A Pattern Emerges

It’s obvious by now that I am a terrible slacker when it comes to this blog. I’ve been “blogging” (I use that term very loosely) here for about 8 months. In that time, I’ve hammered out a solid 4 posts (including the one that I’m typing now). Totally brought-en, if you ask me.

My slacking, however, is not the pattern that I’m referring to (though, in my life, that is a pretty clear pattern as well). I sat down to type this thinking about a bottle that I drank a few nights ago. And then it occurred to me that there was another noteworthy bottle from a few weeks ago that I should make a post for. The tie that binds these bottles (along with two others that I’ve already written about) is that they’ve been free to me.

Gratis.  Handed to me with a smile. 

Working in the retail booze biz, there’s actually quite a bit of free crap to be had.  T-shirts, glasses, hip-flasks, hats, etc.  And every so often, there’s free booze.  Like partial bottles that were poured at tastings.  Or a few beers from a six-pack that was dropped (watch out for shards of glass stuck to the outside of the bottle – trust me).  But occasionally full bottles will be handed out.  Maybe it was a sample from a distributor that there’s no interest in carrying.  Maybe another bottle broke and splattered the label, making it unsaleable… Or maybe it’s a bottle of Gewurztraminer from Alsace that’s over ten years old, covered in dust, that will continue to sit on the shelf because no one (selling or buying) has much of an idea what it is, even though it’s from a great producer and a wonderful vintage (that happens to be long forgotten because it was over ten years ago).        

The wine that I’m referring to was a 1996 Zind Humbrecht Gewurztraminer Goldert.  This bottle was 13 years old when I got my hands on it. That’s TOO old for probably (more than) 99% of Gewurz on the market. I was nervous about opening it.  The ambient conditions in the wine shop are not exactly cellar-like. I imagined pulling the cork and finding a fruitless, oxidized, sherry-tasting mess.

But this wine was made by one of the top 5 or so producers in Alsace. And it was a single (Grand Cru) vineyard at that…

I cut the capsule away and sank the worm of my Laguiole into the cork. I swear to you, as soon as the cork was pierced, I could smell Gewurztraminer. The cork came out solidly and easily. And one quick whiff of the bottle confirmed that this wine was indeed still alive and well 13 years later.

The wine’s age was evident in its color.  It was a brilliant golden yellow.  A satisfying, deep color that made me know that there was something serious in my glass.  Beautiful.

The nose was that classic Gewurz mix of lychee, rose and spice.  On the palate, the wine was weighty and sweet, but balanced with a bright, lemon/lime acidity.  I was actually surprised by just how sweet it was.  The alcohol wasn’t particularly low (if I remember, it was around 13%), which led me to believe that it was going to be fully dry.  The combination of the sweetness and the richness of this wine made me think of quality, estate bottled Spatlese.  The palate was very complex and mixed this sweetness (which began to remind me of burnt sugar) with steely acidity, nutty and spicy characters, and a bright peach/apricot component.  The finish was long and elegant, bringing back the richness and caramelized sugar quality.

Free.  Amazing.   Typically, these two descriptors don’t go together.  I feel like I’m doing pretty well matching them up these days, though.  There will be one more free bottle talked about shortly.  Then maybe I’ll pick up the tab on a few…