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mostly wine stuff

cantunamunch

Meh
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I have a love/hate relationship with my tablet. It likes to change things even after I've hit post.

I get similar cr@p in my phone sometimes, and it usually has to do with a stale log-in. Logout, reconfirm LTE or Wi-Fi, log back in usually clears it.

I hope you're not tuning ski right now in August.

Tuning, no. Random ski projects like binding shims why not? There's a long list of things I certainly won't get to later. Besides, the bike stand is 4 feet in front of the ski walls - and I use ski wax in the chain crockpot, so it's all pretty integrated

The only problem is one has to use steel drinking goblets. I am NOT having broken glass down there.
 
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Tony S

Tony S

I have a confusion to make ...
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That prompts me to ask everybody "What is the oldest wine you have ever had?" Or perhaps the earliest (which, depending on when you drank it might not be the oldest when you drank it).

For me it would be 1895 Sercial Madeira. No, none of the numbers in that year are typos.
1931 Quinta do Noval "Nacional"

Really.

No really.
 

mdf

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The earliest wine I ever drank was probably a 1975 Almaden jug "chablis" drunk that same year in the back of the catering truck while working in college. The oldest might have been my 1978 Ch. Margaux, which was about 30 years old when consumed. It had seen some less-than-ideal storage (that apartment mentioned above) and was well past its prime, unfortunately. It was definitely elderly -- quite a bit oxidized -- but still interesting and enjoyable.
 

skibob

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The earliest wine I ever drank was probably a 1975 Almaden jug "chablis" drunk that same year in the back of the catering truck while working in college. The oldest might have been my 1978 Ch. Margaux, which was about 30 years old when consumed. It had seen some less-than-ideal storage (that apartment mentioned above) and was well past its prime, unfortunately. It was definitely elderly -- quite a bit oxidized -- but still interesting and enjoyable.
I'll also throw in some surprising wines.

1969 Parducci Petite Sirah. There is a restaurant in Tampa that used to have some bizarre and rewarding old pours. By the glass no less! I had this in the early 2000s and it held up remarkably well. 30+ years old and still stunning fruit and acidity.

1978 Sebastiani Barbera. Also drank in early 2000s. Brother had been given them by a wine enthusiast friend. Found them in closet 20 years later. 3 bottles were toast, but one had an intact cork and was absolutely sublime. 12% alcohol according to the label.

1987 Beringer Pinot Noir (Carneros). Drank around 2008. Brother found it with the Barbera. Good cork. Definitely a little over the hill fruit-wise. But it had developed very burgundy like spicy and smoky notes.

I say surprising, because none of these are bottles that I would have expected to hold up well or to be particularly interesting. But they are all from the era before California started churning out monolithic, overripe, over-extracted sameness. It shows that there really is a special terroir here, even if we have . . . somewhat drifted away from it. They were all under $20/bottle in today money.
 

mdf

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So you've got me wondering what is in my basement.
We've done a pretty good job recently of drinking our wine, either enjoying or trashing the really old bottles. The bottles that are left weren't aged on purpose, mostly they were in the back and forgotten about (or in a couple of instances, consciously rejected over and over).

Let's start with one bottle that might still be good, the Mondavi. The Zaca Mesa was already 10 years old when we got it, according to the note taped to it. So it fell into the "save for a special occaision" trap. The Spanish is the last of a case that we became disenchanted with before it was finished.
20200807_115837_resized.jpg

Now we move to unlikely and the ridiculous. The reds were respectable in their time, but it is not their century. And a 19 year old cheap Pinot Gris? :huh:
20200807_115845_resized.jpg

The cork has failed on the Grgich Hills. I remember the Far Niente -- we had two bottles as a gift, and drank one. It was fabulous in its time. And the Pouilly Fume? That's just silly.

20200807_115901_resized.jpg
 

skibob

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So you've got me wondering what is in my basement.
We've done a pretty good job recently of drinking our wine, either enjoying or trashing the really old bottles. The bottles that are left weren't aged on purpose, mostly they were in the back and forgotten about (or in a couple of instances, consciously rejected over and over).

Let's start with one bottle that might still be good, the Mondavi. The Zaca Mesa was already 10 years old when we got it, according to the note taped to it. So it fell into the "save for a special occaision" trap. The Spanish is the last of a case that we became disenchanted with before it was finished.
View attachment 107637

Now we move to unlikely and the ridiculous. The reds were respectable in their time, but it is not their century. And a 19 year old cheap Pinot Gris? :huh:
View attachment 107639

The cork has failed on the Grgich Hills. I remember the Far Niente -- we had two bottles as a gift, and drank one. It was fabulous in its time. And the Pouilly Fume? That's just silly.

View attachment 107640
There is some fun stuff in there. The Mondavi Cab is what my doctoral advisor served the night of my graduation (had me over for dinner and I am certain it was the 2000). It was good then, and it might just have held up. Tim Mondavi was an excellent winemaker and that was the year before Constellation took over. So fermented by Tim, bottled by Constellation.

Zaca Mesa had an amazing site for Syrah and Clay's decision to coferment with Viogner is classic and atypical for California. If stored well, it might surprise you.

I know one of the Lurton's child. They have a winery in Chalk Hill (lost a few outbuildings to the Kincaid fire last year) and their children went to school with mine. Lovely people and good winemakers. They've gone back to France unfortunately to tend the family businesses.

As for some of the whites--most are probably way gone. But a few might surprise you. I would chill them all down, buy some oysters or something and pull the cork on them one by one until I find one enjoyable. Meanwhile, having a backup bottle chilled just in case they are reduced to nothingness.
 
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Tony S

Tony S

I have a confusion to make ...
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No filter. Check out the glow on this 9yo grand cru riesling. I actually opened it a few days ago. At the time it turned out not to be the right thing. Fortunately riesling seems to hold up particularly well against air. Now it is the right thing ... and how. It tastes like about auslese ripeness, but nearly dry. Frickin dense. I'm thinking some kind of thick-cut fish with a little chutney. Halibut or sea bass, maybe.
20200804_163927.jpg
 

jmeb

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A shot from our wedding night... IMG_0115.JPG

In the end, the 4 of us (with maybe 2 glasses help from our photographer) put away 7 bottles (8 if you double count the mag of ArPePe) over the course of the celebration/dinner/post. And a bottle of our local favorite Crooked Stave Nightmare on Brett.

Highlights of the evening were: ArPePe Rosso -- stunner wine, fresh, airy, accessible nebbiolo, the perfect zip of Guiberteau chenin, a 2005 village-level burgundy (can't remember the producer as my buddy supplied), and the 2005 vouvray botrytis from Pinon. What a day/night.
 
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mdf

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No filter. Check out the glow on this 9yo grand cru riesling. I actually opened it a few days ago. At the time it turned out not to be the right thing. Fortunately riesling seems to hold up particularly well against air. Now it is the right thing ... and how. It tastes like about auslese ripeness, but nearly dry. Frickin dense. I'm thinking some kind of thick-cut fish with a little chutney. Halibut or sea bass, maybe.
View attachment 107886
The railing on your deck (ancient pressure treated wood, I presume) reminds me of my own. I usually think it looks beat up, but with the right wine (and an egg left by a passing dinosaur) it has a rustic appeal.
 

mdf

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A shot from our wedding night... View attachment 107900

In the end, the 4 of us (with maybe 2 glasses help from our photographer) put away 7 bottles (8 if you double count the mag of ArPePe) over the course of the celebration/dinner/post. And a bottle of our local favorite Crooked Stave Nightmare on Brett.

Highlights of the evening were: ArPePe Rosso -- stunner wine, fresh, airy, accessible nebbiolo, the perfect zip of Guiberteau chenin, a 2005 village-level burgundy (can't remember the producer as my buddy supplied), and the 2005 vouvray botrytis from Pinon. What a day/night.

Congratulations! Sounds like a great time.
 

Uncle-A

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This weekend we celebrated my daughter's birthday and we had some of this Champagne.
 

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Thread Starter
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Tony S

Tony S

I have a confusion to make ...
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Here is a totally convincing pinot. Could easily be from a back-of-Beaune hill town. I paid $14.99. Apparently there were 50 cases produced. I think I tripped over something. Unfortunately I just had this one bottle and may not be able to get more. Oh well.
 

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