I found a bottle of Domaine de Pegau Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Reservee 2005 3Liter for $329. It feels like a good deal, I like Pegau, but it is really hard to justify an event where I will need 4 bottles of CdP. Do I get a few and hold them in the cellar for event I don’t know about or is the big bottle crush just a pass?
I like the big bottles. Lots of fun when you have a bunch of people over to your house/apt or a big group at a restaurant. The big bottle is always a hit with the crowd…
I barely find opportunities to open the magnums I have, can’t imagine a 3L. These days I’d much rather open several different wines than one big bottle of the same. YMMV.
I cannot help you with an opportunity to open it, but what I´ve got to say:
I have a lot of Pegau of almost every vintage and every cuvée ever produced, I have a few mags but not a single 3 L bottle.
I wouldn´t know when to open it, too.
But some people like to have a lot of wine, nothing wrong with that.
However, the 2005 is barely fully mature in 0.75s - so I would at least wait another 10 years, better 15y.
The price seems to be good though.
I agree that other vintages in double mags would be a better choce for NOW. I would love to have a 1981, 1985/89/90 in a mag … or a 1994 or 1998 …
These big formats have all been filled, corked, labelled and waxed manually - they don´t fit in any machine …
commercial post: I import Pegau to most of the U.S.
I agree that this is a tough, tannic vintage that will age almost forever in a large format.
Two possibilities:
Buy and hold with the idea that a Special Occasion will Occur in the next 10 - 20 years, and it will be glorious.
Plan to crack it open when you have at least 4 - 6 people to get through half of it. The remaining half should be good or maybe better (especially if refrigerated) for at least a few days after opening. And/or you can have clean empty bottles handy when you open it. Fill two or three of them, put decent corks in them and enjoy one at a time over the next week or two.
I do this a lot with big formats as I own more of them than I need. I buy them for use at my sales meetings, then realize that a basic Mondavi Napa Pinot Noir I’ve been hoarding at 20+ years of age really should get drunk and is not in the queue for next year’s meeting. So we have another couple over, I decant 2 bottles out of the 3L and put them aside. We enjoy the other 1.5L with dinner and everybody is happy. Of course, in this example, I drink the remaining bottles over just a few days as they won’t hold up like an '05 Pegau.