Reunions are always interesting.

After a lengthy period apart, there’s always that anxious feeling of seeing everyone again. This holds true for family reunions as well as for a bunch of friends getting back together.

Why are these events anxiety filled? Because, you’re never quite sure what’s going to happen when certain ingredients (people) brush shoulders after a time of being separated.

Let’s be honest. Does everyone in your family or friend’s circle get along with each other? Now, be honest! If everyone gets along with each other, good! However, in today’s environment, there’s normally a person who is a “burr” under everyone’s saddle.

That “burr” makes us uncomfortable and, then, we’re not sure what topics to discuss or how much beer or wine to bring to the event. Additionally, there’s the history we all bring to a gathering and we tend to be a bit on edge wondering when that dark moment from the past will be brought to light.

Yet, let’s be positive! Most of our reunions work out just fine and that’s why we continue to schedule them year after year. Yes, there can be those uncomfortable moments but they are usually greatly overshadowed by the warmth and beauty of coming together.

I bring up this topic because the coming together of people and things is always an interesting unknown.

I have recently come across a number of beverages that are being aged in old wine barrels. That’s not unique but it’s the number and the coming together of the types of barrels and beverages that begs my interest. For instance…

Robert Mondavi markets a brand of wine named Woodbridge. Mondavi wines are well known and they run the gamut from being very inexpensively priced wines to those that are highly priced. Woodbridge falls into the more medium price category and, usually, that brings a medium rating for the wine’s taste.

Walking through the aisle at Tall Grass Liquor, I noticed a full display of Woodbridge wines that were aged in various types of barrels. Since I’m always seeking something different, it seemed proper for a few of those bottles to fall into my bag. Well, actually, they all fell into my bag.

The bottles in question were a red blend aged in Bourbon barrels, a Cabernet Sauvignon aged in Bourbon barrels and a Chardonnay aged in Rum barrels. Like many reunions, I was a bit anxious about what I would experience and I discovered the wines to be good but not overwhelmingly so.

I started with the Red Blend aged in Bourbon barrels. I liked it but couldn’t find what grapes made up the blend. I did a number of searches to no avail. All I could find was the grapes came from many vineyards so it became a guessing game about the varieties involved in the blend.

The basic taste was black cherry with a lot of vanilla and toasty oak. It was very enjoyable and the smoothness of the wine was very satisfying. The mouth feel was full and luscious, there were some tannins and a comfortable soft finish. An enjoyable wine but some unanswered questions — what came together to make the wine? However, don’t shy away from trying it –it’s quite nice.

Then, I went to the Chardonnay that’s aged in rum barrels. This is different because one doesn’t find a lot of wine finished in rum barrels and I wondered if the creaminess of the Chardonnay would be lost or covered by the taste of liquor.

I was not disappointed. There was the requisite creaminess of the wine and some nice tropical fruitiness. The rum barrel made itself known by throwing in a nice molasses taste with just a hint of some spice. Yet, you knew you were drinking a Chardonnay and the aging process added to the richness of the wine.

It was time to taste the Cabernet Sauvignon aged in Bourbon barrels. Having tasted such a mating before in other wines, I knew what to expect.

I wanted my full-flavored Cabernet Sauvignon taste with plumy black berries and got it. Then, as with the red blend, the barrel aging kicked in with some nice soft vanilla and toasty oak flavors. The wine was heady enough to satisfy the needed Cabernet Sauvignon taste but had just enough barrel taste to know the barrel had done its job. Overall, it was quite enjoyable and, once again, the coming together of the grape with a barrel used for a spirit was very nice.

Woodbridge didn’t disappoint me and, when I think back to my family gatherings, I’m not ever disappointed by them, either. Yes, there can be tense moments. Yes, there can be anxiety caused by momentary dumbness but, overall, coming together is always an enriching time.

We are who we are. Let’s not stop talking to each other.

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

Cheers!