Domaine Glinavos Vlahiko
Varietals: Vlahiko & Bekari
Region: Epirus, Greece
Year: 2009
Price: ~ $22
Retailer: Lou Wine Shop
I don't know what happened to me as a kid that made me so obsessed with all things sour, but whatever it was, well, it happened. And now we all have to deal with it. I say "we" because as my reader, you are subjected to what could be called "too many" strikingly acidic wines. But I can't help it! Just like I couldn't help chewing on sourgrass I'd find at the softball field, eating berries my father told me weren't ripe, or stealing lemons from a neighbor's yard to suck on &/or use to create natural highlights because Seventeen Magazine LIED TO ME AND TOLD ME THAT WAS POSSIBLE.
I wish with all my heart this was a bait and switch, but it's not. It's a warning to bust out the Tagamet because apparently I am hellbent on giving us all Acid Reflux Disease, which judging by the Larry the Cable Guy commercials doesn't seem so bad. He rides a lot more jet skis than I do. (This isn't a first time thought. I tried to find it, but I had a series of very dark tweets years ago where I made fun of Larry the Cable Guy and then descended into the realization that that dude was way more successful than I will probably ever be, and ended up deciding I respect him for his, albeit totally lame, hustle. I told you it was dark!)
The Domaine Glinavos Vlahiko is a lot of tart. It's vibrant with some spice, and is uncomplicated. It tastes like daydrunkenly dancing in a friend's sun-drenched living room right before spring turns into summer. It's warm enough to be in shorts, but still temperate enough for no one to know you decided to try using Tom's Natural Deodorant for a month (before eventually returning back to your daily dose of underarm aluminum). And yeah, you're a good dancer, but you can't fucking waltz. You're not complex. But you've got moves and you know how to move 'em. Your crush is definitely impressed as you're flowing along, inexplicably turning each near stumble into a smooth transition into some variation of something you saw on a YouTube of SoulTrain when you were stoned.
Although it tastes like any day in May in Echo Park as a twenty-something, the bouquet has hints of a really expensive leather jacket your dad wore into a cigar parlor. It's still bright with fruit on the nose, I don't want you thinking this is some Cabernet or something. But there is a maturity to it that you just can't have as a twenty-four year old barista two-stepping between indie-pop and Drake.
All in all, I really want to spend more time with this wine.
And I don't want to get old with it.
I want to be young with it forever, dancing like crazy and looking into the future like we could one day afford our own leather jackets.
Tasting Notes: Rusty cherry color. Red currant, tangerine, leather and tobacco on the nose. Tart, unripe, bing cherries on the palate with notes of forest foliage and salty tannins. Velvety texture and a nice finish that keeps you thirsty for more.
Ross Test: Pass
