TN: What recession?

[Florida Jim]

To anyone who isn’t living in a cave, it is perfectly obvious that a recession is upon us. So we shall wring our hands, certain financial types will jump out of windows and more than a few of us will consider the merits of food stamps.

Be that as it may, I am delighted to report that Southern Wine and Spirits (a/k/a the ‘evil empire’) and other assorted wholesalers in my politically challenged state are experiencing business set-backs at an unprecedented rate. I am hearing things like “down 20%” and “ready to deal” and the like from retailers everywhere.

Even better, the local chain of Wine Warehouses is receiving stock that they can turn at single digit prices; it is a great new world for wine buying consumers. Or at least, we’re getting our shots.

To that end, I have purchased several bottles at world record low prices just to see if they are really as bad as they sound.

2006 A. Mano, Fiano/Greco Bianco Puglia:

Half and half, fiano and greco this smells of grapefruit pith and lemon zest, tastes about the same with a distinctly sour edge and considerably acidity, and finishes pretty sharp. Not something I would want to drink again but I bet this would be a good cooking wine (acidity to burn, if you will). 12.5% alcohol, imported by Empson, Inc. and about $6; not again.

2003 Coppo, Gavi La Rocca:

Smells a bit like good Soave and seems similar in the mouth but carries a resinous quality well and has good depth and balance; medium length, clean finish. More golden in color than expected but no oxidation noticed so I suppose it’s due to the vintage. 12.5% alcohol, imported by Locascio and about $2 (how the hell they pay for the bottle, cork and label I haven’t the faintest); I’ll buy more.

2004 Bodegas Marqués de Carrión, Rioja Antaño:

Smells earthy and looks like it has more age on it then it does; but in the mouth it’s dirty – not organically flawed (at least not such that I can tell) but not especially pleasant either; short finish. Maybe it got cooked or maybe it’s just not good wine; although, it’s a lot better with food than without. 13.5% alcohol, imported by CIV and about $3; not again.

2006 René Barbier, Penedès:

100% tempranillo (as was the preceding wine) this is much more characteristic of the variety, lively, in your face fruit, disjointed and rustic but in a youthful way rather than a winemaking-mistake way; solid structure, decent depth and a medium length finish. Exuberant wine with a touch of country rusticity; good now and I’m guessing, better later. 13% alcohol, imported by Freixenet and about $4; I’ll buy more.

In the “what the hell is going on here” category, I had the chance to try two 2005 Vincant Girardin wines. This is a producer that I have studiously avoided ever since my run-in with the 1999, Les Amoureuses; a wine that should have sent me on flights of fantasy but instead, left me cursing the day I thought this guy had a clue; a house that has underachieved for quite some time; big wood, big yields and no sense of place.

But what’s this? Wines of character without artifice or over-wooding? Wines that taste like somebody actually cared about yields and brix and all that little stuff? I am shocked and amazed – pleasantly, as it so happens:

2005 Gevrey-Chambertin VV:

Shows like a barrel sample – raw-boned, in pieces and tannic – but what promise; beautiful earthen scents; strong flavors in the meaty/spicy end of pinot; it’s concentrated, intense, structured and very long. I’m thinking there must be some mistake – no hint of oak on the nose or on the palate and no drying on the finish. Good heavens; someone has figured out how to make wine – even better, Burgundy! It was about $48 and I bought one bottle to age. That price is almost off my radar screen but this kind of quality and promise made me refocus. Who’d a thunk?

2005 Beaune Les Greves:

Whole cloth, albeit young, and amazingly pure. Again, none of the woody faults of the past, none of the questionable yield dilution, none of the drying barrel treatment – focus and purity and really Beaune character. Porcine aviation! About $45 and, dare I say it, worth it!?

Other wines tasted recently include the 2005 Luneau-Papin Clos des Allées – a beautiful, but infant-like thing, 2005 Luneau-Papin, Pierre de la Grange VV – a bright and charming thing, 2002 Luneau-Papin, Semper Excelsior – the reason I don’t buy white Burgundy anymore, 2001 Sella, Lessona – yeah, maybe I should let it rest for several years but it tastes so damn good now . . ., 2005 Vissoux, Poncie – ‘sunshine’ in red wine form, 2005 Giacosa, Nebbiolo d’Alba – way too early to be drinking this, 2004 Tissot, Chardonnay – so much better than 99% of the chardonnays in the market as to be a no brainer, 2000 Chat, Cantalys, Pessac – needs a decade but still shows what good Graves can be, 2005 Montevertine, Pian del Ciampolo – pleasant but soft and not something I’d buy again, 2003 Puffeney, Arbois Poulsard – very structured but very good, 2005 Chignard, Fleurie – yum city, and, 2005 Breton, Chinon Beaumont – not to be missed. There were others but I’ve lost track.

So as we watch our stock portfolios set in the west and as our real estate becomes ‘unreal” I say to you, fugedaboudit! Go out and see what wonders recession has brought to a town near you.

And remember, its only money . . .

Best, Jim