The best advice for writing well I’ve ever come across was just a reminder of something I already instinctively knew. I read it somewhere. I don’t remember the source. I think it was a line in an interview. The advice was framed negatively, though with cheek. It was something along the lines of when shit goes in, shit comes out.
Another way to frame the advice is: to write well read well. As a journalist, I extend that to write about interesting things, read about interesting things. Obvious advice, but easy to forget, and increasingly I find it requires more and more effort to do.
In our house, we subscribe to two physical newspapers, several magazines and we have at least one book going at all times. And yet, I am in a constant struggle to get my eyes off of a screen and onto a page. I was a smoker, and when I pat my hip pocket to make sure I have my phone with me before I leave the house, I am reminded of when I did the same to make sure my pack of Du Maurier would be there when I reached for it.
Time on the phone, or the laptop screen, would be bad enough it was just a matter of empty calories and wasted time. It can also be upsetting. Among my smart phone vices is Instagram (I am @malcolmjolley). At this time of year, my feed is beginning to be a stream of travelogues by friends and colleagues on press trips to beautiful places populated by lovely people that make delicious wines, which once the official tasting is done, are often served with equally delicious food.
Once I have recovered from the deep, dark green pang of envy and cursed the person who’s posted a selfie with a famous winemaker next to a castle or whatever, it will occur to me that the most salient fact about the trip portrayed in the picture is that I was not invited on it. Then, FOMO (fear of missing out) is quickly replaced by high anxiety. Am I washed-up?
Calmed by a glass of wine, possibly from one of the two I recommend below, I regain perspective. As the song goes: when you’re hot, you’re and when you’re not, you’re not. Some years, there’s lots of trips, some there aren’t. The trick, like anything, is to appreciate good things (like good wines) when they happen, and to look for good and interesting things wherever you are.
NEW WRITING AT THE HUB
A very good and interesting person, whose wines reflect these qualities is Marlize Beyers, who I write about this week in The Hub. The banner picture on top of the column is of Chenin Blanc on its skins, she makes at The Drift in South Africa, and which can be bought here currently through the LCBO Classics program. The label next to her picture below is of her latest project in Niagara, which can be bought directly. Details all at this link…
In the column before that I share my ideas about what wines to cook with, which includes instructions on how to do a traditional chabrot from the Southwest of France, and includes a more conventional, and simply made, recipe:
https://thehub.ca/2024-01-26/malcolm-jolley-not-just-for-drinking-on-cooking-with-wine/
WINE RECOMMENDATIONS
Please enjoy these recommendations. They are free for all subscribers for now. Soon just in time wine recommendations for LCBO Vintages releases, Ontario wine releases and wines on direct offer from importing agents will be reserved for paid subscribers to Malcolm Jolley Wino Journalist. That and more. Get ahead of the curve today and support my work by being a paid subscriber.
Château Pesquié Édition 1912m 2021
Price: $17.95
Channel: LCBO Vintages
Producer: Château Pesquié
Country: France
Region: Provence, Southern Rhône
Appellation: AOC Ventoux
Grapes: Grenache (70%), Syrah (30%)
Alcohol by Volume: 14.5%
Sugar Content: 2 grams per litre
Mures: blackberries, but the wild ones that grow on European hedgerows. Some berries sweet and black, others red and tart. Gentle and well balanced with no sign of heat despite the 14.5% alcohol by volume.
The vignerons of the Southern Rhône are masters of taming big fruit wines and bringing them to a place at the table. The Pesquié 1912m is remarkably elegant for what on paper should be a powerhouse red. Vineyards on the foot slopes of Mount Ventoux are at a higher elevation than most of the Southern Rhône Valley to the west. So, whether it’s the terroir or the technique, Pesquié makes wines with a distinct finesse, at both ends of their range. This under $20 red is a great value and should be sought before it disappears.
https://www.lcbo.com/en/pesqui-c-adition-1912m-ventoux-2019-636159
Price: $19.95
Channel: LCBO Vintages Essentials
Producer: Zenato
Country: Italy
Region: Lombardy and Veneto
Appellation: Lugana DOC
Grapes: Verdicchio (Trebbiano di Lugana)
Alcohol by Volume: 13%
Sugar Content: 6 grams per litre
Zenato is a producer best known for making Amarone from the red grapes grown on the hills of Valpolicella. Looking to the west from those hills is the blue shard of Lake Garda which juts northwards into Trentino and the Dolomite Alps. On its southern shore, stradling the provinces of Veneto and Lombardy are the sandy soil Lugana DOC vineyards planted with Trebbiano di Lugana for making refreshing white wines.
Zenato’s 2022 San Benedetto Lugana is, as the appellation requires, made with 100% Trebbiano di Lugana. We know from DNA testing that the grape is not related to Trebbiano Toscana (i.e. just plain Terbbiano), and is known as Trebbiano di Soave futher east in Veneto, and Verdicchio in The Marche. Handled well, like the San Benedetto, Verdicchio makes fruit forward wines in balance with crisp acidity.
The 2022 Zenato San Benedetto is a not a complicated wine, it’s direct with a pure hit of peach, and a little bit of tangerine. It’s a straight forward sipper and moreish. It’s for socializing, or maybe a companion to refresh the chefs while they make dinner. At just under $20, it’s great value and the sort of wine that’s handy to keep a bottle of in the fridge just in case. It’s also a Vintages Essential, so in theory should be relatively easy to find, and has become a kind of house wine a casa mia.
https://www.lcbo.com/en/zenato-san-benedetto-lugana-2020-707158