N.V. Garagiste Mystery Wine #26
Mystery Wine #26
Dear Friends,
Since its inception, the Mystery Wine series has taken on a life of its own. The passion extolled for each of the offers has been nothing short of incredible. Mystery Wine clubs have formed all over the US with tasting notes that read like a game of Clue in an attempt to figure out exactly what’s in the bottle. I have yet to read a correct guess on any of the “secret” Mystery Wines so keep trying!
First and foremost, the series is about fun – it’s about taking a break from the everyday wine offer (which there are now thousands of all over the world) and rolling the dice on a terrific bargain that would not be available if presented in the accepted/commercial way.
From Mystery #1-25, the “secret” labels undoubtedly cause the most conversation as it’s impossible to know exactly what’s what. The trail may seem apparent but each of the secret offers leads to an eventual Perry Mason dead-end – the trail has been covered so thoroughly that it’s a Rubik's Cube to figure out (even though some of you have stooped to incredulous levels in an attempt to secure winery invoices or other...that are merely decoys anyway – don’t you think we thought of that in advance?). There are clues and puzzles within each Mystery offer text that give the secrets away - to figure out the puzzle, one must stop reading so literally and start reading between the lines, or every third word (or every fourth capitalized letter?). The origin of each wine is in plain sight in the offer text. Keep in mind the phrase “in plain sight”, its own origin and meaning...
Which brings us to Mystery #26 and back to the fun!
Of all the Mystery Wines thus far, #26 was the most gratifying for me to secure. It is from arguably the very top producer in the region (at worst, the top 2-3 producers) and certainly the most animated and one of the youngest to achieve this level of acclaim. The wine is a stunner and it would be a full-spread offer in its own right (regardless of Mystery Wine or other).
With today’s offer, we also mark the debut of a third category of Mystery Wine – let’s call it “secret but not really”.
This third category is to alleviate the confusion and anger we’ve had over the Kinko's/Dois type labels that form the core of the “secret” wines. In essence, the third category has a “secret” front label but the actual wine is still revealed when you turn the bottle around and peer at the back. There is a generic front label but the back label will be the exact same as what’s on the store shelf (with the winery listed, vineyard and the exact wine name) - in essence, it’s not really a “secret” wine at all except for appeasing certain people in the trade that had a cow when they found out what we were going to charge for this. So, the front label was changed, but that’s it - the wine, cork, back label, etc are exactly the same as what appears on web sites and store shelves as I type this.
What I can tell you:
• This red wine is from Italy.
• It is made from the king of the region.
• It is from a top vintage (not a lesser year)
• It is a single vineyard wine (not a base bottling).
• It is the current vintage.
• The wine has received exemplary critical praise from Galloni, Gambero Rosso (GR3) as well as the Community (not a single rating under 90pts).
• It is a very serious and even meditative wine, with years of life ahead – potentially up to 20 years.
• According to the winery (and my own research), this is the lowest tariff ever offered on the wine, even in Italy or anywhere in Europe.
• The winery has never discounted the price before this offer – ever.
• Before all the nay-sayers start to scream bloody murder, don’t forget, you will get to see what the wine is via the back label.
• In an unusual occurrence, I was able to taste this wine four times, once in the US and three times in Italy – each time it turned my brain to adjective mush with a cavalcade of superlatives. It is a superior red wine full of terroir with massive size aligned to elegance and sophistication. Remember, the Postman Always Rings Twice.
• I will go out on a limb and say this is a can’t miss Mystery Wine – it’s no JeKyll or HyDe. On your mark, get set...GO!

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