Hey, What's Your Wine?

While slapping mosquitoes on the deck of an Augusta winery this summer, we promised each other we'd come back after the first frost. The mosquitoes would be gone; the crisp air would draw us closer together. But like autumn leaves, we drifted apart. And then it got cold. And the Missouri grape harvest was, like our love, just a memory. The sort of memory that makes you drink more wine. So since you and the summer are gone, my darling, I'm grabbing $20 and heading to the Missouri Winefest at Westport Plaza (I-270 and Page Avenue, Maryland Heights; www.missouriwinefest.com or 314-576-7100), where I can try Missouri wines to my heart's content and content my heart with the knowledge that just by tasting unlimited wine samples from noon to 5 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday (February 9 and 10), I've contributed to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. And I've also worked on forgetting about you. So long, sucker. You may have a new girlfriend, but I'll have a souvenir glass.
Sat., Feb. 9; Sun., Feb. 10, 2008