In a few days, my Dude will be moving out of his apartment into my 600 square foot studio in San Francisco. Fearing the consolidation of our belongings, I decided to ferret out any items in his apartment that would be unworthy of space in our new home. Rolling around in an old cabinet that my parents gave us from a failing Bombay Company store, I found a bottle of red wine: Ravenswood Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 (Vintners Blend). Whence it came remains a mystery. I don’t like red wine and this bottle had no sentimental value. Why would I bother shipping it 5,000 miles?
Tonight, my uncle invited Dude and I out for a last supper in Arlington—to one of the greatest restaurants of all time, Rays the Steaks. On my way out the door, I saw the reject bottle of Ravenswood. It occurred to me that I should be polite and bring my uncle a bottle of wine.
When our server opened and poured the wine into my glass, my uncle offered me up as the first taster. Ugh. I have not historically enjoyed red wine. At wine tastings, I’d usually shoot back each of the red selections. Here, our steaks hadn’t even been brought out yet, so I would have to take my sip sans chaser. After swirling my glass more times than necessary, I finally picked it up and practiced my objective tasting skills: medium nose with hints of plum and cherry; the wine was medium bodied with a palate of dark red fruits and deep earth. It was soft feeling and easy on the tongue, meaning that the acidity was on the lower side—I liked that. I took another sip. It was lower on the tannins too, so my mouth didn’t feel too dry after I swallowed. The tastes of fruit (and alcohol) lingered. For once, I actually appreciated the clean taste of having no residual sugar!
Wow! Who am I?! I can actually say that after that whole meal (steak + dessert), I am thoroughly happy that my red wine was present. (The server probably noticed my happiness when he poured my third glass.) Could my palate growing up? I won’t give myself that much credit. One can only hope!
Thank you, Ravenswood Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 (Vintners Blend)! You are my red wine training wheels. Vinetality ho!
JEROME AND I BOUGHT YOU THAT BOTTLE!!!! (before we went to Rays the Steaks last year, appropriately enough)
ReplyDeleteWow--if I'd have known that, it might be sitting on my shelf in SF! Thanks Barletta!
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