Wine Tasting September 11 ’10

Posted at September 8, 2010

So here it is again: “Nine-Eleven.” One of those days we all remember vividly: where we were, what we felt, what we thought. We were anchored at Clark Island. Later that day we sailed to Sucia and in the evening someone came around to all the boats to arrange a sort of ceremony ashore. Someone brought a flag. There might have been a Pledge of Allegiance. It was weird. We were all trying to make meaning of it, Somehow the patriotism thing was all anyone could think of, but it felt weird and misplaced.

A few days later I read an article in (I think) that offbeat Seattle Weekly called The Stranger, by a poet whose name I can’t remember, in which she was talking with her mother on the phone and her mother said “People are saying it’s just like Pearl Harbor; but it’s really our Hiroshima—now we are part of the suffering of the World.”

As it turned out, the depth of our public inquiry into the Why of it stopped at “They Hate Our Freedom,” as every thoughtful person was shouted down and the world got turned upside down by our own sweet America, pumped up on Patriotism, hopped up on Hubris, and vested in Vengeance, all nice convenient excuses for invasion and destruction of wherever for whatever.

So here the anniversary has rolled around again, and the usual Chicken Hawks will wave the Flag and talk about Sacrifice and try to make the last nine years of history into something Glorious, which it isn’t.

It is a good time to reflect on what the past nine years might have been like if a different path had been chosen. For a few days after 9/11, we were all touched by the global outpouring of solidarity with us. For a few shining moments, an opportunity existed to unite the world toward peace, understanding, and tolerance, leaving no room for terrorism, and maybe no need for it. But such moments are rare, and fleeting, and it was quickly squandered with “If you’re not with us, you’re against us” and all that went with it.

Nine years, two wars, the destruction of two countries, the deaths of hundreds of thousands, and the near-collapse of the world economy later, all with no particular inroads on “terrorism,” it’s a good time to reflect mindfully on how different things might have been if our national response had been driven by wisdom, compassion, and humility rather than adolescent egotism and corporate opportunism.

So let’s all look around today and notice what rhetoric surfaces: let’s see if we’re still stuck on “it’s just like Pearl Harbor,” or if there has been any movement toward “it’s our Hiroshima; now we are part of the suffering of the world.” From where I sit, we haven’t made a lot of progress, and that is a disturbing thought.

Last week was of course Studio Tour, and it was Busy both Saturday and Sunday, lots and lots of visitors! Brendan’s paintings are awesome, so if you didn’t have a chance to come by, don’t worry, they will be up through October!

Finally, please take a moment to vote for us as Best Wine Shop in the Northwest on King5 (I think it’s a tv station)!
Here’s the link!


This Week’s Wines:

Marchetti Later Harvest  Verdicchio (Italy) $14
Full-bodied with lush notes of pear and melon, and  beautiful acidity. An extra month on the vine delivers not sweetness, but rather greater body, structure, and fruit essence. Entirely satisfying!

Condesa Crianza ’04 Spain $10
This supple red shows balance and density, on a modest scale, with black cherry, tobacco and leaf flavors and a spicy, toasty finish.

Durigutti malbec 08 Argentina $14
A lush, toasty style, with lots of cocoa and roasted vanilla up front, followed by dark, well-layered fig, boysenberry and mulled currant fruit flavors. The long finish lets all the fruit hang nicely, with an underlying graphite hint supporting it all.

Finca Sandoval 05  (Spain)    Parker 94pts $27
76% Syrah, 13% Mourvedre, and 11% Bobal fermented with native yeasts followed by malolactic fermentation in barrel with lees stirring, a year in French and American oak. Purple-colored, with alluring nose of toasty oak, mineral, floral notes, blueberry, and blackberry, leading to a full-bodied, ripe, layered wine with superb integration of oak, tannin, and acidity; this outstanding effort should be at its best between 2012 and 2025.

Wine Tasting

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