Talk-A-Vino

Inappropriate wine? What can make wine inappropriate?

Ha! I’m glad you asked.

I’m also glad that this is the wine blog, so by definition the content here is 21+. But then, in the adult world, what can make the wine inappropriate?

Of course, there might be a certain picture on the label. Let’s say naked people, or other images that we can deem “inappropriate”.

Or it can be simply a wine name. For example, Big Ass Merlot from Australia, Fat Ass Ranch Merlot, or a famous cleverly disguised If You See Kay. I guess that would also qualify.

But if you take a look at the label of an “inappropriate wine” that triggered this post, it has none of that.

2004 Ravenswood Vintners Blend Shiraz South Eastern Australia – the name as decent as it can be. With an image of 3 interlocking ravens. Again, as decent as they come. So what’s with the click-baiting statement of “inappropriate wine”.

Here is what’s so inappropriate about this wine – it is all in the head.

Cryptic? Let’s unravel.

Tried to open the bottle using a regular trusted waiter’s corkscrew. Understood that the cork would break. So The Durand came in handy.

Pour. Swirl. Smell.

Time stopped. The brain exploded with pure hedonistic pleasure. Sensual? Yes. Sexual? Yes. Don’t limit your imagination. Whatever you imagine as a pure pleasure was there.

Balsamic. Ripe, succulent berries, bristling with juice. More balsamic. Eucalyptus. Pleasure. Yep, inappropriate. I’m so happy that the thought police is still some years away, or I could’ve been in trouble.

A minute or so later, I developed the courage to take a sip. Beautiful layers, a touch of tertiary notes with dried figs, but just a whiff, no sweetness whatsoever. Gobs of fruit but well in check, nothing cloying. Good acidity, impeccable balance. Pleasure. Gobs of pleasure.

You know what might be the most inappropriate about it? This was not DRC, not Screaming Eagle, not Petrus. This was a nine-dollar ($9!) or so bottle of wine, stored at our friends’ garage (they insisted that I would take the bottle home when we visited earlier this year – just as a random bottle). How is it possible to predict that such an inexpensive wine can age so gracefully? There might be an inappropriate magic hiding somewhere…

Truth be told, I didn’t even know Ravenswood was producing wines in Australia. I always knew Ravenswood as a California Zinfandel specialist, but apparently Joel Peterson, who founded Ravenswood in 1976, started producing wines in Australia under the Vintners Blend project back in 2004 (looks like 2018 was the last vintage). The way this wine tasted, the winemaker definitely did something right, and I’m really thankful for that.

Here you are, my friends – my inappropriate, unexpected, mind-blowing wine experience.

I wish you all lots and lots of inappropriate wines. And when you encounter them, don’t hold your thoughts back, let them run wild. After all, wine should give you pleasure.