Today is the 11th anniversary of the big "Berlin Wall Bash," so let's clink and drink to that momentous event with, if you will, a white wine. I propose something German -- a riesling from Nierstein, a bone-dry Wurzberg Muller-Thurgau, or a sekt from Adolf Schmitt near Trier (excellent also with sushi). And, on the well-founded assumption that next week they'll come through yet again, let's toast France's Beaujolais producers with -- what else? Beaujolais Nouveau 2000.
Wine is great on special occasions, but frankly, with a chill nipping at our heels as we straddle the crisp cusp between autumn and winter, a tummy-warming taste of something more bracing than wine can be glorious. Consider wine-based brandies and marc, both centuries-old distilled products.
Brandy belongs to the spirits category and is still, today, known as aqua vitae (water of life), a Latin term coined by a Catalan physician in the 13th century to suggest healthful invigoration. The French call their spirits eau de vie, the Celts uisge beatha, the Scandinavians aquavit and so on.