Tonight we opened up a 2003 blended wine from Arthur Earl called A Genoux. This wine is made from Syrah, Mourvedre, Cinsault and Counoise fruit procured from Paso Robles, Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Barbara County. Aristotle once opined that “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”.  This is certainly true with the 2003 A Genoux. This is a lovely combination of fruit that yields a wine with a floral nose and rich flavors typical of Syrahs from Santa Ynez Valley. I have to admit that I thought the name of this wine was a little weird. If I recall my high school French lessons, “a genoux” literally means “has knees”. Curiouser and curiouser. When spoken, the name of this wine sounds like the English word “ingenue” which is a word which means naïve woman. Hmmmm…according to the Arthur Earl website, “a genoux” means “to your knees” and is a reference to a quote from Alexander Dumas, who famously penned The Three Musketeers. History tells us that Monsieur Dumas loved his vin, and in fact said it was so good that “you should drink it on your knees with your hat off”. While I share Dumas’ love of wine and his dislike of drinking while wearing a hat, I’d prefer to quaff with my shoes off on a warm summer evening.  No kneeling while drinking sticky sweet sacramental wine for me, merci beaucoup.   Bonne soirée Monsieur Dumas, a votre santé!