mode| thirsty culture club “So much of wine culture is rooted in elitism,” says Julia Johnson of Lil’ Deb’s Oasis in Hudson.
The Poetry of Wine Lil’ Deb’s Oasis (happily) breaks all the wine list rules. | By Anthony Giglio least it wasn’t always for me when I was ho’s ready for another writing Food & Wine’s annual wine guide, round of my favorite tasting through several thousand bottles never-to-be-seen each year to review 1,700—all of which gameshow, ‘Wine Words required 50-word completely ‘unique’ Free Association’ descriptions. I’d get weekly reports from (or WWFA—#IYKYK)? my editor telling me how many times I Here’s how it works: I’m repeated adjectives such as ‘juicy,’ ‘fruity’ your snarky sommelier host and I give you and ‘tight,’ and I’d have to go back and get five clues, one at a time, to figure out which ever-more creative, such that ‘juicy’ might wine is being cleverly described. If you don’t become ‘shirt-staining,’ ‘fruity’ could evolve guess it, I get to heckle you after each clue into the whole ‘cornucopia’ and ‘tight’ you miss. Ready? You have five seconds…go! might devolve into ‘last-notch-on-the-belt.’ Your first clue: pool hair… Nothing? Yes, I’m cringing too at that last one. Your second clue: fancy track… Really? Your third clue: Jane Lynch… Oh, come on! “Writing wine poems is Your fourth clue: Sunday best… empowering, in that it gives a Cut! It! Out! pathway for people to talk about And your final clue is Tide wine from a personal space.” PODS®… Do you even have a pulse? The answer, obvi, is Weingut That’s why I was so delighted to read the Matthias Warnung’s ‘Basis’ Grüner Veltliner wine list at Lil’ Deb’s Oasis in Hudson. That from Niederösterreich, Austria—duh! OK, description of Grüner Veltliner, above, is OK, Jane Lynch and laundry detergent might exactly how it’s written by Julia Johnson, Lil’ seem like over-the-top descriptors, but keep Deb’s general manager. It’s unlike anything reading and I promise it’ll make sense. I’ve ever seen, and for Johnson that’s Tasting wine is fun; writing descriptions exactly the point. “The way we describe our about it isn’t as easy as it sounds. Or at
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