Between the Vines: One woman's wine-soaked musings: Zinfandel

Tales from Honoka'a, Hawai'i / Part two, January 7 & 8, 2011

January 7

I stayed at the forest house today while Rick, Karen, John, and Michael went to Spencer Beach and then on to pick up the pork and tiki torches for our big night next week when we'll be hosting four more friends from the Fraser Valley for a night of pulled pork, Hawaiian style. Yes, we'll be using banana leaves to wrap the pork. And, I will be heading to the Kamuela Liquor Store, where I know I'll find a great selection of wines we can't get at the grocery or big-box stores.In the evening, we prepared slowly grilled chicken and potato salad and ate it on the lanai while the tiki torches and some candles offered illumination.

To accompany our dinner, we opened a bottle of 2009 Folie à Deux Ménage à Trois, a blended red wine featuring Zinfandel, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine, which we bought at Costco in Kailua-Kona for just $7.99 a bottle, is full of jammy red and black fruits and, frankly, that's about it. Certainly, it's serviceable and quite amiable with all sorts of dinner fare, but it's not one I'd choose to sip solo.

January 8

Busy day!

We started with a trip up to the Waimea Homestead Farmers Market, where only local residents can set up booths and locally produced items can be sold...

Next, we travelled the Saddle Road (that's the road that runs between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa) up to the Onizuka Center for International Astronomy at Mauna Kea (9,300 ft./2,800 metres), which happens to have the lowest snow in 10 years.

While we were visiting Mauna Kea, Michael made a snowman...

After the heights of Mauna Kea, we carried on to sea level and the Hilo Farmers Market...
After the market and a quick tailgate lunch of left-over chicken, we drove to 'Akaka Falls State Park for a gorgeous walk...
But, hey, our day didn't end there. Over our dinner of left-over steak (that we turned into a stir-fry) and the fresh Ono Karen dipped in coconut milk, coated with panko, and quickly fried, we had a good discussion about which spa Karen and I would visit on Tuesday: the Fairmont Orchid or Hilton Mandarin Spa? Such weighty decisions.