BLOOD & WINE
For my mom Olimpia November 10th 1930 / February 28th
2002
My beloved wife Angela and my Daughter Jacqueline
I think I drink too much wine! Or is it just that in my old
age I am too forgetful and continue to associate them for the years imprinted
on the bottles. Perhaps I am wasting my
time trying to explain why a bottle of wine means anything more than just a
drink. Then it happens, the years come
rushing back to me and the memories that I have associated with each bottle
that I pop & drink. Hopefully
someone else out there understands.
2015 will go down as a transitional year. I lost my last parent and my son turned
21. I am now king of the mountain and the
leader of my family. There are no more sad bottles I am holding on to only
bottles to share with friends, family members, or monumental moments in time like
weddings or birthdays. Death will come
to me hopefully 40 to 50 years from now.
By then, I will not know what a bottle of wine means or tastes like. By then, hopefully my children or children’s
children will understand. Only time will
answer that question.
2002 Ladera Howell Mountain was such a beautiful wine. It was my backup bottle on the day my father
passed away June 18th 2015.
As I pulled it out of my cellar, my brother asked. “Didn’t I sell you
that?” That he did probably 10 years
earlier. My friends were sitting around
my dining room table as I announced “let us pop one more”. Nobody was going to
tell me different even though by this point we had all probably had too much to
drink already. This wine showed a wonderful fruit filled nose
of dark cherries, blackberries and a touch of toasted oak. Very rich mouth feel that is full bodied with
a silky texture. The wine had perfect
amounts of dark chocolate that added great complexity to this moment.
What was I really thinking as I tasted this wine. My father had passed less than 8 hours
earlier and he wasn’t shaking anymore from Parkinson’s disease. It was the only way I could keep myself
upright that day. I had already received
well wishes from close family & friends.
I had several of them surrounding me at that very moment. Giving back was the only thing I had left to
do.
1994 Chateau Angelus Bordeaux is me in a bottle. It embodies everything I think about when
drinking wine. It’s a wine I had gotten
the chance to drink or taste 2 other times.
The wine showed aromas of
leather, tobacco leaf, plum, and vanilla.
It had flavors of cassis, chocolate, and cedar. Everything a great Bordeaux should have. There is no better wine moment than tasting a
certain wine, several times, over several years and enjoying it every single
time. Those are the wines you will never
forget in your lifetime.
What was I really thinking as I tasted this wine. My son was of legal drinking age now. I guess I don’t have to teach him anything
else. He is a great kid with a shy personality
but giving heart that is never selfish. I,
my brother, best friend and my son sat around my dining table while we enjoyed
that wine together September 8th 2015. He is so much like me, never wanting too much
attention. He was just thankful for that wine moment. Good job son.
My hope is that we get decades of wine moments like the one we shared on
your 21st birthday.
So this is it. My
wine blogging days are over. I will now
concentrate my efforts on enjoying the rest of my collection one bottle at a
time till they are all gone. I hope
anybody that reads this gets it. Live
your life to the fullest and remember those years whether they were sad or
happy.
PEACE
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