The Holidays have come and gone, during a period better referred to as, “The Widening.” Over the course of the last two weeks, many wines have also come and gone. These are the most memorable.

IDEA: Next year try to keep in mind the multi-cultural nature of Christmas. Hell, who would have thought that everyone LOVES Jesus around here?

It started with a Christmas greeting from the Hindu family that owns the local curry house. That part of the story ends there, because they don’t have a liquor license. However, a few nights ago, a meeting with an old friend from college brings us back to India. We tried a bottle of 2005 Grover Estates from Bangalore, India. Perhaps a Cabernet Sauvignon blend? Once opened, the aroma of wine had to immediately compete with the stink of the charming basement bar we we’re drinking in. So my guess is that the opulent bouquet of (second hand) smoke probably did not come from the Grover.

The wine was nominally forgettable except for one thing. Now my friend, let’s call him Sean…probably best cause it’s actually his name…Sean is what can-be-called a wine critic tester. See wine critics, like yours truly, are wine testers. But others, who try the wines of wine critics and look for inaccuracies, are wine critic testers. Sean has continued to remind me that there was no mention of “vanilla” in the review of Heartland Petit Verdot in this column ages ago. Either it was missed, or Sean’s just being a jerk. Chances are both are true to an extent.

At any rate, we both agreed that the wine had one odour in common: it smells kinda like elephants. No, not those two bit, performing elephants at the Zoo. But proper, ‘free range’ elephants. For real. Could write about what the rest of the wine was like…bulky and juicy, full-bodied and such. But why? The friggin’ vino smells of pachyderm.

And it’s not from Tuskany.

Like what you've read? Why not subscribe to InterWined.com and get the lastest posts delivered fresh to your feeder.