Is good wine wasted if we have too much

Which of the following apply

OK

We all at some time imbibe a little to much, my question is when this happens do regret opening your 1982 Lafite during the fantastic night of fun ? In the heat of the moment you really really enjoyed the wine and had a blast with the party/dinner/BBQ etc and went to bed with a drunken grin with no care in the world but at the same token next morning you realize that you opened a prized bottle and did not wine geek it anywhere near enough, you just drank it

I think I would only open a prized bottle for a very special event and with people who would appreciate the wine. It would have to be when I’m sober as well so I can really appreciate the wine for that it and take the time to taste it properly.

The words “too much” and “did not … anywhere near enough” tend to answer your own question, I think.

One sign of a good wine is one where it is easy to get to the bottom of the bottle. I don’t like the deification of wine, so finishing the bottle is no crime. I do worry that the Coravin etc will provoke a generation to have a miserly approach to drinking, where a bottle is eked out over months - and perhaps not shared amongst good friends.

That said, if you’re already drunk and reach for the 1st growth / Grand Cru then you’re less likely to notice it, which is a waste of money when a $20-30 bottle of wine would have served the same purpose.

That’s the point Ian, I agree that you reach a point that in technical tasting terms you could not separate a $30 from a $300 but emotionally you enjoy the hell out of the $300 just because your getting pissed and having a good time.

Do you in the morning though feel really guilty about drinking that expensive wine ?

Wine is “wasted” whenever you pull the cork, yet when you pull the cork on a corked bottle, you feel like the schumuck. Cork: damned either way.

Alan
After a couple of experiences of opening more interesting wines (more like $75 wines rather than $300), now when it gets to the end of the evening, it’s time for safe modest wines, not delicate or complex ones. I wouldn’t feel guilty, but I would feel a little stupid.

I’m reminded of a friend who used to run a wine shop where they had regular tastings and a tradition of often writing TN’s directly onto a substantial long old table. One year when doing the stocktake, one of the pricier wines was missing. They looked everywhere but couldn’t see it. Just as they gave up looking and were assuming it had been stolen, one of them looked down at the table in front of him, to see the TN for the wine in slightly wobbly hand-writing - the wine having presumably been pulled off the shelf in a drunken moment & drunk as a bonus wine at the tasting.

Getting drunk in a wine shop would be very dangerous !!!

I do agree that normally I would open to good bottle early then have some $15-30 wines to back fill as things got rowdier but occasionally you just cut loose. The thing driving this is that I just started my vacation for a week and its the Breeders cup today so we will be drinking this afternoon but then having a nice dinner tonight so is it a waste to open a Saxum with dinner when your already way over DUI levels, of course if I take it then once time comes it will be opened as any reservations will be long since washed away !!

I am trying to get better about this sort of thing happening (the late night bottle pop after your teeth are well purple). Part of the problem is that the tasting crowd that I call my own cannot sync schedules very often, so when we do we always go overboard. The last such tasting (it looks formal, but it isn’t) that I set up looked something like this:

Chardonnay and Pinot Tasting Flights – 19 September 2015

Amuse Bouche

NV Jean Milan Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Brut, Champagne, France

Chardonnay Maturity Flight

1988 Kalin Cellars Chardonnay Cuvee LD, Sonoma County, California
1990 Trefethen Chardonnay, Napa Valley, California
2005 Brewer-Clifton Sweeney Canyon Vineyard, Sta. Rita Hills, California
2006 Konggsgard Chardonnay, Napa Valley, California
2007 Conn Valley Vineyards Estate Chardonnay, Napa Valley, California

Old World v. New World Chardonnays

2002 Domaine de la Vougerie Le Clos Blanc de Vougeot 1er (monopole), Burgundy, France
2009 Louis Latour Chablis 1er La Chanfleure, Burgundy, France
2011 Louis Jadot Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Les Callierets, Burgundy, France
2013 Ceritas Peter Martin Ray Vineyard, Santa Cruz Mountains, California
2013 Liquid Farm White Hill, Sta. Rita Hills, California

Oregon (Shea) v. California (Bearwallow) Single Vineyard Pinot Noir Showdown

2000 Raptor Ridge Shea Vineyard, Yamhill-Carlton District, Oregon
2005 Ken Wright Cellars Shea Vineyard, Yamhill-Carlton District, Oregon
2011 Rhys Bearwallow Vineyard, Anderson Valley, California
2012 Rhys Bearwallow Vineyard, Anderson Valley, California

Old to Young Domestic Pinot Flight

1994 Hitching Post (Hartley Ostini) Sanford & Benedict Vineyard, Santa Ynez Valley, California
2009 Les Cousins, Willamette Valley, Oregon
2012 Domaine de la Cote Santa Rita Hills, Santa Barbara County, California
2012 Evening Land Seven springs Vineyard, Eola-Amity Hills, Oregon

Red Burgundy North to South

1988 Phillippe LeClerc Gevery-Chambertin Combe aux Moines 1er, Burgundy, France
1999 Vincent Girardin Bonne-Mares Grand Cru, Chambolle-Musigny, Burgundy, France
2003 Dominique Laurent Charmes-Chambertin Veilles Vignes dans les Mazoyeres, Burgundy, France
2006 Bouchard Pere et Fils Beaune Clos de la Mousse 1er (monopole), Burgundy, France
2005 Domaine Coste-Caumartin Pommard Les Clos Des Boucherettes, Burgundy, France

These didn’t include the bottles that people brought on the side, and there were ~18 of us. By the time we got to the last couple, I’m sure we didn’t enjoy the wines as much as was justified (but damn the 88’ Leclerc was awesome). At least with the pre-planned tastings like this, you know to pace yourself.

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When I’ve hosted wine dinners at my place, I sometimes suggest to people that they not open the 2nd/3rd bottle they brought, esp. when we already have so much wine open that isn’t going to be finished that night. It isn’t that a bottle is going to be “wasted,” it’s that I don’t want my guests wasted…

Bruce

You? Speechless?

A wine appreciated is never a wine wasted.

Nah, I was going to tell Alan he missed an option or two but thought better of it since no matter how I worded it he might take it the wrong way.

I respectfully disagree that this is a real risk. For one, Coravin is never going to be widely purchased and used by enough wine lovers to move the needle (no pun intended).

Second, there is nothing about using Coravin that is inherently anti-sharing. It’s just as likely to facilitate sharing as it is to prevent it: maybe you’re more likely to pour your friend a glass of Screaming Eagle at a time you wouldn’t have chosen to kill the whole bottle, or maybe you and your friend try a small glass each of three vintages of Screaming Eagle together for a vintage comparison. And if you don’t want to share your Screaming Eagle with anyone, you can just as easily drink it yourself without Coravin, spread over an evening, spread over two nights, whatever.

I think being generous or miserly is about the person, not about the technology.

Sorry for the thread drift, and I apologize if that comes off as soapboxy.

I don’t really know how to answer Alan’s poll, but to speak to the issue, I really only regret opening “caught up in the moment” bottles when they are special wines and doing so really kept them from being enjoyed properly. Less because people were too drunk or fatigued, but more because you make an impulse grab and that prevents the wine from having the air, temperature, food or whatever to show well.

But being the wine geek that I am, I usually plan out what wines we’re having when people come over, including what to have on hand for late evening extra bottle revelry. And those late evening extra bottles are usually ones suited to that situation – bigger style wines that taste good late evening and on their own, good but not rarities or special occasion wines. Things like zins, Rhones, big styled Napa, etc.

Chris
No offence taken. I don’t own one, so can’t speak from personal experience.
Regards
Ian

During 4th of July festivities at my house a few years ago, my guests and I definitely over-imbibed.

very late at night, I went to the cellar and pulled out a prized magnum, ready to pop it and drink it with everyone… A good friend of mine stopped me as I came from the cellar (before the guests saw me) and said. “Hey, why don’t you put that back and pop it another time? We can have that at Mastros some time… but now isn’t the best circumstance.”

I paused, and replied, “Dude… good save!” I pulled a much less expensive bottle instead.

The next day, with my head bumping, I appreciated his voice of reason much more than I did even at that moment"

I don’t either, so I’m also just speculating on how it affects your habits. I like the idea of Coravin, but with overcrowded storage and challenges keeping up with record keeping, the last thing I need is a bunch of partially full bottles left in the racks.

I like the option for never opening a prized bottle when sober.

Now that’s a good friend!