As I write this column, this saying seems appropriate:

“If you have not found joy in snow, you’ll have less joy in your life but the same amount of snow.”

With our recent blowing snow and cold, it’s sometimes hard to find joy because of the many disruptions that occur due the snow storms but let’s take a little different perspective on the weather.

First, we live in Minnesota and with that living experience comes snow, cold, ice and fast moving air currents — wind. Let’s welcome our winter experiences with a bottle of Maui Blanc — a pineapple wine from Hawaii.

Upon opening the bottle, you’re surrounded by the scent of pineapple — duh! But, it’s lusciously tasteful, pleasingly sweet but not overly so. The wine will take your mind off the current wintery weather, take you to the beautiful island of Hawaii and you’ll mentally be warm, cozy and relaxed.

Secondly, we know our wintry weather brings transportation challenges. Ice covered roads beg us to drive slowly and carefully. If we are cautious drivers, we’ll arrive safely at our destination; we can’t escape the questionable driving experience but, we can learn patience and self discipline from the road experience.

In the same manner, when you open a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc from Honig Vineyard and Winery, you’ll want to take some time and patiently taste this wine. It’s refreshingly crisp but, wait, there’s much more. Slowly the tastes of pear and grapefruit develop and continue throughout the long lingering finish. Rather than hurry along this wine’s tasting highway, we must have patience to let the full beauty of it envelope us.

Third, our winters are beautiful! Yes, they can be a pain in the butt with the bitterly cold wind chills and temps but let’s put winter in perspective. A chorus I hear numerous times every winter (and all year long) is … it’s the wind! And, yes, it’s the wind!

When the winter temperature is reasonable (and you make that self determination) and the wind isn’t blowing you around, winter is beautiful. I love stepping outside on a cold, windless, clear starry night to view the heavens. It’s as if you can reach up and touch the stars — they are so vivid.

Likewise, when I look at a bottle of wine, it’s a beautiful moment for me. I can’t wait to experience the loveliness of the wine and to experience, via my senses, a place. I recently mentally and sensually visited the island of Crete.

We had reservations in a Greek restaurant and I was given the honor of choosing the wine to pair with the meal. The entire wine list included over 50 Greek wines and as I perused the list, a wine from Crete called to me.

The island of Crete grows some of the oldest grapes on the planet and a red blend named Idaia Gi caught my attention. Not known for my proficiency in Greek, I asked the waiter to pronounce the name of the wine and we had a few very funny moments while my tongue got around the correct pronunciation of the wine’s name.

The aroma of the wine was light cherry and the medium body of the wine was soft and easy to drink. The finish was soft jammy with low tannins — it paired beautifully with our meal.

As we’ve heard many times: “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” This wine from Crete was just that — beautiful to look at and beautiful to drink and it matched the softly falling snowflakes just outside my restaurant window.

Yes, winter can be a stinker and mess up carefully laid family plans. However, there’s beauty in the cold, the snow and the vibrancy of winter.

Yes, it’s like the beauty in your favorite bottle of wine within which you can discover sensory enjoyment and a warm, welcoming time with family and friends.

It’s all a matter of perspective… do you see only the snow, wind and the cold? Or, do you see the beauty of a snowflake, the cleansing pleasure of a cold starry night and know when not to walk/drive in the bone chilling wind?

It’s all a matter of perspective and, I guess … wind!

Next week, too much of a good thing.

As always, eat and drink in moderation but laugh with reckless abandon!

Cheers!