Empty, dusty and evocative

The wine bottles have been stacking up on the back porch, thanks to the untimely demise of yet another midtown recycling center. I have bottles in an old recycling bin, bottles in paper sacks, bottles spilling out of the various nooks and crannies into which they’ve been tucked.

Happily for me and my embarrassing bottle collection, the publisher of Greenability magazine has offered to take the bottles off my hands. She has some mysterious project in mind, and I’m lucky enough to live just a few miles from her home. (Greenability, a handsome and commendable magazine, offers green lifestyle choices to residents in and around Kansas City. Check it out at www.greenabilitymagazine.com )

So I’ve been consolidating the various strewn bottles, cramming them into sacks for the drop-off drive, which has provided the opportunity to consider the libations previously housed therein. Here’s what strikes me as I do: How few are memorable.

Some are even disappointing. I consider the Treana Mer Soleil, a Viognier-Marsanne blend that is praised to the skies by wine professionals. All I can recall is how much I did NOT find it delicious. And first impressions are terribly important with wine, I find; although a single bottle can be off, perhaps due to oxidation or corking, it’s unlikely I’ll try it again – at least not if I’m the one buying.

Wines I’d Buy Again, Happily

Wine tasting is so subjective, and so evocative. Like particular songs from particular times in one’s life, they stir memories: Three Dog Night, early ‘70s, arriving at Incirlik AFB, Turkey, for what would be two years of wonder. Tired and scared and excited. “Jeremiah was a bullfrog!” blaring from the cafeteria jukebox. The 1997 Salice Salentino Riserva, Lisa stealing into the house late one night to raid my wine cooler, and dropping a favorite stemless Reidel on the kitchen floor. Oops.

I reach into the scuffed blue bin. The first bottle I pick up, the 2004 Four Vines Old Vine Cuvee, makes me smile. This wine is a favorite, a value Zin, trusty and tasty and under $15. Its big brother, The Biker, is lounging about in the same bin, and it brings an even wider smile to my face. Andie’s birthday. Aladdin’s Café. Good tastes, good times.

Ditto for the 2004 Shotfire Ridge Barossa Cuvee, which sparks fond memories of my sister Karen’s visit. And the scrumptious, velvety Seghesio Sangiovese. Also the 2006 Seghesio Pinot Noir, one of the few Pinot Noirs I’ve ever really warmed to. Seghesio! Risotto and Barbera. Lisa, who’s never been to Wine Country, and how much fun THAT will be.

The Amavi Cabernet: Meeting the winery owner at the Rat; dining with Kimmy Tappan; cleaning with my sister. Yum! The 2005 St. Francis Old Vines Zin? As good as expected. Hereford House with Andie, and another memory of the first St. Francis Old Vines Zin -- a bottle filched from Nancy’s wine rack and enjoyed (without her) on a second-floor porch. The 2006 Honig Sauvignon Blanc, triggering memories of Laura and her frequently splendid choice of new white wines. Party!

And what’s this fun label with the dancing elephants? Of course: The unique Petite Petit, a scrumptious mix of Petite Sirah and Petit Verdot. Michael-David Vineyards. Earthquake wines. Lodi, California, with Ali and John. Fresh figs and a V.I.P. tour of the working farm/winery. Petite-Petit: marvelous.

Nah. (Wines I’ll pass on, next time)

The Este. Like other recommended wines from Spain, it did little for me. It’s not BAD, just not good enough to try again. The 2004 Clancy’s, a Shiraz/Cab/Merlot blend, also widely recommended. Eh. For me? Not so much. Also, the 2006 Eskadale The Winner’s Tank Shiraz, a gift from KT, and recommended by Sarah at the Rat. . . all I can remember is sipping it and thinking, “Hmm. Plum? Huh.”

Up in the Air

The Fife Redhead Red, which we selected as our favorite at a Cellar Rat tasting, was underwhelming the next time we had it. Maybe we’ll try it one more time. Call it a tiebreaker. Finally, the 2005 Hewitson Ned & Henry’s Shiraz. I have absolutely no memory of drinking this wine. Make of that what you will.