✒ Scrabble
How to raise your Scrabble scores – pay attention to wine!
The news that there is a new officially recognized Scrabble word, reported here by John Stimpfig (“Cloop,” the sound of a wine cork being pulled from a bottle) set off a jolt of joy to the part of my brain that delights in destroying opponents within the relative safety of a game: Wine is full of odd words, and I remember a lot of them, which adds mightily to my stockpile of weapons, especially as many have 7 letters, high-scoring letters, easy linkages to other words, or all of those. As soon as lockdowns end, I’m proposing Scrabble get-togethers for my unsuspecting friends. Meanwhile, I’m sharpening my wine memories.
My opponents will probably immediately recognize oxidize and dioxide, but I may have to explain mousey, which is a distinct and unforgettable smell of bacterial spoilage I won’t describe.
The real treasure-trove is grape names. I’ll start the evening with a diversion, a nice glass of Roger Goulart Gran Reserva Cava, one of the best examples of that Spanish sparklers, made from a blend that includes plenty of xarello, or perhaps an aligoté, long a poor relation of Chardonnay in Burgundy, which has truly come into its own, thanks to Domaine de Villaine’s success in getting Bouzeron on the AOC map. Bonarda is known as a workhorse grape in northern Italy, especially Emilia-Romagna, probably because its ancestry is a genealogical cat’s-cradle that lowered its status, but also because it’s often actually another grape, called “croatina.” Which is actually the foundling? No one seems to know, but whichever one immigrated to Argentina has become deservedly popular, as exemplified by Zuccardi, whose Serie A is the wine I want to celebrate winning with.
Alternatively, I might go lighter and offer some verdejo—Beronia’s unblended, unfussy version is cheery, lean and tart. Hungary’s furmint will probably draw a challenge, and I’ll try to have a bottle of Patricius on hand as proof; refosco, from Friuli in northern Italy, is another surprise, but a tot of Livio Felluga should ease their pain, and would also be a perfect match with snacks of grilled sausages and meatballs on skewers to keep everybody going. Shiraz is not going to surprise anyone, but Peter Lehmann Stonewall, a resolutely old-fashioned version from the Barossa Valley, will provide some good cheer, and for me, happy memories of a great character.
I have high hopes for my game, but best of all, everyone will be a winner; I just get the bragging rights.
Brian St Pierre
Sebastian Zuccardi is one of South America’s most dynamic winemakers. Sarah Kemp meets up with him to taste his new vintages and finds out from him the four new revolutions happening in Argentina’s vineyards.