Talk-A-Vino

Is there such a thing as the perfect wine for Monday?

Or, can there be a specific perfect wine for every day of the week?

Yes and no.

The answer is yes if you feel like it. You can create your own tradition – for example, “every Friday I drink Cabernet Sauvignon”, or “every Sunday I drink Chardonnay”. Sure, you can create such a tradition, but why?

A better answer is “no, there is no specific wine for every day of the week”, there is only wine you want to drink today.

On second thought, maybe? Just for Monday?

There is an abundance of jokes about Monday – purportedly the most difficult day of the week. Arrival of Monday means the weekend is over – and there is a whole work week ahead. But then Monday night means the first day of the week is over – and the weekend just got a little bit closer – isn’t that a reason to celebrate?

And yet, even if Monday deserves its own special wine, what that can be?

Ha! The answer is simple. It is what you crave. Your idea of special Monday wine doesn’t have to be the same as my idea, or anyone else’s idea. Whatever you decide to drink on Monday will be your special Monday wine. For this one Monday, of course.

For whatever reason, today I was craving power. “Power” is not your typical wine descriptor, no doubt every wine lover would have a personal definition of this term. To me “power” means big wine which gives you a lot to “chew on”, but I don’t mean it in the sense of the new French oak tannins literally numbing your taste buds for the next 5 hours. I’m talking more about the massive presence of the wine on your palate, full-bodied, with dark fruit and a variety of spices. My power wines are Petite Sirah, Montefalco Sagrantino, wines made from the Eastern European grape Vranec, maybe some of the renditions of Alicante Bouschet (this is not universal).

In the majority of the cases, the “power” wine should also have some age on it, to make it drinkable. Anyone who tried young California Petite Sirah or Montefalco Sagrantino will understand what I’m talking about.

My choice of the power wine with age – the 2014 Turley Petite Syrah Pesenti Vineyard Paso Robles (14.4% ABV). Turley is best known for its Zinfandel wines, but it also produces a number of Petite Sirah wines, which are equally outstanding.

The wine had the perfect amount of power I was looking for. Abundant red and black fruit, cherries and cherry pits, firm structure, full body, espresso and pepper showing up at random, perfect acidity, impeccable balance. Answering Kevin Zraly’s question – “does this wine give you pleasure” I can only say that this wine was definitely giving the pleasure and lots of it, as I’m looking at an empty bottle right now.

What would be your Monday wine choice?