Altoids and Wine; BEWARE!

[RAD]

A more appropriate major heading for this would be "Wine/Food DIS-Affinities."

My two Euro Caves are maxed out, so I'm on a wine-tastin' binge. Last night I popped three bottles solo (my wife is away on business). Didn't finish them, of course (thank you, Private Reserve). Anyway...

The three wines were: 1) 2000 Falesco Vitiano (33% cab, 33% merlot, 33% sangiovese), 2) 1999 Falesco Umbria Merlot, and 3) 1997 Gallo Barelli Creek Cab. An odd group, I admit. Let me explain.

The first two have been highly praised by Robert Parker. The 1999 was rated a 92 by RP, and called something to the effect of "one of the best wine values in the world" (we've discussed this wine before). The 2000 was scored a 90 by RP and given similar praise.

Anyway, I decided at first to open both of these for a side-by-side comparison, but found both overwhelmingly bitter. The fruit was indeed there, but it seemed as if every flaw in the wine was magnified 1000 times. So, I decided to pop a relatively inexpensive, well-liked, and known commodity--the 97 Barrelli--to see if my taste buds were out of whack.

The Barelli was indeed EXTREMELY bitter, and tasted tight and austere--not the softer, rounder, yet structured, fruity wine that many of us here have praised.

And then I remembered: I'd bought Altoids at work that day! And let me tell you, folks, I'm not a one-mint kind of guy. When I buy a can of Altoids (the "curiously strong" mint, for those of you out-of-the-know), I put 6 or 7 out on my desk and consume them all in 10 minutes flat. And I'll do this 5 or 6 times over the course of the day!

Anyway, in scanning through my wine tasting notes, I'd noticed a similar connection before. So today, I laid off the Altoids, tried the same wines again, and the difference was incredible.

No doubt we are all acutely aware of the effect that various foods can have on wine; but I wonder if anyone out there has thought about the effects that PRIOR foods (or mints) can have on one's appreciation of wines? My evidence shows that these mints, even taken hours before, don't mix with wine AT ALL.

RAD