in pursuit of the juiciest wine: day twenty-three

U. S. vs Ghana ("Yes you can" vs "Yes you Gyan")

U. S. won today and advances. Ghana won and advances. (I knew they were ghanna.) And on Saturday they meet. Yes you Gyan, but not this Saturday Ghana. Despite all that, I feel blasé. To fix that, I’m gonna get my groove on. I’m gonna/ghanna get my Richard “Groove” Holmes on. It’s time for “Groovin’ For Mr. G”.

That got me right. Now, I can continue with mini Chilean Wine tour. This is the last day of it, so I’m gonna go out with one of my favorite everyday wines: Root:1 Cabernet Sauvignon 2008. It’s from Colchagua Valley, Chile. “Chile. The original ungrafted. Varietal. Rootstock.”

Here’s the story from the front of the bottle:

Chile is a true rarity in the wine world. Unique geographic & climatic forces have allowed it to remain one of very few grape growing regions in the world where the original European rootstocks, survive, unaffected by phylloxera – the disease that forced grape growers worldwide to graft vines onto generic rootstocks. Chile’s isolation, protected by the mighty Andes to the east and the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean to the West, ensures that grape vines can remain on the original rootstock, in the purest form. These same geographic characteristics provide Chile’s fertile central region with optimal climate & soil conditions to produce consistent and outstanding grapes each year. This Root: 1 Cabernet Sauvignon is crafted exclusively from grapes grown on the original, ungrafted root systems tended by our Master Winemakers. This gives the wine its pure, rich fruit flavors & aromas.

This seems to be turning into an advertisement, and maybe it should. This wine receives a dedication in my latest collection of poems.

Alright. Let’s get to the wine. Vamos.

A lovely nose of cherries, chocolate, vanilla, and maybe some caramel. Hm. This one is not as good as previous years. It’s a bit tart, especially on the finish. It’s a bit thin. It still has the cherries and chocolate. But, oh, the 2008 is a disappointment. The 2007 was wonderful. Arg. Arg is how I felt through the whole United States game today until they scoredin injury time. They dominated, but they couldn’t score, except for the phantom offsides, and then the glorious goal in extra time.

Arg. That’s how I feel about this 2008. It’s a phantom of the 2007. Ohhhh, the 2007 is splendid, but the 2008, eh, not so much. Now, I’m sad again. Back to Richard “Groove” Holmes.

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