An Old Late Wine

For a millisecond I ran a fine wines shop in Newport, OR. The floor boards were the baseboard, so the cracks actually just went outside to the ground. When I took over the wines were primarily in bins, covered in large clots of dust. Some people calls those dust bunnies, but these were dust bison.

I was nowhere near qualified when I accepted the job. It was offered to me by default when the business manager and co-owner walked out one day. I was there serving for an event just hoping to get a part time job out of it. But beyond knowing I liked wine, I had no educational background in either viticulture or business. So the adventure began.

In that excerpt of my life I was exposed to wines I’d never heard of. Wines from every corner of the globe. Found many that I loved, and then others that I have happily forgotten. It also afforded me the opportunity prior to having a child to purchase at a marked discount, wines I could not otherwise afford.

Brown Estate 2001 Late Harvest Zinfandel 750ml

This bottle has sat on my shelf ever since. I purchased the last two of them we had in stock. Somehow the first was enjoyed when we had people over. It’s nearly a port, in both consistency and alcohol by volume. But now this one has been rolled ever so often to avoid sediment settling in the bottle, taken out and admired, then put back on the rack.  Eventually it too will be enjoyed, I hope. Technically speaking it’s no longer in its prime, but we might get lucky and have a smooth leathery (sweet) zinfandel, or it will taste like rank vinegar.