert about the healthy way to look at anxiety (as opposed to the way I was looking at it). Of course, wine is the first defense against anxiety (in my house, anyway), so I crack open another bottle of the incredible 2015 Beekeeper Zinfandel from the Montecillo Vineyard in Sonoma. At only $30 from Winespies, it’s a lot cheaper than therapy.
And that’s what’s really at the heart of this decision: I can’t shake this story or these characters. It’s what I always come back to. So, I think this is The Universe trying to tell me something: finish this story before you move on to something else. And so I will.
The 2016 Altocedro Gran Riserva Malbec es muy loco, but in all the good ways. To start, Altocedro harvests from 70-year-old vines from a 107-year-old vineyard. Not unusual, especially for Mendoza malbec. BUT, then they take the harvested Malbec in whole clusters and barrel co-ferment with 4% Semillon in French oak.
