A New Terrestrial Globe
exhibiting the vermouths, voyages & firm opinions of
Alex
of Marfa, in the County of Presidio, Texas
Maker of vermouth that tastes like West Texas after rain.
Explanation
- ★Marfa BlancoA dry white vermouth of the high desert · Plate I30°18′N 104°01′W
- IIThe Turin ExchangeOne barrel sent east, one barrel sent west · Plate II45°04′N 7°41′E
- IIIThe Gilda HourVermouth & anchovies at noon on Sunday · Plate III43°19′N 1°59′W
- Tropics of Cancer & CapricornWhere the sun stands overhead at the solstices
- The EclipticThe sun’s road. Marfa gets more of it than most places
To the Reader
Vermouth is wine that has been sent travelling: fortified, sweetened a little, and steeped with bitter herbs until it carries the flavour of wherever those herbs grew. The famous ones taste of Piedmont and the Alpine meadows.
Alex makes it in Marfa, three hours from the nearest airport and some hundred and fifty leagues from the nearest sea, with creosote picked the morning after a storm, wild Mexican oregano, and sage off the Davis Mountains.
The three plates on this globe record the three things made so far. You can reach each one from the legend, or by finding it on the ball and pressing its mark.