Now that Offline I did attend…and sat with the Atlanta Mike’s…although a diehard Yankee fan. I remember the looks in those photos. 82 Latour remains etched in my memory. And yes, Parker was disengenuous about bringing the Beaux Freres, and yes, his followers were pretty abusive to RC after the fact. Geez, another blog string going tangential.
Remember that Frank Prial was dedicated to getting the masses to start drinking wine. He went out of his way to make it seem approachable. But despite being the NY Times wine writer (and I enjoyed many of his articles) he was far from an expert. I still remember goggling when he said that Muscadet was made from the sauvignon blanc grape…
My memories of that offline are hazy at best, as I can’t even remember which wines I brought. I apologize for not remembering that we were at the same table though I suspect that Mike Baker’s outsized personality probably helped you to remember the Atlanta Mikes. I do recall that the 1982 Latour stood out, which was no mean feat given the caliber of the other wines tasted and the fuzziness of my recollection. I also remember that the food, wine, and company were an exceptional buffer to my disappointment at the Braves’ collapse.
Jim, David and Robert
Thanks for the suggestions. I will certainly seek a few of them out. I did have the Cardinale in hand at Total Wine and went with the Bellevue instead. I just finished it tonight and did see quite a change over the 4 days. I realize this is not a representation of how it will age but it sure did get more enjoyable to drink. Not great but good. I think I will start looking for a couple of bottles from the late 90’s as suggested as well as a few more 16’s.
Scott - if I may offer my experience - it entirely depends on your palete, that is where you should start and that will guide you.
Open 2 bottles of wine that is more or less in the range of what you will be purchasing, both in grape varietals, price range and other similar attributes.
One should be 6 - 8 years old and another should be 20 years old, and you will immediately know from your personal taste which wine is more to your enjoyment.
Of course price is an issue - let’s assume you are speaking of finely produced wines.
A fine wine has an entire fruit profile in the 6 - 8 year range and an entire different profile - because of tannins and other factors at 20 years.
You need to discover your personal preference.
For me, I like young fruit of a well built wine. That is just me, what is your personal preference? It is easy to find out.
Good luck
Wg
William - Thank you and others for the advice. This thread ended up going many different directions (don’t they all?). Like you, I normally drink my domestic cab/blends at age 7. If I were to follow your advice and compare a 2000 Bdx to a younger vintage, I wonder if that would be a fair comparison given that the 2012 vintage is considered a lesser vintage? I also wonder if climate change and better wine making apply to the 2000 vintage? I’m sure the exercise would provide some insight, but it seems like there would be too many variables to draw any firm conclusions? Truth be told, I ended up purchasing a half dozen 2016’s (Smith Haut Lafitte, Leoville Poyferre, Leoville Barton, Haut Bailly, Clos Fourtet). Kind of a splurge for me, but it was one of those “what the hell” moments and I had a 20% off coupon from Total Wine. If, by the grace of God, I make it to 79, I will open these at my 60th wedding anniversary. Doubt if I will dabble any further in Bdx - but I did follow up with a second “what the hell” moment and purchased a few bottles of 2016 Port! Ha! Ha! Got to have some incentive to make it to 2036! Cheers!
sounds very good
so many people forget
wine is to be enjoyed.
Yes, let’s have these discussions to share our ideas,
in the end, enjoy.
those are wines to share with friends and loved ones and to be enjoyed.
