When my cousin asked me yesterday if we had any pink moscato, after I offered her a nice Cabernet Sauvignon, I knew there was no reason to pull out any good bottles yesterday. Only 1 person other drank wine (not me-just a few sips). Lots of beer and other canned alcohoic drinks drinks were consumed
I believe I’m going to take a queue from a few of the fine commenters above — stop saying “secret bottle” and start saying “SIDE BOTTLE”. It sounds more classy and a lot less sinister.
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I’ve seen what @PaulN describes just once in my 35 years or so of acquiring, drinking and enjoying nice wines. Flash back to around July 2008 or so and former WB member Guillaume was traveling around the western U.S. in a cheap rental vehicle in search of rodeos. He had been to the Calgary Stampede, was back in Denver, and posted here asking for suggestions for where to head to for the next rodeo. I let him know Cheyenne Frontier Days was beginning that next week and he would be welcome to stay here (Cheyenne hotel rooms tend to be booked a year or two in advance for our local rodeo). He took me up, went to the rodeo, and then joined friends and me for dinner and lots of wine. Discussions that evening included the planning for our large circle of fiends and our annual Laramie Range car camping event, with Guillaume expressing that he’d love to join us by returning to Cheyenne following his attending some additional rodeos down south. His ensuing rodeo adventures took him through Santa Fe where he dropped in on the wonderful Dick Krueger and his wife and picked up some really nice older California Cabs Dick had collected over the years. For the camping trip, Guillaume picked out a handful of those wines and I added a bunch of my really nice Cal Cabs that had some age on them, and off we headed to the mountains and group camp. Lots of young adults in the group who were treated to some really nice wines, and they drank the stuff like it was Kool-Aid
I don’t think either Guillaume or I were the least bit bothered by the “kids” enjoying that treat we provided (other than realizing we failed to bring enough wine), but my buddy Nick (I later learned) observed what was happening and decided to stash his nice white Burgundy in his camper, sneaking away as needed for refills. Today, I still laugh at him and that decision to have secreted away his wine.
A man after my own heart!
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Hi Paul…what I am trying to say is : one of the main purpose for wine is for sharing.
Bringing a side bottle and not to share is …an indication your personal out-look for life.
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How did the secret Clair beze show anyways? Hopefully worth all the sneaking around.
I would never do such a thing. If there is a group dinner then it’s all in. I can always enjoy my wine at home. This is the reason so many people think wine enthusiasts are assholes. The lack of generosity is stunning.
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While I won’t contradict your experiences, I feel sorry for your bad luck because mine has been the exact opposite: I have often been stunned by the frequent willingness of wine people to share good — sometimes extremely expensive and rare — bottles with me and also with complete neophytes.
In my experience the wine snob problems are less about sharing and more about over sharing — boring for England on wine geekery by assuming everyone is as interested as you in the topic, or else showing your ‘tism by correcting every little thing someone says about wine, or other joy-killing activities.
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I meant the lack of generosity of the OP. Not wanting to share and to withhold and to judge others for not having “good enough taste to appreciate our selection of wine”. That attitude is off putting part.
Secret Bottle and Blow is the next new thing! Upstairs VIP only!
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Brings to mind a wonderful phrase: “don’t bogart that joint, my friend” 
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I mean there’s nothing wrong with not bringing your best wines to a big gathering where people aren’t going to appreciate them; personally I wouldn’t bring different bottles for my own consumption, though, much less post about it on a public forum if I were to do it.
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Fwiw — and this is going to sound like virtue signaling given this thread — but at our house the trophy wines aren’t saved for the cognoscenti, or the “important” people. With a wife in theater and a father in law who was a painter, i decided a long time ago that the best wines in the house get shared with the artists.
I have a related story that I’ll post on @brigcampbell ’s charity page: Week1 - Virtual Tasting for Charity - Now through Dec 3rd - You pick the wine, you pick the Charity!
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I had been debating doing this for my wedding next year since there are a few people going that really know wine… but the majority do not.
But then I remembered that the wine list I created is good enough for everyone (all of the names are Berserker-friendly) and everyone there is ‘important.’ Most importantly, the wines are what I and my significant other would want to drink.
There will also be more liters of wine than people there, including a 15L of champagne. Everyone attending has to finish or they can’t leave the party 
I’ll save the secret bottles for more appropriate venues.
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I 100% agree! I love sharing good wine with family and friends. Especially when it opens their eyes to wine they probably wouldn’t drink on their own.
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled hot sweaty masses . . . “
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Michael, the wine was completely worth the subterfuge!
A big elegant beast. Initially quite muted but after 90 mins in decanter it was singing like Jim Morrison (City at night!), the aroma jumped 18” out of the glass. Powerful, brooding, dark fruits and leather.
The palate seemed slightly more viscous than normal, simply huge body. Soft shimmering tannins for a big, dark masculine wine, the flavors were very lifted and bright. Very noble and precise. Complex mix of floral, spice and dark fruit, black cherries undergirded with rich black dirt and a bit of minerality. Lacked the barnyard funk that I desperately love and reach for (with both hands) in a Burgundy. I’d say somewhere btw ‘early drinking window’ and ‘drinking well now with plenty years of upside’ (94+)
The reason for the post was that, mostly, I thought the topic was funny, and that the comments would present light hearted dialogue and anecdotes from serious wine lovers, perhaps with the budget to contend with an expensive bottle of wine in hand whilst surrounded by folks with cans of Busch Light Draft in their hands. (There is nothing wrong with these BLD folks, by the way, they are more practical and resourceful than I am).
But I guess I was wrong, as there has been more hand wringing in the comments than I’d have guessed and seeing everything now, I might have not even made the post. It wasn’t my intention to tweak anyone’s nose.
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Sounds like it’s drinking well. I got rid of most of my
pre-15 Clair but do have a couple 10 CSJ and one bottle of 13 beze, maybe I’ll check in on the beze soon. I tend to save the CSJ for horizontals.
Whew! Poster”s remorse seems logical.