Part 1: Sharing
I was recently talking shop with someone who has been in the business for over fifty years, and he brought a new idea to my mind – wine is a uniquely altruistic experience. When someone shares a bottle of wine, they are sharing an ephemeral experience. It isn’t a song you can listen to over and over again. It isn’t a book you can read and re-read. It isn’t a film you can download and watch whenever you desire. Once that bottle is consumed, it is gone. And it isn’t like a meal that you can make for someone whenever you want to show you care.
When you open a bottle with someone you are sharing an experience that cannot be duplicated. “I’ve been waiting for a meal for us to share this bottle,” is one of the greatest compliments one can receive. You thought of someone, or they thought of you, and this bottle is an indication of affection. We don’t break out “special bottles” for folks who aren’t important to us. We all could do more of that. Show people you love them. Share tasty food with them. Share amazing bottles with them.
Part 2: Charity
Ever been to fundraising, for charity, dinner? Was there wine there? It is very likely that there was. We at The Pig see lots of folks purchase wine for charity dinners, and we are thankful that so many folks come to us to buy their wine. We also help out with two fantastic charitable, wine focused, dinners. We are huge fans of both the Tum Tum Tree (which happens in November) and the Multiple Sclerosis Wine Auction. The MS Wine Auction, on May 18th this year, is the oldest charity wine auction in Alabama. This year marks the 39th, yes the 39TH, time this even has been held. Pretty amazing! We thought we would feature a few wines associated with the MS Wine Auction for this issue.
Three wines are imported by this year’s honorary chair of the MS Wine Auction, Jorge Ordoñez. These are amazing Spanish wines we are thrilled to feature. And we are also thrilled that Jorge took the time and resources to volunteer. His altruism is very much appreciated.
Kila Cava Brut
Cava is the sparkling wine most people should be drinking. It uses all the wine making techniques of proper French Champagne, but at the price of a simple Italian Prosecco. This Kila is an incredibly (profound apologies for this) killer deal. Grab a Cava for your summer sparkling needs, and you will be much happier. Oh, lower sugar on this as well! This one has only 6 grams per liter of sugar, less than a third of the best selling Prosecco!
Muga El Andén de la Estación Crianza
You know a winery is serious when they have their own cooperage. Bodegas Muga makes all their own barrels, which is practically unheard of in this day and age. But if you are looking for a great Spanish red wine to go with a great cut of steak, may we recommend this Muga and asking one of our butchers for the beef. The only missing step is cooking the steak correctly, but not well.
Txomin Etxaniz
Sadly, this wine is not an acceptable Scrabble word. But it is an incredibly refreshing and delicious summertime sipper. If you are looking for some relatively low alcohol white wine to go with some light summer fare, this is the one. Simple shrimp or chicken would be fantastic with this easy drinking white.
Lastly, to come full circle, we are featuring a bottle of Snowden.
Now, this one is not available for purchase. Bear with us. The plan here is simple. Find a place in your home, a cool and dark place, where you can store a few bottles of special wine. These are bottles which you can share with folks you love. Find a time to enjoy their company, and a bottle like this, and enjoy your contentment. Randy Snowden is a former honorary chair of the MS Wine Auction. And we are taking this space to thank him, as we have thanked Jorge Ordoñez. So grab a few bottles from Jorge, we can show you more options, and a few bottles from Randy. Save them and share them with folks you love. It just makes all of our lives better.
