It’s one week before my next trip –and race –in Malibu, and the rainy Sunday pouring over Philadelphia is getting me down.

Last weekend, I went to the Moore Brothers wine shop and purchased a few French wines. This weekend, I opened the rosé, “Le Fruit Défendu” from Magellan.It seems right that any weekend where one may need a biblical ark, one may also want to skirt temptation and dive into the forbidden fruit.  

This 100% Cinsault wine ($14) comes from Provence, the south of France, where all things are beautiful (except me completing the Ironman there.  It was not beautiful, or nice, as the region may have you believe).

An aside: Looking up some trivia regarding Provence, it has more than 3000 hours of sunlight a year.  And, during it’s wrought-after history–lots of people wanted it, including the Romans–where ultimately the name came from. They called it “nostra provincia” or “our province”–so according or contrary to, Shakespeare, there’s a lot at stake in a name.

Okay, back at the wine.  In a word, it’s lovely.  Full of lush strawberry fruit, and because of the rocky region, the minerals (think Evian water full of strawberries poured over jagged, grey, wet rocks) shine through on this wine.  Super great balance with acid–this wine can pair up nicely with fragrant food.  Or a rainy, Philadelphia Sunday morning with eggs.  Your pick.  Today, am going to call it “Nostra dia” or my day….cause I’m drinking this as long as I want.

And if you must know, I skipped the workout.  It’s that kind of day.  And…that kind of wine. You can drink whenever–not only on the happy, hot summer days.