Hurricane recount: candles and Austrian wine.

The generators are still running across the street. We were told that we could be looking at 4 days without power, but were back online in less than 36 hours.

We were prepped for the long haul, but into the second night, we were quickly breaking down. Dry ice had the fridge covered and batteries had our computers running—basically. No Internet; cold showers. Coffee was a problem, the one thing that couldn’t be primitively replicated—our espresso maker sat silent, not a spot of foam, no rattle and hum.

I cut no corners when Carey decided to indulge her evening with a martini—despite our dark little kitchen, I managed to chill a glass, pour, shake and strain with confidence. She likes them dirty, I make them filthy—60/40 vodka to olive juice with three speared blue cheese stuffed olives.

Losing power can be grounding—it strips things down, simplifies just about everything. I finished books that had been lingering way too long, let conversations draw out uninterrupted, spent a lot of time just looking out the window, or watching Carey sleep. We sipped a little wine, also:

The day before the hurricane, an old lady came into the store and bought 7 half bottles of Bründlmayer Riesling—she was prepping for the storm, we were the first stop on her list. Smart woman—good taste too, albeit a bit out of my price range. I did some prepping of my own and brought home some Zweigelt from the same producer. Interesting stuff. If you’ve never hear of this varietal, don’t worry, my only experience with it before this particular wine had been in a book. Zweigelt is Austria’s most widely-grown red grape. But despite that, it remains obscure at best and its Wiki page is pathetic.

I poured this wine during a tasting a few weeks ago. I ran through a little spiel about the grape (having only absorbed the information myself hours earlier); how it came to be and when, explaining that its name comes from the Austrian scientist who developed it in the early 1920′s by crossing the ever-popular Blaufränkisch and St. Laurent. “I didn’t even know Austria made any red wines,” was the most common reaction. That alone brought enthusiasm.

I’ve tasted this wine now on at least 4 separate occasions, one of which lasted an entire evening, and I’ve grown to love this lean little grape. Zweigelt wines are bold but lithe, spicy and floral, smokey and nicely balanced—and, they’re inexpensive.

From my tasting notebook:

Smokey and buoyant, offering mixed red berries and cinnamon on the nose. Medium bodied and, at first, more eager to show its clean acidic spine than its spicy fruit. But the fruit advances, as does the minerality. Unique ripe, meaty finish of fruit and smokey bacon. Leave this wine on your counter for a few days and the meat will march—it doesn’t seem to raisin or flab out quickly. 1 liter bottle for $18.

[Carey dancing to Be Thankful for What You Got by William DeVaughn. "Diamond in the back, sunroof top/
Diggin' the scene with a gangsta lean, woohoo."]

I hope everybody made it through the storm successfully—no trees on cars, or anything.

-Rob.