you & TJ, of course....
Appreciate the compliment .... T.J. no less! wow...
Made my day !
Did you know ......?
Thomas Jefferson was a wine nut....
There is a Wine collector and critic that has tasted many wines, his name is Mr. Hardy Rodenstock.
Among his tastings he has recently celebrated his 100th. tasting, (a 1881 Chateau d'Yquem), this wine is simply an extraordinary wine (from the Sauternes 'Appellation' in Bordeaux, South of France), truly a wine in its own category the best of bests. This is a dessert wine (white), made of a blend of two grapes, Sauvingon blanc and Semillon.
The process to create this wine is very unique, you have to wait until the grapes begin to rot (leaving the grape with a nectar like juice when you go to press them). Most dessert German wines, (the Auslesse, Berenauslesse and Trockenberenauslesse, which represent the different "degrees" of "late picking") go through the same process, the grape in this case is Johanesberg Riesling.
However, the richness in taste, texture and capacity to age of Chateau d'Yquem is far superior than the best German auslesse wine, indeed d'Yquem is in a class of its own.
The late picking has to be made by hand (no machinery), and it has to be done in stages, as the different grapes "rot" (The scientific name a hybrid of Greek and Latin, is "botrytis cinerea", and means "ashen bunch of grapes", the French call it "pourriture noble" or "noble rot" in English).
This "noble rot" is what produces the exotic, luscious, and full body presence, taste and character of the wine.
The process gets more complicated, since you must also watch the weather, as if you get a frost it will damage those grapes that have not been picked. Therefore the final product is highly appreciated in the world of wine (by the way the property is only 250 acres in size).
Now, Mr. Rodenstock in his many tastings has collected an extensive number of notes of his tastings, (he has, or will be publishing a book about Chateau d'Yquem).
From his notes we find the following making reference of the vintage:
1784 : "Discovered in an undivulged quarter of Paris, by Mr. Rodenstock, this is presumed to be one of the 250 bottles of 1784 vintage purchased by Thomas Jefferson from comte Louis-Am‚d‚e de Lur Saluces (the owner of the Chateau, the same family still owns it), in 1788. Engraved in the glass are the words, "L. Sauvage d'Yquem", and the letters "T.J."
Tasted at Wiesbaden on October 14, 1985, Michael Broadbent, in a Christie's catalogue, reports that "the wine was perfect in every sense: color, bouquet and taste".
Imagine !! a wine that at age 201 tasted "perfect in every sense"....
Lucky T.J. who had 250 bottles of the elixir, no doubt his love for wine, assisted him in writing the Constitution and nurtured his mind to think the way he did !! Most probably he used a few bottles to celebrate victory. (I will not complain much, as I humbly own a few bottles myself of the 1983 vintage, unfortunately not even close to 250 of them).
Wine, in moderation of course... exercises a wonderful effect on the human brain, it only rots it in a noble way..... (see above), yielding a bountiful harvest of intelligent and productive thought, the proof indeed is Thomas Jefferson himself.
The government, in stead of warning labels on wine bottles, they should encourage freethinking encouraged by a good bottle of Napa Valley Cabernet, or Yakima Valley Chardonay.....I bet that most issues could be resolved in a most cordial and rational form, saving us all, poor condemned taxpayers, of many millions spent in the senseless name of "partisanship" (and other idiotic and equally useless concepts).... Sal£d.
Dream on.... it does not cost a thing !!
I thought you would like to know.
Z. |
