In Sideways, Virginia Madsen's character says something about saving an amazing bottle of wine for a special occasion. She says - and I'm paraphrasing: Opening a great bottle IS the special occasion. And so it was last night, when my husband, Nate, and I opened our Le Gode, a '97 Brunello from Montalcino. Maybe because we've been in LA now for only two weeks, but life seems like it's there for the taking, and the Le Gode taking up dust on a shelf was ready to be corked.
It was beautiful, nuanced with tobacco and chocolate and cherries, with very little acidity. My mouth waters. Paling in comparison was the 2001 Chateneuf we opened last week. It was perfumey, a little musty. Maybe we opened it too early or perhaps too late, or maybe the heat had gotten to it. But the Brunello, oh the Brunello. Now there's a wine to make my heart sing.
And now, we've slowly gone through our little collection, but the adventure continues. I can't wait to see what we find next!
