The Gang of Pour
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| Opening Move 1987 Faustino I Rioja Grand
Reserva
Commentary by Bastardo The Artist and I are both reformed chess junkies, each having recognized some years ago the need to get lives and pursue more lucrative endeavors. Still, we enjoy a good game from time to time, and got together for just such an occasion recently. To liven things up and legitimize inclusion in the "Gang" pages, we decided on a Spanish theme; we'd play Ruy Lopez (also known as "the Spanish opening"), while tasting two ten year old Riojas. The characteristic moves of the Ruy Lopez [shown above] are as follows:
While setting the board at that position, we noshed on fresh baked bread, creamy havarti cheese, salami, green and black olives, and broccoli salad. After shooting an initial round of photographs, we were ready for battle. This duffer lucked out and drew the white pieces, so we began with The Artist making black's third move. (It should be pointed out that anyone looking for a sharp game might do better to pull out their copy of "My 60 Memorable Games," by Bobby Fischer. What you'll find here is a loose, but hard fought battle that was terrific fun to play, with tasting notes!) The Wine We took our first taste of the Faustino as Black made his move. A lovely mature Rioja, it had a brick red color, with a dense, slightly port-like mouthfeel. The nose exhibited smoky, nutty black cherries and raisins; the flavors echoed, with added notes of dry plum, prune, and currents. It smelled and tasted like it had more than the 12.5% alcohol listed on the label and continued to open and improve over the hours that we tasted it. This wine still had plenty of stuffing, and was everything one could ask for in a fully mature red wine, especially at $16.20. It was a pleasure to taste, but contributed to some inaccurate moves that were made, I'm sure! The Game
It was at this point that we finished our glass of the Faustino, so we moved on to the Monticillo.
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Rioja and Ruy Lopez
TASTINGS INDEX
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