Illustration by Michael Burmesch
Dinner table with wines
You’re at a dinner party. It’s the middle of winter. It’s the beginning of the evening. You’re drinking wine in a living room. You’re seeing old friends. You’re meeting new people. There are nine of you.
The host asks you and his other guests to seat yourselves in the dining room.
The dining room has a round table with nine chairs—one for your host and his eight guests. Three of the nine people at the dinner party seat themselves before you, leaving two chairs between each of them. They are Guest A, Guest B, and Guest C. Who do you want to sit next to?
Guest A is named Randy.
You first met Randy when you were 17. You can’t say you were crazy about him then. But then you saw him everywhere. And then you accustomed yourself to him. Randy’s personality is big. It’s as big today as it was when you first met him. Maybe bigger.
If you seat yourself next to Randy, he’ll entertain you. He’ll make you laugh. He’ll turn every subject of conversation into a story about him. You could say sitting next to Randy is easy. He asks nothing of you. Then again, he leaves you with nothing to say.
Guest B is Chris.
You kind of know Chris, but you don’t really. There are times you love being with him. There are times you don't know how you feel about him. Chris is different every time you see him. There are nights he’s garrulous and funny. There are others he’s serious and shy.
Guest C is Fiona.
Being with Fiona can be challenging. She doesn’t talk when she doesn’t have anything to say. And when she doesn’t talk, it’s unsettling. But when she talks, what she says is charged with electricity. Fiona leaves you shifting in your seat. She makes you ask questions of yourself.
The Key to Guests A, B, and C
Randy is a garden variety cabernet sauvignon from Napa Valley. You see him on the wine list of every restaurant and on the shelves of every wine shop. He’s a product of our society’s conventions. Lots of tannins. Lots of alcohol. A draft of heavily extracted grapes.
If you like a dinner companion who asks nothing of you, Randy is who you should seat yourself next to. But don’t complain at the end of the evening when he leaves you weary.
Chris is a Cotes du Rhones from the south of France. He can be made with up to 23 kinds of grapes but principally relies on three: grenache, syrah and mourvèdre. Chris can be as lovely as a midsummer day in an orchard of plums and a field of garrigue from hors d’oeuvres to dessert. Sit by Chris, and he’ll engage you all evening.
Fiona is Nebbiolo from the region of Piedmont in the north of Italy. She’s roses and cherries. She appears delicate, then she asserts herself. Her tannins are sure and fine. She’s an autumn afternoon in the depths of a forest. She’s enchanting. She’s complex. She’s sublime. Sit by her and you may discover what you are.
Wines to Sit by this Winter
Piedmont Nebbiolo
Colombera & Garella Coste della Sesia 2019 Nebbiolo from the appellation of Coste Della Sesia in northeast Piemonte, which is called Alto Piemonte. An elegant wine of 70% nebbiolo, 15% vespolina, and 15% croatina. Organic viticulture. Natural winemaking.
Vietti Langhe Nebbiolo Perbacco 2018. A generous nebbiolo from the Piedmont appellation of Langhe. Organic viticulture. Conventional winemaking.
Cotes du Rhone
Eric Texier Cotes du Rhône Brézème 2018. So good it’s nasty. Syrah from the appellation of Brézème along the Rhone River. Organic viticulture. Natural winemaking.
Eric Texier Cotes du Rhone Vaison la Romaine 2018. A classic Cotes du Rhone of Grenache, mourvèdre, and syrah. Organic viticulture. Natural winemaking.
