From all of us at The Aspiring Gentleman, we wish you and yours a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  We’ll be taking the next week off to spend quality time with our families, and we hope you’ll be able to do the same.  Make sure to open a nice bottle or clip a treasure from the depths of your humidor, take the time to grow closer to friends and family, and don’t forget to give some of your time and resources to those less fortunate.
Until 2012, sláinte!

On vacation this summer, I took the opportunity to drive the beautiful Sea-to-Sky Highway between Vancouver and Whistler, in the Pacific Northwest of Canada. If there is ever a time to avoid the regret of not upgrading your rental car, this is it. The Highway combines the elements of stunning visuals, some thrilling twists and turns that will focus the most disciplined driver, and a few good stops for lunch or sightseeing. This is a flashback to a time when getting there was almost as good as the destination; a …

“Making wine is a bit like making tea,” says Page Springs winemaker Eric Glomski as he tries to make funny sounds poking the grapes in a fermenting bin. I finally got around to seeing Blood Into Wine, a documentary featuring Tool and A Perfect Circle frontman Maynard Keenan’s quest to produce wine in Arizona. Wine as Art, much like Music as Art, is the focus of Maynard and Eric as they manually extract juice from the dirt at Caduceus, Page Springs, and Arizona Stronghold Wines. For the usual Maynard fans …

Today I feel like I’ve emerged from the whirlwind that is this season. I’d be lying if I said that I’ve learned to handle the myriad of stresses with family issues, gift buying and scheduling. It’s time now to be inspired by the classic carol, Silent Night. Like a bride, I can finally sit back, realize that everything is taken care of, and truly enjoy the moments surrounded by the people that are most important to me. I wish that you can do the same. Merry Christmas.