Ian Fitzsimmons
Ian Fitzsimmons
Scene: Inside a small, rustic schoolhouse, with shelves of toys and dolls, and three small animal cages. The childrens' voices ring in the background, and we hear shouts of good night Linnie, good night Tuck, good night Ming Ming See you tomorrow. Tightm sequential shots of three cages, one containing a guinea pig, one a turtle, and one a small duckling.
Linnie (the guinea pig): Whew, am I glad its Friday. Come on over you two, theres some Jannisson Signature Champagne in my water dish to get us started.
Tuck: (the turtle) Mmm, nice balance of pinot biscuit with chardonnay brioche.
Ming Ming: (the duckling) How Fancy! Decent complexity and body, with a good finish. This is sewious - sewious Champagne, that is!
Linnie: Its not really a heavy hitter, I know, but you don't earn that much as a hamster. I tend to prefer Blanc de Blancs by itself, but this is good with food here, try this lobster brochette.
Ming Ming: Deeeliciouws! Here, I brought some cheap sushi and my last bottle of 2005 Pepiere muscadet.
Linnie: Wow, this is good, surprisingly round and voluminous in the mouth. It even has a hint of sweetness on the palette, which you wouldnt expect, with the dominating, though refined, lemony citrus on the nose.
Tuck: This wine has seen really interesting development in the bottle, from cushiony, almost soft after release, through a more tangy, minerally profile a year or two in, to a prime of life with great balance and proportion.
Linnie: Makes you wonder what another couple of years would bring. The acidity is less prominent in this than in the 2006, but I bet thats because this has more buffering substance, than because it has less acid!
Ming Ming: It dwinks way bettew than that bottle of the 05 Bwiowds you opened a couple of months ago that was in an awkward stage. Hey! Speaking of awkward, watch how youre twiwling that glass, Tuck, youre spilling wine on my feathews. Have you ever tried to fly with wet feathews? This is sewious!
Tuck: Sorry, Ming Ming. Did you bring the spit bucket?
Ming Ming: No way are you guys spitting into my water dish any more. The janitow cleans our cages tomowwow, just spit into Linnies wood shavings.
Linnie: Right, use that corner, opposite from where my bedding is.
Tuck: I brought a bottle of J.J. Christoffel 2002 Urziger Wuerziger Kabinett. Hope you dont mind, we opened this last night and had a glass already we drank the last bottle all in one day, and it tasted way too soft.
Ming Ming: Oooh, this smells good, apple pie! My favorite!
Linnie: I cant get over the taut, steely acid at the base of this wine, and its only a Kabinett!
Tuck: And the sweetness has settled down nicely, so it just dances in the air over the acids. Just about perfect. Here try it with a bite of carrot.
Linnie and Ming Ming: Not bad!
Linnie: I wonder if this goes well with celery, too?
Ming Ming: I always pwefew a gwuener weltinger with gween wegetables. This is pewfect with the salty scallion humus Tuck brought!
Linnie (with flourish, pulls a cloth napkin of off a tray nestled in the cedar chips, revealing three large-bowled crystal glasses) Here, I brought some 2006 Ecard Perierres Bourgogne, made from young vines Pinot.
Ming Ming: Ooh! Pwetty lavendew-purple color.
Tuck: It has a modest pinot nose, bit of fruit, nothing off-putting.
Linnie: I bought it as a Bourgogne experiment only $16 from a known SlB producer. The flavors are good and true, but a bit thin and shallow, and not much finish.
Ming Ming: Hmm, for $16, Id wather drink a decent Cotes du Whone. Its hawd to find Buwgundy that tastes like Buwgundy for less than $25 these days.
Tuck: Here, try this 2002 Bachelet Bourgogne.
Linnie: Wow, this blows the Ecard out of the water, terrific tart cherry fruit and grainy, slightly rustic tannins.
Ming Ming: And Gweat color! And a lovely pinot nose!
Tuck: $10 on auction a few years ago; the 05 is $26 and up!
(Sound of a telephone ringing)
Linnie: The phone is ringing!
Tuck: The phone is ringing!
Ming Ming: The Phone is winging!
All three: Theres an animal in trouble somewhere!
Linnie: Look, theres a baby eagle!
Tuck: and its fallen out of its nest!
Ming Ming: Its scweaming for help! This is sewious!
Linnie: A screaming eagle!! To the fly boat!
Slow fade as the three animals scurry from the cages and begin, with great agitation, to assemble a Frisbee, pencil and small sail.
Linnie (the guinea pig): Whew, am I glad its Friday. Come on over you two, theres some Jannisson Signature Champagne in my water dish to get us started.
Tuck: (the turtle) Mmm, nice balance of pinot biscuit with chardonnay brioche.
Ming Ming: (the duckling) How Fancy! Decent complexity and body, with a good finish. This is sewious - sewious Champagne, that is!
Linnie: Its not really a heavy hitter, I know, but you don't earn that much as a hamster. I tend to prefer Blanc de Blancs by itself, but this is good with food here, try this lobster brochette.
Ming Ming: Deeeliciouws! Here, I brought some cheap sushi and my last bottle of 2005 Pepiere muscadet.
Linnie: Wow, this is good, surprisingly round and voluminous in the mouth. It even has a hint of sweetness on the palette, which you wouldnt expect, with the dominating, though refined, lemony citrus on the nose.
Tuck: This wine has seen really interesting development in the bottle, from cushiony, almost soft after release, through a more tangy, minerally profile a year or two in, to a prime of life with great balance and proportion.
Linnie: Makes you wonder what another couple of years would bring. The acidity is less prominent in this than in the 2006, but I bet thats because this has more buffering substance, than because it has less acid!
Ming Ming: It dwinks way bettew than that bottle of the 05 Bwiowds you opened a couple of months ago that was in an awkward stage. Hey! Speaking of awkward, watch how youre twiwling that glass, Tuck, youre spilling wine on my feathews. Have you ever tried to fly with wet feathews? This is sewious!
Tuck: Sorry, Ming Ming. Did you bring the spit bucket?
Ming Ming: No way are you guys spitting into my water dish any more. The janitow cleans our cages tomowwow, just spit into Linnies wood shavings.
Linnie: Right, use that corner, opposite from where my bedding is.
Tuck: I brought a bottle of J.J. Christoffel 2002 Urziger Wuerziger Kabinett. Hope you dont mind, we opened this last night and had a glass already we drank the last bottle all in one day, and it tasted way too soft.
Ming Ming: Oooh, this smells good, apple pie! My favorite!
Linnie: I cant get over the taut, steely acid at the base of this wine, and its only a Kabinett!
Tuck: And the sweetness has settled down nicely, so it just dances in the air over the acids. Just about perfect. Here try it with a bite of carrot.
Linnie and Ming Ming: Not bad!
Linnie: I wonder if this goes well with celery, too?
Ming Ming: I always pwefew a gwuener weltinger with gween wegetables. This is pewfect with the salty scallion humus Tuck brought!
Linnie (with flourish, pulls a cloth napkin of off a tray nestled in the cedar chips, revealing three large-bowled crystal glasses) Here, I brought some 2006 Ecard Perierres Bourgogne, made from young vines Pinot.
Ming Ming: Ooh! Pwetty lavendew-purple color.
Tuck: It has a modest pinot nose, bit of fruit, nothing off-putting.
Linnie: I bought it as a Bourgogne experiment only $16 from a known SlB producer. The flavors are good and true, but a bit thin and shallow, and not much finish.
Ming Ming: Hmm, for $16, Id wather drink a decent Cotes du Whone. Its hawd to find Buwgundy that tastes like Buwgundy for less than $25 these days.
Tuck: Here, try this 2002 Bachelet Bourgogne.
Linnie: Wow, this blows the Ecard out of the water, terrific tart cherry fruit and grainy, slightly rustic tannins.
Ming Ming: And Gweat color! And a lovely pinot nose!
Tuck: $10 on auction a few years ago; the 05 is $26 and up!
(Sound of a telephone ringing)
Linnie: The phone is ringing!
Tuck: The phone is ringing!
Ming Ming: The Phone is winging!
All three: Theres an animal in trouble somewhere!
Linnie: Look, theres a baby eagle!
Tuck: and its fallen out of its nest!
Ming Ming: Its scweaming for help! This is sewious!
Linnie: A screaming eagle!! To the fly boat!
Slow fade as the three animals scurry from the cages and begin, with great agitation, to assemble a Frisbee, pencil and small sail.