It all started when my wife called me at work @ Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits in our nation's capitol on Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. asking me what she could drink as I was not yet home from work? I told her to open this magnum of Jed Steele's " Writer's Block " dry red Lake County California Counoise. She did and told me that she had enjoyed it much as she did Jed's last magnum ( she and our friend Denise really enjoyed it again one evening when I was busy at work ) I believe of Grenache or was it another grape variety? Anyway, I tried some when I got home from work this past Saturday ( two days ago ), January 16th, 2010 and that's how this all started ...
Read on for the rest of this fun story ...
Drinking Jed Steele's " Writer's Block " 2007 Counoise from California's Lake County on Monday evening ( 10:41 PM now ) here at home in northern Virginia on Martin Luther King's Day ( birthday celebration ) is quite the thing when you consider that I have thought of his " I've got a dream ... " speech all day on this my day-off. Couple and triple that even with the fact that this magnum bottle that you sent me recently is three night's old and that I am really enjoying it tonight more than the first two nights : then you may begin to get some inkling of the joy/rapture and warmth and pleasure that I am getting now.
I have had enough : I don't need anymore, thank you. But tonight the wine has been pure liquid red satin ambrosia and balm for my tired spirit on this most momentous and important day of days when I / we focus on equal right for every man woman and child living in the United States of America as well as the world.
Who made one person better than another ? Who gave one person over another the liscence to think of themselves as superior to that other? Live and let live : and that means in harmony and in peace as far as I am concerned. I know, I know : I am truly one of the lucky one born white and I do appreciate that, really I do. But I do believe in Martin's dream and I am willing to stand up for it and state my opinion on it and let the pieces fall where they may : so be it.
So, here on this important moment I have been able to reflect on all of this throughout the day and also enjoy now over the past two hours some of Jed Steele's " Writer's Block " 2007 Counoise : one of those thirteen and most obscure of the bunch of grapes that can and do go into the making of some Chateauneuf-Du-Papes as well as other red Rhone wines.
As you can see clearly from this that today and at this moment I have not suffered in the least from any " writer's block " and for that, too I am ecstatic, I really am. This is not a time to be indecisive in my life : it is a time to act and to be true and to be strong in my convictions.
It's great to see one from California Jed and I applaud you for making it and promoting it. I'd like to have some for the store. I will ask Tim Synder our local Republic rep if he has any to sell me. He does tell me Jed that he has some interesting single-vineyard wines of yours that he thinks would be perfect for us and he plans to bring them by soon for both Chris and me.
All the edges and the bumps and the highs and lows of this 2007 Counoise Jed have smoothed out over the last three days and the alcohol seems to be perfectly integrated ( 13.5% ) into the fruit and the spices here. There is no sign of oxidation yet in either the bouquet or the taste and that shows me that all this wine needs is to be aged some before drinking. Congratulations : I will sell it and advise people to perhaps keep it another year or two ( maybe three before ) drinking. Obviously magnums age more slowly and this is in fact from a magnum. Any thoughts on that Jed?
I have just taken some photos and will download some here now and the rest later as I want to post this blog entry while it is still Martin Luther King Day.
Cheers and thanks Jed and to everyone may you have and realize both your private as well as collective dreams... TONY
PS : Jed, come to the store : I miss you. I've already told Tim that I will buy more of your wine to floor-stack in February and I am looking forward to that very much.
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