Love it or leave it, it’s Valentine’s Day. I can’t be down
on the day, and that’s because I have my own history from which I can expect to
have a wonderful day enjoying the love I share with Margot. I am fortunate
enough for this and knowing that not everyone can say this today is troubling
and not lost on me. But, press on I must.
I’ve played around with many food & beverage pairings in
my blog and have at least strayed into ponderings on pairings with music,
people, occasions and locations. A pairing of hearts is what’s on my mind today
so that’s the pairing I planned and executed.
Margot and I met in 1995. Less than one year later, the week
inclusive of Valentine’s Day, I asked Margot to marry me. On the first day of
summer 1997, we were married in a beautiful garden maintained by my great-uncle
Warren where he lived with his sister, and my late grandmother, Irene. Five generations
of my family were assembled where we publicly declared our undying love. Sweet!
( My brother Tim, Me, Margot and Margot's sister Celeste. June 21st, 1997. )
Margot and I enjoyed the party atmosphere at Plymouth State
College where we met, and our tastes precariously teetered on all sorts of
edges. Along the way our drinking tastes have evolved and branched out from
cheap swill beer to craft beers, small-batch wines, artisanal spirits and all
drinks more interesting. Riesling was the first style of wine we both seized
the same joy from, and we have enjoyed many more together since.
That’s the setup. 1995. Riesling. I found a bottle of 1995 JJ
Prum Auslese Riesling from the Mosel available at Federal Wine & Spirits in
Boston. A quick search of reviews convinced me the risk for the bottle was as
low as it could be for its 16 or so years. The label was a bit discolored and
roughed up, but otherwise the bottle didn’t offer any concerns.
Under the cap the bottle was a bit musty but the cork was
solid, pliable and emerged without issue. One small piece of cork landed in the
bottle. Not bad.
The color is a big, deep gold and sparkles in the light. The
nose on the wine is distinctive, full of apricots, other stone fruits, honey,
candied citrus with a spectrum of minerality and volatile aromas that border on
chemical. On the palate the wine is tongue coating, sweet, with all of the
aromatics represented. The acidity is still moderate, producing a tartness in
the finish that keep things pretty well balanced. The minerality and chemical tastes
are definitely represented in the reductive elements. The apricots are dried
and the other fruits very ripely aged. This wine is drinking as well as I could
have ever imagined. 1995 was indeed a very good year.
Cheers!
Jason
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