GREEN (AND PURPLE) WITH ENVY

So, today is my birthday - the big 42 - and though not a major milestone, I will have to confess something to all. From the time I was 11 years old, I have dreamt that I would not live passed my 41st birthday. Don't ask me why, call me ultraparanoid or something. But today comes as much as a surprise as it is a huge relief.

Anyway, while being extremely thankful that childhood dream never came true, I am still finding it in my being to be more than a bit envious of Mr. James Suckling over at Wine Spectator for tasting through a vertical of one of my favorite wines - Sassicaia. Now for those of you that don't know what that particular wine is, Sassicaia - the first Super Tuscan wine - comes from the coastal subregion of Bolgheri, and is made entirely of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. The first vintage, released in 1968, ushered in a new time for Italian winemakers, and paved the way for both Piero and Lodovico Antinori (of Solaia and Ornellaia fame respectively).

Reading through Mr. Suckling's Sassicaia tasting notes, found at Wine Spectator, were making me drool something awful. I have only been fortunate enough to drink 2 vintages - the 1998 and 2000, both of which led me to believe that I had died and gone to Tuscany. (I have a bottle of 2004 that I haven't had the gumption to open yet). I agree with everything he said on the 1998, yet the 2000, from my recollection was that it was an incredible drink. Perhaps it was the setting, the people I drank it with, the food that was served up with it. I guess that makes all the difference in the world.

It would certainly be an honor and a privilege to drink Sassicaia with the owner and his family, and indeed it is a privilege drinking Sassicaia with anyone, but damn! That would be a helluva birthday present. Anyone wanna spring for airfare?