Value Red from Chile: Santa Rita 2007 Reserva Carménère
In 1905 and 1915 Albert Einstein released his theories of Relativity (special and general, respectively) which turned Newtonian Physics on its head and shocked the world. Mr. Einstein came to his conclusions through mathematics. The concepts within his theories were so “out there” that proving them would be difficult. The earth itself is too limiting a laboratory for actual observation of his theory in action. He did posit three ways that earth-bound observers could prove his theory however:
- Accurately calculate the orbit of the planet Mercury (something Einstein set out to do himself)
- Comparing light from the sun to light here on earth (the sun’s light should have a longer wavelength)
- Compare the positions of stars “near” the sun to their positions away from the sun.
The last one proved to be the easiest. The positions of stars are well known, and when they are in proximity (based on angle of observation from our planet) to the sun they should shift in position by a specific amount due to the sun’s gravity bending their light. If you could take photographs of the sun during a total eclipse, the stars around the sun in the photo should be in a slightly different position compared to when the sun is not present. The difference in position closer to the sun itself should be predictable by the theory, and measurable via photography.
The world’s astronomers went about trying to capture photos to prove, or disprove the Theory of Relativity in the years following the First World War. It was very difficult, and many chances were missed due to cloudy skies, malfunctioning cameras, and just plain bad luck.
I could have saved them a lot of trouble.
Just hold up a glass of this Carménère if front of the sun and start shooting.
It is massively dense. It is so dark, and so dense, that it can block the sun and bend light. I kid you not! It is an immensely flavorful Carménère. In fact I found it a tad intense and let it stay open for a while to breathe and hopefully mellow a bit. It didn’t.
I was home alone, as Mrs. Barbarian was out and about. I drank a glass of it, followed a few hours later by another glass. I resorted to putting a stopper in the bottle and bringing it with me on a short business trip the next day. Upon arrival at my hotel I poured some into a hotel paper coffee cup (yeah… so what do you expect??? I’M A BARBARIAN!) for a little Chilean nightcap before bed. It lasted a few seconds before it went into my gullet… still not mellowed a whit(!) and this was left behind:
I can’t imagine what my would teeth look like if I drank this stuff everyday!
This light-bending red is almost surpassing Petite Sirah levels of density and color. Think of it as Chilean Guinness. I found this wine at my local merchant for $10.99 – 2007 Santa Rita Reserva Carménère from the Rapel Valley in Chile.
As I packed for the return drive home, as an afterthought I wrapped a bit of plastic bag around the neck of the bottle and tied it off. Sure enough my bag rolled over in the car and inverted the bottle. Most was contained within the bag, but some escaped, wreaking quantum havoc with my clothing. So as I write this Mrs. Barbarian & I am drinking the last of the bottle (now open 4 days, so it is beyond mellow and is turning… but still drinkable!) while my clothes tumble around in the washing machine in an attempt to get the stains out. 😉
Light is bending around my glass, and small objects in the room are falling into orbit around it.
2 Trackback(s)
You must be logged in to post a comment.