This year’s bi-polar Minnesota Spring has left folks like me wondering what to drink. Hell, we’re all willy nilly, and that spills over to our beverage du jour! On warm days, people are busting open beers, whites, and rosés. The dreary, cold days you lean toward, well, heavier/darker beer, whiskey, and/or red wine.

This takes me to the drizzly, dreary day that was last Saturday’s Record Store Day. Record Store Day began back in 2007 to celebrate independent record stores. In collaboration, artists responded with limited release pressings and recordings, mostly on vinyl. Learn more:http://www.recordstoreday.com/CustomPage/614/RecordStoreDay

A group of us went down to Hymie’s to hear some local fave’s, The Brian Just Band and The Cactus Blossoms. In true Minnesota fashion, the weather was not about to dampen this celebration, despite the fact that the primary stage was outside. Folks stood steadfast in rain slickers and umbrellas, sporting their thrift store jackets or REI softshells & fleece while kids danced around in rubber galoshes. The entire scene with homemade art goods, 25-cent record bins, and 20-somethings with giant, freshly grown beards (facial hair, not female companions), made me feel like an extra on an episode of “Portlandia”. All in all, it was a great way to spend a Saturday.

After all that, though, I needed to warm up with a bevi so I wandered over to The Wine Thief in St. Paul. The place isn’t overwhelming and the staff is appropriately laid-back, but when asked, they’ll steer you well. They are serious about wine without taking themselves too seriously. There was even a nice little three bottle tasting going on. This week’s weather forecast calls for some shaping up, so how about a little New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc? Since I was impressed with the Marlborough Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc few months ago , I wasn’t very hesitant to give this one a try.

Twin Islands Sauvignon Blanc is a stimulating and damn smooth white wine. There is no alcohol bite to it. You could hand this out after a marathon it’s so refreshing and thirst quenching.  This beauty is crisp, yet smooth with light citrus fruit and peach undertones. Like a Roy Orbison record, you could serve this to anyone, from full-on snobs to your White Zin-loving mother-in-law, reasonably confident that they’d dig it. I have visions of drinking this alone in the backyard patio while thumbing through one of my zillion copies of Sierra Trading Post (honestly, must they mail so many?). Me? I enjoyed it with some fried chicken. Say what you will, but that $4.99 8-piece fried chicken deal (you could also get it grilled, but, c’mon) was calling out to me, so I ordered it up. The key is to get a fresh batch, not the sad, stale chicken parked for hours under a heat lamp. Out of the fryer, into my container! I was giddy with excitement.

I poured a glass of the Twin Islands, then got full-on cro magnon with a drumstick before I could even sit down. Alas, sat I did, and took a swig of Sauvignon to wash the breaded poultry down. (Thank God I was alone.) Soon, my fingers were all shiny, glistening from the grease. I even smudged up the wine glass stem with delectable chicken fat awesomeness. All the while I kept eating, I savored each sip. It went together so swimmingly well, the gleam never dulled.

This is the white wine for people who don’t like white wine. Period. Thankfully, due to Record Store Day, I now had a bitchin’ new soundtrack for my consumable induced coma.