I think I was 10 when my Mother took me to the Guggenheim Museum for the first time. I don’t remember liking it. Just that it was an art gallery in a descending spiral… imagine a continuing peel of an orange.
Art, like the Opera and the Theatre was something my parents exposed me to at an early age, whether I liked it or not. It was my introduction to culture… to the better things (I thought Mommie Soph’s chicken soup would have sufficed).
I scratch my head and think… life can lead us on a twisted lane… and happily my journey has taken me to the world of wine… to the world of liquid art.
We are having marinated skirt steak tonight. I have selected a Spanish Red from Ribera del Guadiana: Palacio Quemado. The wine is made from the Tempranillo grape and it comes from the tremendous 2001 Vintage.
I have had this wine any number of times and I love it. I love it for its sensuality… put a small amount in your glass. Look at the deep colour. Do not rush. Swirl the wine in the glass. Let it repose. Just look at the hue of the red… look at the “legs”… the rivulets of wine coating the glass.
Swirl the wine again… now go to the bouquet… the wine’s smell (fragrance really)… the elements are well delineated; but focused into a harmonious blend… cherry, cedar & vanilla. The transition to the palate is seamless… flavours matching what we first experienced by nose.
We taste again. More than the flavour, we now notice the texture. How is this done? The wine has a breath taking palate feel… it’s plush, chewy… like “crushed velvet.”
And the rich flavours linger on the palate to a satisfying finish.
Liquid art in the glass.
Winemakers are artists. They have no gender. They have no nationalities… their medium is wine and it is a language that speaks unto itself. For the winemaker the grapes are the colours. And their creativity is a true gift.
The art can be in the blending different varietals, or in the case of a straight varietal (as in the 100% Tempranillo that is used in Palacio Quemado), barrels of wine made from different portions of the vineyard are assembled into the main cuvee… lesser quality barrels directed into secondary blends, or sold off to other producers.
This process of evaluating quality, of making the selection, determining how long to age the wine, this is where the winemaker earns his or her keep. A vintage provides only one shot. Not like a great Chef, for example, who can have an “off night” and come back the next night and “re-invent” themselves — no, a winemaker is not afforded that luxury. There is no second chance, for them. A winemaker has to wait a year to get back into the “kitchen”. The winemaker has to bring the “A” Game… each and every time.
The results of their talent and creativity is on display each year… each year bringing new possibility of greatness, or perhaps its opposite.
The evidence is in the glass. It is there for our examination… it is there for our appreciation.
And by all accounts, the winemaker for Palacio Quemado has acquitted himself admirably. The artistry of the effort is undeniable.
And here’s the plus… I can open another bottle a month down the road and experience the joy of this wine again. The experience will be a bit different, maybe different adjoining food, maybe a different mood; but the artistry will be there.
And so too, the joy.