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Archive for September 18th, 2006

18

Sep

A Visit to the Local Wine Pusher

Jacob Gaffney  in Red Wines, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Rioja , , , , ,

I told him I only had five pounds. He sent his girl upstairs. She came back with a bottle: 2002 Chateau Lafitte Mengin, Premieres Cotes de BORDEAUX…”Good structure, body a bit heavy, but that’s just the oak. Ripe fruits. Vine fruits. Blackberry mainly. Some pepper.” Bordeaux: 8.5.

Rustling about, as if the wine bottles are hidden under 45 layers of taped-up bubble wrap, she hands me the 2002 Beronia Rioja Crianza. That means it’s been aged in oak a bit to mellow the tannin. Fresh and damp. Predictable and sincere. Oaky and oompfy. With, hold the phone, that characteristic smell of dill. The euphoria washes over. The simplicity of the wine. A choice made just for me: 8.8.

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