The Wine Bible

After years of doing that, here are the nine attributes that I believe matter most in determining whether a wine is great: distinctiveness, balance, precision, complexity, beyond fruitness, length, choreography, connectedness, and the ability to evoke an emotional response. (Location 316)

“There’s volumes to be said for a wine that takes you three glasses to decide whether you find it compelling or repellent.” (Location 370)

THE TANNIN TABLE Below is my view of how various major red grape varieties compare in the amount of tannin they generally display. Climate, place, and factors such as vine yield, vine age, and winemaking can shift these relationships a bit. But in general, I think, this is a good guide. So, what causes tannin to be ripe or unripe? In a word: sun. (Location 507)

In the drama of wine, the land itself is a character—rough and brutal sometimes, but also tender and, ultimately, fragile. The wine that comes from it in any given year will never exist again. How is it that the land gives us this continual gift? It is an unanswerable question, for in a literal sense, great wine is not made, but rather revealed and released from the land. I often think of the story of Michelangelo’s Pietà, depicting the Madonna holding her crucified son in her arms. When asked how he could sculpt such divine beauty, Michelangelo is said to have replied that he did not make it; he freed it from the block of stone. (Location 580)

Note: LOVE this - reminds me of the Zen Buddhist concept that you’re just revealing the Enzo It was always there