The Perfect Wine
Recently spotted wine review: “Voluptuous and powerful….reminds me of Angelina Jolie (substitute Brad Pitt or George Clooney).”
Now, if that description doesn’t come close to defining a superlative wine then nothing will. Is there any other consumer beverage that could elicit such praise? In man’s – and woman’s – never ending quest to define the perfect wine the adjectives and metaphors flow like wine from an open spigot in a barrel. So, what is the perfect wine? Rules of engagement have historically specified that this largely depends on the food being served and matching the wine accordingly. The wine of choice must enhance and compliment the flavors of the meal. White wines are best served with fish, chicken, or white sauces. Red wines are preferred for beef dishes and red sauces. Lighter bodied wines are best with lighter fare. Heavier wines should be served with more substantial cuisine. Decant big reds 30 minutes to an hour before serving. Serve them at cellar temperature ( 60 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit). Look both ways before crossing. Wear bright at night. Buckle up for safety. Eat your vegetables. OK, enough already.
Thankfully, current consumption trends have eased up on the rigid rules of yore. Even if one could memorize all of these rules I wonder if their proper execution would make any difference. True, some guidelines are helpful. Yes, a big Cabernet with a juicy steak is hard to beat and my gratitude goes out to the caveman who first discovered this. It is also true that wine does not pair well with ice cream, although I have done this when no one was looking. Both the bowl and the glass were emptied. However, there may be other rules that dictate the perfect wine experience. Do you remember an event, vacation, or night out when you had “the best wine”, found and purchased that wine later, and were a bit disappointed to find that it wasn’t as good as you remembered? Could the wine have changed? Other than possibly the vintage, I doubt it. Likewise, do you recall an evening enjoying a couple of glasses of wine with great friends and discovering that the wonderful wine you were drinking was, to put it politely, nothing special? Or perhaps the opposite occasion, whereby you were treated to that “special” wine that left you feeling foolish because you just didn’t get it. Now, in my book a 1997 Barolo would taste phenomenal even in a tornado, and White Zinfandel will always taste like bad Kool-Aid, but for the vast array of wines in between a simple thumbs-up or thumbs-down rating may largely depend on the situation at hand.
The French have embraced the concept of “terroir”. Don’t bother looking for the definition of this word in Webster’s, it’s not there. Terroir is the term used to define the all-encompassing natural environmental factors which create the unique characteristics of a vineyard, including grape type, soil type, amount of rainfall, sun exposure, wind, and humidity. In other words, all of these factors in totality create a wine’s character. Maybe we need to create our own word to define all of the factors that contribute to a specific wine experience, including time of day, cuisine, weather conditions, location, friends present, even the music or entertainment on hand. All of these contribute to the experience. Call it “vinvironment”, or “vatmosphere”. Whatever you call it, a great wine experience must take into account more than what is in the bottle, and creating the perfect wine experience is well worth the time and effort you put into it. Unless of course you read about a wine that is described as “Voluptuous and powerful….like Angelina Jolie playing killer blues guitar on the beach at sunset while eating a monster bowl of tortellini marinara with your family somewhere on the Amalfi coast.” In that case just buy the wine.
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