This week we’ve seen Yom Kippur, Ramadan and a full moon. I’m in my 3rd day of a fall cleanse, the leaves are turning, the world is churning.Sometimes I read wine blogs when I get home from work, and a lot of them are rehashing stories one hears on WineBusiness.com, the Wine Spectator, various newspapers and online news portals. So what? Don’t we have original thoughts anymore? Is this just Labor Day weekend at TNT with back-to-back "Law & Order" reruns ad infinitum? Are we like sheep?
Look, I don’t want to be someone who regurgitates information and feeds it back to you. You don’t need that. And this doesn't to be a place where you get slammed with 15 million other items, links or distractions. What are you here for? I’m not CNN or NBC. Or PBS.
Let me tell you, and this might be the cleanse talking. Things are slowing down when they should be gathering momentum. The grapes are in, the wine is being pressed, the warehouses are ready and waiting. So where are the wine drinkers?
Italian Insight Man called me today and told me about a report on CNBC or FOX (or both) about the disappearing middle class. Especially around the corners of the country, places like Los Angeles, Dallas, and so on. The good news was, there aren’t as many wealthy folks as earlier thought. The bad news was there weren’t as many middle class folks either. Translation: There are more poor folks. And those souls don’t give a hang about the harvest of 2006 in Cinqueterre.
There are good indications that folks are biting off more than they can chew, and extending their debt level and their carbon footprint beyond their one-ness. Living beyond their means. Super-sized appetites for things, for stuff, for future estate sale belongings. Jeesh.
Maybe it is time for a thing-fast. Take a month off from buying crap. And so, Italian Wine Guy, where does that leave you with your pathetic quest to turn everyone into an Italian wine drinker?
Well, let’s take one of my current rants, Chianti and the calamity that it has become. This will be a recurring theme in the coming year, for I plan to tackle Tuscany and get a grip on the geography, from Greve to Gaiole.
OK, so we’re fasting, it’s fall, the moon is full, and I’m talking about fixing our obsession with the best money can buy (which most of us cannot afford) with an alternative. Small is beautiful, that kind of idea.Conversing today with Serena Bonacossi about her family estate, Capezzana, which leads me to the wine for your fast life, the Capezzana Conti Contini Sangiovese. Say that five times fast!
Here’s an MW’s take: “Conti Contini Sangiovese provides a
clear example of what's so exciting about the IGT category: freedom from constraining rules, freedom to capture the most delicious flavors you can. Ripe, direct in flavor and soft textured but with a tangy edge, so you know you're drinking Sangiovese, it's a stylish quaffing wine; the fact that it's finished off in screwcap helps enhance the wine's contemporary image and from a freshness standpoint is only a plus.” Sandy Block, MW, VP Beverage, Legal Sea FoodsSimple Sangiovese in a screwcap. Not for the investor class. For the poor day trader who got out of the market a month ago and needs a catch-up value. Take it to the bank. On your bike.
And I’m out of here…..