+1 I’ve learned this lesson as well. In my version the wife said, “we started grabbing from the bottom because we figured that’s where the crappy wine would be.” I told her the best stuff goes at the bottom precisely so it’s out of sight!
TNs from my wife included “I knew I was in trouble when my girlfriends started gushing about how good the wine was”.
On the other hand, we always obsess about when it’s the right time to drink, or if it’s as good as it’s supoosed to be. It was nice to come home to people just excited about good fckng wine!
I have already had mine, but I figure I have been around long enough for a second go. In the days when you could bring bottles in your hand baggage when you flew, we returned to White Plains airport from Savannah with a bottle of Heitz Martha’s 1976, which I had bought down there. I had not zipped up my bag properly, and the bottle fell out and broke into pieces in the luggage area. Not only did I put my finger on the puddle of wine on the filthy floor, but someone came and asked me if it was good, I said yes, and he too put his finger in, tasted, and nodded his appreciation.
I hear ya. Years ago I bought a bottle of 2002 Lafite at Costco. Forgot to take it out of the trunk overnight, and someone stole it. $90 down the drain lol. But $500 today.
We were having a memorial service for my step mom at my Dad’s house. I was standing while trying to pull the cork out of a wine bottle. When I pulled to hard, the bottle slammed into the counter top, the bottle shattered and wine went everywhere.
Put the 1948 Fonseca a fraction of an each too close to the cellar door on a concrete floor.
Importing and selling so many great ones from prime vintages from the 60’s through the 90’s and not keeping more Burgundies, getting more specific gets almost painful.
Took the second pick of Lytton Springs Zin (decades ago) and stemmed and crushed it into a large plastic pickle barrel. The UC guys said add 3/4 cup of this stuff - Potassium Metabisulfite along with this french champagne yeast. It sterilized the entire batch and fermentation was dead on arrival. Poured out probably what was to be 25 gallons of Lytton. This was back when Walt Walters owned it.
In the midst of packing bottles to move between storage facilities… set aside a (gifted) bottle of 2000 Bouchard Montrachet GC as the one I was going to be *extra *special careful to mind and take proper care of.
10 minutes later, juice and glass on the concrete floor. Yay.
I was at dinner at Le Soufflot in Meursault a couple weeks ago… I had perused the wine list online and decided on a 2011 Raveneau 1ere Chapelot for €65. When I ordered, the waiter/somm moved very quickly to go get the bottle. I happened to glance down and see a 2010 les Clos, not listed online, for only €20 more.
He had already pulled the cork before returning to the table, and the bottle was selected from a page where you could only order one. (Plus I was alone with my wife and didn’t need another bottle).
It was a weird exercise… trying to avoid feelings of discontentment while drinking from a bottle I would have done cartwheels for back home. A feeling of a missed opportunity… I hope it’s the dumbest wine thing I’ve done. The real answer probably is wasting too much time perusing CT/Winebid/here in the evenings when my attention should be elsewhere.
Hah! Good one. I started just a small private vineyard but feel the pain… to be more specific, I had a very reputable grower/vineyard manager plant and manage my vines (Syrah/Tempranillo in Temecula), and that part was great. The dumb part was letting him be my “winemaker” and ruin 3 harvests, before I brought my grapes to a real winery to help with the winemaking part. At least I got a few good vintages from that combo.
![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}