I’m not the best judge of distances. I stand by my ball… look at the green and say, “it looks like about an eight iron…” Now this is not the way it’s done by good players. Good players look at the green and judge the distance to be “X” yards away… and then select the appropriate club (knowing how far you hit an eight iron, say). Maybe that’s why I was not a real good golfer… although I did love the game while I played it. I just never let judging distances accurately bug me.
I’m just as inadequate in determining room size. You know how many feet by how many feet.
We have a room at Grapes which we call our “Bordeaux Room”. One long wall is completely covered by wood panels from the crates that fine wine (like Bordeaux) is shipped in. This motif is repeated in our long table that is made of the like crate ends… put together in a beautiful mosaic and sealed under a protective coat of something-or-other.
I judge the length of the room to be a long putt.
Or maybe better stated… the size of the room seats 20 citizens around our rather long Bordeaux Room Tasting Table. And there is room for a side table that I use as a staging area when I conduct our wine tastings.
And on a recent night the room is split substantially in two groups… Richard has brought 6 co-workers… guys from the local and the New York office… what was going to be a couples thing turned into a guys night when their spouses spit the bit.
Occupying the other part of the table was Annalies and 3 of her friends. Annalies is a regular attendee of our Tastings… she always brings new friends to the room.
We had a few others sitting down, too… it just turned out to be men sitting to one side and women to the other giving the room an Orthodox feel to it…
We moved thru the flight of Aussie wines without a hitch… Tir Na N’og Grenache ’03 from McLaren Vale is the clear cut favorite… and there is a buzz in the room as folks are busy putting orders together….
And that’s when I bring in the final wine… 3 Bridges Botrytis Semillon ’04… a dessert wine.
“Ladies & gentlemen… now, for the most misunderstood wine as a category in the United States: The Dessert Wine. I don’t care… go to any top restaurant… here or in New York. Take a look at the wine list… wonderful reds and whites from all over the place… Champagnes… maybe a page of Ports? Dessert wines? One or two at best.
“And it’s because Americans don’t understand the wine.
“First we think they are sweet and cloying and leave a syrupy film coating in our mouth.
“And this couldn’t be further from the truth. High quality dessert wine is packed with lush sweet fruit flavours… but they finish dry. They actually refresh the palate.
“Next, we don’t really understand the service. Dessert wines should be served cold… and right after the main part of the meal, because a good dessert wine acts as a ‘liquid sorbet’… it clears the palate. It also is a dessert all by itself… or if you would like, serve a good dessert wine with creme brulee or zabione, or perhaps a fruit tart…
“But regardless… when you serve a dessert wine you have instantly elevated your dinner to the highest level of dinning. You have just transported your evening to the Cunard Line… to crossing the Atlantic before WWII, when men and women dressed for dinner & when dinner was served in courses, beginning with an aperitif white, proceeding to a fuller white, a red matched to the courses of food and finishing with a dessert wine.
“And make no mistake… this is not Port. Port is also wonderful… but that is served as a stand alone. You know… it’s Sunday Afternoon, the snow and wind are beating against the window panes, you put another log on the fire and open some Port… and maybe some Stilton cheese…
“But while Port is separated from Dinner… dessert wine is not only an integral part of a dinner, it is the key ingredient in making an evening special because it is so rarely encountered.
“Perhaps the finest dessert wines come from Sauternes in Bordeaux… and the greatest Sauternes of all is Chateau D’Yquem. Once you’ve had Ch. D’Yquem you get spoiled… spoiled and picky. I have never had a bad Ch. D’Yquem… to me it’s a matter of degrees of excellence… but the pundits love to critique a champion… and so Vintages are nevertheless judged and rated… and while we are not tasting Ch. D’Yquem tonight… my recommendation is to buy the ‘worst’ Vintage of Yquem (making it less expensive to acquire) and drink the nectar of angels. Ratings? a big fat pah!
“But tonight I am going to give you a taste of what that piece of heaven is like. Tonight I am going to pour you a small amount of another dessert wine… and in keeping with the ‘down under’ nature of our tasting flight… 3 Bridges is from South Eastern Australia… it uses the same grape varietal as Ch. D’Yquem… Semillon…. it has also been affected by the same determining mold that is responsible for its unique sweetness… Botrytis Cinerea… and further, Ch. D’Yquem’s wine maker is a consulting oenologist at 3 Bridges!
“Please have a smile prepared…”
Did you like the dessert wine? Well… I may not be good at judging distances; but I am good at judging smiles and nods of satisfaction. And if you ask me I just stuck an eight iron and I’m “hole high”, five feet from the pin.
p.s. A note of thanks has to be given to Amanda who finally gave me the key to remembering the difference between “desert” and “dessert”… since we always want second helpings of dessert… it is the word that has double “s”. Thanks “My Manda”.