Blurry Since 1860
TASTING NOTES: “Aromas of cherry, raspberry and strawberry, complemented by hints of mocha and vanilla. This medium-bodied wine boasts balanced acidity and soft structured tannins with a lingering toasty oak finish.” (AbV 13.0%)
VARIETALS: Pinot Noir
BARRELS: Open-top tanks.
PAIRS WITH: N/A
THAT REMINDS ME OF: The phrase “snapshot of the coast.”
Photography borrowed “snapshot” from hunting. A snap shot — one word or two depending on the era — was a quick, unaimed shot taken without raising the rifle to your shoulder. No careful lining up of the sights, no patience, just point and fire and hope. Sir John Herschel lifted the term around 1860 and applied it to photography, which strikes me as either very flattering to early photographers (fast! instinctive! dangerous!) or very unflattering to hunters (you’ve been taking blurry pictures this whole time).
The thing that gets me is how completely the original meaning evaporated. Nobody hears “snapshot” and thinks guns anymore. Language does this constantly — words shed their context like a coat at a party and spend the rest of the evening being something else entirely. “Hazard” came from a dice game. “Disaster” literally means bad star, as in the actual stars in the sky conspired against you. “Salary” is salt money. The fossils are still in there if you dig, but mostly we just use the word and move on, blissfully unaware we’re calling someone’s vacation photos a hunting technique.
Which feels appropriate here, honestly. “Time and tide” is itself a frozen phrase — from the old proverb “time and tide wait for no man,” where “tide” didn’t mean ocean waves at all, but rather a period of time, an appointed hour. The coast snuck in later and took over. So this wine is named for a snapshot, using a phrase that long ago forgot what it meant, to capture a moment that’s already gone. Very poetic. Very possibly accidental.
ICYMI, you have two choices:
- Worried Summer heat might get to your wine before your wine gets to you? Order from the sale linked here, and we’ll get it to you at a cooler time of year!
- Want it shipped now? Every package during the summer will have protected temp control ground shipping for much of the country that takes longer but will ensure safe delivery. Expect up to two weeks for delivery. Now through the September 12th offer.
