Some of you that are club members or guests may recall from our Thanksgiving newsletter, I put out a request among members, for any questions relating to: 1-Tolosa, 2-wine education/etiquette and for that matter, 3-the industry as a whole. Basically, by doing this, you’re not only making my job easier, but you stand a chance at becoming famous yourself! Answers will be published in my bi-monthly column and based entirely upon three sources. Number one, my relationship with the cellar staff, number two, my library and number three, guesses and hunches based upon(however addled) my fifty years of wine consumption.
Perhaps I wasn’t specific enough, because thus far I’ve received:
-A note from a woman in Morro Bay who has been unable to end a weekend visit from her mother in law in Indiana, which has now been going on for three months
-Dale in Paso Robles who sought advice on the clutch linkage in his 67 Camaro
-and finally Sally in El Segundo, who was wondering what to do with the worm in the bottom of her Tequila bottle.
I did however receive one rather curious letter below:
Q-I’ve recently observed that after opening a new bottle of wine, invariably, the first glass seems sensational, but after the 3rd, it becomes rather ordinary. Is this oxidation?
A-You my friend, are experiencing what Oscar Wilde did after drinking absinthe. To quote, “After the first glass, you see things as you wish they were. After the second, you see things as they are not. Finally you see things as they really are, and that is the most horrible thing in the world.”
Excess may be the problem, not oxidation.
But seriously, this is probably no more than “palate” fatigue-quite normal. Bing Crosby was once asked how he stayed so thin. His response was, “because I know, the third cookie never tastes as well as the first”.
Wine related questions only please.
John Shakley, concierge
(Mr. Know It All)
jshakley@tolosawinery.com
