Wine Fictions

Sometimes wine sellers use certain words to warn customers about a particular wine that they think may not be the best or what exactly the customer expects. Even though this is something that I normally do with certain customers I could not hide some surprise as it was done to me last week. At a small wine shop with focus on Italian wines I was warned by the owner that this cuvée of Syrah and Merlot from Baglio di Pianetto was "special" when I was about to pay. I have to confess that I have grabbed the bottle in a rather subconscious way as it was on a promotion and had the 3 Bicchieri Gambero Rosso sticker on it and this is a distinction that I do trust. I have also had previous good experiences with Sicilian Syrahs and being theoretically slightly matured has sort of promised a more interesting experience where tertiary aromas should start showing. How special is it?, I have asked back.  Well, I would definitely have a steak with it, he answered. Translated, this means tha...

Sideways has set a before and after of my relationship with wine.  It was around 2008 when I have first seen it and I still clearly remember what I have done afterwards: went to buy wine and along with two friends we have dedicated ourselves to cooking and drinking in some kind of inner euphoria that has lasted for quite some hours. From all the scenes which later became rather iconic, there is one which often invades my thoughts: the end of the discussion between both friends when Jack says to Paul that he will never find the perfect occasion to drink the perfect wines he has been collecting. As a consequence Paul ends up drinking a pretty expensive wine at some fast food restaurant. From that moment on I have made an subconscious decision to open wines that I have been reserving for special events in absolutely normal days.  And that is what I have done with this Cuvée Monsignori from Santorini. On an absolutely normal Tuesday I have invited two good friends over for dinner...

 Can wine drinking be a political statement? This is a question which has been following me for quite a while as I came across projects like Sekko Soziale (Social Secco) or Kein Wein den Faschisten (Not a Wine for Fascists). With its very clear messages against the growing right wing movements in Germany these are projects deeply identified with Hamburg and a certain political and social culture that you can experience there. Still, I have to admit that in northern Germany wine is still connected with a certain kind of elitism and exclusiveness that often excludes people from it. I sure know that this is a generalization, but it is interesting to see that there is barely any wine shop as soon as you leave the richer parts of town. And surely not independent ones. Even though there is still a predominance of older and traditional wineries, often represented by labels showing their cote of arms or chateaux in countries like France or Germany itself, there is a change going on. The ...