A White and Red Wine Christmas After the Tornado

By Mick Harrison

My wife is from Parkersburg, Iowa.  That’s where they had the F5 tornado in May of 2008 that destroyed half the town and the only grocery store.  We travel to Parkersburg to celebrate Christmas every year and there is much wine consumed during the week we are there. There is no liquor store in Parkersburg and the only place that sold wine was, you guessed it, the grocery store that no longer existed.  By November of last year I was in a panic.  We could travel 25 miles to buy our wine, I could bring it with us or I could try mail order.  We had no room in the car because of all the Christmas presents and sometimes the Iowa winters are not kind to trips of even 25 miles.  So, I settled on mail order.

I looked all over the web to find reputable distributors.  I found one in New Jersey that had a great price on 2006 Penfolds Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon blend.  I sent a case of this to my sister-in-law Kristen.  It was very drinkable and I’m guessing she has a few bottles left for this Christmas.  Kris is a single mom who has done very well for herself.  She lives in a 50 year-old two story house that has a great room to store wine in the basement.  I would love to fill that room up with various wines that she could enjoy.  I promise I’m going to work on this.

My father-in-law is the mayor of Parkersburg.  He is a great man.  You never know when you are going to make a difference in the world.  I would say that his greatest contribution was providing the leadership to help get a new weather warning siren installed just a few days before the tornado hit.  On May 26, 2008, spotters outside of town called in to report the massive tornado headed toward Parkersburg and the old and new siren were activated.  After about 10 minutes the old siren quit working and it was the new siren that kept everyone in their basements until the danger had passed.  If it wasn’t for the excellent leadership of my father-in-law I don’t think the new siren would have been installed before the tornado hit.  Six people perished that day in Parkersburg and I would venture to say that many more would have died if his honor hadn’t made sure the early weather warning system was updated.

My father-in-law and I share an appreciation for good red wine.  He and I both like an old standard, Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon.  I remember bringing several bottles for Thanksgiving one year.  I think my father-in-law and I drank three bottles all by ourselves.  I don’t think I got up from the table for several hours.  I had too many jokes to tell and thought I was hilarious.  My wife, the daughter of his honor thought otherwise as I was later informed.

Quite often I have taken my father-in-law a bottle of Freemark Abby Merlot or Cabernet and we have enjoyed it together.  Last Christmas I was planning to bring a few exceptional bottles of red wine in the car to the mayor, but again I didn’t have room for more than a few.  I browsed the web and found Columbia Crest was having a sale.  Not only where they having a sale, but I could ship it for a penny.  That’s right I could ship it for $.01 anywhere in the United States.  What a deal!

I have to tell you that my wife and I have enjoyed many different kinds of Columbia Crest wine.  Quite often you will find a case of their Grand Estates Chardonnay in our wine cooler in the kitchen.  The 2005 and 2006 vintages have been exceptional.  We’ve purchased all of the vintage Grand Estates Chardonnay we could find and have many cases in our wine room.  I also like the lower tier Columbia Crest Two Vines Merlot.  It is consistently good and can often be found for under $10 a bottle. The 2003 Columbia Crest Two Vines Merlot is one of my all time favorites.  I still have at least 3 cases and enjoy it often.

Okay back to my story.  So, what do you send the red wine loving Mayor of Parkersburg Iowa for Christmas?  You send him a case of 2006 Columbia Crest Two Vines Cabernet/Merlot for a price of $81.48 plus $.01 shipping cost.  What do you send the best friends of your mother and father-in-law who have a party that half the town attends every Christmas Eve?   You send them six bottles of 2006 Columbia Crest Two Vines Shiraz and six bottles of 2006 Columbia Crest Two Vines Chardonnay for a cost of you guessed it, $81.48 plus $.01 shipping.  And what do you send your brother and sister-in-law who are traveling to Parkersburg with you as a nice something extra for Christmas.  You send them a mixed case of the same Two Vines Shiraz and Chardonnay for a total delivered price of $81.49.

All in all I spent about $325 shipping wine to Parkersburg, Iowa last Christmas. And most of those four cases of wine were still there when we arrived.  We had plenty of libations to celebrate in style.  The winter nights were cold, but the wine took the edge off.  A merry time was had by all.

The grocery store in Parkersburg has now been rebuilt and I expect they will be selling wine there this Christmas.  I haven’t decided what to send prior to our arrival, but it will be a good bet that I’m going to be checking the Columbia Crest website between Thanksgiving and Christmas to see what kinds of deals they are offering.

© 2009 by Mick Harrison

Mick Harrison has a degree in engineering, but it’s life experience that he values the most.  He’s the former president of the Hasty-Bake Barbecue Grill Company and has sold barbecue grills to Tom Brokaw, former President George Bush, Sr., and Whoopi Goldberg.  He’s savored chicken wings in Kansas City with Rich Davis, dined on sautéed scallops at Scomas in San Francisco and has enjoyed many good meals accompanied by fine wine in New York.

He has bought and divested three companies, drilled over 50 oil wells, flown a sailplane hundreds of times, and stood at attention while he was awarded a 1^st Degree Black Belt at age 45.  He’s also written many articles for Quality Digest Magazine and has published a book on personal and business effectiveness titled, Banana Thinking.

Through it all he has developed a great appreciation for wine at a reasonable price. Mick rarely spends more than $100/bottle for wine and says he can often find an awesome bottle for less than $30; however, the prize is finding a $10 wine that satisfies his palate.  He prefers red wine from Napa Valley, but also loves wines from Washington State, Australia, Chile, Argentina, and Spain.  At this moment his favorite wine is Jarvis Lake William 2001.

Photo Credit © Lijuan Guo | Dreamstime.com

Tags: Iowa, liquor, mail, tornado, Wine