Blaufränkisch

Last winter, it must have been before the new year, my girlfriend and I visited a the Czech part of a city near her school. It was interesting, but sort of dead. There were a couple of restaurants, a doughnut shop, a lot of empty storefronts, and a combination upholstery shop, furniture store, and local chamber of commerce, and wine shop. We asked the only employee in the furniture store, actually the only employee in the building, if the wine shop was ever open. She unlocked it for us. She asked if we would like to try samples, and I tried some white which I'm sure had been open for quite a while. On a whim and a risk, I bought a bottle of red. It said this on the front:

Blaufränkisch

The only other information I can really get is that it was made in the Czech Republic and was produced and bottled by Vinné Skepy Lechovice. Based on the digital date print on the back - it reminds me of a timestamp burned into a photograph - I think some significant event happened in the life of this wine at 09:10 on October 21, 2004. Unless of course, the numbers mean something else.

The wine is surprisingly good. I mean, I was probably overcharged, but I can see how this grape could be used to make something really marvelous and rounded. It's sort of light on the tannins, which is okay. It had the nose and flavor of tight, not yet ripe wildberries, not to suggest the wine itself was unripe. It had taken on an almost but not quite dusty hue. The finish wasn't too strong, but over time it continued growing more round and fleshed out. Enjoyable but not intense. I'll never have another bottle, and that's okay with me, but I'm glad I had the chance.

Have you ever listened to some recording that nobody will ever hear unless they really dig deep to find it? I guess this is sort of like that. There's a lot to appreciate in this world, and even something seemingly insignificant might be worth searching out. Not that I'm suggesting you should go to your local wine shop requesting Vinné Skepy Lechovice Blaufränkisch. They'll probably look at you funny. But I'm saying there's beauty out there if you just dig it up.