Oh Joie! - A Shower For The Happy Couple

For the last couple of years, my sister, Vixen, has been obsessing about her upcoming wedding to Big Trucker. She didn't get that grand, old white wedding - that I understand all little girls dream of - with her previous guy. Three kids, but no walk down the aisle. So, she's making up for it this time. For months now, Boo & I have been well advised that we're throwing a shower for them. As if I'm supposed to know the difference between a wedding jacuzzi and a shower.

When asked why we're slated to throw this instead of the gals in the wedding party, she stated, quite perfunctorily, that "Mom and I threw a shower for you two, you're damned well throwing one for me." When I retorted that, "I thought Mom threw that shower," she simply glared and shot back, "Don't you kid yourself. That was all me and you will throw me the best, f*ck'n shower ever or your ass is grass!" Okay, I might have embellished the last quote a teensy bit but I swear it accurately reflects her true sentiments - even if she didn't really say that my ass'd be grass.

So, food and booze. No problem. I can even get a balloon or two but was I really supposed to know that showers traditionally involve games and cake? Who knew that Jack & Jill parties run on the same principles? Let's just say that I might have been scrambling a tad when it came to organizing the "activities," but I can confirm that having more than enough food and booze compensates for missing a few other niceties.

An example of my lack of organization? I made up a big batch of sangria and didn't even remember to take a picture of the sangria or the wines that went into making them. Boo's clean up was so thorough and quick that I couldn't even take a picture of the wine bottles (and box) after the fact. Guess I'll just have to miss out on adding those wines to The List.

Thankfully, I didn't forget to get a shot of the double magnum bottle I opened for the celebration.

1620.  2011 Joie Farm - A Noble Blend (3L bottle) (VQA Okanagan Valley)

I just happened to have the double magnum of Joie lying around after I'd picked it up at a charity silent auction awhile back. At the time, I had no idea what kind of event would prove worthy of pulling the cork. I surely wasn't going to open the bottle for a quiet dinner for two. I figure a gathering of the clan for Vixen's imminent nuptials is about as good a reason as you could ask for though.

Now, I think it's safe to say that I don't buy many oversized bottles. I pretty much need to know that I like the wine - a lot - before I'll put out the extra bucks. No problem with this wine though. I've had A Noble Blend on a number of occasions and it's a perennial fave for the folks at Joie Farm. I've actually added the 2011 vintage to The List back at #1188 but that was a standard 750ml bottle. So, I figure it's fair game to add the over-sized bottle to The List as well.

Styled after the white blends of Alsace, the 2011 wine is dominated by Riesling and Gewürztraminer (38% and 33% respectively) with Pinot Blanc, Pinot Auxerrois and Schoenberger completing the mix. Various scribes have called it "rubenesque," "lengthy, tangy and mouthwatering," "a stunner" and "magic." I just call it tasty and refreshing and a hit with the crowd at hand.

As for the games? Turned out that I had more than we needed. Our New-to-Be-Wed Game showed that the happy couple actually knew each other pretty well. But, then again, you've got a 50/50 chance of being right if your answer for any Big Trucker question involves his car or the Miami Dolphins.

There were plenty of laughs reading all the bits of relationship advice that the guests offered to the happy couple - and at least a couple surprises when folks were asked to guess who was "the better at..." or "more likely to...." It probably wasn't too much of a surprise to see that the vast majority thought Vixen would be better at making a martini (after all I taught her everything she knows) or that she'd be the more likely of the two to send a "sext" message. It might have been more of a newly learned secret, however, to find out that neither admitted to being more likely to bring the other breakfast in bed. I think their joint response to the question was "What's that?" Big Trucker upped that with a "it'd more likely be a who'd deliver nachos in the bathroom kinda thing."

Relatives - what can you say? I suppose it good to learn that the new ones are likely to be just as crazy and weird as the current ones.

I just hope to be around when Vixen opens one or two of the bottles they received as gifts.