Your ten most influential wines

WINE TALK
1

Interesting tasting given by Antonio Galloni: not necessarily your best wines but the ones that changed your views, made a region exciting, of course your Eureka wine etc.

Eureka wine Giscours 1979
First great mature Burgundy Clair Dau 1983
First 100 point wine La Turke 1988
Best wine Jaboulet la Chapelle 1961
Anninverary wine Chave 1983
Best American wine made even more memorable as it was drunk on my birthday with Paul Draper: Ridge Monte Bello 1968
First wine bought in bulk for profit Sandrone Cannubi 1996
Wine made from grapes I stomped on Taylor 2007
Most surprising wine to win a tasting Gemello 1970
Most heartbreaking broken bottle magnum of Yquem 1988

2

For sure: Mugnier Musigny 2002 drank in 2006 in a restaurant at a time it was still affordable - opened my eyes to how good red wine can be. I don’t think have tried one after that, but still remember it!

3

1970 Phelan Segur - First ever real wine to make me think wine was not just for getting drunk

1983 Rene Dauvisset Grand Cru Les Clos - Open my eyes to minerality and acidity

2013 Bedrock Exposition - The best wine can come from unexpected sources, a $60 bottle i would match against anything made on this planet

4

1995 Pride Cab - My first “oh so this is why people love wine”
1997 Jadot Chapelle Chambertin - My first “oh so this is why people love burgs”
1955 Pichon Baron - My first “oh so this is why people like old ass bordeaux”
1982 Pichon Lalande - My first “so this is what a 100 point wine is like to me”
1997 Harlan Estate - My first “so this is what a 100 point Napa Cab is like to me”
1998 Vieux Telegraph Le Crau CdP - My first eye opening foray into what CdP can be (later stomped by what it should not be - over rich super dense high abv bombers)
2006 Alto Moncayo Aquilon - Nailing down my conclusion that bigger is not better, and huger is not more satisfying
1993 Roberto Voerzio Barolo Brunate - At the time, the first real barolo I’d had and one of great enjoyment
1983 Jaboulet La Chapelle - Cemented my appreciation for a well made mature N. Rhone.
1988 Pol Roger Cuvee Winston Churchill - Cemented my appreciation for excellent champagne
Jacques Selosse Substance - Eyes blown open to solera style oxidative-yet-fresh champers

Awaiting: a still rose that is superior to readily available white and red wine; that eye opening beau-jo experience; figuring out the deal with Cyprian wines from the 1890s; figuring out the deal with Tablas Creek and that fizzy feeling; figuring out why Bryant is so expensive; and tasting one of those super weird blends and thinking, oh, this is amazing!!!

5

Mine was a 1986 Jordan cabernet. Prior to that bottle, I never had a red wine that I liked. This bottle blew me away.

6

1991 Caymus - OMG, Cali Cab rocks
1991 Caymus SS - OMFG Cali Cab rocks
1990 Ch La Louviere - F**k Cali, Bordeaux rules - bought a case
1989 Ch Pichon Baron - OMG this is a CG
1989 Raffault Les Picasse - OMG what’s that smell
1995 Clape Cornas - OMG even more feral, yum
1989 Petrus - I have found perfection
1982 Ch Mouton - hm, another form of perfect
2003 Ch Bellevue Mondotte - Parker, Perse, 100, and by implication, Rolland, suck
2007 Usseglio - Parker and Cambie suck
2004 Levet La Chav - Damn, that’s funky
Marcel Juge - I have found my center

In that order, starting in 1993.

7
  1. 2001 Mondavi reserve - “wow wine can be good”
  2. 1999 Rousseau CSJ - “what is this? It’s amazing!”
  3. 2001 Leflaive Chev Montrachet - “wow white burgundy is special”
  4. 2012 Marcel Juge - “this is different and incredible”
8

20-year old Muscadet
a bevy of producers, ALL excellent [snort.gif]

9

Love it

TEN most influential wines

Did we miss the other 8? :wink:

And this is the OP itself!! champagne.gif

10

I’m not sure I can come up with ten, but


1997 d’Yquem. The first wine I ever tried that made me think, that was so good, I would actually spend $200 for a bottle. As an impoverished student at the time, that was a big revelation.

20xx Tres Picos. The reason I rely on Spanish wines as my go-to inexpensive wine: reliable across vintages, tasty and finds easy acceptance at parties when I need to find wine for multiple palate types.

1982 Leoville Poyferre/1989 Angelus: This is why it is worth it to drink good, mature Bordeaux and to expend the funds to age wines properly.

1997/2001/2001 Sunspot Shafer Hillside Select: My last flight at a Shafer Hillside dinner. A moment of joy that stands out in my memory. Why I joined the list the next day and why I continue to purchase outrageously expensive California cabs.

11

[smileyvault-ban.gif]

12

I am not sure what happened. I duplicated the post and got rid of the one with ten wines. If the moderators can resurrect the old post, it will save me having to search my memory. Otherwise I will fill them in later.

13

Robert – I love your Caymus admission! You will also be amused to hear that for some strange reason I still own a 3L of the 2003 Bellevue Mondotte. I haven’t been able to figure out the right crowd on which to pawn it off.

In (rough) chronological order:

1982 Latour – Yowza! Who knew a (very young) First Growth works so well with pizza?
1980 Chalone chardonnay – And I didn’t even know I liked whites!
1978 Shafer cabernet – Hey, Cali reds are not so bad either. Especially with Keen’s mutton.
1997 Gaja Sperss – Infanticide is so wrong, but boy is it delicious!
1970 Montrose – Damn, these things are good with age!
1970 Graham’s VP – Let’s see how purple our teeth can get!
1995 Pradeaux bandol – Bring da noise! Bring da funk!
NV Krug – I finally see what all the fuss is about. Is there a better wedding gift than that?
1990 Bonneau du Martray corton charlemagne – Is there a better wine with Cape Cod lobster?
1990 Beaucastel – Yes CDP can be great at 20+ (subsequently debunked – oops!)
1995 Musar – Is it alcoholism when one can’t put down the glass?
1985 Haut Brion – Bullseye!
1989 Jaboulet La Chapelle Hermitage – More perfection please! But damn the N Rhone is expensive!
1990 Dujac CDLR – OK, at last I get it.
1968 Mayacamas – Why did I ever leave Cali?
1988 JJ Prum Berkasteler Lay riesling auslese (halbtrocken) – Such intense electric waves of acid, the late great Tom Wolfe might have been the winemaker.

Robert, you will also be amused to hear that for some strange reason I still own a 3L of the 2003 Bellevue Mondotte. I haven’t been able to figure out the right crowd for it.

14

Early 2000’s, after multiple business trips to Napa / Sonoma where those business trips took us to vineyards, I made a purchase at Imagery and brought home wine for the first time. “Wow, I see why people like wine.”

A few years later, a 1999 d’Armailhac given to me by Alfert. “Wow, I want to find out more about this French stuff.”

A few years later, Jean Foillard Morgon, recommended to me by Martin Steinley. “OMG, this stuff drinks so easily, I could slurp it down all day long.”

As I type this, those are the three largest producers in my cellar.

Ian

15

Ha, I was but a wee neophyte! I still remember saying to my Dad, this Caymus is like squishy ripe black cherry. The La Louviere, like someone bottled the earth. Now the Bellevue Mondotte, all marzipan. Just plain candy. WTH were you thinking with a 3L, LOL! Berserker Night! [cheers.gif]

Your list has some killer wines.

16

My list is somewhat general


My first JJ Prum Reisling, it was a Spatlese.

Tasted a Dom Perignon in 1977, vintage unrecalled, and found out that there was more to sparkling wine than plastic corks and cold ducks involved. That first scent of ‘yeast’ on a champagne was earthshaking. It is embedded in my sense memory.

A wine article from the SF Chronicle when I was still in my late teens. It discussed a taste-off of California cabs: 1975 Caymus SS, 1975 Caymus regular cab, a Mondavi Reserve, Silver Oak Bonny’s, and another couple I forget! It taught my group about finer wine and the differences between them. They were amazing expensive at somewhere around 20-25 bucks, IIRC.

A Louis Jadot white Burgundy at a wine tasting at John Ascuaga’s Nugget when I was in undergrad. I had a crush on his daughter, who was in the same Ag Department as me. She never knew I existed, but I sat next to her once. I get nervous thinking about it and it was 40 years ago!

A un-recollected 1959 red Burgundy that a girlfriend’s dad let us have for a picnic when I was in college.

My first Eyrie reserve pinot in the 1980’s. Ephemeral and beautiful. Tasted with a Ponzi reserve, also delicious.

1974 Sutter Home red zin. I still have one magnum left.

My first Ferrari Carano reserve chard - first time I remember getting a tropical fruit/terpene profile. (Also a case of unrequited love involved but can’t name names.) I still like that profile, I find it now in Aubert, Renteria Brown Ranch, and Tres Perlas chards.

My first Williams Selyem, found at Mr. Liquor in SF.

My first taste of Lafite, can’t recall the vintage. I sat next to a guy at the bar at Fleming’s steak house at Fashion Island. He had a glass of wine and we started talking. It was his birthday and he was dining alone at the bar, so I told the bartender what I wanted and said, “And another of whatever my new friend is having for him, it’s his birthday!” The bartender looked at the other guy and said, “He already has a bottle open.” The guy laughed and then shared his wine - he had brought two bottles of Lafite. It was delicious. After we ate, he invited me to his birthday party at his house and I met nice people. It never dawned on me to get his info to try and stay connected or anything. If he’s out there and recognizes the tale, thank you!

17

1991 Mondavi Reserve
1982 Leoville Las Cases
1974 Mondavi Reserve
20-- Aubert Lauren
2003 Phelps Backus
2002 Peter Michael Les Pavots
1992 La Jota 11th Anniversary
1896 Dow Port
1990 P.Jaboulet La Chapelle
1962 Vega Sicilia Unico

All knocked my socks off !

18

Fixed

19

Off the top of my head


1998 Vieux Telegraphe- similar to John before, my first CdP at all
1994 Domaine Drouhin Oregon
1994 Delille Chaleur Estate
1989/90 Beaucastel
1977 Taylor Porto
1998 Clape Cornas
Can’t recall the precise year Lopez de Heredia Tondonia
1990 (I think) Dom Perignon

20

Cannot see just listing wines without a background so, here goes:

  1. Early 60s la Romanée. I had been drinking good wine for a couple of years by 1976 when I had this but that summer I read my first wine book. My parents had people over for dinner and opened an Haut Brion. But, I liked the second bottle dad opened more, starting a life-long love affair with Burgundy.

  2. Either 1970 BV PR or 1973 Inglenook cask. My first great California Cabs.

  3. Truchot 1985 Chambolle Musigny les Sentiers. I could name lots of Truchot wines as very influential as this is my favorite winery. I could discuss a tasting of 1990 Truchot wines led by David Schildknecht and Peter Weygandt years ago when David was still at retail in DC, I could discuss the wines I had the first time I visited the Truchots or from the weekend when I tasted over 40 Truchot wines while participating in a couple of large tastings that formed part of the basis for John Gilman’s article on Truchot in the second issue of his newsletter. But, I am going with the first Truchot wine I ever had. Bought from David Schildknecht.

  4. 1952 Haut Brion. When David Schildknecht first got to Pearson’s, he put on sale some of their very old Bordeaux. A friend and I bought a couple and had a wonderful dinner. This was the star.

  5. 1982 Leoville las Cases. I was part of the generation of people just getting into wine who listened to Robert Parker and bought 1982 Bordeaux futures. For most of my wine life, the backbone of my Bordeaux collection has been my 1982 Bordeauxs. When I first tasted them young, my favorite was the Leoville las Cases. Over the years, the wine has been closed and cranky and I began to wonder would it ever be as great as I hoped when I was young. Last year I had the wine twice and it was finally great again. Do I need a cap saying “Make Leoville las Cases Great Again”?

  6. 1979 Dom Ruinart Rose. For many years, I was not a huge Champagne fan. That started to change a number of years ago, largely because of a couple of friends who kept bringing really good Champagnes to our monthy tastings. The real turning point was when my good friend Randy McFarlane was asked to organize a tasting for the winemaker at Dom Ruinart. Unbelievable tasting and this was the best of the wines.

  7. 1978 Chateau St. Jean IDBSLH Riesling Belle Terre - when I first came to DC, I had this wine a number of times. It was truly great while it lasted, my favorite sweet wine for a while. Eventually it turned brown and lost its fruit, but it was great while it lasted. First time I had this was in a wonderful wine bar in Georgetown that was in the basement of a Vietnamese restaurant at the time called Chez Maria.

  8. 1989 von Schubert Maximin Grunhauser Abtsberg Auslese No. 96. I had long loved German wines when I had this but this wine was in a different class from most German wines I had had when I tasted this for the first time in about 1991 or so. A truly great auslese.

  9. 1928 and 1971 d’Yquem. One of the greatest wines tastings I have ever been to was a preview tasting for a Hueblein Auction in the early 80s. I could name so many of the wines from this tasting - for example, 1934 Chambertin, 1940 la Tache, 1945 Comte Vogue Musigny, Essencia from the 50s, a vertical of 1968-1978 BV Private Reserve, a tiny taste of 1959 Petrus, etc. - but it was the two d’Yquems I tasted there that really stole the show.

  10. 1999 Drouhin Montrachet. Over the years, I have started loving white Burgundy more and more. To represent that, I list my first Montrachet. May not be the best Montrachet I have had as of now but it was awfully good.