(After the guests had left)
It happened again last week. My old wine club met at my house and like the most natural thing in the world we individually concluded which wine(s) we liked the most.
Why do we
do this and why is wine always subject to this rather simple algorithm??
When you
make your call about the best, you have a fairly good argumentation for making
that assessment. It’s even measured against your knowledge, experience and
preferences. But how come the valuation and ranking of wine is something we do
like a reflex and would it be possible to find an alternative??
Wine has
always been highly opinionated and consumer guide orientated. We as consumers
can’t escape this routine and it’s the DNA of the learning curve. Finding out
what wines you like. Bring order to chaos and by the end of the journey we can
finally say; “All the good wines are left – no need to turn right anymore”.
Furthermore
being an experienced taster, would naturally lead to others wanting to hear your
opinion. “So what’s your favourite
wine?”….”Which of the two do you like the most?”
There is a
grey area we don’t pursue, when we make this analogy. In my opinion we are too
busy breaking the equation by the constantly ranking. Thing is – tasting wine
is a quick and dirty process. Gathering, discarding - plusses & minuses. We
are demons, hunting great dopamine memories and our brain is a drug addict wanting
a specified fix over and over again.
We have to
bring ourselves out of this straitjacket. Wine has to be more than this. We
should stick to expressing our opinions, but we have to be more diverse, as we
risk reducing more than enhancing.
Personally
I think I am getting better at this – not that in itself is a quest I force
myself to complete. Yet I often find myself haunted by my habits and in the end
far from the perfect student. Yet I try to say to myself; better might in some
cases just relate to “different?”
I like
complex and geeky wines with my wine club – I like simple honest wine with my
wife. Simple is not necessarily worse – in some cases better. I like Champagne
every day of the week, I like Italian wines better with Italian food. I like
wine A because it paired better with carrots, but wine B better because it
paired better with celery. I like some wines at summertime – some better at
winter. I like mostly wine with food, but can do without in some cases. Some
wines don’t appeal to me when I am stressed, so wines do.
And so on….
With this
short intro – I present Italy’s best red wine ;-).
2001
Soldera Brunello di Montalcino “Case Basse Riserva”
100%
Sangiovese
Winemaker:
Gianfranco Soldera
Fermantation:
Slavonian oak casks for five years
Winemaking:
Organic
Vineyards: Located in an Ecosystem, which works as
a refuge area for natural predators where Gianfranco wife Graziella grows a
large range of wild roses.
Alcohol:
13%
Other:
Opened 10 hours in advance – but no decanting.
Glass:
Zalto Bordeaux Grand Cru
I have been
fortunate to taste a lot of Case Basse…and I mean fortunate, because my wallet
is running out of credit to finance such extravagance.
Case Basse
is the essence of Italian wines to me. It’s a benchmark wine – an icon and
despite I don’t like the idea of putting some wines on a pedestal I have to
make exception here. Whenever I truly get exited about Italian wines, there might
well be a reflection towards Casse Basse.
I can’t say
to you where the 2001 fits into the ranking regime of my best experiences with
Case Basse. There are too many great experiences, which have all occurred under
very different occasions and circumstances. It doesn’t really matter, because
it’s mind-blowing wine to me and extremely emotional. The essence of wine is here and why at all I have this obsession and use time writing
these lines.
The tasting
note is needless here. It’s the soul of Italy, Tuscany, Sangiovese and Brunello. It’s also
food, people, culture, landscape and authenticity. If you have never tasted Case Basse – you haven’t tasted a Brunello.
If you can’t afford it, but are infected with the Italian wine bug, you have to
save up.
Taste it
just once – but be warned, it’s addictive.