Cosme Palacio Cosecha 2004 Rioja
US Election night and I am backing Barack. But not with enough conviction to stay up all night and watch the results. In fact, not even enough conviction to watch the preamble, since I have just returned from Opera North’s somewhat strange production of Puccini’s Tosca at the Lowry Theatre in Manchester, famed for having the most uncomfortable seats of any modern (or ancient) theatre I know.
I am not much of an opera buff but I do generally love Opera North and I am a sucker for anything live performance – music, theatre, busking, comedy, ballet. Well maybe ballet is beyond me, in the same way that algebra is beyond a two year old, or an ASBO.
Perhaps Tosca is complex maths to me. I thought I would know more of the music – I didn’t recognise anything. One singist spent almost the entire performance in handcuffs. Meanwhile, a singstress sat on top of a wardrobe for hours and, like a blackbird I occasionally eye up in our apple tree over breakfast, chirped only two lines visible to the naked eye, otherwise remaining as silent and still as a plank of wood nailed to a hot water pipe.
Cosme Palacio Cosecha 2004 might as well be Tosca, for the amount I know about it. I can’t even remember where it came from or how much it cost – that usually means it was a present, so I apologise in advance if you made this donation to Wino Towers’ cellar.
I do know that it comes from a winery near Laguardia, a picturesque town that nailed itself to my memory on a visit in August 2008.
The wine compares modestly to the view, but I have a sneaky feeling it is super value for money and I would definitely drink it again.
Vanilla smoke, fruity tannins, damsons and blackcurrants makes for a smoother than usual Rioja for its age, and that is where Obama has the edge on McCain for me. He is younger, smoother, and more likely to understand Tosca.
November 5th, 2008 at 10:01 am
Looks like Ocado sell this (or one of its stablemates – not quite sure) for about £6.50.
And I saw Opera North’s Tosca in Leeds and thought it was very odd too. As did a colleague. What was going on with the lady on the wardrobe?!