Friday, February 1, 2013

diy your own The Cave.

I just finished reading the Kermit Lynch book, "Adventures on the Wine Route."  It was published over twenty years ago. I'm sure alot of those producers no longer exist, at least not in that form, but the book is a great pleasure to read if you care about anything in its most authentic state, in this case wine.  The chapter Beaujolais is particularly wonderfully manic.

Also Mr. Lynch won me over in his Introduction with the phrase, "...a cataclysmic dose of after-shave lotion." On most elevators that could be the Glendale city motto. 

1cave_winery2_cask_bottles_dark_holeWith all the awesomeness that is THE Cave, you're probably wondering about now how you can get your own cave.  In case our humble bit of dark and damp isn't enough, or the nostalgia of a wine-travel book, here's a link from wineterroirs.com to further whet your appetite.  (Warning! Cave porn!)

Perusing Mr. Lynch's website, I randomly clicked onto Domaine Leon Barral and followed it to its website.  Well what do you know, they have a great photo essay of the construction of their new wine cave. If you cut and paste the paragraph into Google Translate, you learn that the arches and vaults serve the purpose of air circulation in an environment that requires no AC.  
       "Construction not only aesthetic, but has the advantage of being performed without the use of polluting structures and age well. More arches and vaults resonance and promote air circulation, they amplify the link between ambient and liquid..."

When you next wonder, as I'm sure one does, a troglodytes version of the seven deadly sins, this pretty much covers COVET with a wedge of lust and a little envy added for flavor.