Are you attached to a bottle of wine ?

This is not about the wine, its the story. Do you keep a bottle just for a sentimental reason ?

Last year a good friend gave my wife a 1969 Martini Pinot Noir for her birthday (born in 1969). Drank it with them and other friends at Farmstead (with way too much other wine). It was very nice and had been stored properly, though it was falling off quickly so we had to drink it fast. We have the bottle displayed on our bar cabinet :slight_smile:)

All the time unfortunately, although I figure at some point I’m going to try and remove the labels and make a book with all of them. I keep bottles from the 50s and 60s that belonged to my grandfather and bottles from offlines where we pop something special and it may be the only time I will ever get to drink that wine in my life. I’m a cork keeper as well. Thank god my hoarding is limited to those things only…

I have a couple of bottles from a friend’s wedding that were done with custom labels. I thought it would be fun to hold onto them and then pull one out every decade or so as a surprise. I’ll have to bring a backup bottle to actually drink as it wasn’t great wine to begin with and the storage has been sub optimal😀

Full or empty?

There are wines I collect because of the story, not the wine itself.

It’s a simple outpatient procedure to remove them, requiring only a corkscrew and, optionally, wine glasses.

I’m attached to wedding and birth year wines and certain gifts. Plus I treasure a few empties signed by winemakers and from memorable events.

05’ Mortet Chambertin.

I had the Burg bug with a 98’ Mortet, Met him at the estate in 03’… I know the style doesn’t fit everyone’s palate but I remember the man… can’t imagine when I would ever open the bottle, maybe if I make it to 60…

I keep sourcing 1979 Robert Mondavi Reserve Cab, my birth year. They have bottle variation, but good ones are incredible!

I chain myself to my bottles. [crazy1.gif]

I am detached.

When I had my wine cellar built, we had created an area to display empty bottles. Some of the bottles are first growth, etc. - you know, just expensive bottles. But, a lot more are wines that have some sentimental attachment to them - got them at the winery, had them with my father, drunk it the night I got engaged, etc.

Good thought provoking question. I have many wines that are linked to an experience or a memory, but probably the one wine that I am most sentimental about (and a damn good wine BTW) is the Prestige Coteaux du Layon from Domaine Petit Clocher. It is a link to so many different wonderful experiences and memories of times and adventures spent in that part of France. It unlocks the vault and makes me smile.

And usually the right occasion and company. I am not opening any of my “prized” wines just for kicks on a Wednesday evening. [cheers.gif]

Nope. I buy them to drink. Most of my better bottles are shared with friends who might enjoy the wine. To me, the experiences and special memories are more important than the possession of what might be (or might not be) a special bottle. If it was truly a special experience, I might keep the empty bottle.

1988 Mouton Rothschild. Birth year wine, and it’s what got me into wine in general. I keep that very empty bottle on a shelf in my cellar.

I have a few bottles of that left. Wedding year wine, you young whippersnapper!

No. Period. Maybe I will when my Dad passes, but luckily that shouldn’t be for 20 years. Now, though, anything I have is fair game. I like sharing the experience, and I can’t think of anything I’d be so attached to that I wouldn’t drink. The whole damn point of wine is drinking, not staring at a bottle. Perhaps the most important three bottles I can recall are 1985 Heidsieck Champagne Charlie on the day I got engaged to my wife. 2002 Insignia to celebrate our engagement at dinner. Then 1995 Krug to celebrate the birth of our first son. I’ve not sought out those bottles again because of any emotional tie or attempt at a recreation. I’ve had many more bottles of 2002 Insignia because it’s just tremendous. But the experiences with the wine are infinitely more important than the wine itself, which is a wonderful thing to drink, and a more wonderful thing to share.

Seems that way.
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I had a bottle of 1964 Ridge Monte Bello from David Bennion’s cellar that I was very attached to. But I eventually had to drink it (very good).

Now I’m attached to an empty bottle of 1964 Ridge Monte Bello. [rofl.gif]