5:00 Fridays

I imagine that many of my readers also drink wine, no? You do hear whines, right? If not, I need to know what you're feeding those kids or where I can get some of that duct tape/velcro/kennel you're using. Not that I've given the peaceful and humane sequestering of children any thought or anything. I'm pretty sure I'm right on the money by assuming that many of you hear the word "no" multiple times a day. I hear it like 6500 times in a given 24-hour span. It's often in ALL CAPS and followed by ten gajillion exclamation points. Never do I hear the word no in a soft, quiet manner. On a good day I hear no followed by a motherly-taught "thank you."

And so today's pick is an oh-so-aptly-named wine by a little vineyard in Northern California's Lake County. I bet my pal @ginavon would dig this. Even GaryVaynerchuk has given props to this vineyard's sauvignon blanc. No Vineyards and Winery. I knew I'd love it when I saw the label. Yeah, I totally judge a wine by its label. And you're lying if you tell me you don't. No cork. No oak. Perfect for this girl who just tried the No chardonnay.

Now, I am not a chardonnay girl. I never order it. Ever. I am an admitted snob because chardonnay is what I graduated to after my short stint drinking white zinfandel while learning to drink wine with my friend Rich back in college. Keep in mind this was a ginormous step up from the Beast consumed on our paltry budget. Go on, shudder. My tastebuds still slap me silly for it time to time. But back to this chardonnay...it's a lovely summer wine. Not oakey like other chardonnays I've had. I don't do oak, be it furniture or wine. I live in the City of Oaks so I prefer to leave the trees alone. We need the shade around these parts.

Have I mentioned that I don't know crap about wine? I just know what I like, what I want to spend, and a bit about food pairings. I am no wine snob who waxes on about bouquets and what nots. But I do know what tastes good. I enjoyed this No chardonnay with visiting friends over a simple dinner of steamed shrimp, arugula salad, and roasted squash. We all enjoyed it and appreciated that we didn't need to monkey with a corkscrew. Did I ever tell you that my mother calls me Monkey? Yeah, she does. But that has nothing to do with this wine. Nor is this blathering the result of drinking too much wine. I just like to throw in snippets of non sequitors time to time to bring you into my brain for a layover.

So you want to try out this wine that somehow magically makes those two little letters N-O seem more palatable? In the City of Oaks you can buy it at the Wine Merchant in Cary and Raleigh. Nationally you can check out Whole Foods, but any respectable wine retailer can special order the wine. A good twist cap bottle retails for about $12.99-$14.99. Just go on and get yourself some No chardonnay and give it the ole college try.

And for the record, I am not paid or compensated for saying any of this. I just write about what I like. Compensation would be great, but then my opinion wouldn't count for much, would it?