Just when things feel stable, I realize they may not actually be.  A perfectly fine day can suddenly change.  That happened today.  A sense of foreboding came.  Then what I dreaded might happen, happened.  Maybe it needed to happen?  I’m not yet sure.  But I am sure that life is difficult sometimes.  Someone I love dearly hurts deeply.  And that hurts me.  Tears.

What I’m feeling reminds me of a wine I tasted that left me blissfully melancholy.  Something abstract…its essence left me full of wonder.  The wine:  Chateau de Saint Cosme 2009 Gigondas.  I’m still addled by it.

Gigondas – a French wine appellation with red wine considered as southern Rhône’s little brother to Châteauneuf-du-Pape and sometimes more affordable – lives up to its enchanting reputation.

This particular wine wows me with its power, its body, and its tears on the glass.  As anticipated from the region’s climate, the Grenache adds undeniably to the 14.5% alcohol while retaining a moderate level of acidity for balance.  The ripe tannins contribute to structure, making it possible to age the wine for up to a decade, if someone can wait that long.  The wine’s blend is composed of: Grenache (60%), Syrah (20%), Mourvedre (17%) and Cinsault (3%), and it is priced around $30.

Oak aging is notable with aromas of smoke and vanilla while the wine’s strong flavor intensity includes notes of leather, animal, game, earth, and black and red fruit, including a subtle cherry hint.  The well-integrated oak adds to the wine’s complexity and its length on the finish is noteworthy.  Its intrinsic nature is mystifying.  As for a pairing, the logical thing – perhaps the only thing – should be a cigar.

And that brings me back around to change and the unsettled feeling that sometimes creeps in.  Maybe it’s all for the best.  Life can’t stay the same and shouldn’t.  In the meantime though, the sensation of disequilibrium is unsettling and leaves me queasy.  So, I like to recall what St. Paul said to Timothy:

You ought to drink a little wine for the sake of your stomach. (1 Tim. 5:23) 

No doubt.  And with this Gigondas, a cigar.