If I can muster the energy and discipline, I’m thinking of doing a weekly wine-oriented post. As I’ve been living and breathing nothing but wine, mostly trying to absorb as much knowledge on Bourgognes as fast as possible, I feel like I’m bursting. So without further ado:
Fun things I’ve learned:
- Bourgogne wine families are, for lack of a better term, incestuous. You know, like, this famous vinter’s daughter married this other guy from down the road who was an international playboy until his dad died and he had to take over the business who now makes world-class wine, and his sister-in-law’s cousin is the owner of the finest plot of grand cru in Beaune…. And on and on. Hearing the stories is like watching an episode of 90210.
- I would really, really, really like the opportunity to try a DRC. Enough said.
- I need to give Italian wines more of a chance. Chianti be damned! You give Italy a bad name. No, no, I’m being too harsh. Still…
Things you should read ASAP because it’s good and informative and entertaining:
- Does the shape of your glass matter? (And other wine questions you may have been too afraid to ask, including great section on price vs. quality)
- Muscat, Desperate Housewives, and a Rapper, oh my!
- “What We’re Reading:” an aggregate of websites that reporters and editors of NYTimes’s Diner’s Journal read. Good stuff.
- Irish in Bordeaux?
Interesting tidbits either said to me or overheard during a wine tasting I worked last week:
- You didn’t succeed… (whispered a little old man to me with an evil wink in his eye as he walked out of the shop, not having purchased anything. This after he told me he doesn’t drink anything but kiddush wine. Yeah, I want your business, buster.)
- You succeeded there… (posh middle-aged woman said to attractive 30-something man referring to his 4 year old son.)
- People without money don’t like good wines… (said a really arrogant 40-something guy buying crap severely-overpriced Spanish Crianza with a fancy gold label. You tell ’em.)
Irène Sharon Hodes 