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+--- Thread: my $100 mistake (/thread-3778.html)
- newsguy - 03-20-2001
i should have known better.
took my brother, who's in the area on business, to dinner sunday night at bern's, a legendary steakhouse in tampa.
inspired by winoweenie's 92 cabs thread, and that fact that the sommelier in bern's told me on new year's eve that he was recommending the 92s to drink now, i decided that we would go for a nice 92 cab. my brother appreciates a good bottle and is learning the wine scene like me, but i'm a little ahead on the learning curve, and he decided to let me make the wine choice. checking the wine list and having to rule out several bottles because of their prices, i narrowed it down to two finalists: the 92 clos du val stag's leap at $96, or the 92 hess collection mt. veeder at $66.
i haven't had either wine myself. i've tasted the 97 clos du val and loved it, huge wine that had many years ahead of it. and i know that WW loved the 92 hess. but i figured that the clos du val would be a bigger wine than the hess (and i couldn't get that $14 issue price out of the back of my mind).
when i told my brother about the two finalists and my reasons for liking both of them, he left the final choice up to me.
i went with the clos du val.
big mistake.
bern's keeps their wine cellar at 50 degrees, so it took a long time for the wine to warm up after it was decanted and poured. after about 45 minutes or so, the nose started to open up. but when the chateaubriand arrived, we couldn't wait any longer.
wine smelled better than it tasted, and it didn't smell all that great. (frankly, the 95 gallo of sonoma cab i posted on two weeks ago smelled and tasted better). the 92 clos du val was NOT the big wine the 97 is. tasted like a simple, decent cab, even more like a bordeaux to my palate. by the last glass, the wine had warmed up sufficiently for me (i like it at room temperature), and this was now about 1.5 hours after decanting. tasted much better than at the start, but was no knockout.
i've been kicking myself ever since, wishing i would have gone with the hess. i feel like i've really let my brother down, who's never had a really classic wine before (not that i have either). he said he was willing to spend up to $100 on a bottle so we could have a really great bottle, and i know it's unlikely he'll ever be spending that much again. and there's nothing i can do to make it up to him.
not that anyone else on this board would ever make the same mistake, but if i can prevent anyone from feeling as bad as i do now, let me reiterate:
MORE EXPENSIVE DOES NOT NECESSARILY MEAN BETTER!!!
sorry WW.
keith
[This message has been edited by newsguy (edited 03-20-2001).]
- Drew - 03-20-2001
Keith, do you realize what you've done? WW now has to buy hats 2 sizes larger than before you posted.....not Boto size though. [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/biggrin.gif[/img]
Drew
- winoweenie - 03-21-2001
Newsguy, First and foremost let me express my true sympathy for this unhappy occassion. The waiters at Berns are good, but they are Berns' employees and management decides which products they want to push. I've never been a devotee of Portets' wines since 1974. His 72 zinfandel still is in my memory banks but when he failed the great 74 then the 78 vintage I'd heard all of the " His papa makes the great Lafite " BS that I cared to. Can't explain what Bernie does as he has some of the best property in Stags Leap, rite next to Warrens' SLWC, but he just doesn't put any notches in my gun. Again, I'm truly sorry as the Berns' experience is always one I look forward to, Like Chez Panisse, Crustaceon, and Roxsands', my fav here in Phoenix. There isn't any comparasion to the Hess and the 92 Clos, IMHO, and Drew as you know, I calls 'em likes I sees' 'em. WW Again, not to rub salt in the open area, the Clos DU Val issue price was 14 bucks too
[This message has been edited by winoweenie (edited 03-21-2001).]