White light, white non-heat

Here are some signs that a wine might be special:

• It melds stupendously with its culinary accompaniment, three very different cheeses.

• It tastes so ridiculously good, and has such amazing texture and complexity, that you are loath to swallow it.

• But when you do … holy Red Foley!

• It is fresher and more lively than the same wine from a vintage 15 years later, which was no slouch in its own right.

• In a meal with 1985 Guigal Hermitage and Cote Rotie and ’85 Salon Blanc de Blancs, this baby blows away the field.

•Your friend Joe, who has decades of experience enjoying outstanding wines, calls it “one of the most amazing white wines I’ve ever tasted.”

• Your friend Stu takes our bottle to other tables and does a comparison taste test, and returns to declare that “the others are superb, but ours is the best.”

• When you save a wee bit to share with Joe, he politely declines and says with his inimitable grin, “I’ve already done this comparison, and OURS is the best.”

Ladies and gentlemen, the best 28-year-old white wine I’ve ever had the great good fortune to sample:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

God I love wine.