My friend Mr. Koeppel has done it again. He has described a wine in such dazzling and immediate terms that I feel I must have it. But cannot, alas, afford it right now. This is why I call him an enemy of the people. The working class. The downtrodden wretches of the earth. Who are, you know, waiting for a shipment from Chianti. [Ahem.]
In the latest postings on his site, Fredric has written eloquently of numerous Rhone wines. He always writes with such great energy, passion and poetic delirium about wines from this region that I think the Rhone must be where his vinous heart lies. And this particular wine sounds like the best white I might ever drink. I quote:
This example, from an excellent year in the southern Rhone, is a
blockbuster, dazzlingly clean and fresh for a few moments, beautifully
floral, and then rapidly multiplying its complexities of lemon drop and
lemon curd and pear scents and flavors, its panoply of little white
flowers and dried herbs, its lovely viscous, lanolin-like texture, its
depth of minerals and THEN – all this takes about a minute and a half –
it reveals just how huge it is; frankly, I have rarely encountered a
white wine that displayed this much structure and foundation.
You'll have to follow the link to find out the name of this beauty. Scroll down a way and you'll see it.
Buy one for me.
Hey, bro, it's not as if I can afford it myself! But the privilege of tasting it, well, one feels gratified and humbled. Also by your kind and continued attentions. Thanks must go to Kobrand (and their director of public relations, Kristin Zangrilli) for having faith all these years in my writing to continue to send wine down here to Memphis.
Coming soon on KoeppelOnWine: "12 Really, Really Special Wines" and "The Best 50 Wines of the Year and 25 Great Bargains."
Posted by: Fredric Koeppel | November 26, 2006 at 11:13 AM
Good to know.
When is the blog going to debut?
Posted by: Terry Hughes | November 26, 2006 at 11:23 AM
the design is complete; i just need to have an instruction session with the designers to learn about posting and doing illustrations and the nuts and bolts of the thing. so maybe by next weekend. i had better start writing so i'll have some posts ready.
Posted by: Fredric Koeppel | November 26, 2006 at 12:13 PM
Well your panoply of white flowers, er, fans await.
BTW, the Rhone IS pretty near the top o' the wine heap for you, as a region, isn't it?
Posted by: Terry Hughes | November 26, 2006 at 12:21 PM
Big Oops on my part, the review you quoted was not a Kobrand wine, that's on the "Eating and drinking" page, which has three Rhones from Mont-Redon. Sorry.
Rhone is close to the top, but the apex is Burgundy.
Posted by: Fredric Koeppel | November 26, 2006 at 11:09 PM