What's the wine that changed your life?

WINE TALK
41

A generic 1970 Gevrey Chambertin (can’t remember producer, but nobody famous).
It kindled my interest in Pinot Noir in general and Burgundy in particular.

TTT

42

1979 Veuve Cliquot La Grande Dame Champagne - I had no idea wine could taste like that. Amazing and it started a Champagne habit that continues today.

43

A couple that had a big impact. Not necessarily the best wines I’ve ever had, but ones that really caused a shift for me.

1985 Charles Heidsieck Champagne Charlie
1999 Rousseau Clos de la Roche
2006 Gaja Sori San Lorenzo
2007 Dauvissat La Forest

44

thank you for the business [cheers.gif]

I don’t think a wine has ever changed my life. Only I do that , but if the spirit of your query is designed to elicit wines that have stood out to me , then my answer would be related to different wines at different times of my life. For those long ago days of drinking Cali cabs I’d say the pinnacle was the 97 Dalla Valle Maya. From the Bordeaux phase that ensued it would probably be the 1982 Mouton , then the subsequent Chateauneuf Phase the 07 Janasse XXL , and now the Burgundy phase- 1959 Leroy Grands Echezeau

45

1989 Lynch Bages. Ah ha! So that’s what structure and complexity is.

46

1982 Chateau Trotanoy and the money quickly began to disappear from that day until today.

47

1969 Inglenook Cabernet started it
1976 Silver Oak sealed the deal to become a wine junkie

48

Wow!

1973 Wente Grey Reisling!

Went on a science class field trip and stayed several days at the Asilomar State Beach conference center when I was a freshman in high school.

Got my hands on a bottle of this and woke up back in the dorm lying next to Susie S.

Life affirming and life changing!

It became an annual spring break ritual to go to that beach and drink that wine.

49

1975 Joseph Phelps Eisele Cabernet taken to Le Cirque in it’s heyday (and they initially insisted corkage was disallowed) for my sister’s 50th birthday.

50

1988 DRC Grands Echezeaux opened by a friend at his house. Changed my perspective on Burgundy forever.

51

Nothing quite as special as some of those above:

  1. Unknown Austrian dry white as a 19(?)yo; incredibly delicious, expensive at the time ($100+), and a start of exploring new / different wines.

  2. More recently, a 1994 Château Rauzan-Ségla; extremely high quality for a low price

52

Mid-70’s La Tour (’76? ’77?) in the mid-’80’s. OMFG!

53

1982 Chateau Brane-Cantenac. Drank two bottles with friends in a small Paris restaurant in the 11th arrondissement at the 17-year mark in 1999. Strangely, I’ve never had the same “OMG!” experience with a Margaux (or any Bordeaux) since. Maybe it was just the location? :slight_smile:

54

There have been a few, some highlights:

1978 DRC RC: Great Burgundy, but it got me thinking that wine can only be so good, and that this was more of a collector’s item than that it was any better than other great Burgundies. I was glad to have tried it though.

1996 Salon: So this is why people go crazy over Salon! I wish I could afford to drink this more often.

1982 LMHB and 1961 Cos d’Estournel: I walked into a wine shop in San Rafael as a 25 year old and these two wines were open for customers to taste. It made me realize how wonderful Bordeaux can be, and how generous wine folks are with sharing tastes.

1990 La Chapelle: So this is what amazing Hermitage tastes like!

1990 Graillot La Guiraude: It showed me how price can be so irrelevant to quality, this was as good as the '90 La Chapelle.

55

Mine was while I was just starting to learn more about wine beyond the mostly ordinary ones I’d tried with friends up until then. It was a 1989 Domaine Méo-Camuzet Nuits-Saint-Georges - not even one of their premier crus, but it was still like nothing else I’d ever tasted and that’s what flipped the switch in my brain about wine.

56

1974 Charles Krug was the 1st step

And the “drinking rainbows” moment was 1976 DRC Grands-Echezeaux.

57

I wasn’t much of a red wine drinker preferring Champagne over all else. I tasted the 1991 Opus One during a dinner one night found I did like red wine after all. :slight_smile:

58

I’ve been thinking about the question for a few days…

1994 Quintarelli Ca del Merlo - I had been ‘enjoying’ wine for a few years and buying expensive stuff but this was the first time I realized what the possibilities of wine were. I think I’m still chasing this dragon.

59

1964 Corton Hospice de Beaune Cuvee Dr. Peste, in 1973 to celebrate getting my Ph. D.

60

2001 oddero vigna rionda