Tuesday, November 26, 2013

I, I Need To Know



Just a few minutes ago, I passed through my home without one thought of you but somewhere between washing the days grime from my face and passing through the kitchen still lingering with the evening dinner aromas; onions, lemons, seared flesh, my mind flickered, a faint memory, a night of which I have barely spoken…my night with you, the way I had longed for it and the way it went tragically wrong.



I’m not romantic by nature but there is something fascinating about the way these things happen. The way one look, one touch, one unspoken but inferred and saturated line of words can peel off a layer of fear, skin, armor, or how something as harmless as an invitation to dinner can change forever what you thought you would…or would not do. How quickly we can get lost, lose our footing and stumble into something we were in no way ready for…my night with you, that night…I let myself stumble and I spend more time than I care to admit thinking about it.


I have wanted you for as long as I can remember, thought about touching you, having your scent envelop me, have my breath smell of you, feeling your power overtake me and letting myself soften and squish beneath your weight. I had let my mind spin about in wondrous stories about how it may happen, where we would be, who might be with us, when I would know, know the second it was about to happen…when you were ready to surrender, open up and let me take you in.


To harbor such desire for so long, to let your mind play while your body is unable to..only stokes the want, makes the longing more deliciously painful, even thinking of those years before that night, make me wish I could go back there…pay closer attention, know what I wanted more, know what part of you I might linger over the longest. Would I spend my, much ached for seconds hovering over you…taking deep lung filling smells, let your aroma seep deep inside of me, saturate each open bit of me, or would I let my tongue be my memory, let your taste spread all over me and be the one that I would measure all others against? Flashes, fantasies, seconds, minutes, hours…all you, they all belonged to you, to Us and it was all lost, in one night.





Have you ever wanted someone so bad that you quiver at the very thought of it, have a physical reaction to the mere idea of being close enough to smell their hair, taste the salt on their skin, dreamed of that three hour second just before your lips touch? The way your heart pounds and breathing gets more labored and desperate with each tiny inch closer to touching, flicking, biting, shaking and the inevitable prying of the lips. Eyes closed, mouth open, welcoming, wanting and waiting...






Now there has always been all kinds of chatter on the internets about bloggers, wine critics and credibility, and one thing that keeps flashing before my skimming-of-the-chatter-eyes, "the only way to truly judge a wine fairly is to taste it blind” and to that I have to say bullshit, or sort of bullshit. 


To remove the acquisition aspect of some wines is like making love to that person you have been wanting for years... craved, lusted for and spent hours devouring from afar....finally feeling them wet and beneath you or firm and above you, with the lights off. Would it mean as much if you had no idea who it was? It may not change the actual physical sensation but part of the pleasure is in the, having, for some of us anyway. So okay, you just made love to someone, it was nice…maybe not the best you have had, but viola, you turn on the lights and it’s Scarlett Johansson…change anything? Would it have changed anything if the lights were on BEFORE?! Okay, I’m being sexist, for the ladies lets imagine Denzel Washington, The HoseMaster of Wine, Adam Levine, (had to look that up, Sexiest Man Alive? Hesh up)  or George Clooney…although speaking as a hetero female, Scarlett? Dude, so down...she makes my flesh all pink and puckery and junk...





Spent a night years ago picking these wines apart...blind. Sat at a paid for dinner while a bunch of more-money-than-me jackwads pissed and picked apart these sensual, rarely seen this open treats. Me fumbling with my pen and even then wondering why I was there. You procured these wines, invited all of us to taste...

 In the interest of, I don't know what. Honesty? 

Honestly, had I known what I was rolling about in my mouth, I might have taken a fucking second to pay just a bit more attention. 

If I had only known....

12 comments:

Ron Washam, HMW said...

My Gorgeous Samantha,
So, wait, I'm in bed with Clooney, Denzel and Adam Levine? Wow, I'm in the middle of the world's biggest ham sandwich.

But, seriously, you're much better off with the lights out and imagining I'm Denzel. That might be a stretch. Of several inches. But I'm sure you have a pretty good imagination.

That HoseMaster thing? It refers to an actual hose. But, heck, I'm game if you are.

And since the point of all this is blind tasting, I agree with you, Love. There is a time and a place for blind tasting--wine competitions, instructional tastings, stuff like that. But experience and knowledge should always count when it comes to evaluating and appreciating wine. Or Scarlett. Yeah, she's definitely hot. Though Charlize...

Or You...

I love you!

Romes said...

Scarlett is hot, but I'm more of a Renee Russo circa Thomas Crowne Affair or Eva Mendes type girl. Sad that you didn't get to truly appreciate those wines... When I win the powerball we will experience them together and maybe even invite Ron?

Wine came today - thanks so much! Love you!

Samantha Dugan said...

Ron My Love,
I love all your hoses.

I went on a bit of a tear because of those wine chat wankers that act as if wine evaluation is not at all valid if you can see the label. Not true when there are vast amounts of consumers and collectors, beginners and huge wine dorks that get off drinking what they are drinking because of what it is. It's true, plain and simple and to dismiss that is just the height of wine snobbery and boorish wankerdom. For competitions I guess I can see it although come to think of it, conceding that the showing of the label can in fact mend people's impressions, well sort of what I was trying to get it here. But you know how I feel about competitions in general when we are speaking of something as subjective as taste. Much like you and Jess and your chicks over my chick. I got's it bad for Scarlet...those lips, those, cheeks, that curvy body? Yeah, she's on my list...but way, way behind you, and Denzel's borrowed inches. I love you and I missed you so!

Jess,
Thank goodness your wines got to you before the holiday. Was sweating there a bit lady, this gave me one of them exhale thingies I've been needing all day.

That night is with me all the time, as is the knowledge that I deal with the public and a big hulking bunch of some of their pleasure, when it comes to wine drinking, is the "getting of it" as it were. Have a sorta famous old friend that has time and gain been shoved a glass of first growth Bordeaux, Screaming Eagle, Chave Hermitage or Gaja, that has not been decanted, is from the current release and the rich person that handed them the glass, tickled pink and slugging back huge purple gulps. It just is. Not my job to tell them they are wrong....just like it isn't some goofy ass bloggers job to tell critics how to taste. Bugs the fuck out of me....case you couldn't tell.

Love you and have a very happy thanksgiving.

Unknown said...

'blind tasting is to wine what strip poker is to love'
-kermit lynch

Two Shepherds said...

Gabriel, you beat me too it. I was just going to quote that as well. Can't stand the concept.

Ron Washam, HMW said...

My Sweet Love,
Unfortunately, prejudice goes both ways. I don't have to tell you that. Tasting blind for a competition is a means to eliminate personal prejudice as much as anything. There are wines I would never give medals to, no matter how good they were, if I could see the label. I think that's true of everyone.

Otherwise, I completely agree. Though blind tasting isn't analogous to having sex with the lights off. Actually, tasting wine is like judging a lover after one stroke, lights on or not. Drinking a bottle of wine blind would be like having sex with the lights out, only to turn the lights on and discover it's Scarlett, and knowing you would have enjoyed it more had you known. I can tell you, she was really pissed off at me.

Though why you would walk into a dark room and have sex with someone whose identity wasn't known to you, well...SIGN ME UP!

Time for a rendezvous? It's getting hot in here...

I love you so!

Charlie Olken said...

Come to think of it, if given the choice, I suspect that one would not have to know that it was Scarlett to appreciate the quality. We do have other senses like touch, smell and palates.

OK, knowing in advance might make the experience that much deeper, but frankly, if Scarlett in total darkness is not a great experience, then the knowing who it is should not really change the perception of the results.

I mean, either it is or it is not grand, no amount of beautiful face can change that.

I really do not need to know that I am drinking DRC or D'Yquem to know that I am in the company of greatness. If someone needs the label to know that, it might be argued that they do not know enough to be trusted with DRC or D'Yquem.

Samantha Dugan said...

Two Shepherds (William),
I often wonder how winemakers feel about blind tasting. I mean, I know on one hand they wish to be judged fairly, which means that they probably don't want anyone masking up their minds the second they see that label...but on the other hand, to work that hard to create this lovely liquid that is going to be judged like a doctor giving a rectal exam. Nice to get your take on it.

Ron My Steamy Love,
Why are you always the smartest guy in the room. You are correct about the whole bottle thing of course. I would maybe quibble over that stroke business, I do have a favorite of those. Two comments in one post?! It is getting hot in here. I love you so.

Charlie,
Really? No amount of beautiful? Maybe for some but I am guessing that a large chunk of people would forgive Charlize a queef so long as they could stare at her naked...Ron? Care to comment?

Now that not to be trusted business, that's a slippery slope right? I know people that lose their shit when they see a some wealthy Chinese guy pour Coke in his first growth or Opus One, if that's how he likes it who are we to smack talk? He earned the money, found it, kicked down the cash to purchase it, if he wants to huff it from a tube plunged in pudding it should be fine by us right? That said, I have been known to nearly queef when someone ices down a Meursault or Chambolle-Musigny...so who am I to talk?! Nice to see you and my best to you and your family for the holiday.

Anonymous said...

God bless you Samantha:
For being your lusciously potable self when all others are getting all goopy for the holidays
For getting a funny line out of the HoseMaster
For being the Amoureuse of wine blogging
For mediating thousands of Scarlett fanny-tasies, just from me. Mine is Scarlett and D'Yquem. Put together.
The happiest of thanksgivings.

Ron Washam, HMW said...

My Love,
If Charlize is naked in front of me I don't care if she blows out my 61 birthday candles with a queef for all seasons. So long as she makes a wish first.

It's pretty easy to see that judging wine, tasting wine, and drinking wine are three different things. I think judging requires doing it blind, tasting it blind is just overkill, and drinking it blind is ridiculous.

When I suggest to people that, if their Mom only likes sweet wine, they should add a tiny bit of sugar to her glass, they freak out. But if someone pours a bunch of salt on the meal you just cooked for them, only an asshole gets upset about it. It's their glass of wine, their food, your goal should be they get the most pleasure they can from it.

By the way, the makers of Boner In A Can have a fabulous new product--Queef In A Basket. In more ways than one, it's the perfect stocking stuffer.

Happy Thanksgiving, MB! I love you!

Unknown said...

How do winemakers feel about blind tastings? I won't speak for all of us, but my answer is that they have their uses. I taste blending and addition trials blind. When I am doing a pricing tasting or a vintage evaluation, I do it blind. When the somm students are practicing in my shop and hand me a wine to identify, it's blind - but I don't treat it as a blood sport.

I did a lot of blind tasting when I first got into wine. It was a good way to learn about varieties and appellations. But these days I just don't see the need outside my professional life. Hand me a wine - I like it, or I don't. Whether I do or not, ask me - and I don't care if it is the most exalted wine or the humblest - I can find something to criticize, or to praise.

Samantha Dugan said...

George,
Well you made me blush and stuff. Thank you so much for the remarkably sweet comment and I hope you too had a happy thanksgiving.

Ron My Love,
Careful My Love, three comments from you in one post? People are going to start thinking you have a crush on me...(I love you so!)

John,
I hope you and your family had a great Thanksgiving and thanks for adding another winemaker point of view. Hugs to you.