Ain't that the craziest?

So there I was opening a bottle of my new favorite white wine, Cusumano Insolia from Sicily, and imagine my surprise upon discovering a glass stopper where the screw top should have been! At first I was somewhat taken aback and wondered how to extricate it from the bottle, but as my ever clear-headed husband pointed out, that’s what God gave us thumbs for.  He then proceeded to pop the cork with nary a corkscrew, et voilà!  The wine flowed like, well, wine.

Now you may have seen these little genius items, but they’re new to me, and I am some kind of excited. They fit right back in the bottle; you can keep ’em for future use in bottles with pesky cork stoppers; and they don’t stick up so far that the bottle can no longer be placed upright in the fridge without a massive reorganization requiring a slide rule and a Xanax. Win win win.

Delicioso and limpid!

Anyways in all my excitement about the cork, I nearly forgot to mention the wine itself, which as I may have mentioned, has risen to the top of my personal hit parade. I first had Insolia at my favorite local Italian joint, Fragole, where they make the most fabulous fettucini with mushroom sauce I have ever tasted. If you’re in the hood, it’s well worth a stop. Fresh ingredients, simply prepared and friendly service at all times. They also know a thing or three about wine, but are never snotty about it.

According to the International Wine of the Month Club:

Cusumano’s 2009 Insolia is an aromatic wine with an intriguing palate profile. Simply put, Insolia is not like Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Riesling, or even Viognier. It is a limpid yet flavorful wine, highly fragrant, and subtlely spicy, that finishes dry.

I love wine dirty talk. If you want more, you can check out their site. You will certainly enjoy the caution against trying to remove the glass stopper with a corkscrew (you mean those little slivers of glass in my wine are not okay to drink?). They also provide suggestions on food pairings (spicy Asian and Italian foods, grilled chicken and fish, bouillabaisse) that all seem pretty sound to me. If the language gets a little flowery, well, that’s all in the game. (If you’re the puzzling type, see if you can find one of my top ten language transgressions.* )

Bottom line: Great party wine. Good for sipping. Tasty with everything from Chinese takeout to cream sauce to cold poached salmon!

* “a myriad of wines”  —  MYRIAD = many. It is an adjective of quantity. You would never say a many of wines. The correct usage is “myriad wines.” You’re welcome.