On Monday, Hubby and I turned the three-day, July 4^th holiday into a four-day one, and instead of going back to work, we went to the National Zoo. We’ve been talking about going since late winter, but school and work made it impossible. However, this seemed like the perfect opportunity for us to pull out our cameras and lenses for a day of animals and photography…and what a fun day! The zoo was still crowded, as we weren’t the only ones with the idea of extending the holiday weekend, and it was hot, as DC summers can be, but it was a good time. One of the highlights was when we saw that the zoo’s professional photographer walking with several zookeepers through the cheetah area. When they stopped, we stopped, figuring that she was going to take pictures of something cool and we wanted to be there for whatever it was. While we were standing there, we overheard a discussion about how the one zookeeper was off to feed the cheetahs before “setting everything up.” So, like any good eavesdroppers, we decided to use the information and wait (at a distance) to see if we could get some good shots, too. At one point, they moved the cheetah that was in the habitat (turned out to be the zoo’s female) into a different area, but for the most part, we stood around wondering what we were going to be able to see. After about 20 minutes of waiting, the zookeeper who went to do the feeding called out to us from where the cheetahs are kept and said that it would only be a few minutes longer (so much for our being subtle!). Sure enough, 5 minutes later, three male cheetahs made their way into the habitat area. They were gorgeous…and it was definitely worth the wait, even though we were slightly embarrassed about being called out to by the zookeeper. Overall, we spent 5 solid hours at the zoo, came home exhausted as if we’d spent the day at work, and went out for Mexican food instead of cooking. Before heading to the restaurant, though, I put a bottle of 2007 Cakebread Cellars Sauvignon Blanc in to cool because after a hot day of walking around, a light, refreshing white was exactly what I was craving.

The 2007 Cakebread Cellars Sauvignon Blanc (winery, snooth) is 89% Sauvignon Blanc grapes, 7% Semillon grapes, and 4% Sauvignon Musque grapes. The wine was a pale-to-medium lemon color with very visible legs. On the nose, I found strong lime aromas, followed by pink grapefruit and mineral. In the mouth, the strong lime flavors matched the lime aromas on the nose, and they were followed with grapefruit, very ripe kiwi, and honeydew. There was also a slight hint of something floral on the finish. The wine had a noticeable acidity and tanginess with a light-to-medium body and lengthy finish. Wannabe Wino posted about her December 2008 visit to the winery, which you may want to read for slightly different tasting notes.

Is this worth a glass after work? Definitely! If you see this wine in the store, grab it; you won’t be disappointed. At $28 a bottle, the wine is light and uncomplicated, while also being slightly unusual and very refreshing. If you buy a bottle of the 2007 Cakebread Cellars Sauvignon Blanc, it’s something that should be opened now, as I doubt that it would improve with age. In terms of food, I actually drank the wine by itself, so I can’t speak to the success of food pairings, but I imagine that it would go well with seafood dishes, particularly sushi, scallops, or shrimp.

Overall: 3.5 Corks