Every now and then, I go searching through my rather disorganized archive, and I am often pleasantly surprised to come across a forgotten wine. A few days after visiting the Degrassi winery, a bottle of Terre Bianche Cuvée Blanc 2018, quite by chance, turned up from the depths of the largest fridge.
Tuesday is a day for special wines
Even I find it hard to drink wine on extremely hot summer days, but this Tuesday is a bit cooler. Pop star Petar Grašo in song named Tuesday sings about pouring out his pain like red wine onto a white tablecloth on the second day of the week, while I’ve poured some of Degrassi’s white wine into a glass. It paired beautifully with a peculiar family version of the dish we call French potatoes, and which contains eggs, cream, bacon...
Moreover, I poured the wine into two glasses: a Riedel Riesling glass and a Spiegelau Burgundy. It was good in the first, but sensational in the second. It needs air, having been in bottle for over seven years, but after just fifteen minutes, it was offering itself up as generously as Argentina did to Spain in the World Cup final. It glides down the throat quickly, yet leaves a lingering beauty in the mouth. It first gently warms the palate, then refreshes it, before captivating it with a wonderful, delicate bitterness. And it leaves you wanting more!
Worth buying young and waiting
It is precisely because of this evolution that I suggest a party of four sitting down to a four-course lunch or dinner could, right away, order four bottles of this magnificent blend of four grape varieties. A bottle from the 2018 vintage costs 18 euros at the winery (their delivery service is excellent), while the 2023 Terre Bianche Cuvée Blanc is priced at 18.07 euros at the Miva wine gallery in Zagreb. Buy it now, then wait four or five years.