The dinner party differs from the cocktail party in one very important respect. Hemmed in as you are by a place setting, it’s generally not possible to seek new company if you find the people around you a trifle dull or just plain odd. No, you must stay put and make conversation as best you can. The surprising thing about this is how often necessity yields to interest and occasionally even friendship. Why? Because the qualities that make a person the opposite of dull or just plain odd are often not immediately apparent. They require both time and a certain persistence to discover. (Points if you detect an oncoming analogy.)
In the wine corner, we emphasize that your wine drinking habits should be more dinner party than cocktail party. This is because quality wine, like interesting people, do not — cannot — give a full account of themselves on first meeting. Quality wines consumed within an hour or two of being opened are simply incapable of revealing their whole selves, let alone their best selves. It’s the second reason we advocate tirelessly (or is that tediously?) for opening more than one bottle per night. Not because we want you to drink more wine – but because with two (or more) wines open you will (1) taste comparatively, with context, and (2) have some wine left over to meet again when it will be something different than it was on night one.
Since most of the changes that occur after the cork is pulled are a result of the wine’s interaction with oxygen, you may well ask whether a rough decant doesn’t achieve the same purpose. The answer, in most cases, is no. While it can immediately make wine more expressive and composed, decanting is no substitute for the slow work of an overnight layover.
Don’t just chat up your wine. Get to know it.
This Week in the Wine Corner . . .
Thursday June 7, 3-6 pm – Nice to Meet You
2017 Domaine Labbé Abymes Vin de Savoie, $12.95 #vasavoie
2017 Pique-Basse “l’Ambigu” Côtes du Rhone Villages Roaix Rosé, $18.95 #ambiglouglou
2015 Jean-Paul Brun Côtes de Brouilly, $22.95 #beaugeste
Friday June 8, 3-6 pm – See You Tomorrow
NV Casa Belfi Prosecco Colfondo, $22.95 #nobatsinthebelfi
2015 Casa Belfi Bianco della Venezia, $21.95 #belfibookandcandle
2016 Casa Belfi Raboso Colfondo, $22.95 #oracleatbelfi
-Stephen Meuse