A SOMBER FAREWELL TO A FAVORITE WINERY – KURT DARTING

You may remember from my post from last Fall (and if you don’t then I’ll tell you here) that the Darting estate, having failed to find a successor among seven children, has closed its doors. No tears were shed except possibly mine. Helmut and Heike Darting will head into a happy and well-earned retirement. As of now I don’t know what happens to the vineyards and winery/cellar equipment. There’s still some existing inventory which will be sold until it’s gone. Then poof; the number of wonderful drinker-friendly wineries diminishes by one.

I won’t labor points I’ve made often enough over time. But a summary is warranted, and it might look like this:

Darting excelled in making affordable and addictively drinky wines, which comprised around 70% of their output. The quality they offered to the “regular” wine drinker was far greater than the price they asked. And the wines excelled in ruddy good health and friendly flavors. They embodied not only the concept but also the actuality of deliciousness. They were the epitome of honor for a “commercial” winery.

The other 30% of their output was more ambitious and experimental. Some of them came from superior sites, and some were Helmut Darting pushing the envelope. The estate wasn’t merely commercial, even as their lodestar was to delight even their “simplest” customers.

I was hardly immune to many of the wines’ enticements. My cellar was loaded with them. Even a lofty eminence such as myself often craved honorable wines that fucking just tasted good.

This is a kind of rowdy group of wines, consisting of bits and pieces of things I never offered and things I always did, plus a few rogue reds I either never tasted or found unconvincing. I am aware this may be the last time I sit with a case of Darting wines in order to “sample” them. So, you know….<sigh>….it was good, truly good, while it lasted.