Would you order a bottle of wine at Berns that you have lots of at home, just because you like it?

I know someone who owns a boatload of Ridge, going back decades. It probably represents more than half of their cellar. They went to Berns last month and when they returned, they proudly announced that they ordered a magnum of Ridge Geyserville. That made about as much sense as if I ordered Carlisle or Saxuam. My trips to Berns have included 1960s Hermitages, 1980s Beaujolais!, 1990s Burgs and a 1977 Dehling Zin, among others. Would you order something you can drink at home off the list at a restaurant. I never would. There’s too much wine to try.

Agree. The point of Berns is to take advantage of their cellar and try something new or otherwise unobtainable.

I could see it if they had never had Ridge Geyserville from magnum and they selected an older vintage.

I’m a variety is the spice of life guy. For normal people there are wines at Berns that might be their only opportunity to try ever. Why not take advantage of it.

I would say no in the past. Now, maybe. I pretty much drank through all the mature burgs and rhones I wanted there so not so easy to find something now that I would want to try. I might order a wine there today that I also have in my cellar if I know it’s exceptional.

No. For me, that misses the whole point of a trip to Bern’s.

In general, no. I would tend to go for something different and interesting.

BUT!

I can envision a case or two where I might order a wine I have in my cellar.

Take the OP detail about ordering a mag. Were I hosting (yeah, fat chance the cheap SOB would host a bunch of people at Bern’s) a sufficiently large group for an event level dinner - milestone anniversary, birthday, etc. - then ordering a mag or larger of something I know is good (and apropos) would just make sense. Odds are good that I would not have mags of it on hand, and large formats are definitely more appropriate to a celebratory event.

My Bern’s strategy is to give a budget to the Somm and let him know region of interest and then let him do the work. I can drink my cellar at home.

I am on the side of probably not. Unless: my bottle was difficult/near impossible to retrieve, Brad or another Somm highly recommended it as part of “here’s my budget and pick 3-4 (multiple bottles) of 375s or 750s that are in prime drinking window” and I was curious and decided to keep it in the line up. Just sayin (as a newb).

Ridiculous. Rather defeats the point of going to such a place, in addition to the obvious financial folly.

I know oenophiles that are so crazy they will get a wine they have already had out from their own cellar and take it to a restaurant and insist they be served their own wine, which they’ve already had before! It’s crazy!

sure … most of you are missing the tasters point … they want a guarantee of excellence, also a mag, also different cellar gives a different aging to the wine, development of the wine is different and you receive a different level of pleasure…then there is the Shenequa factor… if you hit a home run every time with Shenequa and your away from the homestead does she become less attractive in another setting ??? not wanting to settle for anything less you go for Shenequa, away from home too, especially if your in love …they ordered correctly for them … why judge or care what they are drinking… when did you become the wine pope ???

Shalom !!!

Salute !!!

Sometimes it is a good thing to know what you truly enjoy.

the above is the epitome of wine fascism seriously think about it … the all knowing taster … hummmmmmmmmmm

Shalom !!!

Salute !!!

I would say it depends on what he has in his cellar compared to what Berns has. If he has a lot of aged, high end wines, then maybe going to Berns isn’t that big of a deal. To me it would be a big deal and I would not drink what I already own.

Wine fascism? Dude, whatever. People fly thousands of miles for a crack at Berns’ cellar. To drink something you already have at home is a bit pointless, and to criticize a lost opportunity is not fascist. Bite your tongue.

Jay knows someone who loves Ridge, the depths of which he cannot comprehend.

I probably wouldn’t do it myself, but I could imagine why someone might. Just for example say I really love X, own and drink a lot of it, and I’m wondering what a perfectly stored mag of X would taste like. Where would be a better place to try it?

I know a guy who has a lot of Ridge MB but a natural cellar in CA. I could easily see it in that case.

+1

to me, not the point of bern’s