Jonah Golberg at The Corner notes this amusing story about a wine from South America called--of all things--"Palin, Syrah." Stranger still, the wine takes its name from a kind of ball peculiar to a Chilean version of . . . yup, you guessed it, hockey! It seems the wine is not selling very well these days in San Francisco but it is flying off the shelves in places like Houston (for obvious reasons) and also New York--where it seems liberals must have a better sense of humor than they do on the left coast.
For my part, I propose that our own Steve Hayward fire up the grill (Ohio weather permitting, of course) and, in our down time from this event, we can all uncork a few bottles of Palin Syrah to see if she lives up to her fine reputation.
I find her tannins tart. She hits me like a cool Malbec, too botrytized for the contiguous states. Her malolactic fermentation makes her press-shy. A few drops of water at room temperature should rehydrate her cells. She is more Yellow Tail than chardonnay with vanilla extract. Her carbonic masceration is not ready for prime time. In the end I find her 'pas mal' - she will need to meet with a few more people at the U.N. to understand. (Sorry I think I am morphing back into my Buckley satire).
Stert . . . you're almost ready to be a New York liberal! It seems hanging around here has done you some good after all.
I'm game. I'll definitely try to order some. For a while I've thought of having a political/philosophy themed wine dinner, where only wines with suitable names would be served, such as Aquinas (there is such a winery in Napa), Blackstone, Goldwater (A New Zealand winery), Montecello, etc. The Palin Syrah is going to put me over the edge.
Okay, I've ordered a half case. I'll post a full review after it arrives.
Don't I get a finder's fee, er, glass?
STERTINIUS is a Roman, hence he should know a thing or two about vino.