Make your Thanksgiving table picture perfect with these festive ideas for holiday entertaining. Taylor Bennett created three different looks for these spirited settings using a variety of linens and customized place cards.

FALL IS IN FULL SWING AND WINTER IS JUST AROUND the corner. Here at the store we thought that we’d show off a few items that are perfect for the season and pair well with a variety of dishes and company. It’s the perfect time of year to fill up on incredible food and make great memories with loved ones, and we know that you need the perfect libation to make it “unforgettable.”

We’ll start things off with a kick as we begin with some whiskey. The whiskey we want to highlight is the Old Forester 1910 Bourbon. The 1910 is part of the Whiskey Row series which takes its name from the historic street in Louisville, Kentucky where many distilleries have called their home. The Whiskey Row series are each named after an important year in both the distillery and bourbon history. This particular expression is in reference to a fire that started on the bottling line in, yes you guessed it, 1910. When the fire broke out the bourbon that was waiting to be bottled had to be moved and stored while repairs were being made. The decision was made to put the bourbon back into new charred oak barrels and we got the first ever double oaked bourbon. This happy accident is what led to the inspiration for Woodford Reserve Double Oaked Bourbon. Old Forester 1910 is an absolute treat that is packed with rich caramel and layered vanilla and is consistently one of their most sought after products.

Next we want to discuss several wines that will be perfect throughout the holiday season. We thought we’d highlight these products as they can safely be brought to a gathering or you can just enjoy them by yourself. Let’s start off with Arcadian Clos Pepe Chardonnay. We are massive fans of Arcadian as they produce some of our favorite cellarable wines. Current vintage of this chardonnay is 2013! Arcadian uses very classical French winemaking techniques to produce truly outstanding wines. This chardonnay is rounded with a rich textured mouthfeel. The palate shows bright orchard fruits with a touch of tropical fruits as well. This pairs incredibly with fresh fish from the grill, roasted chicken, and salads.

For those of you who will be enjoying a turkey we really haved, LOVED, the Italo Pietrantonj Cerasuolo D’Abruzzo. This is a wine that is pressed early during fermentation and maintains a bright character that is perfect with turkey, ham, and dressing. This wine has a lovely candied red color that leads to a nose of cherries, cranberries, and strawberries. This has a bright palate with a zingy finish that is made for pairing with food, but is highly quaffable on its own.

If you are looking for a big and tasty red for the cooler weather we really enjoy the wines from Wolf’s Head. The Haymaker is a deep red blend that opens with aromas of violets, blackberries, and a touch of chocolate. The palate reveals more dark red berries with an addition of cigar box spice to balance things out, and a rich velvety finish will leave you ready for more. This wine is a great pairing for beef or pork tenderloin with roasted potatoes and vegetables.

This next grouping of wines is from the Rivesaltes region of France in the Languedoc where they have a rather unique winemaking process. These wines are typically made from varietals of grenache which are then fortified like port or sherry, but then they do something distinctly different. Winemakers then put the juice in big glass bottles that are then sat outside for a year before being transferred to barrels where they will age for up to 50 years. These wines have intense flavors of golden raisins, dried dark cherries, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, plums, brown sugar, and more. These wines are intensely flavored and have been huge hits with every person who has tried them. This is one of our go-to drinks during the holidays as the perceived sweetness is welcoming to anyone. We have offerings of 6 year, 12 year, and 18 years old from Terrassous, and you’ll be shocked by their affordability.

We have so many great products that we can’t wait to share with you over the holiday season. We love helping our customers find great pairings and gifts this time of the year. Be sure to come in and check out our collection of private barrel whiskies that make for amazing gifts for the whiskey lovers out there, and don’t forget about the Doe’s Eat Place steaks for grilling during all the events that will be coming up soon. We always like to thank everyone for their continued support and for letting us be Your Spirits Guides here at Washington Wine & Spirits.

6 oz Filet - $13.87 10 oz Filet - $23.12 1.5 lb Bone In Strip - $22.49 20 oz Ribeye - $29.99 2 lb Bone In Ribeye - $46.99 1.5 lb T-Bone - $22.49 2 lb T-Bone - $29.98 2.5 lb Porterhouse - $42.48 3 lb Porterhouse - $50.97 2-5 lb Sirloin - $13.99/lb

THE FINAL TOUR article by MEREDITH MCKINNIE

In early April, I saw an advertisement for The Judds: The Final Tour. A nostalgic pain hit my chest. My mom had, and still has, an old-school boombox in the entryway to the living room. At Christmastime, Elvis Presley and Brenda Lee bellowed from the speakers. And periodically, the Judds’ CD would play. I always liked the tone of the music. I liked the idea of a mother/daughter duo, a powerful all-female chart-topping team who personified the aesthetic of country music and challenged it just the same. Wynonna is still considered a rebel with a powerful, soul-filled voice. Naomi Judd was always the more palatable of the twosome, pretty and supportive. But still, you could always sense a tension between the two of them, a reverberating dynamic that showcased love and the inevitable discord that plagues mother/daughter relationships. They seemed real to me, in a way that musicians rarely do.

Upon spotting the ad, I immediately thought about Mother’s Day and how I’d love to take my mom. She doesn’t attend concerts on her own, but I knew she would enjoy this one. I also thought attending a mother/daughter concert with my mother felt kismet - the opportunity one doesn’t pass up. I called my friend to see if she and her mother might want to come with us. This friend and I had tried taking our mothers to see Cher years before, another musician my mom loves. Cher canceled the last few dates of the tour due to a throat issue, and we never got to go. I purchased the tickets, bought an extra for my mother-in-law since the concert was in Dallas where she lives, and waited. Anxiously, I couldn’t wait to give Mom the tickets. She would be expecting a plant or perhaps a homemade card from my girls. I wrote out a long note, using iterations of the Judds’ song titles in the narration. Mom and Dad were coming over on Mother’s Day, and I couldn’t wait for her to open the card and see the tickets.

A week before Mother’s Day on April 30, 2022, my phone buzzed. The headline read: Naomi Judd dead at 76. I almost dropped my phone. In the following days, news trickled about Naomi suffering depression, a battle she had waged for some time. I had no idea. I adored an image and gave little thought to the woman behind the persona, the mother on country music’s biggest stage. And selfishly, I thought about the concert. I thought about how this tragedy affected me.

In the following weeks, I saw interviews with Wynonna and Ashley Judd, details about the incident, analysis of long-term family dynamics, the cluster of an evolving news story that refuses to let people grieve in peace. Wynonna announced that the tour would continue, with special guests joining her onstage. She would proceed with the tour to honor her mother. She claimed its what the fans wanted and what she believed her mother would want too. It was Wynonna’s choice to make, and I respect and trust her perspective. In a few weeks, my mother and I will make that trip to Dallas along with my friend and her mother. We will enter that stadium with other Judds’ fans and embark on an emotional few hours. I doubt few of us have any idea what to expect. Nevertheless, we will stand, cheer, and cry our way through the Judds’ repertoire. We won’t be the only mother/daughter pairs in that audience. We will share space with mothers who have lost daughters and daughters who have buried mothers. And the star on stage will attempt to fill that space without her co-star, in life and in music. She will most likely put on a brave face. Perhaps she will melt down. I trust Wynonna to tell the truth, like I instinctively did so many years ago. This year, I’m thankful to share this time with my mother, in the presence of a best friend and her mother, alongside Husband’s mother. Here’s to the mothers, those who stand beside and behind us, those whose legacies spur our spirits, and those gone, yet not forgotten.

by ERIN SHARPLIN LOVE

erinlove@panachebyerin.com

The words “simplify” and “minimalistic” have been batted around quite a bit these days and my guess is that many people are becoming increasingly more curious about them. Simplifying and minimizing can mean different things to different people. In my opinion, it is not really about the amount of items that you have but the amount of the important items you have as well as the order in which they take up space in your life. In other words, if you have accumulated so many items that there is no rhyme or reason to anything anymore, you are not living the simple life. Can you relate? If so, what has stopped you from beginning the simplifying and organizing process? Is the thought of getting organized too overwhelming? Or maybe you don’t have time. Either way, I hope this article lights a fire in you that you can’t put out. There are so many great reasons to simplify and organize that I better just go ahead and get started. Please keep reading below:

Simple = Clean A simple space not only looks cleaner, it is cleaner. Not to mention it is easier to get it to that state. YES! Getting rid of unneccessary clutter will allow you to clean faster and easier thus creating a home that is cleaner and more enjoyable for everyone.

Simple = Less Chaos Think about your mornings for a minute. How chaotic do you feel while trying to get your kids, much less yourself, out of the door and to school and appointments on time? Now, picture yourself as a calm, organized mom who is ready for anything that may come her way. Yep…you can have that by simplifying and getting organized.

Simple = Discipline. Simplicity and order exemplifies discipline. Your children will learn from your everyday discipline of cleaning and organizing and will almost instinctually display it later in life when they have created lives of their own. Okay, okay…this doesn’t always happen, but I can guarantee that your children will notice if their home is cluttered or organized.

Simple = Less Stress. It is scientifically proven that clutter and disorganization breeds stress and uneasiness. How can you nurture your relationships under such circumstances? For that matter, how can you nurture yourself? Simple = Confident. If I, or anyone, were to show up at your house right now how would you feel? Confident in your surroundings are embarrassed by them? Getting organized guarantees that the answer to this question would be final – confident!

Simple = Fun. When your home is simplified and orderly, everything takes less time so that means more time for fun!! Not to mention, you will be confident enough to entertain friends and family in your home. How fun is that?

Simple = Productive How much time do you waste looking for things? How often do you pace back and forth because you forgot what you were doing? If you live in clutter, I can bet this is a common occurrence. Clutter makes it extremely hard to get stuff done! End of story.

Simple = Timely In other words, you will never have to be late again! Well, things happen so I can’t guarantee this one, but you know what I mean. You are much more likely to arrive to appointments and events on time when your surroundings are simple and organized.

Simple = Peaceful. Disorder creates overwhlem.. Overwhelm isn’t very peaceful. Clear the clutter to create a more serene environment. You will be able to enjoy the small things, such as sipping hot tea, reading a good book, etc.

Simple = More Joy By getting rid of the items that you aren’t using, you will make room for more of the things you do love and use. A new dress? Why yes…let me toss a few of the items that I don’t wear anymore! A new book? I would love that! Let me get rid of those that I have already read and don’t think I will read again. Think about it… why are you holding on to items that aren’t serving any purpose or bringing you joy?

Simple = Attractive Consider this scenario – Two women are up for a promotion. One is frequently late to work, comes a bit frazzled, and never quite has the right outfit on. The other is always on time, confident, and always looks streamlined and well-dressed. Who is going to get that promotion? My bet is on the one who is obviously more streamlined and organized.

Simple = Gain. By simplifying and getting organized you are gaining so much! Never think of getting organized as “getting rid of.” Instead you are gaining all of the things I just mentioned above!

So, which reason gave you the push you needed? Please share with me! erinlove@panachebyerin.com

Butler’s collection of short stories recounts the experiences of Vietnamese Americans living in Louisiana. Each of the twelve stories is told from one character’s perspective with the topics centered on cultural differences between Vietnam and the United States. As an American reader, I was struck by how the Vietnamese American characters view America as both outsiders and insiders, lured to the country for the promise of a better life. The dichotomy of wanting to both immerse themselves in the new culture and salvage the remnants of where they originated is palpable. The struggle to assimilate breeds psychological effects and generational conflicts.

In one notable story, a young woman is grieving the death of her great grandfather and takes in his beloved parrot named Mr. Green who only spoke to her grandfather and resented the presence of anyone else. As the woman adapts to the bird, she replays memories with her grandfather, particularly his view of women’s limitations. While he felt a deep devotion to the girl, he saved some information and activities only for her brothers, simply due to their gender, and relegated her to the background. The boys didn’t value the traditions or respect their elder’s preferences. Now living in America, the woman has adapted the custom of female empowerment and struggles to love the memory of a man who didn’t see her as a fully capable person as a result of her womanhood. As the bird ages, he begins plucking out his own feathers, stripping his skin of protection. The woman watches the bird deteriorate just as she watched the final days of the grandfather who only loved her as much as custom would allow.

The longest story in the collection, entitled The American Couple, features a group of game show winners vacationing in Puerto Vallarta. The Vietnamese American couple buddies up with an American couple, both men having served in Vietnam from opposite countries. While the females relate on surfacelevel matters, having little in common, the men engage in a silent battle, struggling with military baggage long since buried. The wives witness sides of their husbands unknown to them, and the Vietnamese couple reach a breakthrough that elevates their waning connection. The story explores the possibility of a new environment surfacing old wounds and exposing truths difficult to keep hidden. Butler’s collection won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1993. Having served in Vietnam as a translator, Butler fell in love with the country and its people. This collection surfaces American stories from the shadows of literature. Butler writes thoughtfully and carefully, paying homage to the people and culture and staying knitted to their American reality

“I can speak these words and perhaps you can see these things clearly because you are using your imagination. But I cannot imagine these things because I lived them, and to remember them with the vividness I know they should have is impossible. They are lost to me.”

Christophe and Joshua, fraternal twins, have just graduated high school. Raised by their maternal grandmother Ma-mee, the boys have never known life not by each other’s side. Faced with meager job opportunities and low-wage realities, the twins’ dynamic is complicated by one receiving a coveted job offer at the docks. Life is changing, leading the boys on different paths. Where one takes on back-breaking, but honest work, the other resorts to selling drugs to make up for the lack of child support checks from the boys’ mother. Ma-mee is the emotional constant in the young men’s lives, the one who nurtures and believes in them, bearing the burden of raising her daughter’s children while their mother pursues her own career outside of Bois Sauvage, the poor black town on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. When their mother returns for a visit and their drugaddicted father resurfaces, the boys must navigate strained relationships while their own paths diverge. What Jesmyn Ward does so well is to give voice to those stories often unwritten. She writes about the world she knows, the people she relates to, the families that must endure poverty, racism, and a world that thinks of them as Other. Ward doesn’t apologize for her characters or judge them for their choices. She simply writes life as it so often happens to them in a place where prosperity is an unimagined reality. Her keen attention to human emotion and close familial relationships grips readers, as we all crave connection and often find it in the unlikeliest of places. Ward’s writing is backdropped by the beating heart of the landscape, an ode of sorts to the Gulf Coast, a place Ward admits she both loves and hates. The themes of home, love, and brotherhood are explored in this story, alongside the complicated decisions people make when presented with so few options. Jesmyn Ward’s first novel did not receive the critical acclaim of her later novels like Salvage the Bones and Sing, Unburied, Sing, but here readers find the roots of her characters who embody black life in the Gulf South, characters fashioned in the likeness of the people from her childhood. While this novel is fictional, Ward’s biography Men We Reaped tells the story of her upbringing and six young black men in her life who died in a span of only four years. Ward won The National Book Award for fiction for Salvage the Bones in 2011, and has received critical acclaim as a distinguished voice in southern literature.

REVIEW BY MEREDITH MCKINNIE