Merry Brunello

So, one of the parts of being a wine rep in Texas, is to actually work the shelves of your accounts. Y'all Yankee reps have no idea how good you have it. I've spent the last 3-4 weekends hanging out in my accounts talking about and selling my wines. Which is kind of funny considering that I already sold them once, to the account!!!
It's actually kind of fun though. You get to see what your customers deal with on a daily base. Like the guy that comes in and goes "I want a really good champagne, but for under $10. And I know my champagne, so don't try to fool me!" Or the lady who said "if I buy this $9.99 bottle, will you give me your number?" no ma'am you have to spend at least $14.99. Or the guy who spent $900 in 10 minutes on Christmas Eve, because he decided to start his own wine collection. And after selling him a bunch of awesome wines, he decided to top his cart with a bottle of Cupcake. "This is for tonight, I don't wanna open anything nicer." Are you kidding me?!
Let me tell you, retail is not easy. It's fun but not easy, you are on your feet all day, deal with all sorts of people and at the end of the day, when you are exhausted and fed up with jerks, you still have to smile and be helpful. A couple hours on weekends, no problem, I got this. 7 days a week? No frigging way.
Anyway... after a long day on Christmas Eve, a couple of us got together in one of the accounts and had a couple bottles of wine with the store manager. Awesome stuff, but it just got me started. I got home, headed straight to my wine rack and grabbed a bottle of brunello. 2006 Terre Nere. I used to sell this stuff in New York and have been a big fan ever since. You can't find it in Texas, so I had to have a few bottles shipped. 2006 was a good year in Italy, so most brunellos have scored well in WS, even the ones that DIDN'T buy advertising in the magazine. Crazy!
Brunellos are awesome wines, but I feel like here in the south, people don't know them well. This one guy, self-proclaimed wine guru, big cork-dork if you ask me, said to me "Sherman you ever heard about this brunelli thing? Cause if it's expensive I should get some for my cellar". He actually pronounced it Brunelli; no buddy, go with the damn Cupcake wine, you don't wanna buy brunelli.
It tastes like mushrooms and wood, but also cherries and licorice. You can age it, and it will get better. Not the least expensive wine but not crazy either, $40-45. If you are tired of drinking Cabernet  (I know I am),  get a bottle, and if you can't find Terre Nere try another one, it's hard to find a bad brunello.
Pairing? Pasta with mushrooms, steak maybe some hard cheese. Versatile wine, and with this one every sip tastes different. Which to me is awesome.
Screw Cupcake!