Dark silk. Went shopping, forgot all the washing products I needed to buy, replaced them with a bottle of wine. The car radio was playing Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring) from Stravinsky. A nice prelude for a dramatic wine. When I buy wine, I spend hours between the racks, touching all the bottles, holding them, reading the labels ("Hm, Michigan refund 5c"). I'm not afraid to spend some money if I find a good bottle, a quest that, strangely enough, only became harder after moving to the well-known wine area California. But all the effort is worthwhile when I discover something like today.

I opened the bottle straight away, ignoring all the dogmas of wine handling. Just smelling the cork is already a delight. The smell is like the taste : dry, almost harsh. Tasting the wine is like a steam train : slow, but unstoppable. The feelings get stronger and stronger, until it breaks open right after you swallow. The aftertaste is very long, very smooth, very dry and shows the quality of the storage.

Even though the wine would probably be better in 3 years, it's a very nice wine now. Definitely worth the $20, but only because it's the States and wine is bleedin'spensive here anyway.