Vintage Story
Epistemological epiphany:
Life must be lived forwards,
but can only be understood backwards
Mercifully, life may be enjoyed sideways!
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Full Moon: December, 2005. Allen Dale Olson a/k/a the Pontiff of Palate, Story Inn’s Wine Connoisseur. Copyright 2005 Story Bed & Breakfast, LLP, d/b/a Story Inn, all rights reserved. |
MIND THE BUBBLY
Handling wine often can lead to some humbling experiences mishandling it. One such experience happened to me on a canal barge in eastern France on a hot afternoon somewhere near Saverne. For nearly a week, I had been giving the passengers nightly presentations on the wines of the region and how to present them.
On the afternoon in question a woman handed me a bottle of Veuve Cliquot champagne, for which she had spent the equivalent of $50.00. She had reserved part of the deck for her table mates so they could all celebrate her 80th birthday with her special bottle. She wanted me to open it because she had never opened champagne and didn’t want to risk embarrassment in front of her friends. I told her I would make it a tutorial on handling champagne.
At the appointed time, I carried the ice bucket containing the precious bottle to her group, all seated in deck chairs enjoying the warm sun. I showed them how to trim off the foil and how to twist the ficelle or wire seven times. I told them to hold a cloth over the cork (to keep it from shooting out unexpectedly and twist the bottle till the cork came loose.)
As I untwisted the ficelle, I noticed that the bottle was sweaty, so I pulled the towel down to wipe it. Alas. With a very loud pop, the cork shot out of the bottle into the canal, and the slippery bottle backfired out of my hand to the deck where it spun round and round like a pinwheel, spewing foamy champagne on just about everyone in the group.
The lady was gracious enough to thank me for the lesson because she had had no idea that champagne was so complicated.
But some mishandlings are being addressed. In recent columns we have addressed the lunacy of the Indiana Bureau of Alcohol and Tobacco prohibition against shipping wines directly from producer to consumer. Thanks to a suit brought by nine Indiana wineries, Marion County Superior Court Judge Thomas Carroll issued a preliminary judgment that will allow in-state shipments until March 1. That, we all hope, will give the General Assembly time to legislate a permanent authorization for wine shipments. Representative Erick Koch and Senator Brent Steele of south central Indiana have already indicated interest in preparing such legislation. More letters of support to members of the Legislature would be helpful.
Vintage Story is an e-newsletter authored by Ole Olson and published by the Story Inn, and is available free of charge to all who appreciate good wine. Vintage Story is published at each full moon. The author and the Story Inn specifically authorize the republication, reprinting and circulation of any issue Vintage Story so long as due credit is given to the author and to the Story Inn (which holds the copyright).
If any newspaper or website desires to make use of any issue of Vintage Story, we do request that you notify us. Thanks, and here's to your health!
