Wine & Whine O' the Week (v. 1.14)—SweeTarts at the Table

Remember SweeTarts, those sweet & sour candies you chomped by the handful as a kid?  Well, they came to mind last week during a poker session at the Meadows ATM.  I was at a table with "DC", a regular who is a old-fashioned gentleman, and an entertaining gambler at the table.  He's not exactly an old-timer yet, but he cut his teeth on deuce-seven lowball if that gives you any insight.  Anyway, DC's style is loose, though not particularly aggressive.  He likes to see flops with almost any two cards, and if he catches a piece of the flop, he's in it until the river.  So, DC catches a fair number of weird two-pair or backdoor draw hands, and can be dangerous to those who think that, just because he's loose, they can value-bet him with light holdings.  Trying to bluff DC is pointless, but newbies do it all the time, usually handing him their stacks in the process.  DC is equally likely to leave the table up or down $1,500.

Anyway, DC had been running hot this session, and had put several people on tilt, including Pro-Wannabe, a guy I've seen a few times who is a decent player, but always trying to be too tricky for his own good.  DC had stacked PW earlier in the session with an improbable two pair from a hand like J3s.  The two get mixed up in another hand, with DC check-calling PW's preflop 3-bet to $30.  The flop was K-8-2, with one heart.  DC checked, PW bet, DC called.  Turn was an offsuit Ace.  Check-check.  River was an offsuit 5.  DC bet, and I immediately knew the 5 had made his hand, either two pair or the wheel.  PW insta-shoves all-in.  DC pauses, looks at his cards, and says, "I guess I have to call you with the nuts" and rolls over 4h3h for the wheel.  PW looked like he had been tasered, rolling over his slow-played top two pair.

A few moments passed, the dealer started dealing the next hand, but DC was still stacking the chips from the monster pot.  Suddenly PW decides to chatter:

PW [tartly]:  "Nice call."
DC [sweetly]:  "I had the nuts."
PW [tartly]:  "No, I meant on the flop.  Nice call with nothing."
DC [sweetly]:  "I had three to a flush and three to a straight, I had to see the turn."
PW [stunned]:  "Seriously?  You called needing runner-runner?"
DC [slyly]:  "Well, I think you checked the turn."
PW [splutters incoherently and goes on super monkey tilt].

The past weekend, I enjoyed another sweet/tart treat, the Mulderbosch Chenin Blanc 2009.  This wine hails from South Africa, where chenin blanc (also known as Steen in South Africa) is the country's white grape claim to fame (though they also turn out some marvelous sauvignon blancs).  This wine is an excellent example of a riper style of chenin blanc, with pineapple and mango flavors backed by tart acidity and a hint of lime.  Like many good chenin blancs, it is slightly off-dry, finishing with a hint of sweetness to balance the acidity.  Definitely a mouthwatering and refreshing summer white wine, and a good value in the $10-$13 retail range.