This is mostly another note to self. I recommend passing on it.
I was out feeling the need to do something for myself to ease my existential pain, and so I decided to try some wines that I don’t know diddly about. I stopped by Portland Wine Merchants and laid my cards on the table. I wanted a decent Syrah and a Barolo (2003 Barolo Sori Boschetti – Gombe) . I opened both since the guy there suggested that the Barolo was best enjoyed over the course of a couple of evenings, and at $50/bottle, I thought I should make the experience last.
Just for background, I like Zinfandels, Pinot Noirs, and Riojas (and their ilk). Lately, though, I’ve been feeling like I’m in a bit of a rut. If you’re going to have a vice, you might as well immerse yourself and learn something about it. My plan was to pick some wines that I just pass on usually and see if there are examples that trip my trigger.
On to the wine. The syrah was from Languedoc (200X something French du terroir de la framboise), and I have to say it confirmed my feelings about that variety. It’s missing something that I enjoy. I don’t know what. It just strikes me as flat and sort of uninteresting. I suspect, given the huge popularity of the variety, that it’s me. Still, I don’t have anything intelligent to say about it beyond that it was very pleasant the next day– full-bodied and fruity. It could have been a good merlot, and I wouldn’t have known the difference. Cost $18 or so and accomplished the basic mission.
The Barolo, on the other hand, is a big wine about which one thing is clearly true. It’s not ready to drink– by a long shot. The first small glass after opening the bottle was a bit like chewing grape stems and washing them down with carburetor cleaner. I left it open for a couple of days. The second day it was MUCH better, but… $50 worth? Not really. I can get two nice bottles of older Riserva Rioja or a really good Pinot for that. I know, it’s like saying the Picasso’s a better deal than the Beethoven, but still. This isn’t art. It’s beverages. Craft, at best.
I’ll try some tonight, but I will metaphorically soil myself if it suddenly transforms into something miraculous. My point is not really about the wine. I don’t doubt for a moment that there is, somewhere in there, a subtle nuance of goodness that makes Barolo the “wine of kings.” I just don’t get it. I wonder how many hundreds of dollars I’d have to drop before I saw the light? How much of that would be like buying a stupidly expensive car and then telling everyone how GREAT IT IS!!! IT’S GREAT!! YOU SHOULD GET ONE!!
Could just be that kings get a jolt out of dropping that much on something to drink. By the by, $50 is about as cheap as they get, although I found this bottle online for roughly half what I paid. Portland Wine Merchants should really enjoy that $50. Given the rate at which I buy wine, that was a bad marketing decision on their part.
Luckily, I live in Portland, which is a high-functioning alcoholic’s heaven– assuming you stick with wine and beer. I’m told we have more breweries in town than any other city in the world. My grocery store on the corner has one of the best Spanish wine selections I’ve ever seen– outside of some place like K&L in San Francisco.
Ah well, maybe a good rut is better than disappointed adventurousness.
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