Lifted from Languor

These are the dog days of summer (unless you happen to be on vacation; which, sadly, I'm not).  Even many of the wines I've sampled over the past several days seemed tired, depressed, or in a state of bottle-melancholia.  Part of this is due to the fact that I live in a state of state-controlled wine (AKA Utah).

Yesterday, I languorously ambled down the Spanish wine aisle in the state wine shop.  Ho-hum; more of the same.  Fortunately I noticed one new white wine.  Picking up the bottle, my fingers registered tiny bumps on the label.  Upon further inspection, I realized that the bumps were actually Braille.  I clutched the bottle, hoping that the Braille script’s subtlety provided a clue as to what I might find inside.  The back label identified the wine as part of Eric Solomon’s Spanish flock.  It hails from Penedés, which is Cava country.  Other than these clues, I didn’t know quite what to expect. 

I took it home, let the wine chill, and wiped sweat from my forehead for the thousandth time this summer.

Eschewing the wine taster’s ritual, I poured a glass, and sipped minus any ocular or olfactory analysis.  I then sipped the rest without attaching adjectives to any part of the process.  I simply experienced this glass of wine.

Of course, my inner wine evaluator engaged in mutiny.  And, upon pouring glass #2, I was forced to pick up paper and pen, and begin to assess the wine.

The Skinny
Gramona “Gessami” ’04 ($13)

• White wine from Spain’s Penedés region
• Made from 35% Muscat of Alexandria (big berry), 30% Muscat de Frontignan (small berry), and 35% Sauvignon Blanc
• Straw yellow in color, a thin, watery rim, and bright appearance
• Citrus orchard in-a-glass.  Also scents of blossom and mineral
• In the mouth this wine can only be described as pleasant.  Fresh fruit flavors balanced with acidity and an extremely slight hint of sweetness

**** (4 stars out of 5)

This wine will transport you out of summer, shift the time-space continuum, and set you momentarily back in May or early June.  Forget the food and just sip.

Comments

[clare eats]

What a great review... sounds just about perfect... I wouldn't mind a glass right now

[beau]

It's a lovely wine - even in the midst of a long Aussie winter :)