What we talk about when we talk about wine
Filed Under The Wine World
In the theatre of the absurd, playwrights gave artistic articulation to Camus’ philosophy that life is inherently without meaning. How perfect a read is Desert Island Wine, where author Miles Lambert-Gocs reminds us how inherently meaningless so much wine talk can often be.
[Some important characteristics found in the theatre of the absurd: dialogue that is full of cliche’ and nonsense, characters forced into repetitive or meaningless acts, plots absurdly expansive, a dismissal of reality.]
Hm.
Lambert-Gocs loves his wine, but not at the expense of sense of humor. With wicked wit does he serve up those “mincing Brits”, traverse Boolgovia (a newly liberated communist country just east of Vienna) to try their new and exciting wines; and unearths the missing pages of such literary classics as Moby Dick (Melville), The Suffering of Young Werther (Goethe), Notes from the Underground (Dostoevsky), and The Stranger (Camus) - works that apparently suffered major cuts due to the temperant environments in which they were writ. But for Lambert-Gocs, we can now appreciate them entire.
This book is full of wonderful vignettes and laugh-out-loud moments. “Just ask Parker if he cares if his wife is a 6 or a 5 by anyone else’s standard.” That’s Dionysus talking, by the way, in the chapter covering CNN’s interview with the great god of the vine. And the interview with the proprietor of the renowned Gobs-of-Fruit Vineyards is especially enlightening.
There are chapters on appellations (”A Personal Stake in Names”), sparkling wines (”Bursting the Bubble of Effervescence”), Jefferson (”Report to Tom”), and Quality Recognition Deficiency Syndrome (”Blind Spot”). Socrates even has his say. And for those of you nature lovers out there, Lambert-Gocs’ guide to how to spot and track enophiles is a must-read.
Lambert-Gocs leaves us with a “Wine Bore Bonus (no funny business)” - a factual, sourced account on the ancient Greek grape variety that begat cabernet. As the author of The Wines of Greece - the definitive work on the history and traditions of Greek wine - Lambert-Gocs knows a thing or two on the subject, and even here his writing flows with the same brimming intelligence.
Ionesco said, “Explanation separates us from astonishment”, and Miles Lambert-Gocs puts aside punditry and all that blathering, instead laying before us a book filled with delightful anecdote, conjecture, and pure fun. Wine talk can certainly be without meaning for any number of us, but I daresay there’s few among us who would state that drinking wine is without any meaning. That said: add Desert Island Wine to your summer reading list, open whatever pleases, and enjoy.
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Hendrick’s - The Lovely Anodyne
Filed Under Wine Reviews
Alchemists were the original apothecary. And what wonders they concocted. Dame Edith Sitwell’s English Eccentrics cites a long list of restoratives that were doled out in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries to invalids suffering an array of ills. Along with sundry plants and herbs, ingredients included live hog lice, black tips of crab’s claws, the inward skin of a capon’s gizzard, goose dung, human skulls.
Remedies became more refined over the years, with a plethora of paregorics and soporifics coming to the fore in order to soothe what ailed ye, and yes, to help ye sleep.
Gin has a long history as a medicinal. It was first produced in
Now there is gin. And there is Hendrick’s Gin. Hendrick’s is a wondrous elixir that comes packaged in a quaint apothecary’s bottle reminiscent of the Victorian era. The apothecary bottle was originally intended to protect the healing powers possessed by the liquid within. It only makes sense that a gin as intricately flavored as Hendrick’s, as expressively powerful, as infused as it is with “delightfully odd” aromatics, would be bottled in such a vessel. Read more
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Much Ado About Something
Filed Under The Wine World
“The market for wine-bottle closures is a $4 billion battlefield where an epic confrontation is now taking place.” - George Taber, from To
The much-needed discussion about wine closures is upon us and none other than George M. Taber is taking the podium. Former reporter and editor of Time Magazine, Taber is no stranger to wine. His earlier book Judgement in Paris captured the moment when California bested the great wines of Bordeaux, and it quickly became the definitive text on the subject. With his new book, Taber has once again brought clarity to a major controversy in the wine world. Read more
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I’m dreaming of a blanc (de blanc) Christmas
Filed Under The Wine World
(sung to the tune of White Christmas)
I’m dreaming of a blanc (de blancs) Christmas
All chardonnay, no pinot noir
The Salon is chilling
And artists swilling,
In a 1930s Paris bar
I’m dreaming of a blanc (de blancs) Christmas
Josephine staggers, then a-rights
May my day turn easily to night
And may all of my champagne be white
And the wine, the year, what fills my dreams?
Salon Brut Blanc de Blancs Le Mesnil 1928. Read more
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Me, me, me, me, me
Filed Under Food & Wine
That’s what Christmas means to me.
As does bacon. And cookies. Bacon.
Bacon.
But in the spirit of the holidays, I have decided to let this season be a little bit about you too. Thus, I am giving each and every one of you a very very special gift: Lard Cookies (aka Swedish Ginger Cookies). Well, a recipe for lard cookies. You can cook them yourselves.
The magic of these cookies lies in the fact that one uses cooled bacon grease in place of butter. Those smokey, porkie flavors - along with the savory-sweet spiciness of ginger, cloves, cinnamon, and molasses - is a combination that is loved by vegans (I forget to tell them and by then they’re three to four cookies in) and meat-eaters alike. This little gem of a cookie will not fail you this holiday season. So roll up your sleeves, toss aside that butter, and get to frying! With two pounds of bacon left over to snack on, well, you can just thank me later. Read more
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Sommelier Smackdown End-of-Year Bout
Filed Under The Wine World
“Tell him he can have my title, but I want it back in the morning.” - Jack Dempsey’s response after a drunk challenged him to a fight.
Things are heating up around the Wine School, folks. Seems there is a good old-fashioned sparring match coming up as sources have confirmed that Founder Keith “Wall-Eye” Wallace has officially challenged his trusty Instructor Brian “B.D.” Freedman to the ultimate duel:
It’s the Sommelier Smackdown End-of-Year Bout. There will be wine. There will be food. There will be judgement. Maybe not the “sweet science” you had in mind, but, a sweet science, nonetheless.
In the past months, Wallace and Freedman have gone up against some of Philly’s toughest contenders - Christophe Tassan, Ryan Davis, Jeff Bloom, Christophe Guillot, Anthony Masapollo – pairing food with wine on limited budgets and strict rules. Some rounds have been won, some lost – with a few glorious victories going to each man.
To be certain, these aren’t exactly the halcyon days of Ali and Foreman. Still, there will be plenty of ego entering the ring come Wednesday, December 12th, as Wallace and Freedman go head to head in THE wine and food match of the year.
Who’ll be standing four rounds and two hours later? Purchase your seats, folks, and place your bets. I’ve got a hunch many are going to want to be ringside for this one.
Sommelier Smackdown, Wednesday, December 12, 7:30 – 9:30 PM.
Keith “Wall-Eye” Wallace vs. Brian “B.D.” Freedman.
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Through the Wine Glass
Filed Under The Wine World
“Curiouser and curiouser!”
Like Lewis Carroll’s Alice, Natalie MacLean has an insatiable curiosity. And lucky for us, Natalie’s curiosity is for all things wine. In her excellent book Red, White, and Drunk All Over, she traverses the world in pursuit of one wine adventure after another.
There is much to learn about wine, and Natalie leaves few stones unturned. Her natural curiosity is an offshoot of an innate intelligence, and with great insight does she write about wine, all the while entertaining and educating her reader. With candid prose, and much charm and vigor – hers is an “intelligent hedonism” after all – Natalie takes us by the hand and swoops us down that rabbit hole with her. Read more
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A Good Wine Makes for a Better Read
Filed Under Food & Wine
Fall is finally here - that time of year to get cozy on the sofa under a nice burning lamp, a lovely bottle of wine, and a terrific read. For those of you following Frank Cipparone’s Italian Picks, a great novel to dive into while drinking the Ornello Molon Raboso 2003; the Cristina Ascheri Langhe Arneis, 2006; or the Casa Librandi Ciro “Duca di San Felice” Riserva 2003; is Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley.
Highsmith’s protagonist is the very sordid yet very likeable Tom Ripley, and as Highsmith takes her reader on a journey through his twisted mind, she also takes them through the heart and twisted countryside of Italy. Read more
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Eric Arnold’s First Big Crush
Filed Under The Wine World
Eric Arnold is in love.
Not simply with wine, or New Zealand wines, or the people who grow and create those wines. No, Eric is in love with the whole damn mess of it all.
First Big Crush is a book about a man with a lot of passion, not necessarily a lot of sense, and a whole year to give in to his obsession in hot pursuit of experience and a love affair that he will certainly never forget. Read more
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