"My people were entirely Nordic, which is to say idiots. Every wrong idea which has ever been expounded was theirs... Until I was about ten years old I never realized that there were 'warm' countries, places where you didn't have to sweat for a living, nor shiver and pretend that it was tonic and exhilarating. "
- Henry Miller
I assure you that this will not be a year-end retrospective nor any shot at clairvoyance about the year ahead, no, really, I promise!
I just want to set you a task different than the English Sunday Times Holiday crossword (or the more easily obtained Globe & Mail version).
There's a wee book that was published nearly 15 years ago called Oberon Kant's Big Book of Wine. This very small tome is as rare as poultry dentures, and the god-like Amazon may well have to be invoked to obtain it.
The Soil to Glass Transfer (henceforth STGT) is a great term coined by legendary Rhône authority Jonathan Livingstone-Learmonth (henceforth JLL). He applies it to “wines that reflect a sense of place, or terroir, the expression of their sector and also the vintage style delivered by the year`s weather.” We love this kind of stuff at Metrovino.
“I love Sherry because when Magellan was preparing to circumnavigate the world he spent more on Sherry than weapons. I love Sherry because she sounds like a kind, wise and loving middle-aged woman. I love Sherry because I can buy and consume something older than myself. I love sherry because it makes almost any food better. I love Sherry because I can taste and smell Manzanilla right now without any being near me. I love sherry because it makes my hands sticky.”
While the official International Sherry Week celebrations take place Nov 7-13, here at Metrovino we might as well have called it Sherry Month!
Earlier this week, Julie Van Rosendaal swung by the shop for Sherry Fiesta. After a few sips and a few stories, we convinced her of what we've known all along...Sherry's hip!
As for the 2015s, my friend Brad and I visited Weingut AJ Adam late in the afternoon of Saturday, April 16th. It was our 10th consecutive day tasting in Germany - we had already visited 26 other estates and tasted a few hundred Rieslings from the 2015 vintage. My palate was as much in the zone as it possibly can be and not only is this the most exciting collection of wines that I’ve ever tasted from AJ Adam, it was amongst the greatest lineups of Riesling of the entire trip. And we were tasting a great vintage at the very top addresses.
If you aren’t already a disciple of German Riesling, now is the time to open up your heart to one of the most rewarding wines on the planet. I’m not talking about respecting German Riesling, I’m talking about drinking it. There’s a big difference, and with the imminent arrival of vast quantities of wine from the enormously appealing 2015 vintage (and the simultaneous softening of the sometimes pointy 2014s), there’s never been a better time to integrate German Riesling into your life.
Earlier this week when the weather was really nice, I was out of doors imbibing kombucha, the brewing of which is a recently-acquired hobby of my wife. I was completely absorbed by a shocking book on the history of punk music called Please Kill Me and its unsettling effect isn't indicative of naivete on my part - I've read Marquis de Sade extensively, but this is real.
