Wonder Wines—Introduction

Click here for the "Wonder Wines" Resource Center—(all posts available)
Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Wonder Wines"

This is an "introductory" post—click here for an explanation of Round and Square post lengths.

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One year ago on Round and Square (18 March 2013)—China's Lunar Calendar 2013 03-18
One year ago on Round and Square (18 March 2013)—New Religion (1)—Everything
Two years ago on Round and Square (18 March 2012)—Hurtin' Country: Tell Me My Lyin' Eyes Are Wrong
Three years ago on Round and Square (18 March 2011)—Beginnings: Beethoven Piano Concerto #3

[a] Wonder RF

I have always been fascinated by fine wine. Even pretty good wine (a better fit for my budget) intrigues me. I often joke that if I ever make "Allan Bloom money," I will start buying some of the great wines of the world. Even short of that, the clustered notes of tobacco, cherry, pear, rosemary, and caramel make my head swirl—and in all sorts of ways.

[b] Chateau Lafleur

You see, I love to think about and read about wine just as much as I like tasting it.

Wine is an intellectual passion for me, much like country music, chess, and opera. And to satisfy my need for more wine...literature...I buy books almost everywhere I go. I just picked up a book at Thalia Bookstore in Erlangen, Germany, and it will play a large role in this series as it moves forward. It is called Die 1000 Besten Weine, and lists Number One through Number Tausend in a flowing, bubbling, and swirling account of the greatest wines the world has (and has had) to offer.

Dreaming about die besten Weine will account for about a third of the posts in this series, and will take up more than a little of our imaginations. I have hopes for trying a few of them, but let's not kid ourselves. The bulk of our "work" in this part of the series will be to read about what various wealthy people, winemakers, and a few lucky journalists have had to say about wines such as Chateau Lafite 1961 or Heitz Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon 1974. This is the part of the series that will test how much you like reading about wine. Most of these we'll never drink (I am still kicking myself for not laying down "a mere" fifty dollars in 1985 for a bottle of 1974 Heitz Cabernet (already a legend then). Instead, I bought something like Budweiser and Super Bowl snacks. Big mistake.

[c] Inside scoop RF

The next part (about another third) of our posts will be made up of various discussion of grapes, regions, glassware, and other features of both the trade and the hobbies that flow from it. We'll look at the way people taste (and spit), as well as enough detail about oenology to give us a little sense of the science behind the art. I know a vintner or two, and we'll see if we can get some inside scoops.

The final third of our posts will be devoted to a terrific new series in the New York Times. Eric Asimov has begun something that he calls the New York Times Wine School, and it is a fascinating idea. Asimov stresses that the "school" is about shared (often virtual sharing) wine experience. People drink (yes, drink—not spit) the wines, talk about them, think about them, and then write about them. It is deceptively simple, but there seems to be real power there. It just started in the Times, and promises to be an interesting run.

Welcome to Wonder Wines. Let's get drinking, er reading.

[d] Napa RF