Would someone please explain to ELV how you can learn about (or enjoy) wine whilst listening to a 90’s has been band named after the effects of a certain botanically-enhanced neutral spirit on W.C. Field’s nose? Or maybe it’s just an excuse to get drunk on something other than Red Bull and vodka…
ELV believes rock n’ roll is for the young and wine is for the not-so-young, and perhaps trying to mix the two is the recipe for a new miserable experience.
Or perhaps ELV is just showing his age.
Last weekend, Valley Cheese and Wine celebrated its second anniversary. Quite a feat for a store tucked into a back corner of an obscure shopping center at the far edge of town. Maybe its success has to do with the fact that it has the best selection of cheese, salumi, charcuterie, specialty foods and obscure-yet-bargain-priced wines in town. That, and it also has Bob Howald and Kristin Sande as owners — famous fromagerie folks who are always on Forme, have a great Tomme de Savoie together, and don’t ever lait down in their quest to fromage-i-fy the world. The Brindamour between them is so palpable, they may brie the cheesiest couple in town.
Last week’s Burg-fest among truly dedicated local Burghounds, enjoying forty bottles everything from Chassagne-Montrachet to Vosne-Romanee, was a genuinely Burg-o-licious time, with Burg-o-holics indulging themselves at Marche Bacchus. It had the added bonus of having Mega-burg-babes at a table to provide even more incentive to take a few extra sips. In keeping with the single-minded connoisseurship for which he is known, and despite the distracting presence of these mas diablo wine divas, ELV paid attention solely to what was in his glass.
One of the joys of les vins des Bourgogne is watching the world’s greatest wine bring together sworn enemies and disparate characters in a love-fest of shared values and great taste(ing). Doctors chumming with lawyers, Democrats with Republicans…..even John Smith of wholesaler DeLuca sharing a glass and a toast with rival Kelly McAullife of Southern Wines and Spirits. ELV thinks only the wines of Burgundy could accomplish this feat. Perhaps John McCain and Barack Obama should share a glass of Pommard or Pernand-Vergelesses? Of course they won’t, because that would mean that they were becoming too French! Mon Dieu! We can’t have that.