WTN: Long Day's Journey into Beethoven

The Furtwangler was a very good rendition, (but pretty awful sonics - did you play a vinyl copy or a 2nd generation digital recording?).

There are a couple of excellent Karajan versions, a Leinsdorf, Klemperer and a notable Leibowitz. I'll have to refresh my memory and check my LP stacks now that you asked.

[David M. Bueker]

The Furtwangler was on CD.

I listened to a version ofhte 9th by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra with Walter Weller last night. Not the most soul-stirring, but lovely. Good QPR.

David, you might be interested in Denis Dutton’s comparison of “two kinds of sensory experience—smells and pitched sounds—in terms of what they offer as potential art forms” in chapter 9 of _The Art Instinct_. He references Robert Parker and Beethoven and provides interesting and arguable Darwin-linked reasons why you might prefer the infamous “Hitler coughing” wartime Furtwängler recording of Beethoven’s 9th to even the finest vintage of a particular wine in the classic desert island projection.

... but I do not get the point of proving that zinfandel can be made to taste like it is not zinfandel.

With the disclaimer that I have not yet had this bottle, I'd agree with the sentiment, and wonder why the fascination with this by the Loire-heads. It seems you can make a wine any way you want, but for what purpose? To be the hero of the 'anti' crowds? Of course, if it is only a matter of picking early and letting the wine express that...

A valid question, Mark, and one that I've spent some effort puzzling out. One answer is that experimentation is always of interest, as David's note on the Vitovska points out. Some experiments (such as, e.g., Pinot Noir in 200% new oak) may not be to our liking, and if so we are wise to steer clear of them. However, in the case of the L'Enfant, there is more. It was made for a specific purpose: to pair better with food than the dominant paradigm of Zin. It involves more than picking early, as it also involved cool-climate grapes, elevage in neutral cooperage and use of indigenous yeasts. Perhaps it doesn't fit your image of what Zin should/can be, and that is fine, but it is Zin, just as Kosta-Browne PN is Pinot Noir despite what our senses tell us. Lastly, despite its superficial resemblance to Beaujolais, I hold the suspicion that it will age long and well. It's certainly got the acid, and judging by what goes on in the glass after an hour or two, it'll veer toward far more typicity than it currently shows.

David: thanks for the interesting notes. Bummer about all those disappointing bottles.

Mark Lipton