Which wine made you love it?

WINE TALK
1

Not necessarily anything super refined or sophisticated. $5 or $500, which wine/champagne was the one that got you hooked?

2

Several wines have made impressions on me and lured me in to try other producers from the same region. One that stands out was a Claude Dugat Gevrey-Chambertin that pulled me over to the dark side.

3

82’ Pichon Lalande for Bordeaux
90’ DRC Grands Echezeaux for Burgundy

Wines were just alcoholic grape juice before these two wines. Still keep some 82’ Pichon Lalande but sadly sold off all 90’ DRC Grands Echezeaux.

4

Maybe 30 bottles of well-priced 1989 Ch Meyney at a local pizzeria over the course of a couple years.

5

Mid-80’s Burgess\Grgich Hills\Chalk Hill\Caymus

6

90 DRC Richebourg, a former friend forced me to drink it!

Why doesn’t that happen any more?

Yes, it was a gateway drug. Actually, it was like skipping all the gateway drugs and going straight to heroin. Too bad I can’t afford or trust DRCs.

7

86 Genevrieres Pierre Morey- multilevel,and complex beyond anything I’d ever tasted.
85 Lynch bages a delicious ,early drinking wine.Drank through many cases until it shut down in the early 90’s
and what really finished me off-
78 Richebourg Domaine de La Romanee Conti -unbelievable aromatics followed by an almost equally great palate.Was lucky enough to buy a few cases at auction that were in pristine condition

8

There were many wines that dragged me in. It was a slow downward spiral. One that really showed me the positive effect of age on wine was a 1978 Robert Groffier Gevrey-Chambertin drunk around 1985.

It was a 1982 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Rionda Riserva in 1990 that got me hooked on Nebbiolo.

9

1982 Margaux, in around 1991 or so. Was $600 on a restaurant wine list in Bermuda, I got back to NY and realized you could have all you wanted for $60 or $70.

10

1986 Jordan Cab at a restaurant

11

94 Pontet Canet
94/95 Hess Collection
94 Snowden
and 94 Merryvale Oakville Grade (Harlan fruit?) was ethereal

I blame the above wines for me having a cellar at about 150% capacity right now, with enough wine to last many many years.

12

My second job was at a middle eastern restaurant, and although I was only 18, my boss would let the employees have an end of shift drink. I quickly found that I really enjoyed the Sterling Shiraz over any of the beers and have been hooked on the juice ever since. This was in 2003.

13

1994 Frank-Rombauer Larkmead Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve

14

1996 Malescot St Exupery got me into wine . . .
2002 Dujac Clos de la Roche got me into Burgundy . . .

15

2 different wines for different reasons.

1985 Chateau Lynch Bages
1985 Dujac CdLR

16

Did a tasting at Jaffurs’ in Santa Barbara while on vacation a few years back. I liked wine in general, but my tastes were all over the board. Craig had me try his Petite Sirah and I really enjoyed the big, deep flavors so I signed up for his wine club. Over the years of getting Jaffurs’ amazing QPR Syrahs my palette found a home in Rhone varietals. They are mostly what I drink today and Jaffurs’ is my favorite. So that one glass of Petite Sirah standing in a industrial warehouse in Santa Barbara put me over the edge. Now I can’t find enough space to store all the juice I have accumulated.

17

CRIBALDI wine in 1965 (Gallon Jug) . [drinkers.gif]

18

I’d have to say that while I had already nibbled many a lure by then, the '85 Gruaud Larose really set the hook.

19

Believe it or not:
NV Christian Brothers “Red Pinot”.
I don’t think it was from the Pinot Noir grape…
Sometime in the early 70s.

TTT

20

'68 BV GdLT.
High school girlfriend’s father had this as his “house wine”.
29 years later, the wine seems to be holding up better than I am!