Regular readers to this blog will know that occasionally we have to--HAVE TO--point out some of the more amusing copy on wine bottles. Last night at dinner, Michael read this to me from a bottle of Ravenswood Cabernet Sauvignon: "Following his own palate, Ravenswood winemaker Joel Peterson produces his Vintners Blend Cabernet Sauvignon to express rich, dark currant and cassis flavors with background notes of black cherry and spice. Embellished by French oak, the finish is long and smooth and leaves you wanting more. In a class that usually prefers to strike an exclusive pose, this Cabernet could be the best deal going."
(Three words: Cheap, yet expensive.)
As we've said before, who are the people who write this stuff? And are they challenged every day to come up with roughly four inches of words that say, basically, "This here wine is red and it tastes real good"?
And if you were wondering, as I was, what cassis means, here goes:
cas·sis [ka-sees; Fr. ka-sees]
–noun
1. crème de cassis.
2. (italics) French.
a. a black currant.
b. a brandy distilled from black currants.
[Origin: < F]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
See. You learn something every day.
4 comments:
Ah, cassis. Part of my favorite drink--a kir, which is white wine with just a touch of cassis if it's done right. Even in D.C.'s most sophisticated restaurants I learned that bartenders often had to be reminded not to put so much cassis in a kir that it tasted like cough syrup. Some folks prefer kir royale, champagne with cassis.
Your interest in the ridiculous things folks write about wine reminded me of one of my favorite New Yorker cartoons of all time, which was drawn and captioned by James Thurber. Four people are lifting glasses of wine as one man says, "It's a naive domestic Burgundy without any breeding, but I think you'll be amused by its presumption."
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Staffer Mom says that any wine over $10 is probably really bad and shouldn't be purchased.
Staffer Mom has a point.
We have also found Two Buck Chuck. Which is pretty decent, and also reminds us of You Know Who.
Bebe, that is HILARIOUS from the New Yorker.
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