Southern Sparklers Herald Changes

One Tuesday in February, classes were cancelled at 3:30 p.m. for that night and the following day. The Mister and I celebrated the unprecedented advanced warning, and that I had on-campus interviews for both of the positions for which I applied over the winter, by popping open the bottle of Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel Brut Rose my parents had given us for Christmas.
This South African methode cap classique (the South African term for bottle fermented sparkling wine: methode champenoise) wine is made from mostly pinotage grapes, with some traditional French champgane varietals, pinot noir and pinot meunier, comprising less than 20% of the blend. It's a lovely coral-pink and, like brut rose champagnes, struck me as very dry for the color. Soup and sparkling wine while it is sleeting is not a classic combination, but one I'd be willing to repeat.
Over our spring break, the Mister and I spent the night at a local bed and breakfast that has great food (my Christmas present to him and our Valentine's meal) while my parents spent the night with Dianthus. We ordered the Graham Beck sparkling wine because it was listed as being from New Mexico, and we were shocked that anyone was challenging Gruet for the New Mexico-based sparkling wine market. The menu was wrong, it was regular Graham Beck from South Africa. I don't think the fact that I spent the next 48 hours in very close proximity to the toilet had anything to do with the sparking wine, and I think it tasted very good and went particularly well with the mushroom soup and the Mister's crazy seafood platter, but my taste memory is somewhat sullied by the after-illness.
Yesterday we made a decision regarding our future jobs: we'll be moving to Oklahoma over the summer, and we drank a bottle of Korbel to celebrate. (The Korbel is Californian, not South African, but I'm sure it fits in with "Southern Sparklers" somehow. California is "southern" compared to Champagne).
Thanks to Mom and Dad for the babysitting and the wine. Thanks to the Mister for looking for finding me jobs to apply for and we look forward to seeing many of you on our travels to and from Oklahoma this summer (which will include Colorado, Kansas and possibly New Mexico).