Imagine you're running joyfully through a barnyard. The cattle, sheep, or whatever else one keeps in a barnyard are standing off to the side watching, uncomprehendingly, because this is certainly something they've never seen. Suddenly, a slip. Maybe a trip. I'm sure there are many hidden obstacles in a barnyard. You find yourself falling, horrifyingly, face first into the muck. Just as you brace yourself for the worst, what will without question be a life-scarring event, your fall is cushioned, inexplicably, by several bunches of nebbiolo grapes. Rather than wonder what the hell these grapes are doing in a pen filled with livestock, you find yourself, as your face softly squishes into the inevitable, reveling in the combination of earthy, loamy scents of the barnyard and the dark, cherry filled aromas and flavors of the nebbiolo. Not fresh nebbiolo, mind you. No, this must have fallen out of the pocket of a long forgotten farmhand a decade or so ago. So rather than scrambling to extract yourself from this most unusual situation, you find yourself wallowing in it, rather like a hippopotamus rolling contentedly in the mud of some soon-to-be-dry savannah watering hole. The longer you lie there, the more your palate is filled with the ever developing flavors, because yes, you are actually partaking of the grape and animal infused muck. Dried cherry, plum, leather, smoke, spice, rose petals. This is perfection. You wish it would never stop, because this most assuredly must be heaven. Then, suddenly, you open your eyes. Astonishingly you are not in a barnyard. There are no animals staring in wonder as if they can't understand how you could possibly be atop the food chain. No, you're at a dinner table with friends. The wonderful sensations you've just experienced came out of the now empty bottle of 2000 Produttori del Barbaresco that is sitting before you. You blink once....twice...and your dining companions can't help but wonder at the bemused smile that crosses your face.......
Monday, January 03, 2011
Cellar report: 2000 Produttori del Barbaresco
Imagine you're running joyfully through a barnyard. The cattle, sheep, or whatever else one keeps in a barnyard are standing off to the side watching, uncomprehendingly, because this is certainly something they've never seen. Suddenly, a slip. Maybe a trip. I'm sure there are many hidden obstacles in a barnyard. You find yourself falling, horrifyingly, face first into the muck. Just as you brace yourself for the worst, what will without question be a life-scarring event, your fall is cushioned, inexplicably, by several bunches of nebbiolo grapes. Rather than wonder what the hell these grapes are doing in a pen filled with livestock, you find yourself, as your face softly squishes into the inevitable, reveling in the combination of earthy, loamy scents of the barnyard and the dark, cherry filled aromas and flavors of the nebbiolo. Not fresh nebbiolo, mind you. No, this must have fallen out of the pocket of a long forgotten farmhand a decade or so ago. So rather than scrambling to extract yourself from this most unusual situation, you find yourself wallowing in it, rather like a hippopotamus rolling contentedly in the mud of some soon-to-be-dry savannah watering hole. The longer you lie there, the more your palate is filled with the ever developing flavors, because yes, you are actually partaking of the grape and animal infused muck. Dried cherry, plum, leather, smoke, spice, rose petals. This is perfection. You wish it would never stop, because this most assuredly must be heaven. Then, suddenly, you open your eyes. Astonishingly you are not in a barnyard. There are no animals staring in wonder as if they can't understand how you could possibly be atop the food chain. No, you're at a dinner table with friends. The wonderful sensations you've just experienced came out of the now empty bottle of 2000 Produttori del Barbaresco that is sitting before you. You blink once....twice...and your dining companions can't help but wonder at the bemused smile that crosses your face.......
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Agreed, dear chap. I have a case of the various single vineyard PdB 2000's purring nicely in the basement and thefirst to be opened, a Rabaja that I had two weeks ago, blew me away. Your lovely metaphor nailed it to a "T". Good to see you back in the blog-o-sphere. Ciao.
This is probably the most graphic (and suiting) description of a wine I have ever read. I can almost smell the dirt and manure mixed with sun-ripened grapes, aged in oak over many years. Well done Bruce!
I have had same 2000 single vineyard and was equally impressed. All of what I just wrote about and more. Thanks for your keen observations!
Thanks, Nico. I know you have the required imagination to understand what I'm saying! I could've just summed it up in two words: stinky good!
Post a Comment