I misspoke a little teeny tiny bit, but I don't remember where, so let's just say it's wherever you think I'm about to contradict myself.
If you are on Facebook, begrudgingly or otherwise, there is a new page to 'like' called Storycellars. "Every Wine Has a Story."
Every wine does have a story, story is deeply entrenched in wine, and were I more organized in my brain I'd have presented this better. But I'm not so I didn't and now we must collectively suffer another go at it.
This was the contradiction - alluded to mostly in part three - that wine is enmeshed, drowning and stifled in stuffstuffandmorestuff and we just want to cut to the really good wine. And that's true. It's also true that much of that stuff is story. Lots and lots of story. But some stories are Remembrance of Things Past, and some stories can be told in a mere haiku; how much you want to know about the madeleine is entirely up to you.
Wine Spelunking isn't about bypassing story, it's about realizing that in wine there are many stories to be had; not all of them need to be as thick as Proust.
From the Red Wine Haiku Review:
476) Pricum Prieto Picudo 2007 (Spain)
My pants are too tight
And I have to run back home
Wearing fancy shoes36)Rancho Zabaco Reserve Zinfandel (California) 2000
Do I drink this stuff
Or pour it over pancakes?
Deepest of purples
118)Condesa de Leganza Crianza 1999 (Spain)
Smoke a nice cigar
With a mouthful of cherries
You get the picture