I am officially bored -or- The Metamorphosis of Mike

Most of you know me and my reputation and my love of Napa Cabernet. I am sure many of you have paid just a mild attention to me and my postings since this board opened and before from my thousands of posts on parkers board. I am sure I even made some of you chuckle at my seemingly obvious lack of palate. Some may think I like the milk-shakey wines and some may think I only seek high octane, many here I am sure wish I would just go away and still do. That’s cool. I sometimes wish I can just go away too but many times I find myself like a 64 year old Michael Corleone----‘Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!’ So here’s my newsflash: Older Cabernet is boring me right now. Has this happened before you ask, maybe, but not at this level. I find I really do not want to drink anything before 2008 anymore, so I guess it’s fair to say I am bored of pre-2008 Cabs. ‘What is wrong with you’ is something even my friends might ask. What has my attention is good old red white and blue Pinot Noir. I have been finding much interest in some, maybe too much as the‘Tempest in a teapot’ is real. Too much because now I want to dump my holdings of Napa Cab before 2008 and reinvest (generally, I hate the term ‘Invest’ in wine) in Cali-Pinot. It’s a style thing. Don’t hate the player, hate the….never mind. I know some winemaker friends read this forum and I want to reassure you the King is certainly not dead, just reassessing his options. Wines like the recent iterations of Myriad, Quivet, Rivers-Marie and more recently, Becklyn are still big on my radar. I have received some interesting private messages lately based on some recent postings, some have given me real insight as to what may actually be happening. I am evolving, growing, expanding. I always appreciate hearing from other members, it gives me some real food for thought. That does not say I want any more ‘funk’ in my life; I lived through the 70’s and seen enough of it for a lifetime, so Burgundy need not apply. Thous hath been-eth there and thou hath don-eth that.

I just tallied that I have 122 bottles of pre-2008 Cabs and a grand total of 28 bottles of Pinot either in the cellar or on order. I am actively working to correct this as my goal is to make the first count about 20 and the second about 100. Some future CLONYCs will look more like PLONYCs.

Any way, that’s my story. It’s a little insight into the man, the myth and the downright pain in the ass named Mike.

Nice.

Hopefully some ZLONYCs are also in the cards.

At the current trajectory I am in, I expect to get to Zinfandel in or about 2074. I will be the busiest 113 year old in wine dinners.

And we are bored with you. Glad you figured it out.

Take any two bottles in your cellar, put them in a brown bag, pull the capsule, tape them all the way to the top, send them to me with any instructions you would like. I’ll do the same. It will be like Xmas for you. Maybe I can help you, consider it cheap wine therapy.

Mike, will gladly enable your quest for more Pinot, oh by the way have three bottles for you, stop h on Saturday.

Craig, deal. I will send you two bottles when the weather lets up a bit there.

It was your Rodgers Pinot that helped enable my downfall!

Chris, I will see what our plans call for. Soon for sure. Thanks!

Let’s trade a case Mike, I have tons of Pinot Mel doesn’t like around here man.

We could have a blind Sideways offline for Mike to see if this is a temporary aberration. Glad to see he is broadening his horizons. 2004 sounds about right for a horizontal; it’s the year the movie came out. Zinfandel is just around the corner.

Sojourn’s Rodgers Pinot is what got me started on Pinot as well. It is my favorite Pinot I’ve ever had.

I started drifting from Cali Cabernet to Cali Pinot Noir about 2 years ago. Now, my cellar number have finally flipped like you are looking to do. I struggled drinking Cabernet during the summer or without food. Now that I’m Pinot and Zin heavy, I drink these all year round with and without food. Exploring new wineries is such a fun part of drinking wine and you’ll get to really explore some awesome new (to you) Pinot producers that are out there.

I have found glacially paced peaks and troughs to my interest level for certain grapes, as well.

Don’t do anything rash. Just like the fashion world shifts, so will your palate, and what bores you now will be fascinating again at some point in the future.

Of course, exploring the pinot noir grape is a wonderful idea at any juncture.

bored = referring to yourself in the 3rd person!!

If you’re 65, I’m wondering if your tastebuds are just dulled and that new wine has more primary flavors that register with you, rather than more subtle, secondary flavors? Not at all and indictment on age, etc. just curious if this could be part of it.

are you going to offer some old cabs on cc?

Pre-1996 Cal-cabs are the only cabs of interest to me anymore. Pinot has so much more to offer IMHO. If you are getting the bug, buy or trade for everything you can get your hands on. I don’t presume to tell you how to take your own wine journey, but Pinot is the truth; even in California garb. You might look into Valhalla vineyard, being a Napa kind of guy. The answer lies in sin (Pinot), not Zin.

I am having a similar, if opposite, experience. I have tons of “great” Cali Pinot that I no longer have any tolerance for. Don’t go too deep too quick.

53. Don’t push it.

Interesting perspective though.

Ah, I misread. You said a 64 y.o. Michael Corleone. I was thinking you were referring to your own age. Scratch that. But the principal could still hold true.

I don’t think your experience is all that unusual. My palate shifted from CA Cabs → CA Pinots and while I still like CA Pinots, I find myself exploring Burgundy and Syrahs (both foreign and domestic) with a smattering of somewhat lesser interests for good measure…

Agree with Anton though…after taking a break, you might regret shedding your aged Cabs (though I believe that in your case, anything that’s not fresh off the truck counts as “aged”). In my case, I rectified the situation by almost completely cutting off my Cab purchases. Even though my consumption also dropped, in a couple of years my cellar rebalanced itself.

Best of luck.