Nice. Those Pahlmeyer Merlots age very well.
2 Likes
Much appreciated thread…and applause - applause for both the fortitude to pop open (despite lower than low expectations) as well as the immensely entertaining and informative tasting notes. The Wine Karma Gawds are looking down upon you with appreciation.
I look at my cellar, and realize that I probably have 45-50 bottles (okay, maybe 75-80) of blech myself…older whites that I pushed to the back for “another day” and dicey mediocre cabs/pinots/rhones that need to either be opened or tossed - but my challenge has been “when” and “how”? Doing one-sies and two-sies won’t make much of a dent. I keep thinking I’ll have “poor bastards” Partee or the like. But then say “Why not open the great wines I know are ready?” whenever friends stop by. Something tells me that, like many of you, I’m not alone in my dilemmas.
4 Likes
There are several more bottles of the 2003 in dad’s cellar. We’ll see at some point what bottle variation shows us.
3 Likes
Very fun read, but condolences on the circumstance. Are there any “trophies” in your Dad’s cellar?
2 Likes
Lots of really great wine - bottles of Penfolds Grange & Monte Bello, as well as cases of Montelena, and lots more top California wines, and then some ordinary stuff that is still in good condition/not over-aged. A lot of it is not exactly in my wheelhouse, but I suspect I will keep all/most of it, as selling it would be a PITA.
3 Likes
Sorry about your father, David.
Thanks for sharing the disasters, but I hope you’ll finish with a Montelena or Monte Bello. My dad has a cellar, and some decent wines, but none of those. Mostly just decent Last Bottle pickups.
This is such a nice tribute to your father, and I expect he would have enjoyed your commentary. I hope I have many years of drinking good wine and conversation with my kids like you did before they get to post about going through my collection 
.
My 17 year old daughter may end up being even more of a geek about it than my son will though.
2 Likes
A doctor that I worked with before retiring had a semi-annual cull party and invited a bunch of friends,nobody took it too seriously as Rich also provided some nice wines as well and some terrific food…a good time was had by all
4 Likes
A few more…
One last bottle of 2002 Michael Shaps King Family Vineyards Viognier (Virginia) managed to be the best of them all, but also showed some of the worst of Viognier, with a lumbering richness and even some residual sugar.
2004 Domaine Boissard-Lardy Meursault 1er Cru ‘Les Genevrières was oxidized to hell and back.
The 2004 Maison Champy Bourgogne Signature was a perfectly correct Bourgogne Blanc, that was just too far past its best. Would be perfectly fine for cooking, but just boring to drink.
My dad’s out of date hard copy inventory did not include the 1998 Abadia Retuerta ‘Primicia’, and for $8.99 and 25 years it could have just been there in invisible ink. There was zero flavor left in the wine.
The 2003 Robert Chevillon Bourgogne showed some of the overripe aspects (sweet fruit!) of the vintage, but was otherwise inoffensive - uninteresting but inoffensive.
4 Likes
Not exactly a crypt wine, but the 1997 Chateau St. Jean Cinq Cepages was elegant in a late maturity way. Medium bodied and still showing some fruit, it also had cedar and earthy tones. My mom, who hates austere wines, enjoyed it. Not a lot of structure left so best to drink soon.
3 Likes
Had another sip or two of the 2003 Chevillon Bourgogne late yesterday, and it had held up very well. It’s still surprisingly youthful. Actually reminded me a lot of some of the Rhys Bearwallow bottlings. Go figure.
2 Likes
Yet another Day of the Dead
2003 Gallo of Sonoma Chardonnay Russian River Valley Laguna Vineyard
In hospice. Oxidation creeping in on all sides. This might have been OK just a couple of years ago, but more likely 5-10.
2005 Chateau St. Jean Chardonnay Sonoma Valley Durell VIneyard
Better than a prior bottle, but that’s damning with faint oxidation. Still not drinkable, unless desperate for nothing more than intoxication.
3 Likes
Going through paperwork I found that my dad continued buying wine up to two weeks before he died. At least he died doing what he loved!
16 Likes
Back to crypt keeping/crypt cleaning…
Opened the last of the 2005 Blenheim Viognier (Virginia), and it was another bad fruit cocktail left out too long. At least those are all gone now.
On to the 2005 Neiman Chardonnay Napa Valley which smells of oak and alcohol - nothing else. It’s more than a little creamy on the palate. Might have been a book club wine back in the day, but not anymore. Could be used for cooking if a note of lumber is required in a dish.
Not exactly crypt keeping, but my dad still had an inappropriately large stash of 1999 Chateau Leoville Barton (St. Julien) in the cellar, so I opened one to check on it. Well made wine from an indifferent vintage. I would have no issue adding a cup to what I was cooking and drinking a glass while cooking. It would never be the centerpiece wine for a nice dinner, but will probably get opened on random Wednesdays with burgers until I run through the five or six that are left.
3 Likes
Did he order any long-term pre-arrivals?
2 Likes
Yup.
2 Likes
I knew I liked him. 
Alsace edition:
1999 Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris Vieilles Vignes seemed promising for about thirty seconds. It then fell into the pit of despair. “Don’t even think about trying to escape.”
2000 Zind-Humbrecht Gewurztraminer Herrenweg de Turckheim was dead and gone from the start. Dried flowers on an oxidized pineapple grave. Memorial donations can be made to the Home for Wines with Insufficient Acidity.
9 Likes
Hopefully those wines aren’t over the hill at least.
1 Like
How many bottles do you have left to go through?
2 Likes