TWO GREAT SURPRISES!

I recently had two great wine surprises. That is, bottles that I had expected to be rather ordinary turned out to be especially excellent wines! These were a Chianti by Checchi and a Sangiovese by Danzante.

I accidentally recycled the Checchi bottle, but I am pretty sure the vintage was 2005. I just picked it up for no particular reason, but when I tasted it the first time, I was very pleasantly surprised. It had a very good, strong aroma and very nice, dry taste, with just the right amount of tannins. Of course, the wine is produced in the Chianti region of Tuscany and it is a DOCG wine so I should not have been overly surprised at the quality. I checked out the company web site and found that the company was established in 1893 and began exporting wines in 1935. It has vineyards all over Tuscany and one in neighboring Umbria. One fun part of the web site: it has a map of Tuscany and Umbria along with a list of the wines they produce. You can check off the different wines and the area of the region where they are produced gets highlighted. They have several companies run by the Checchi family so not all the wines in the list are Checchi brands. I will definitely but more of this wine.

The other surprise wine is from Danzante (which means "dancing" in Italian, and, as the web site suggests, I did feel like dancing after tasting this wine!). The Sangiovese vintage is 2000. The bottle includes the names of Frescobaldi and Robert Mondavi so I assume it is part of the collaboration between these two world class wine families. However, there was no indication of their involvement on the web site so I wonder if the association remains. The bottle says the wine is soft and silky and I would second that description. It is similar to the Checchi Chianti (and, of course, Sangiovese grapes are used to make Chianti and other great Italian wines). Amazingly, I picked up this bottle in the "bargain bin" of a local liquor store -- a true bargain indeed at 3 for $21! The web site has a little fun "quiz" about Italian wines that is an inducement to get you sign up for its newsletter. The quiz is pretty much a no-brainer, but it did use a few expressions that I am not happy about because they make fun of Italian Americans. They weren't too bad and they are meant in fun, but I could have done without them. Again, I hope I am able to find this wine again as it was truly a fantastic find.

WINE, WOMEN AND SONG?

OK, this post is really only about wine and song, but I thought the above heading would be more interesting. Besides, my wife sent me the story I am going to discuss so that covers the "women" part!

There was a story on NPR on November 22, 2007, which also appeared as an article on its web site regarding the ability of music to change the taste of wine! Actually, I suppose its really the perceived taste as opposed to physically changing the taste! However, this is really no different than the effect of pairing wines with different foods, which also changes the perceived taste.

Craig Smith, a senior enologist at a wine consulting firm called Vinovation is also a co-founder of R.H. Phillips winery. He developed a theory that wine's taste is impacted by music. The story explains that Cabernet Sauvignon is best with "music of darkness" or songs of rage that can smooth out aggressive tannins in the wine. Music by the Doors is given as an example of a good choice for Cabs. On the other hand, it states that "an idyllic Mozart composition" can ruin a good Cabernet.

Some recommended pairings include Pinot Noir with romantic or sexy music such as Mozart's "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik;" White Zinfandel with polkas, oaky Chardonnay with blues and sweet Chardonnay withsaccherine oldies like the Beach Boys "California Girls." On this last example, it even states that a cheap Chardonnay sipped while listening to the Beach Boys will taste superior to much more expensive wines!