WHO DIS: Leesa Cross-Smith, LCS
WHAT: On a Friday, in between featured stories...whenever I want/am feeling it, here @ WhiskeyPaper, I will be writing a bit abt whatever little lovely thing that has caught my eye/attention. I am not getting paid for this! I am only writing abt things I love a lot, simply bc I love them a lot and bc maybe someone out there is looking for a new thing to love!
WHY THO: I was writing abt something else going up later, but @ the end I wrote...My celeb crushes and movie/TV obsessions seem to find me, truly. I can't really explain where they come from or what/who will be next. I just know I've always been like this. I feel a bit like a kitten with a butterfly about these sorts of things. There I am, minding my business and here comes a flittery-fluttery bright butterfly, landing on my nose.
THE FIRST BRIGHT BUTTERFLY: A recent love/happy-obsession called THE WINE SHOW. You can watch it on Hulu! (And this magazine is called WhiskeyPaper! But tbqh, my v favorite special drink is CHAMPAGNE! I'll find a way to write abt that later!)
I found The Wine Show via reading abt a one Matthew Rhys from The Americans (another bright butterfly I will write abt soon!) and Death Comes to Pemberley and other things. He is a handsome bearded Welshman. In Death Comes to Pemberley, Rhys plays our beloved Mr. Darcy and who plays his archenemy, Mr. Wickham the rogue? Why, Matthew Goode of course! The English actor also joins him on The Wine Show. They are v charming and hilarious together. The lead sommelier Joe Fattorni goes all around the world from Chile to South Africa to Shangai and everywhere in between in search of the stories behind the wines. Joe investigates the histories of the vineyards, the families who own them, the winemakers, the cultures. In Chile, he discusses how a devastating earthquake has affected the wine community. In another episode, there's talk of volcanic soil and in another, whether monastic chants can change the taste of wine. One South African vineyard owner tenderly kisses her vine leaves every morning! They use delicious, drinkable language like flight of wines. I love the words they use on the show, the wine descriptions—truly dreamy, drinking and getting "drunk" on them as I listen.
There is an episode where Joe goes and stands in the sanctuary-like room where they keep the barrels of wine @ one of the vineyards and they whisper bc they believe loud noises (can) affect the taste the wine. They treat the barrels like sleeping babies. It's awfully sweet, all of it. I learned a lot abt wine! I love learning new things abt things I already love! There is a section when the boys talk abt gadgets— from the wildly expensive suitcase of little bottles of different smells so a wine-lover can give their nose some better practice...to the simplicity of a basic kitchen staple like a wine key. Rhys and Goode—who affectionally call themselves by their last names since they share a first or !! even cuter when they call each other Rhysy and Goodey and talk abt creating a wine together and calling it a Goode Rhysling—are v adorable and funny as Joe shows them the gadgets. They fake spit-takes when he discusses the prices, they behave like precocious children when he lets them hold/touch them. They reference James Bond almost constantly bc that is also something men like to do...talk abt and pretend like they are James Bond. And there are women too! Amelia Singer and Gizzi Erskine take us all over the world, as well, talking abt wine and food and culture! There's an episode about vintage wine forgery! There's also a section where the Matthews each take a wine back to Joe so Joe can pick a winner...according to the rules for that particular episode's adventure. It's a treat!
The Wine Show has a lovely website where you can search by episode and read abt the wines, order them if you live in the UK and there are even alternative choices for the wines, too, in case some are a little too niche or expensive for yr tastes. In a world full of continuous, pressing, apocalyptic doom, I found great joy in easily devouring the thirteen episodes in the first season and listening to chefs from all over the world plan their meals around a certain bright bubbly, a dark, complex red, a crisp, citrus-infused white. You can watch the trailer below if you'd like a bit of joy in yr life! The Matthews wear a lot of button-down Oxfords and Goodey is partial to hats. I love their faces! They are both quite dashing and fetching! I love their voices/accents/how they talk to one another! I like when they both don their wayfarers and go for a drive! The scenery is breathtaking and they do much of their tasting at a gold-tinted Italian villa surrounded by a God-like lush green that seems right out of a dream. The Wine Show is a bright butterfly! A joy to behold! Good job, boys! Wow, I love you deeply and v much. x
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About Leesa Cross-Smith: Leesa is the founder/editor of WhiskeyPaper along w/her kind, bearded husband Loran. She is the author of Every Kiss A War and Whiskey & Ribbons. Find a super-long list of the things she loves over @ LeesaCrossSmith.com. She tweets baseball, bookishness and more @LeesaCrossSmith and sends out a TinyLetter called Kitchen Music once a month!
Bright Butterfly Jukebox: "Feel No Ways" by Drake (I love this song so much altho it has no real connection here...I was just listening to it as I started writing this and that's kinda how these things tend to go, tbqh.)
Note: (All images via my phone + Hulu on my TV)