When Jeffrey and Mia were coming to have dinner with the wizard and the princess and me, they stopped at the finest wine shop in Austin and said,

We’re having dinner tonight with Indiana Beagle.”

The owner of the shop raised a finger, smiled and said,
“Ah, then you will be needing a very obscure wine.”

Jeffrey nodded. The wine merchant disappeared briefly, then presented him with a bottle from the back of the store. Jeffrey blew the dust off the bottle and said, “What’s Sagrantino?”

“It’s an Italian grape grown exclusively in the village of Montefalco. There are only 250 acres of Sagrantino in all the world.”

“Is it any good?”

The wine merchant smiled sadly and said, “Sagrantino is inky purple, almost black. It’s an intense, brooding monster with hints of plum, cinnamon, and earth.”

It was at this point in the story that Jeffrey said to us, “That’s when he looked into my eyes and said, ‘Make sure you eat something with every sip. Sagrantino is too intense for anyone, even Indiana Beagle, to try and drink straight.'”

So we let the wine breathe. Looking back, that may have been a mistake, because when it’s lungs were filled, this Sagrantino began to sing. Jeffrey knew the song immediately:  Requiem in D minor, by  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

You really need to watch both videos to fully understand this wine. You will begin to hear its music in the first video at 1:18, but you will not fully grasp the depth of Sagrantino di Montefalco until the section beginning at 1:58.

Finish the first video. Wipe your eyes and take a breath. Calm your soul.

Watch the second video and you’ll understand why Jeffrey said, “Take the cannoli,” after taking his first sip.