Terroir, Penguins and Parrillas: The Inconsistent Pleasures
Traditional Penguin Wine Decanter
Terroir (no, not terror, try to stop thinking about terrorism for at least a day) is a term used in wine that explains how wine speaks of the earth is comes from. What a wonderful and romantic way travel to the earth. The next time you visit your favorite wine market, pick up a bottle of an Argentine Malbec and travel to the Mendoza region of Argentina. The picture below is a traditional Argentine wine decanter that is still used in many homes and Parrillas (Grills). (More on our favorite Parrillas in Buenos Aires in a future blog.)
Somehow, the wine tasted better served from the friendly and humble Penguin. A perfect companion to the grilled Provelleta. (Cheese aged for a minimum of 30 days, grilled to perfection and topped with olive oil, oregano and chimichurri) Each Parrillero (Grill Master) has his own style based on a custom mix of tradition, skill and intuition. Was the house wine as good as last week? Or is the Provelleta better today? There too many variables to even contemplate. It is all part of the experience that can never be duplicated or replicated the same way twice.
Traditional Argentine Parrilla
Terroir helps us to remember that while consistency is good to a reasonable degree, if abused, it can choke out and kill originality. Good wine, like good food should never be consistent. It is not natural. Huge restaurant chains (think McDonalds) are successful for their consistency not necessarily because the food is of high quality. They can never replace the romance of the cozy local Parrilla or some other little gem that you have discovered where you live.
There in the Parrilla, accompanied by the penguin, one remembers that good wine like other good things in life (do we even need to even mention original art?) has little to do with the label on the bottle, marketing dollars, or snobbery. It has to do with terroir. It is nature way of putting balance back to life. No matter how large or how sophisticated a winery is; it is the earth that has the final say. It is natures way of making sure that we all stay original.
So the next time you pop the cork out of a bottle of wine, or seek out a place to dine (hey that rhymes), remember Terroir, the humble Penguin and the Parrilla. (Wow, now that would be a great Batman movie.) Stay original… it is beautifully inconsistent.
