Creative Writing for Adults

The San Francisco Chronicle wine section had an amusing article this morning recapping the notable events in the wine industry this past year and touched on the success of the independent film, "Sideways", by parodying its two main characters, Miles and Jack (article here). In the spirit of the struggling-writer-cum-wine-expert Miles, the article provides a link to a website that someone created a while back that randomly generates wine notes, the short and often adjective-filled commentary by wine connoisseurs used to define the "character" and "personality" of each wine. Here is the link to the Silly Tasting Notes Generator (website here). My first wine note... "Chunky but equally big and plump Chenin Blanc. Hits you with smoked bacon, over-oaked black-cherry and lingering honey. Drink now through June." You can also generate an "extra-silly" version. Here is my first over-the-top wine note... "Tightly wound and morally superior Voignier. Essenses of cottage cheese, sweet fruity pebbles and semi-weak buttermilk pancakes. Drink now through 2008." Too funny. One could make much of the conspiracy amongst professional writers and winemakers. Imagine some of the literary greats marketing wine in their own particular style of writing... Hemingway, Faulkner, Twain, Steinbeck... the latter may be one up already, having penned The Grapes of Wrath.