LOL. I took that to be an approximate number.If he had 40 year old first growths they'd be from 1980 and this almost certainly trash, if memory serves.
LOL. I took that to be an approximate number.If he had 40 year old first growths they'd be from 1980 and this almost certainly trash, if memory serves.
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).Damn
I have a love/hate relationship with my tablet. It likes to change things even after I've hit post.
I hope you're not tuning ski right now in August.
1931 Quinta do Noval "Nacional"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.
Ooooh. I would have loved to try that.1931 Quinta do Noval "Nacional"
Really.
No really.
I started with Madeira and Tony posted a portDoes port count?
Lol. You are no doubt correct.It's not really fair, tho, you're getting like 25 years for free.
I'll also throw in some surprising wines.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.
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.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.
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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?
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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.
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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.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.
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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.