Wines to Pair With Angels

I have never given much thought to angels, whether in my life or in my wine, but yesterday changed that.

I was talking to a friend, Sandra--a shorthaired, always-smartly-dressed businesswoman in the financial industry whose money advice I listen to. She asked me if I wanted to experiment with "Angel Cards." She had been working with them for about nine months and wanted to share them with me.

What... Was... She... Saying... To... Me? Was she speaking in English? It was like there was no mental connection between my BUSINESS/MONEY side and my FAIRY/ANGEL side. I mean, I have friends who are into cards--angel, tarot, animal spirit, compass, fairy, etc.--but most of them have long, naturally curly hair, wear flowy tunics and have business cards that say, "Joyful Living Goddess," "Spiritual Apprentice," or "Psychically Yours."

Completely unable to comprehend what Sandra was saying, (Did I mention she's in the financial industry???) I remained speechless.

Filling the silence, she continued, "Let me tell you a story..." and she related to me how nine months ago, she met an elderly woman who claimed to be a psychic. The woman studied Sandra and offered, "Would you like to ask me something?"

"Oh no, no," Sandra shook her head, laughing, "I'm not into those kinds of things."

"Well then, I'll just tell you a few things that I see in you," and the old woman went on to describe four characteristics that Sandra was manifesting--we'll call them A, B, C, and D.

Later that night, Sandra remembered that she had ended up with some Angel cards from a white-elephant-gift party and she went rummaging for them in her kitchen junk drawer. She found them and read the directions on the back of the box. She laid the cards out on the table and drew four of them.

They showed A, B, C and D, exactly the same four characteristics that the old woman had pointed out.

The sides of my brain finally connected and I heard her passion and love as she offered her Angel experience to me. After she related her old-woman story, I began recalling some unusual blessings that have graced my life, blessings that DID make it seem like angels were watching over me.

Since I work in the world of wine pairings my mind always relates wine to life, so I wondered to myself, what wine would I pair with angels?

This answer is of course Pinot Noir, a light red wine that is produced around the world in cool regions. Famous for their Pinot Noirs are Oregon and Burgundy, France, in particular.

• It is a miracle from heaven that Pinot Noir ever makes it into a glass: Pinot Noir is one of the hardest grape varietals to grow to ripeness successfully; it is extremely susceptible to diseases; the leaves on the vine (the "canopy") don't hide the grapes very well from hungry birds; and if any of the grapes actually make it into the winery, the fermentation of the wine can bubble out of control extremely easily due to the mix of acids in the grapes.
• Pinot Noir is extremely elegant, yet possesses an internal structure that is elusively strong, quite like the angels that sit on the top of our Christmas trees.
• Since all of our angels come at differing times, with different agendas for us, we need a wine that can pair with anything. Pinot Noir is light-bodied, offers an alluring partnership of earth and gorgeous fruit, and because it is subtle, it allows the food to shine as well.

Without angels watching over the entire Pinot Noir grape-growing and winemaking process, we'd never have a bottle to enjoy.

So I'm heading off to lunch today, looking forward to a glass of Pinot Noir, with my heart and soul open to watching my left-brained friend bring the angels to me.