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The Unbearable Rightness of Seasons: Sean Thackrey, Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, and St. Anselm
I often say: Nerds make all the good stuff. Which makes sense, because smart people tend to find and create interesting processes and products at a much greater rate than those less cerebrally gifted. Amongst winemakers, there are few nerds on the level of Sean Thackrey. He maintains, translates, and makes available his renowned collection of ancient texts on winemaking. He also gleans techniques from them with which to experiment on worthy grapes, here in the future. At their best, Thackrey’s results are world class, by any scale or measure. I don’t often defer directly to a media outlet (nor do I like to post links w/ ads), but I couldn’t possibly reTweet you a better instagram of the winemaker and the iceberg tip of his philosophy than did Chow.com in video form. Go watch it. Seriously. I’ll wait….
So, I don’t have new tasting notes on any specific Thackrey wine, but I did learn that the proprietor of Spuyten Duyvil, Fette Sau, and most recently St. Anselm, here in Brooklyn, is the second biggest Thackrey nerd in Brooklyn. A couple of conversations later, St. Anselm has the most extensive selection of Sean Thackrey wine of any restaurant on earth, including the non-vintage Pleiades, Andromeda Pinot Noir, Sirius Petite Sirah, and 6 vintages of his flagship California native field blend, Orion. St. Anselm already had one of the best small wine lists in Brooklyn, now one can find well aged bottled gems to accompany serious cuts of grilled meat. Apparently the (various) whole fish is excellent as well, but we all have our priorities. Mine is finding the perfect syrah to pair with lamb saddle and rib eye.
At St. Anselm last night, enjoying the delightfully accompanied meat monster on grilled bread they call a patty melt, the soundtrack added quite a bit to my burger and my day: Hendrix’ “Bold as Love” the semi-title cut off his masterpiece, Axis Bold as Love, the greatest record ever made. After my Jimi moment, I was reminded that Frank Zappa was not only an actual genius at writing and arranging music, but he could be laugh out loud funny in a Steven Wright deadpan on acid sort of way (Zappa hated drugs!): “Bobby Brown Goes Down” from Zappa’s 1979 Sheik Yerbouti. And if you want to throw some crap around about how silly the album title is, go take a quick peak at what else the record companies were pressing that vintage. I mean, whatever happened to Randy Vanwarmer?
Wait, what was the question?
Happy LeapDay!
WineGeist
Gerard Bertrand, Where For Art Thou? and Tom Waits’ Wild Years
This is how I came to review Gerard Bertrand Viognier 2010 today: Several years back, a friend returned from the south of France with one of the finest substances ever to pass my lips. The wine of power and poise in question was a Gerard Bertrand Le Viala 2001. I snapped up the few I could find back here in the states, but very little came into the country and I haven’t seen anything more recent that 2002 and can only assume they’re no longer exporting it. Other friends retrieved a 6-pack of the 2005 Le Viala (which had gotten expensive) directly from the winery a couple of years ago. I have since seen nothing available outside of France. Recently, at my local(est) wine shop, I saw and immediately purchased 4 red, 2 rose, and 1 white, all Gerard Bertrand, and all under $15.
I’m listening to Tom Waits’ The Heart of Saturday Night (1974) and trying fathom just how many Marlboros were required to turned that voice into the one on Small Change (1976), which ground out “Bad Liver and a Broken Heart” and “The Piano Has Been Drinking”. Granted, the grittiness of Waits’ vocal tone was often exaggerated for effect, but in his softest moments on “Drunk on the Moon” and “Heart of Saturday Night,” he’s more silk than sandpaper. Waits has been doing his own thing for a very long time at this point, and while a number of his more recent records have been largely noise projects, at the heart of it, he’s one of the greatest living storytellers, and he’s worn so many voices.
In the glass, the Gerard Bertrand Viognier 2010 is very pale gold and from first sip, the palate is soft and integrated, but its lively, palate cleansing, acidity gives it significant vitality. It’s ripe with pear, peach, apricot, melon, pineapple, and orange blossom. At its price point, this ’10 Gerard Bertrand Viognier is a top notch summer white that will pair well with most poultry, fish, pasta, and salads.