Which wines in your cellar give you most pause?

[AAgrawal]

@Markus S

@Ramon Cabrera

Clos Rougeard.

I’ve stashed away some Les Poyeux and Le Bourg from vintages early-to-late 2000s and have started to taste some of my early 2000’s and have not really experienced that “wow factor” that is over and above the times when I tasted earlier near/at release. Over the last 3 years, I’ve also tasted very few from the mid-90’s and while they were good, OK I’ll admit, more than just good, I was hoping that they’d be a lot more than just “more than good”. Not complaining here, but perhaps, just having too high an expectation?

The ‘unicorn factor’ may be coming into play here: wow wine is similar to that mythical beast.

I’ve never had a Bourg yet, but of the 2 I’ve tried - an 2003 Clos and an 04 Poyeux - even though I wasn’t wowed either, I found them exquisite wines with a sense of balance and textural purity, which is worth the price of admission (perhaps not at today’s pricing, however!) to me.

The Bourg is where I got the wow factor. The others were excellent wines, but I wouldn’t buy them for the price. The Bourg that I tried (2007) was flat-out stunning.

[R_Roberts]

Interesting thread.

[Joel_W]

@C Fu

Anything 3L+ gives me pause cause I’m afraid of it being corked.

Damn it Fu… You got me scared now.

[CFu]

@Joel W

@C Fu

Anything 3L+ gives me pause cause I’m afraid of it being corked.

Damn it Fu… You got me scared now.

I have one 3L of a really nice burgundy that the wax has chipped off and for some insane reason I’m scared that I’m now exposing too much air to the wine

[George_Chadwick]

@C Fu

@Joel W

@C Fu

Anything 3L+ gives me pause cause I’m afraid of it being corked.

Damn it Fu… You got me scared now.

I have one 3L of a really nice burgundy that the wax has chipped off and for some insane reason I’m scared that I’m now exposing too much air to the wine

Randy Dunn told me that losing the wax has no effect on air getting into the wine. (edited to add: this sounds pretentious. I don’t know the guy. This was 20 years ago when winemakers weren’t rock stars and you could call any of them on the phone).

[Ramon_C]

@AAgrawal

@Markus S

@Ramon Cabrera

Clos Rougeard.

I’ve stashed away some Les Poyeux and Le Bourg from vintages early-to-late 2000s and have started to taste some of my early 2000’s and have not really experienced that “wow factor” that is over and above the times when I tasted earlier near/at release. Over the last 3 years, I’ve also tasted very few from the mid-90’s and while they were good, OK I’ll admit, more than just good, I was hoping that they’d be a lot more than just “more than good”. Not complaining here, but perhaps, just having too high an expectation?

The ‘unicorn factor’ may be coming into play here: wow wine is similar to that mythical beast.

I’ve never had a Bourg yet, but of the 2 I’ve tried - an 2003 Clos and an 04 Poyeux - even though I wasn’t wowed either, I found them exquisite wines with a sense of balance and textural purity, which is worth the price of admission (perhaps not at today’s pricing, however!) to me.

The Bourg is where I got the wow factor. The others were excellent wines, but I wouldn’t buy them for the price. The Bourg that I tried (2007) was flat-out stunning.

Not that I’ve lately seen any availability of 90’s or early 2000’s, at least not at wine searcher, but I feel the same about not buying these at what I would imagine the current pricing would be, given where the latest available vintages are at. I think it’s a given reaction when one has bought at much cheaper prices.

I’ve not opened any 2007 Le Bourg, but the 2007 Les Poyeux drank nicely with sufficient (long) decanting, from a bottle that I opened 3 years ago. But no “wow” factor then, and I look for that when it ages.

[mstockley]

Not for the reasons the OP stated, but the producer that gives me the most pause is Bedrock. They’re invariably gorgeous when opened but I always wonder if I’m missing something by not waiting longer.

[George_Chadwick]

@Ryan Caughey

Other than some already mentioned, Gallardi Terra di Lavoro. I bought several vintages based on price/reviews, then I tried a few and found them so hard and tannic and unforgiving (and I’m someone who gets pleasure out of young Barolo) that I really have very little faith that they will turn into something nice. But I trust palates more experienced than mine and am holding my rest in hopes that they will blossom. I’m also not buying more until I taste a mature example.

I used to agree and I still feel that way tentatively about Serpico and I won’t bother trying a Lamborghini and I associate the three wines with each other in terms of sui generisness and hype. But as to Lavoro, every time I try one I like it more and more. It’s sort of Burgundian in a rustic huge way. It’s all honest fruit. It needs 20 years. The more my palate changes the more I like it. (edited to add: there are no mature examples LOL). Definitely worth the tariff but the one thing that makes it unexciting is that I bet every vintage tastes the same so why not wait ten years and then buy old ones, they’ll be available.

[Tom_Moore]

@Walter Nissen

2000 Carruades de Lafite. For a while it looked like these were going to be worth so much I wouldn’t have to worry about drinking them. Now that prices have come back to earth a bit, I’m in the uncomfortable position of wondering whether it might be worth cracking a bottle.

Same boat here - I have 3 that I purchased en primeur ($35-40?) and gladly cellared for the long haul. Then saw them going for $500 each at the peak of the China boom, but didn’t pull the trigger quick enough (never really sold any wine for profit) and they now are around $200. Tasting notes seem pretty bleh so not sure what to expect.

I also have 06-07 Gallardi Terra di Lavoro, have never tried one - have 2 of each. TN are all over the board so I guess I will give them another decade.

[A_So]

@C Fu

I have one 3L of a really nice burgundy that the wax has chipped off and for some insane reason I’m scared that I’m now exposing too much air to the wine

You cray, Fu

[R_Frankel]

Expectation management is so hard in wine. It fights kicking and screaming with its siblings memory, reality, and that dastardly sneak bottle variation.

One of my favorite early Barolos was a Bartolo Mascarello, ended up buying a case of the 2000. Haven’t touched them yet. Will they be ethereal rose explosions or dark, muddy and unyielding? How long should I wait? Was my memory of that bottle from years ago really that good?

On the other hand, so many of the wines that I’ve tried and loved have held up when revisited later. There’s a ton of great wine out there.

[edwardmilstein]

VOGUE- 90 % of what I own back to 95 isn’t ready( or never will be )

[Pat_Martin]

First Place: Spanish wine. I own a fair amount of it and I love the classics from Rioja from before 1994, but I always wonder with most of the ones made in the last 20 years if they are just too oaky for me to ever really enjoy.

Maybe they will come around and develop like the old school tintos, but it requires a big leap of faith for my mileage.

Second Place: modern Bordeaux. I am not adverse to holding Bordeaux for 20+ years and I do so based on how the claret from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s developed. Am I fooling myself? Have modern techniques, Parkerization, Michel Rolland, climate change, etc. moved the goal posts so much that the complexity, integration and longevity that I prize so much in Bordeaux are no longer sure to develop in the cellar?

I still buy Bordeaux, as I think I know which chateau to buy and which to avoid, and who knows, maybe all this talk of improved selection, care in vilification and so on with turn out to be true and today’s Bordeaux will be even better after 20 years in the cellar? But it will be a tragic loss if they messed with the formula and put an ersatz mondovino in its place.