I perused the world wide web this week to see if I could find any good juice to whet your whistle in anticipation of the Super Bowl on Sunday, in the way of wine, anyway. For me it is a" holiday" wholly dedicated to enjoying absolutely delicious beers, as you gear up for whatever main meal you may be dishing up (for me it will be homemade pizza, with roast chicken, fresh basil, mozzarella and pineapple). Maybe I'll open a bottle of some exceptional vino to pair with my dinner, but more likely I'll be digging into the Ommegang Abbey Ale - a wine lovers beer, in my humble opinion, because it offers such an intriguing, inviting nose, a round texture and layer upon layer of flavor.
What I found instead was some intriguing news about the world famous Ferran Adria, of Spain's El Bulli. He's taking a little break - and the "reason" up for grabs, according to the press.
I was also pleased to see some great thinking and posturing by a couple of folks I respect in the wine writing world:
Check out this post by Joe Roberts/1WineDude regarding a recent listing in the Sommelier Journal about top picks for 2009. He makes a great point about the price tag on these recommended wines, but I disagree with his conclusion that "the pros don't find the experience delivered by those bargains to be all that memorable". Given the audience of the Journal in particular, I have to imagine some of these folks are posturing among their peers. In addition, top restaurants operate on a completely different buying scale. I could go on, but the bottom line is I think if you asked a broader selection of Soms around the country the same question, the outcome would be changed. We might have to revisit this topic sometime...
Last but not least, I was happy to read Dr. Vino's article on the up-and-coming Blaufrankish varietal (aka Lemberger). Check out his musings here.
Which beverage will be in hand for you this Sunday?