Benjamin Franklin: An American Life & The Federalist Cabernet Sauvignon
Boston! Boston! Boston!
As a School Counselor, I occasionally get the privilege of chaperoning field trips with my high school students. This time I hit the chaperone jackpot: an out of state trip to an amazing location where one of my friends lives. Hanging out with my girl all night and running around the city with the kids all day!
I flew, which meant I couldn’t bring this wine with me. I figured that wouldn’t be a problem- a wine with Benjamin Franklin on the label had to be everywhere in Boston, right??
Very wrong.
We ended up going to NO LESS than five or six wine stores and all said they did not have the wine I was looking for. We called around, drove to multiple towns... nothing! So there we were, standing in yet another store, when I finally thought to double check the name of the wine. I’d been asking for “the Founding Fathers wine”... which... as it turns out... I realized while standing there...is not the name of this wine. I turned and asked if they had The Federalist and the answer was “Of course! We have every variety!”
Oops.
The Pairing
Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson and The Federalist Lodi Cabernet Sauvignon
My friends forgave me for the mixup after I offered them glasses of this Cabernet. It’s very fragrant but has a smooth taste. I love imagining sharing a drink with Benjamin Franklin himself, who was definitely a fan of having a beverage with friends. I think he would have liked the distinct pieces coming together- the berry smell, the dry tannins, the dense body- just like the various pieces he pulled together to form our little American experiment.
The book is a long journey, but totally worth it. As biographies go (which I normally shy away from) it’s pretty easy to digest. Ben’s lifelong spunk and curiosity are a perfect match for this hardy red wine.
It turns out Benjamin Franklin was pretty saucy. He had tons of affairs, was a runaway, was super snarky, had to sell his precious books to sneak onto a boat to New York... you start to realize that founding a country and inventing everything we love were, occasionally, the less interesting parts of his day.
For this, but also for the historical stuff, I totally geeked out when I found his statue on the Freedom Trail! (There are no children around because they’re listening to the tour guide talk about something important- I snuck away to fangirl.)
As a School Counselor, I occasionally get the privilege of chaperoning field trips with my high school students. This time I hit the chaperone jackpot: an out of state trip to an amazing location where one of my friends lives. Hanging out with my girl all night and running around the city with the kids all day!
I flew, which meant I couldn’t bring this wine with me. I figured that wouldn’t be a problem- a wine with Benjamin Franklin on the label had to be everywhere in Boston, right??
Very wrong.
We ended up going to NO LESS than five or six wine stores and all said they did not have the wine I was looking for. We called around, drove to multiple towns... nothing! So there we were, standing in yet another store, when I finally thought to double check the name of the wine. I’d been asking for “the Founding Fathers wine”... which... as it turns out... I realized while standing there...is not the name of this wine. I turned and asked if they had The Federalist and the answer was “Of course! We have every variety!”
Oops.
The Pairing
Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson and The Federalist Lodi Cabernet Sauvignon
My friends forgave me for the mixup after I offered them glasses of this Cabernet. It’s very fragrant but has a smooth taste. I love imagining sharing a drink with Benjamin Franklin himself, who was definitely a fan of having a beverage with friends. I think he would have liked the distinct pieces coming together- the berry smell, the dry tannins, the dense body- just like the various pieces he pulled together to form our little American experiment.
The book is a long journey, but totally worth it. As biographies go (which I normally shy away from) it’s pretty easy to digest. Ben’s lifelong spunk and curiosity are a perfect match for this hardy red wine.
It turns out Benjamin Franklin was pretty saucy. He had tons of affairs, was a runaway, was super snarky, had to sell his precious books to sneak onto a boat to New York... you start to realize that founding a country and inventing everything we love were, occasionally, the less interesting parts of his day.
For this, but also for the historical stuff, I totally geeked out when I found his statue on the Freedom Trail! (There are no children around because they’re listening to the tour guide talk about something important- I snuck away to fangirl.)
I loved this trip! Incredible food, incredible company (yes, even the teenagers), and about a million bookstores. Other than the Founding Fathers Wine Debacle, it was a resounding success!
So now it’s back home to Tom Hammerschmidt and Posey and the real world.
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