Happy Monday...
Old friends. Is there anything like 'em? Having a special bond that has somehow outlived every other single thing you've encountered, be it animal, vegetable, or other. An old friend obviously need not be referring to a human, though of course it is special indeed to have homo sapiens threads that deeply connect us to a chosen few scattered over the globe. Just this weekend my sister-in-law came back to town to see her old friends at the Bangor High 20th. But friends can appear in the form of pets. Books. A tree that you climbed as a kid, now getting married under it perhaps.
For me, our Wine of the Week is an old friend I didn't expect to see when, lo! it appeared in the hand of a terrific new importer who had brought it to Maine to sell to the likes of, well...me! And much like the aforementioned 20th Reunion, it had indeed been almost 20 years since I last sold this wine, and it looked a little different. (Don't we all?) I wouldn't have recognized it, but then, as soon as I saw the straw colored white being poured in my glass, as soon as I lifted it to my nose, and thence to my eager palate, I knew my friend had returned. Read more below.
Old friends can even be sorta meta, as another of my old friends is indeed a pair of old friends, (and pictured here,) I introduced them to the kids and their friends, thus continuing the whole nonsensical musing into a weird rabbit hole. But yes, pictured are Abbott & Costello doing their Who's on First routine, a video I first saw about 34 years ago. Still makes me laugh til I cry.
Anyhow, moving on...Continued health and happiness to you all!
Current regular hours: Monday-Saturday 10am-6pm, Sunday 12-4.
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Please visit our website: www.bangorwineandcheese.com |
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Don't forget to catch Eric each Tuesday at 4:40pm on Downtown with Rich Kimball on WZON AM 620. Downtown airs weekdays from 4-6pm. |
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Ktima Gerovassiliou
Malagousia
It is difficult to overstate the importance of Vangelis Gerovassiliou to the Greek wine scene as it stands today. Much as I stated above that this, his Malagousia, is one of my favorites and certainly a "cult" hit amongst the wine geek culture, he's also had a hand in other such gems, for instance the famed Biblia Chora, that really have shaped our current thinking about what is not only possible, but must be demanded, from this historic Vineland.
See, when I began in this business I was privileged to have a manager who was second-generation Greek, and who had helped our shop accumulate a respectable collection of Grecian wines, this one included. But he would joke about, and show us examples of "Dirty Greek wine." Standards were lower, and there was a lot of juice that fell flat and didn't feel as if it was informed by anything resembling modern ideas (or if you like, post-modern, for example the return to natural wine practices we've seen and discussed here.)
But Vangelis apprenticed with the famed Bordeaux winemaker and mentor, Emile Peynaud, and perhaps it is not a shock that the whites he has made famous bear striking similarities to some of Bordeaux's finer whites and desert wines. Lots of time on the lees, using both stainless and barrel to shape the wine. It's all there.
Malagousia is a grape that Gerovassiliou saved from extinction, and we can all be thankful that he did. The wine is enrapturing, with aromas of ripened pear, mango, and tropical citrus, and a plush mouthfeel, complimented by high-toned acidity. It is a tremendous wine, and I feel confident if it's new to you, it'll become and old friend, too.
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Ktima Gerovassiliou Malagousia
W.O.W. Price: $30.59
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Bangor Wine And Cheese
86 Hammond Street,
Bangor, ME 04401
(207) 942 3338
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