It's always a wonderful surprise to fall into a river, a river-like of wine, red, this one the Rhone river. It's in the south around the town of Avignon and here Emilio came with the export manager of CHATEAU LA NERTHE Chateuneuf-du-Pape : wow. What a river ride, what a serendipitous pleasure to find my tongue all of a sudden plunged/ submerged in the red hues of an excellent 2001 Chateauneuf-du-Pape.
I've been there, years ago : back in the 70's when I lived there with my family, when my father worked for the American Embassy in Paris. It was grand, Paris, Royan to learn French and later Avignon to learn about France!
Look at the color there in the glass : it breathes, it shines, shimmies, sweats-glows-reflects sunshine filtered through grapes that once held it and then later in the brown bottles embossed bas-reliefs that mark, that draw one's attention.
I was caught way way WAY UP in the flow of this Chateauneuf-du-Pape flow, river-like, languorous, still-like - like a lagoon, like a red sun's reflection of the surface of this still lagoon filled with CHATEAU LA NERTHE'S excellent 2001 red elixir-wine. What a wondrous journey-treat, dark street-red sunset sun-drenched-FLOODED - a sweet dusty-dry, straw rustic earthy-pithy, spicy red liquid wine's tastes that saturate, completely fill, spill, into light- onto tongue-palate deluge, into fuse, contuse ( not a word, sounds real good here, though ) .
This was a very special tasting down both memory lane and the now, the here the moment this of newness, blueness, blindness, finest hour, second, season this NOW palate mine and my mind, seven senses reel, wind, in-out-sin-you-me-us ate insinuate.
I loved this momentary lapse of thought, job, responsibility that this sudden visit revealed to me. I loved it, I knew of it in advance but it still caught me up and off-guard. I was prepared yet not. I knew that the visit would occur but unrehearsed it was - completely. Let the drips, sips, tastes fall-spill-drill whirl, squirrel where they may they might! It only matters that I follow, that attention I pay! I just want to be caught, swept into this river of wine life of Chateauneuf-du-Pape wine life! It has a life of it's own. It has a spell, I want it to wrap me up in it's spell for a spell!
It did, it worked, caught was I! I loved the wine. I loved the moment, it did for me more than many things as I caught it by it's tail coat ; I took the moment ( s ) to appreciate, to enjoy, to toy, to play - IT all laid out, spread fully wide for my tongue, my seven senses to triumph in this golden red sunset-color of Chateauneuf-du-Pape shine before the moon shone-shined-mind-senses-combined...
Truth be told it was also really nice to see the youthful smile and seeming-I-presumed-right-or-wrong-
innocence of this young French brunette that I at first took for the daughter of the owner of CHATEAU LA NERTHE. Look at the smile, it's lovely : a whole life ahead to look forward to ... what a special moment in life this is ... wine, music like the blues and jazz, a virgin canvas still largely empty ... the discovery of one's own poetry now being tapped and told, spoke, sung, tongued ... another sip of wine ...
I like CHATEAU LA NERTHE. The wines are always sound. I started selling them back when Pascal Salvadori brought them to me and we started selling the 1997/1998 and 1999 vintages. They used to sell back then for between $40 and $50 and it was always a special treat to recommend them. We used them in our dinners at Lavandou restaurant years ago as well with Veuve Clicquot and other CLICQUOT, INC wines. Those were fun days. Thanks Pascal.
I have to ask now what the current vintages are. It's been awhile since we sold the wines and I believe that they would be around $75 a bottle now or more : but I am only guessing. I'll let you know soon.
This blog has been composed as I watched the Denzel Washington portrayal of I believe Miles Davis. What an incredible mosaic of acting, images, moods and fantabulous music. It's made me go a bit off the deep end. I hope you enjoyed my roaming in my descriptions here.
Cheers and a Happy New Year 2009! It's now 12:26 Am on New Year's Eve - the beginning of the very last twenty-four hours of 2008! Wow, that's big, too. That's part of why this blog also had to be big now.
It's been quite a productive, surreal, wondrous, inspiring year for me and my family and I'm more than thrilled as I stop and reflect when I have small moments to do so. It;s important, time is important. Appreciate it, live it fully. Bonsoir mes amis et a l'annee nouvelle 2009! TONY
P.S. We also tasted the 2004 vintage and at least another vintage of the red as well as the white Chateauneuf-Du-Pape. I will have to find all my notes to complete this. It's 1:12 AM now on January 1st, 2009 ( Thursday morning ) as I type this. Cheers - glad that the new year is finally here. What a relief that is, and the Tuesday the 20th of January 2009 is just a few more days away now. I'm tired of beating around the bush. TONY
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