Wine tasting

Rating a wine by spitting it out never resonated with me. But double the volume and you'll get my Platsak 5 star and Verimark double gold.  Pulling the cork on a 15 year Magnum is the first step of an ultramarathon - pain is anticipated, but experience will be gained along the way. First pour and swirl - berry, oysters, leathery undertones and the gentle sounds of the magic flute. Smoky and lingering, our second glass is more Anton Bruckners Romantique - Symphony no 4 in E flat Major. A heavier hand and I pick up Moroccan tannery, and a brass door knocker palate. Swirling becomes more vigorous, tasting more generous and Hector Berlioz forces ahead with Fantastique.
Half way down and its pungent scissor grease, tensioned knee strapping, hint of dark gumboot and flinty kerbstone. There is dribble and the next pour demonstrates the miniscus theory, the glass holding more than its design. Gustav Mahlers Titan is deafening in D Major and technique has moved quickly past the sipping stage. A bouquet of parrot newspaper, envelope glue, burnt hair and rolled chihuahua. You remark to no one that it shows signs of being aged in trawler deckwood, picking up a lingering aftertaste of perm lotion and sundried teabag.
Inexplicably, the glass needs a refill. You pass the Hilary Step with a light wheeze. The Grand Army is rising and you and Tschaikovsky are defending Moscow, the 1812 overture cannons firing. The last glass of musty suitcase and peed on coals is sadly wrung out and the empty magnum thrown back in self defense as you head to bed. The woodwinds are deafening but the piccolo cannot raise a whistle. The orchestra warms up again, a backing track for dreaming the Divine Comedy, you fight men in togas with a foot on the floor and its all black. The morning room explodes in heavenly brilliance. You venture out to Igor Stravinskys Symphony in 3 movements.
Deon
www.deonbing.co.za
pic: Chinon - The Zinfidel