Hunting the Albino Alligator

One nice thing living in the Washington, D.C. area did provide was a broad range of museums within which to totally nerd-out for free. The Smithsonians are owned by the American people, and we are indeed members of the American people, so our tickets were already paid for (through taxes, which might mean technically we paid the entrance fee far, far in advance, but let’s not get technical). Moving out to San Francisco, we were suddenly faced with the decision to either pay $30 to get our nerd fix, or save that money for true necessities, like champagne.

But every once in a while, the museums of San Francisco take pity on the middle class geeks of this fair city and offer something for free. A short time ago, we took advantage of just such an offer, and were able to spend our entire afternoon joyously giving our natural history muscles a workout at the California Academy of Sciences, for free! While we loved numerous exhibits throughout the museum, like the mammoth catfish that could easily swallow a five-year-old child, or the adorable poison dart frogs who look just like candy (tricky little devils), our favorite part of the visit this time around was Claude, the albino alligator. The mystery, the majesty, the creepy way he never moved while we were looking at him and yet was always in a different position when we stopped by ten minutes later. We are already planning new ways to sneak up on him in action when the next free weekend comes around six months from now. It may involve ski masks.

And since this weekend outing was free, we had money in our pockets for the essentials, like another bottle of sparkling wine, ripe for a review. This time we chose the j Cuvée 20 ($27). We already spoke favorably of the j Rosé, and were hopeful that the rest of the varieties would not disappoint. This wine certainly did not. It was very crisp, bubbly, and bright. It had a clean, light, almost peachy aroma. With delicate undertones to every sip, it was fun to drink and had a very light bitterness that actually balanced the complex flavors of the wine. It was impressively balanced and nuanced for a California wine. But we must admit, it was no albino alligator.

Score: A unanimous 4.

Recommended: Yep, it’s a little pleasure in a bottle.