Wine #2

Wines of a different elegance. I would like to challenge you to a potable of distant roots. I was sitting outside the other day and uncorked a bottle of Brunello di Montalcino. I could smell the wine being poured into my glass from 2 feet away. Dark and deep, I nose the swirl in the depths of my glass. Eerily I can depict my face in the reflection. I feel as if I’m staring into a stormy sea knowing of the calm. Very quiet, I lightly sip the sea in my glass. In such balance is the acidity and fruit I can feel the weight flowing over my tongue. Lingering it seems infinite, but so much softer than expected, like velvet. All too often rushed, so we are taken to a place with rolling hills and delicate sunshine. I can almost see the sunflowers waving and stretching toward the sun in the adjacent field. Transported into a vineyard on a hill we can smell the Tuscan breeze, dry and clean. In the distance there are cumulus clouds devouring the dome of blue. As I sit on a rock I can smell the warm bread as I smear fresh Picorino cheese into crack in the loaf. I look out and see a rain in the distance. A soft gentle rain surrounded by golden hills with occasional blocks of yellow and green paint the landscape. I reopen my eyes and realize that I am still here, on my patio. This is what wine is all about. We taste numerous things when we taste wine. We taste grapes, soil, weather, country, winemaker, and house style. That’s a lot to contemplate about don’t you think? It can be a challenge to isolate a single piece of the equation. The components are mutually dependent. Wine is like an orchestra. When all these parts are playing to their best ability with their best instruments everything is in balance and harmony. A weak spot can be countered, but never eliminated, suppressing true greatness of the wine. The Brunello was powerful, controlled, balanced, and wonderful. A true expression of Sangiovese in its finest form, Brunello. Just makes you want to say, Grazie.