So this is what the fuss is about!

Rainy Sunday dinner:  braised short ribs in a succulent, spicy tomato sauce; white corn grits to place it on; ubiquitous broccoli.  In a word: YUM!

Our vinous guest of the evening:  1996 Caprilli Brunello di Montalcino.  I have stared at that bottle for a loooong time, wondering if it was foolish to let it lay, trusting those who attest to the longetivity of this wine.  Finally, fourteen years seemed enough and I have a 1997 too, so I wanted to get a glimpse of what was going on in the bottle.  We don't have huge temperature fluctuations in our basement, but you never know.  The cork came out in one piece (a plus with older wines, in my experience - 10+ years of age is my benchmark for old, since we didn't start collecting until 1998) and the royal, regal dark purple robe poured silkily into the waiting glass.  No brickish, brown rim hinting at age....just nobility.  The nose so elegant and divine with no hint of pretense, just fruit and flowers, gamey, chocolate, coffee..all so subtle yet profound.  And the taste: oh my!  Full of flavor, impeccably smooth and elegant; fruit, coffee, leather in equal proportions and still some mild tannins to let you know that this pup could have lain a while longer.  It was hauntingly beautiful....imagine a nobility that is generous and kind and loving, but make-no-mistake, it's a blue blood. It's like the pictures you see of Prince Phillip, such an openly human man for a monarch; royalty with grace. This wine was that.  It didn't have gender characteristics; it could just as easily be compared to Grace Kelly. Prince Kelley?  Just know that the wait was worth it and I'm encouraged to wait on others.  I'm not often disappointed.  I certainly wasn't tonight.