We are not talking here about wine in a box although there are those near to my heart who swear by it. This past Thanksgiving I did consume with great pleasure an Australian Merlot out of a box... from the Alice Springs area… I am not an ungrateful man… I will do the box! We enjoy the generosity of our friends and families… do we not? But for this posting we are raising the standard (so my brother–in-law insisted), going for the gold so to speak… and as for my bother in law who lives in the grandeur of retirement in the south of England who spoke highly Christmas day of a vintage I paid far more than I should have, for a bottle of… well read on!
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| To the left: a"consumed" Château de Pibarnon $50 dollar bottle of wine |
Dear Brother in law Rog, about that Château de Pibarnon $50 dollar bottle of wine, there’ a story here that needs to be told. You said it was a quality wine, and I must say that I was very pleased it was not vinegar after that bottle spending all those months in the wine closet was opened Christmas day. I suffered Catholic guilt big time most of this year hiding that bottle … I did so having forked out way too much cash for my money, no pun intended… before considering what I was doing. I let the wine store owner serenade the fool I am as he recommended this vintage after I had been buying so much dry red French for about $10 a bottle, my limit… $10 a bottle… This bottle of $50 dollar wine sat out most of the year since I purchased it… hidden in the back of the wine closet… for out here where we live they do not build basements, so we have no wine cellar… what I have to tell you I believe will annoy… I could not tell one bit of difference from Château de Pibarnon $50 dollar bottle of wine up against a taste testing of a good bottle of $10 dollar French, none, nothing… not a bit.
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| All energy is Solar... |
Oh I know, estate bottle… limited edition (I bet that’s why they can get you in the pocketbook the way they do) and that Monsieur “Comte Henri de Saint-Victor” and family have been producing some of the most seductively aromatic and nobly structured wines in all of Southern France for years, no argument there and I do plan a visit in future. Not an issue! I am certain the 300 days of sunshine each year on the south facing slopes and that the estate soil at Château de Pibarnon is unique, differing even from that of its neighbors further down the slope… yes I know all this contributes to sophistication. I also know that the appearance is supposed to make this wine special... that is to say a rich ruby-garnet colour in the glass, with notes of plum, tar, pancetta, and stewed tomato (Wait a minute… stewed tomatoes? What’s going on here?) And that this wine is soft, round, and earthy at first (I love the taste of dirt!) But then we are hit with slightly gripping fruit tannins and a fresh acidity that kicks right in… next thing you know… I was washing down my Christmas Turkey dinner… glass after glass with my baby who did all the cooking… and then it was gone… urp!
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| Fields of Castro to be burned! |
Rog… I won’t refuse a bottle of this stuff should you dare to share in future… but I am a simple man of unsophisticated means… pour for me the $10 a bottle French and I’m a happy, and then bring out the Courvoisier or the Jarnac and we will light up a mild Cuban I will have purchased at the Regency Arcade Tobacconist in Cheltenham next time I visit… then for the next hour we will smoke and drink heaven. As our good friend Kinky Freedman of “Kinky Freedman and the Texas Jew boy’s say's, "we will be burning Castro’s fields!" Oh darn... you don't smoke do you?
That’s what I’m talking about!
