Wine Wits (#023): Champagne, Chilean Masterpieces & Planning Life
The latest from grape juice drinker Aleksandar Draganic
Hi friend!
It’s been an intense week of tasting and studying and drinking and celebrating. I made myself a 12-month wine studying schedule, mostly based on my perception of how the MW is going to take its course if I get in, but even if I don’t, it’s something I’ve wanted to do ever since I finished the DipWSET. Reason being, with every day that passes I feel my mind is getting “lazier” for wine, i.e. I’m not perceiving things with as much logic and interest as I used to and, honestly, I miss that quite a bit. Sure, I still drink wine for the enjoyment (of the bottles and of people that surround me), but I have an analytical mind that keeps the gears running smoothly, so this is essential for me to encounter on a regular basis.
WINE I’M DRINKING
Pol Roger Sir Winston Churchill 2015 (1855 The Bottle Shop, 428 SGD)
Last night we had another Wine Legionnaires monthly tasting, the theme being Champagne and fried chicken. FRIED CHICKEN. YES, that was also rated alongside the wines. If you’ve never had this pairing then I don’t know if you’re living your life properly. More on the tasting in one of the next articles, but I have to dwell on this bombastic Champers that came in at 2nd place last night. "My tastes are simple, I am easily satisfied with the best." That’s what my guy Churchill said to Pol Roger back in the day, hence the winery said “ok, we make the best for you uncle Winston”. This cuvée is all about the Pinot Noir, which adds structure, breadth, and robustness, while Chardonnay brings elegance, finesse, and subtlety.
It's made exclusively from grapes sourced from Grands Crus Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vineyards that were around during Churchill's time. Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill is only produced in the best vintages and is always released later than other vintage-dated Champagnes from Pol Roger, reflecting Churchill's love for older wines. I love me a Champagne that’s open and ready for business straight off the bat, but also one that can age and just keep on giving. This was a stunning little drop. Decanted for about 30-40 minutes just to release a bit of tension. Fine bubbles, broad body and refreshing acidity. Worth investing in a few bottles.
This is my first encounter with Roberto Bolaño and I am sitting here, typing this and wondering where this man has been my whole life. Bolaño was the ultimate vagabond, living in places like Chile, Mexico, El Salvador, France, and Spain. In 1977, he headed to Europe and finally settled on the Mediterranean coast near Barcelona. There, he got married and took on all kinds of jobs - dishwasher, campground custodian, bellhop, and garbage collector. By day, he worked hard, and by night, he poured his heart into writing. He saw himself as a poet before anything else. He started writing tons of novels in his last decade to get people into his poetry (and probably to make sure his kids were taken care of after he passed). But this book is poetry of its own. It’s a big, impactful read that leaves a part of itself in you, filling the space where you gave a piece of yourself to it. It’s one of those novels that warps you into its world and it’s utterly difficult to come back to the real world.
The strongest part about this book is the mass murders of women. While The Savage Detectives was a book about poets and Distant Star or By Night in Chile about the Chilean dictatorship, 2666 seems to me to be a book against violence towards women. Not only because the book focuses on the dead women of Juárez but because everything revolves around their strength, constantly pointing to something protective towards them. It’s a very violent book, but it represents the violence we live in right now, at this moment in the 21st century. This book has been truly brutal. It’s been difficult to read, and at times I’ve been quite anguished and unable to stop reading, which is my way of reacting when something moves me and I want to know where it’s going. I love it, but it terrifies me to think about so much violence swirling around the world, in the minds of human beings, in war, in machismo, in everything. You have to be very tough in the head to read all this. This is not an easy book, but it’s an essential one.
RANDOM THOUGHT
Getting ready to tackle issues/problems in life requires a lot of planning, but the fruits of our labor are sweeter than anything hard we may face.
As always, thanks for reading - stay thirsty, stay curious.
See ya in a week!
Aleksandar