By Liz Miller, West End Wine Manager
A Day in 1998
It’s time for school, but what should I wear?
Blue jelly shoes, and butterfly clips in my hair?
A tattoo choker, and Skechers with flares?
What should I take for show-and-tell?
My pet Tamagotchi, or Beanie Baby named Mel?
Lunchables, Go-gurt, and Fruit Roll-Ups…
Are the lunches packed by our grownups
Time for recess, where Spice Girls we’ll play
I was Baby last time, but I’ll be Ginger today
I got invited to Chuck-E-Cheese
The invitation said, “R.S.V.P. please”
I end the day at home on the floor
Nickelodeon on the screen, ‘til dad walks through the door
It’s time to do homework, but cursive is hard
With a jelly pen, I scribble my name on a flash card
T.G.I.F., so I can play in my yard
I’ve been listening to a playlist lately that has all of the songs I remember being on the radio when I was a kid ("What's My Age Again"?). Needless to say, I’ve been on a major 90s nostalgia kick, so I found it fitting to write a poem like I often did when I was a kid. I’m a bit rusty, but if you’re around my age, it hopefully took you on a mental journey back to your childhood. These three bottles do the same for me, with their fun labels - reminiscent of Lisa Frank drawings, sparkly stickers, and old school Gatorade bottles.
Florian Fauth’s “Elektrisch” is just what it sounds like - electric! It tastes of mouth watering granny smith apple, lemon-lime soda, with a live-wire of flinty minerality and zippy acidity that nearly pulsates through it. Even though this is Seehof’s entry level wine, the majority of the grapes are sourced from Florian’s estate holdings. Next time you go for an electrolyte beverage, quench your thirst with this Gatorade of the Rheinhessen!
Perfect for any outdoor occasion - poolside or grilling, this is ex-BMX champion Jochen Beurer’s ultimate Summertime quencher. A saignée rosé made from Trollinger, Portugueiser, and Spätburgunder, that tastes of salted melon and Strawberry Splash Fruit Gushers. The day-glow colors remind me of Lisa Frank drawings, or outfits that girls would wear in dELiA*s catalogs.
Matthieu Barret “Petit Ours” Côtes du Rhône
If you had a sticker book like I did, this label may remind you of some of the sparkly stickers you’d get out of 25 cent machines - the ones that were neatly pressed between two cardboard panels. This wine is kind of like that, a stunning Syrah packaged inside of a cute glass bottle, and made by one of the greatest Cornas producers of the 21st century. Tastes of earth, bruised blackberries, and that indefinable wild quality that makes Syrah from this part of the Rhone pure magic. Like a day spent outside - climbing trees, getting dirty, and swinging as high as you could because maybe you’d flip to the other side.
