For his 19th wedding anniversary, Author's wife got him a copy of Shingu. If that's not love, what is?

UPDATE: I don't drink anymore. I stopped drinking 13 years ago and I'm not tempted to start again. Alcohol wasn't good for me. I'm better off without it.

But before alcohol became a problem, it was a beverage, and often a pleasure. I used to really like good cabernets; that was my favorite wine.

I remember one time, round about 1977, I was on a road trip and went through Napa Valley, and visited Beaulieu Vineyards and took their tour. And, of course, I visited their store afterwards and bought a few bottles. BV was actually my favorite wine at the time, and I picked up one bottle of their 1973 "Private Reserve". Cost me $30 -- which would be about $100 today. (It would have been even more expensive at a store.)

Eventually there was a special occasion and I opened it and shared it with some friends. And it was magnificent.

What was different about it? It's hard to really put into words, of course. I don't recall that it tasted different than a regular cabernet. It was more like it was richer. It was the same flavor but more so. A truly remarkable wine. I'm sure it can't be found anymore, and anyway it would be past its peak by now. But it was what all wine should be, but of course isn't. (The vineyards would love to do it if they could, but no one knows how to do it consistently on a large scale.)

After drinking that wine, regular cabernets tasted watered down. Kind of thin, really.

Something like Haibane Renmei is qualitatively different from other shows. There's never really been anything like HR, before or since. It's not only really, really good, it's also unique.

Shingu isn't unique. It isn't even really all the original. It's more like that magnificent cabernet: the same as a normal one, but richer, more intense. It's what all shows should be like -- but somehow, they aren't.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in at 08:58 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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