Recovering

It has now been three months since a two week medication regimen destroyed most of my sense of taste.  I was repeatedly assured that it was a problem that would recover in six weeks to six months.  It has now been three months and I'm happy to say that things finally are returning to a more normal state of affairs.  Food is pleasurable again and wine is finally starting to truly taste good again.

The wine has been the interesting part of this.  For the last month some wines have been very good until they got to the very back of my tongue.  Most turned exceedingly bitter at that point.  That too seems to be changing thanks to a Riesling, a Merlot and a Syrah and a fair amount of beer.  The Syrah, though very dry, actually left a bit of sweetness on the finish two days ago.  It tasted like heaven to me after three months staying away from alcohol.

Naturally there is a small, bright side to this story - since neither food nor alcohol tasted very good I lost nearly 30 pounds.  Some clothes that had been boxed to go to a second hand store now fit again.  It's not a diet I recommend. 

The true test will come in two weeks.   I purchased a seat at a local retrospective tasting of 2004 Barolos and Barbarescos.  Ten wines to taste.  I couldn't help myself. 

The photo is a Birch tree just off my patio.  In a true sense it illustrates how food and wine tasted for the last three months - rough, dry and scaling.