My friends are ahead of me. Just yesterday, one of them urged the group to get more sophisticated about cheese. "Do you realize," she asked,"that Wisconsin cheese makers have gathered more honors, first places and awards than the entire rest of the world COMBINED?" She expressed a hope that we would all develop our palates and our sensibilities to the point where we could ask,"Yes, but is it a Fox Valley cheddar?" I have noticed the same call toward greater sensibility in chocolates, some of which are now labeled "single origin", as though they were scotch whiskey.
But in addition to being a sophisticate who stays aware of the trends and the fashions, I maintain my basic independence. I know what I like. I like the taste of Guinness, up to a point. I like the taste of peach schnapps. I like the taste of many inexpensive cabernet sauvignons. But the taste, if not the year and the vineyard, of Mogen David blackberry is really quite good. Delicate, attractive with a nice follow-up of elm. I am kidding about the elm but the wine really does taste good.
Another advantage to MD blackberry is that it is only 8% alcohol. That is a fairly light content. A drink doesn't make me any loopier than usual. It is my dislike of heightened loopiness that protects me from overuse of alcohol. I admit that I often put a bit of rum into the wine. We visited the Bacardi rum works in San Juan, PR. They give you a free drink but the clever folks have arranged small vats you can sniff. Normal, everyday serious rum holds little attraction for me but Dragonberry, Lemon and Coconut flavors are yummy.
You know how things can get so out of fashion that they circle around and come back in? That is what I predict will happen with Mogen David Blackberry wine. Buy a couple of gallon jugs now before the price skyrockets
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