What is it about our wine culture these days? Has the hyper umbrella of the uber-media hijacked a culture that has been around for 8,000 years? When the folks in Canaan were making wine 4,500 years ago, generation after generation after generation, they effectively “got into” the essence of what we are seeking…some of us. What is this metaphor mean to you, to me? It must be Sunday, because Italian Wine guy is launching his rant from the space station. Or Coronado...Early morning flight to the West Coast, the fear of no hair gel, no water, no contact lens solution, but we made it smoothly, quickly and safely. Days of hearing how the hassle, how the plotters, how the fear must be endless in our daily lives. As if being on the ancient plains and being chased by a tiger or a jackal was a walk on the beach? There has never been a guarantee of safety, of certainty, that we would make it through the day unscathed. But like our big trucks and our big guns and our bigger macs, we protect ourselves in some surreal-surround sound of delusion that this has always been the way it is and we must have it this way too. And white teeth, and green tea ice cream and 100 point wines.
In the lobby a wine tasting, Napa Chardonnay or Cabernet, some private label, some DbA…water into wine is still 86% water. And 100% oak. Asa Nisi Masa .
Today on the Wine Trail we are strolling along the Pacific coast as Fra Junipero Serra might have done several hundred years ago. The padres might be replaced with the yogi’s, at least that is my encounter on this warm cool crisp wet day on the beach.
You were looking for scores? Ok here’s my score for the day…Perfect…10…3 glasses..5 stars….7 brothers for 7 sisters. 100 points. Feel better?
This is like a scene in a Kubrick movie as co directed by Frank Capra and Groucho Marx.
Nice waves though…they can’t alter the tides yet.
So I was doing some work on telling the troups about a wine we are getting in our market, from a small producer in Tuscany by the name of Querciabella. The wine, called Batar, in homage to the great white burgundies of France, has some interesting fans. Out in Fort Worth I’ve been told of a C&W music star who wants “all he can get”. That’s a long ways from Willie and Hank and Lone Star Beer. Look up the word Batar on Google and push the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button. I wont even go into it here….see for yourself, it’s quite fantastic.
What was also fantastic was the multi course vegetarian dinner we had with the proprietor this spring in Verona during Vinitaly. The Batar was served in multiple vintages and the owner, Sebastiano Cossia Castiglioni, who is a vegetarian, launched his newly formed alliance with the Roederer folks at this event.
Many luminaries from the wine world were present, many sitting at the main table with Signore Castiglioni. Plenty of Cristal was flowing into the Burano Pimp cups. Yeah, I said that…I wish I would have brought the family cat to the dinner, as he would have loved the scene. It was orchestrated and manicured down to the French tips. He, after all, is a vegetarian more often than he isn’t.
All this to say we have settled into this California vortex for the next week. I’m on vacation, so the pounding on the waves I took today is likely to have me speaking from a changed perspective
Let’s say Tsunami meets umami...stay turned on and tuned in.
