) got me thinking about ways to consume my “best” bottles. I have a few bottles that I think of as occupying the very pinnacle of my approx 130 bottle collection: Krug, Clos Ste Hune, Chave, Mouton, a 61 Ferrando. These are the wines that I own that I am the most excited about trying (never had any of these producers). I’m sure that many of you have a few bottles that occupy the top of your collection.
So how do you like to enjoy these few “best” bottles? Do you have them in a decadent blow-out a la Mark’s thought experiment, or do you like to separate them out and consume them one or two at a time? There are, of course, pros and cons to both, and most you, who are more experienced than me, have probably taken both approaches at different times. But I’m curious what you prefer.
Part of me is tempted to have a night where I open at least a few of these bottles, and part of me feels like this would be a waste. Very curious what you all think. Thanks!
I always look for an excuse to open one of my best bottles. Just need for it to come my way. Friends, special days, family(?), whatever comes my way. I dig into the local cellar constantly and see bottles I want to open, but give me an excuse!
I would never ever want to enjoy my “best” - or most meaningful - wines in some kind of ounce-of-each, dozen-bottle extravaganza. I think those wines are best enjoyed with loved ones, friends, in a format where they can be savoured and appreciated. Of course it’s be nice if there was a wine appreciator or two present. Then again, people who attend - and get invited to - those events have a very different view on what a best or special bottle is, so I guess it’s all a matter of context.
Some may disagree, but I prefer to pay attention to two or three bottles rather than be battered by 10 or 12, regardless of pedigree.
I mean it all depends on what your goals are. If you want to get the biggest bang for your buck you should try to use one of your best bottles as an entry ticket to a dinner/tasting where they are opening high end bottles.
Within reason I’ll open most things at any given time if they’re ready to drink.
Personally, after some experience, I don’t find big blowouts to be very useful in terms of wine enjoyment. It tends to be less about the actual wine and more about marking a scoreboard. You will often feel like you saved some special bottle only to have it fade into the background of some huge event you went to.
If you’ve set aside these wines for something special then make a special night for them. Make it a night where you can give them some focus. But bring backups. Special bottles can disappoint for more than one reason. Its just part of the game. Make an occasion with friends and family or some local wine geeks. Make it small enough the people present can actually enjoy the wine beyond a mere taste. Or even set aside a night with a special someone and just plan on opening that wine.
Whatever you want. If you want to save a bottle because you want to bring it to a massive wine event, do that. If you want to follow it over an evening with a significant other, do that. Both can be great.
I’m with those who think that your best experience will be at a smaller gathering where you get to take your time with a decent pour of the wine, and where all of the participants will appreciate the wine. That might mean you alone, on a random Friday night, with a burger off the grill. That might mean a leisurely wine dinner with five or six other wine lovers. That might mean a family gathering — if your family would appreciate the wine. My family wouldn’t — to family gatherings, I take wines we’ll all like, with maybe one outlier to expand their horizons. But those bottles I bring to expand their horizons wouldn’t be my truly top-tier wines, they’d be down one or more tiers. I learned that lesson early when I brought a bottle of Puligny, to which someone added pineapple juice and no one else really cared for. If the bottle had been a grand cru, I’d have been sorely disappointed.
I’ve long felt uncomfortable with the ‘blowout’ approach - like seeing a cake and eating all of the icing, but none of the actual cake.
So I treat it a little as a balancing act. Opening those bottles with friends who may appreciate them, but also not treating any wine as the star of the show (the friends are that, the wine being merely a good support act). If they are really good, then they will lift the mood of the occasion.
I fondly recall having a friend come over for xmas day a few years ago, at the end of the year in which his partner dumped him. We’re always very relaxed at xmas, going for a walk, eating when we want and having everything as low pressure as possible. It turns out that was exactly what he needed. He still talks about that as a special xmas day, of the Krug we had before eating, and of the fun we had trawling youtube on the TV for favourite comedy clips (which was where I discovered Armstrong and Miller and the phrase ‘off you fuck’). A great wine in support of a great day.
Anything goes I think. Open them on those special occasions, or open them any time ‘just because’ you want to. Be hopeful for a good showing, but keep your expectations below the “unlikely to be met” level if you can. Share with someone likely to enjoy and appreciate the wine if you can, but accept that your drinking partners may include the clueless. Don’t have the wine be about the label, unless everyone is tuned in to that channel. Enjoy!
Especially since the onset of the pandemic, with the exceptions of birth year wines and anniversary year wines, all bottles are fair game on any given night.
I tend to open my best wines at dinners (either at one of our houses or at a restaurant) with 2 or 3 other couples who are close friends and wine lovers.
Re all the derisive comments about “massive” “blowout” events, I may not be familiar with what those are.
On a modest scale, I’m most likely to open my very small number of first growth / grand cru / tete du cuvée caliber wines in one of my small tasting groups. Usually 4-6 people over dinner type things. Either we are all bringing wines like that, or more often, we rotate who brings all of the wines for the night.
I find that I tend to enjoy sharing them more than having alone or just me and my wife, and I enjoy the conversation and perspectives from my wine enthusiast friends. And then in some indirect, uncalculated way, it opens the door to enjoy the best wines my friends will share.
I agree I probably wouldn’t want to share my most special bottle at a table of 15 people where each person gets 1.5 ounces. But 15-25% of a great bottle is a good amount to experience it, and when that becomes 25% of four great bottles rather than 100% of one, plus the conversation and shared experience, I feel like I get more out of it overall.
There’s no right or wrong answer, that just how I feel about it.
The subset of my best wines that are something my wife really prizes and/or which reflect something we did together (e.g. special visit to the winery while traveling), those we may have the two of us at a special dinner or on a birthday / anniversary.
Many good answers here, all correct. While I’m a bit more in the ‘open any bottle any time’ camp, opening a special bottle with a dear friend who appreciates it is great. Also small group events, like 4-6 people, where we are sharing a few epic bottles and really focusing on them. Or, or, or … like I said, all choices are correct. Here’s the thing about best bottles: there are always more. Don’t put it off.
I have a friend who loves aged (like, 25+ years) Bordeaux and Burgundy, and only has it from my cellar. We have dinner together just a few times a year. A few years back she got cancer, beat it, and has bounced back strong. Who knows what next year holds? I always open something excellent from my cellar when we get together. Will that be twice or 50 more times? I don’t know. But we’re going to enjoy what we have while we can.
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