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If Mary and I had one last bottle of wine to share together, it would no doubt by Domenico Clerico’s Barolo Percristina. This wine holds a special place in our hearts as it was probably the first truly GREAT wine we enjoyed. We lucked into a bottle of the 2000 Percristina while living in Lawrence, KS and enjoyed it one evening at what was/is the best restaurant in town – Pachamama’s. The bouquet of soft lavender and tobacco, smooth body, and warm tastes of chocalate, hazelnuts, figs, and black pepper will permanently be etched in our memories. I seek out Percristina constantly. At auctions, on vacation stops into wine stores, any time I can. We had the incredible opportunity to visit the cellars of Domenico Clerico in 2010 during our post Cortona Sessions vacation. It was an unbelievable opportunity and we enjoyed tastes of the 2003 Percristina from bottle and a barrel sample of the lovely 2004 in addition to their entire line of wines. The wine is named after Domenico’s daughter Cristina who passed away at the age of 5. We literally stumbled upon the family crypt at a cemetery in Piedmont and saw her actual tomb. It was pretty incredible! So, when a special occasion (like a birthday) comes along, there is nothing better than opening a bottle and loving it.
This year, Mary’s birthday became a bit of an adventure. What was supposed to be an enjoyable day of jogging with the dogs, maybe some golf, and homemade pizzas, turned into a trip to the vet hospital to stitch up Sam who tried and failed at jumping through a barbed-wire fence. In addition, my pizzas were not exactly stellar as I did not have my favorite flour and the dough became too thin resulting in definite weirdness. Nevertheless, the bottle of 1999 Percristina rose to the challenge and saved us. Percristina is a wine that we could pick out in a heartbeat. Because of our history with it, Percristina is part of a small club of wines that in many ways outline our life together. Every time we open a bottle, we remember past special moments and simultaneously create a new one.