food and wine match

[Randy Caparoso]

Whoa, Nellie! No one's questioning the fact that Bob Wills was just as beloved in Oklahoma as he was in Texas, and that "Take Me Back to Tulsa" is almost as famous as "New San Antonio Rose," but ya'll should allow for the fact that Bob was born and raised a Texan, started his career as a Texan, and to Texans, he will always be a Texan. Bob himself described his brand of music as "Texas fiddle band." And besides, once a Texan, always a Texan!

As for Chateau Musar: Unlike you, it seems, my experience of Chateau Musar is up-to-date. In the business, Musar used to impress us with its unique and wildly earthy, elegantly textured Bordeaux style blends. But in recent years their reds have lapsed into almost repulsive levels of stink. Believe me -- I have two or three opportunities to taste the current vintages each year (in fact, just yesterday there was one here in Honolulu). I try to be a professional about it -- making judgements regardless of what has, or still is, written in the press. You see, when we serve it to guests, press releases don't matter. Most consumers have never heard of Michael Broadbent or Robert Parker. When it's served to them, the wine is either good, or it's bad.

So what's up with the recent Musar vintages? I love terroir and garrigue, and I love the complexities of brettanomyces, but Musar now goes way over the edge in these qualities. They veer on barnyards full of fresh manure. If anything, it is now strictly an acquired taste. Some people still harbor this taste; most people don't. Therefore, I would never recommend it to a novice who simply wants to have "something" with a simple Middle Eastern dinner. It makes a lot more sense to recommend a wine that is more of a guarantee that they will like, and more of a guarantee that it will go with their meal. I hope you understand.

The Musar white, by the way, is a poor excuse of a wine. Nothing personal. Just telling it like it is.


[This message has been edited by Randy Caparoso (edited 06-01-2000).]