NV Tribaut Brut Sparkling Wine, Monterey County (magnum)

It was my bright idea to pair a sambar and idli with a sparkling wine. Tribaut made some decent wines back in his day, and I was curious whether or not the wine held up after a couple of years. And I had a backup plan in case it wasn’t great. My first sniff: some cooked fruit overlaid with traces of the smell of a freshly opened grave on a hot summer day. Oh, yum. “C’mon, dude, you know the rules. You open it, you gotta taste it.” The flavor and texture were both fat and limp, a real beached whale. So, it’s time for Kir Royale! We pour in a bit of a good cassis (Briottet), TOS takes a sniff , a taste, and laughs. I do the same. “A well-aged Cold Duck,” he opines. Couldn’t have said it better, down the drain it goes. Unfortunately, the finish stays with us in the form of wave after wave of decayed fruit. Make it stop!

SY (6/00)