What were your big "ah ha" moments from 2009

[gene_keenan]

@alan weinberg

1. Muscadet

2. I can pass on a “must buy/best ever” wine and remain alive and reasonably happy.

3. Miss one “must buy/best ever” wine and another one will quickly come along, better than the one I missed.

4. I keep relearning 2 and 3 annually.

alan

+1 although I wish I could relearn that one a weekly basis.
muscadet and oysters. is there a better combo?!|?!?

[Lance_Smith]

Quick reaction yields the following moments from 2009: (in no particular order)

1. A bottle of ‘96 Cos d’ Estournel
2. Quilceda Creek crushing some good/aged BDX and Cali Cabs in a blind tasting
3. Realizing I enjoy most wines that hover at or below the ‘14%’ alcohol range (generalization of course…)
4. White Bordeaux
5. $25 bottle of '82 D’Issan
6. Realizing that Costco even can’t make '06 Bordeaux cheap enough to buy
7. The breadth of Cali Pinot is much larger then I ever imagined…and I love it!
8. I like rocks in my wine - not literally.

[Nick_Ryan]

1. Doing the math and realizing that the cellar I just built is actually much larger than my needs. Oh well, if preferences change I’ll always have the room… much better to have overbuilt than underbuilt, I guess.
2. Realizing that life is short and there’s no need to force myself to drink crappy wines just because I (mistakingly) bought them. Out they go… (I’d give em to the bums but there ain’t no bums around here.)

[LMD_Ermitano]

From the above posts, my “ah ha” moments with wine are few and very far between it seems - trivial, really, compared to the others mentioned.

If pressed, for the year past, 2009, I’d have to say;

1. Realizing that I love mature, traditional Riojas much, much more than I thought (now up there with select Bdx and Burg);

2. Realizing that DRC rouges can, at times, be worth their lofty prices.

3. Realizing that a mature, traditional Rioja gran reserva can pair as well with seared scallops as with a chuletón.

4. Though I’ve had the pairing before, how even a relatively “simple” riesling spätlese can pair so beautifully with roast goose.

5. Realizing that some wine drinkers, no matter how long they’ve been drinking, will, probably, never progress beyond their perception that the definition of good wine is a 95+ Parker score (even those who profess to think otherwise).

[LMD_Ermitano]

@Serge Birbrair

I have more pleasant experience in '09 turning one point chaser into a good wines chaser.

Bravo, Serge. That is no small achievement. I’ve had some “converts” from pure Cali red drinkers to Bordeaux, but never quite successfully “converted” any “point chasers”.

I guess they usually just brush me off thinking “What the hell does he know? He is just a lawyer who drinks wine.”. True enough, but, then, again, that’s really all that Parker is, isn’t he?

Now, I’m not saying I can taste wine the same as Parker can (heaven forbid), that’s not it at all. I’m just sometimes surprised how so many otherwise intelligent and open-minded people totally surrender all judgment to the opinions of someone else (be the latter Parker, Tanzer, etc.) - especially when it comes to something like appreciating wine.

[LMD_Ermitano]

@Serge Birbrair

Noel, when I got into a wine hobby, I had very good teachers. One of them posts on this board:
Holiday wines - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
if you notice, there is not a single wine with points
(actually, there is not a single name I recognize) which makes point chasing is next to impossible.
I just pass along what I learned and sometimes intelligent people come to their senses…despite their intelligence.

Of course, Jim Cowan would be a great teacher. It was he who turned me onto the Chablis of Louis Michel when I mentioned I like the style of Chablis of Laurent Tribut.

but the feeling of converting “point chaser” into Burgundy drinker is what Pope felt when they converted America to Christianity

Heh heh heh.

[Barry_P]

2009 A-Ha Moments

1. There are very few Barossa reds that I can drink more than a glass of.
2. 1975 La Mission (confirmed earlier a-ha).
3. B. Morey 2006 Batard.
4. 1988 Giugal La Landonne.
5. Bern’s

[Brian_G_r_a_f_s_t_r_o_m]

1. smoked salmon + caviar + Krug = happy me
2. many of the Paso wines that I love so much really should be consumed within 5 years of vintage date.
3. Tokaji
4. aged Sauternes and aged Riesling delight me to the point of blathering idiocy

[Bill_Tex_Landreth]

@Brian G r a f s t r o m

1. smoked salmon + caviar + Krug = happy me
2. many of the Paso wines that I love so much really should be consumed within 5 years of vintage date.
3. Tokaji
4. aged Sauternes and aged Riesling delight me to the point of blathering idiocy

We did this on Saturday at my crib. Was a 1985 Krug with some Alaskan King Crab and Selosse Initiale thrown in for good measure.

[Ronnie_Sanders]

Walking the vineyards in Priorat and seeing why the wines are so expensive and visiting Poggio di Soto.

[Brian_G_r_a_f_s_t_r_o_m]

@Bill Tex Landreth

@Brian G r a f s t r o m

1. smoked salmon + caviar + Krug = happy me

We did this on Saturday at my crib. Was a 1985 Krug with some Alaskan King Crab and Selosse Initiale thrown in for good measure.

i don’t normally drool before noon … but, dayum does that sound delicious!

[Bill_Tex_Landreth]

@Brian G r a f s t r o m

@Bill Tex Landreth

@Brian G r a f s t r o m

1. smoked salmon + caviar + Krug = happy me

We did this on Saturday at my crib. Was a 1985 Krug with some Alaskan King Crab and Selosse Initiale thrown in for good measure.

i don’t normally drool before noon … but, dayum does that sound delicious!

…and that was just the first course. I am sure that when Bowden gets his broken down BMW back to The ATL, he’ll throw up all the food porn pics of this and the rest of the snacks.

[Brian_G_r_a_f_s_t_r_o_m]

i hope that he does … would love to see them!

[M_A_T_T_H_A_R_T_L_E_Y]

1. I love La Peira
2. I decided I love Muga wines
3. Beaucastel aged in perfect conditions is amazing in almost any vintage
4. I am obsessed with Laurel Glen Cabernet
5. $150 Cali Cult Cabs are, for the most part, all about heavy bottles, fancy labels, and overripe wine…

[Tony_V_e_l_e_b_i_l]

1. Ripe CA Cabs can age
2. I like Pinots with alcohols in the 13% range as well as some in the low 15% range.
3. I like wines under screw caps and cork but not synthetic cork
4. I love acidic white wines and ripe red wines
5. I love exploring the regional wines of Italy - white and red and found some very nice bargains at restaurants. Adventure is good!!!
6. I love Champagne and think Loire sparklers can be great bargains.
7. Suduiraut is still my favorite Sauternes
8. Debates regarding alcohol levels are the biggest circle jerks around - actually discovered that a while ago but…

[C_Grimm]

1. The realization that I’ve dramatically increased the amount of West Coast Syrah that I have bought.
2. A WOTY moment when I drank the 2003 Mondot (the second label). Holy smoke! All that for $30?

[Ken_Zinns]

1. I have just about no money to buy wine these days - probably bought less than 24 bottles last year.
2. I can still learn a lot about wine without spending a lot of money buying wine - and for better or worse that’s something I’ll have to continue doing this year.