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+--- Thread: Best wine you ever tasted....... (/thread-12554.html)
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- Grape Stuff - 05-06-2003
Simple question for anybody. Without regard to price, what was the best wine ever to cross your lips? I'm so new to this, that I simply haven't had that many to comment on, but the one that stands out was a 98 Dutch Henry Napa Valley Merlot. It's the only wine I've had so far that I HAD to go back and buy a bunch more.
- Bucko - 05-06-2003
Not simple. What is the greatest art piece you have ever seen? The greatest sunset? The best food dish? The time, place, setting, etc. all contribute to the experience. I know that I could not give a single answer..........
A 1972 Hanzell Pinot drank on a hillside at the winery after returning from Desert Storm......
A 1912 Taylor Port drank in the company of Michael Broadbent and wife while he told stories of the "old days"..........
A 1927 Niepoort Port from the Niepoort family cellars drank with Dirk Niepoort at a private gathering.......
And on, and on, and on........ You see the dilema.
- Thomas - 05-07-2003
I agree with Bucko--an unanswerable question.
- winoweenie - 05-07-2003
Makes my noggin' hurt just thinking about it.This hurts BUT I AGREE WITH THE BUCKSTER!
Time, Place, Circumstances, Company, Music, Food,condition of bank account all factor. I can name my top 100, MAYBE. WW [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/biggrin.gif[/img]
- Thomas - 05-07-2003
yeah, as soon as you remember which number follows 10... [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/eek.gif[/img]
- dananne - 05-07-2003
Many on the board touched on this in a recent thread . . .
http://www.wines.com/ubb2/Forum37/HTML/002128.html
Most (myself included) link their most memorable wine with the circumstances surrounding it's consumption. For me, it's about much more than simply what's in the bottle. That having been said, my favorite was probably a 1994 Marques de Murrieta Ygay Gran Reserva Rioja.
- wondersofwine - 05-07-2003
Can't specify just one. One of the best whites I've had was a small taste (not a purchase)of an older Le Montrachet (famous white burgundy). Several German Eisweins would rival it in a different way--sweet and lush rather than an opulent dry wine. A simple Piesporter Michelsberg Spatlese has significance because of the company in which it was shared, etc.
A couple Grand Cru red burgundies are near the top of my list--again a small taste, not a purchased bottle: 1999 Raphet Clos de Beze
and a Bonnes Mares from Alex Gambal. Also up there is a Ridge Lytton Springs Zinfandel that I had some years ago but I don't recall the vintage. Also very impressed with a 2000 Aloxe Corton red wine from Mommesin at a tasting. 2000 is not a highly regarded Burgundy vintage and Aloxe Corton is not one of the more famous Burgundy designations. But this wine really struck a chord with me. Go figure!
- Grape Stuff - 05-07-2003
boy, those were not the answers I was expecting. But now that you all say that, I can see why. My first trip to Napa 2 years ago, and first real exposure to wine, was one of the most memorable trips my wife and I have taken together. Many of our vacations were either active, or historical, or visiting friends/relatives, and this was the first vacation that the simple goal was to eat and drink!! We managed a table at the French Laundry, and I CAN state that that was the best meal I ever had in my life! And yes part of that enjoyment was the time, place, mood, situation, etc that made it so great (but the food.......WOW!). I've really had a ton of fun over the last couple years trying new wines etc. and I'm continually amazed at the abumdant choices and variety of tastes that all originate from the same type of fruit. It's really amazing. I think i just need to drink more.
- Botafogo - 05-07-2003
I am currently writing a book called "One Hundred 100 Point Wines" that will be completely dedicated to Bucko's theory:
Each wine (including IK's beloved $11 Illuminati Rosato) will be presented in a context in which it will be the "perfect" wine and something more famous and expensive would not be remotely appropriate.
Having said that, my most memorable single glass of wine was when I was the beverage director of Antoine's in New Orleans and there was a Burgundy tasting uptown at Commander's Palace. I had to get back to work before the thing was really over so I took a large go-cup (a styrofoam dixie cup!) of Vosne Romanee Les Malconsorts 1971 and a knapkin to cover it and sprinted to the St Charles Avenue streetcar. Just as I sat down a thunderstorm of biblical proportion kicked in. The street cars have awnings over the windows and have large windows in the front and back which are open as well so there I was, thunder and lightning and storm driven cool air (it was a VERY hot day) swirling around me while I quietly sipped a great Burgundy the entire way back to the French Quarter....fabulous!
Roberto
- stevebody - 05-09-2003
Three:
La Carraia '97 Fobbiano, drunk on the sand at Long Beach, Washington, at 3:45 am, during the Perseid metror shower, with the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. (This one may be all about place, time, and company)
1977 Masi Campolongo di Torbe Amarone
1995 Peter Lehmann Stonewell Shiraz
Bonus Wine: 1990 Sean Thackery Orion
Holy Cow! Almost forgot maybe the best one: A 1977 Chateau Musar, sampled with Serge Hochar here in Bellevue two years ago, just after his lecture on the history of Musar. It was elegant, funky, powerful yet delicately knit, surprisingly fresh, and unlike anything else I've ever tasted. Maybe not the absolute best but very close.
[This message has been edited by stevebody (edited 05-09-2003).]
- mrdutton - 05-09-2003
The best wine I ever tasted is the wine I currently have open and am drinking.
This is because it is either a good quaffer or because I opened it to match a particular dish or meal.
- Auburnwine - 05-09-2003
And then there were those tiny thimblesful of Almaden Mountain Burgundy sipped from the belly button of a blonde and willowy ballerina in 1973. Aperitifs, one might say.
Mais ou sont les neiges d'antan?
[This message has been edited by Auburnwine (edited 05-09-2003).]
- Botafogo - 05-09-2003
Baron Rothschild of Chateau Mouton used to answer this question with a long rambling tale (who was going to shut HIM up after all?) involving a trip to the south of France when he was a teenager wherein he went on a hike / picnic with a cousin of a cousin, wine was drunk, food was eaten and love was made....ya da ya da yada and finally someone would ask
"Yes, thats all beautiful but what was the wine?" and he would triumphantly exclaim, "I don't know, who cares? It was the best day of my life up till that moment!"
He is one of my true heroes, a real renaissance guy, Roberto
- Thomas - 05-09-2003
Yeah, and those cousin to cousin relationships is what got Europe all those weird kings and queens... [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/eek.gif[/img]
- winoweenie - 05-09-2003
SB....In 86 I got together with some buddies in Denver and we brought in a pallette of Musar. As a vineyard there were some of the most killer bottles of juice that I've ever encountered. The 59, 61, 67, 70, 72 and 77 were world class, palate-paralizing, completely dominating, concentrated, powerful bottles that spun your tongue 180 degrees with every sip. I had a small snippet with one of our ex-moderators, Randy Carpasio(sp) who like you was a restauranteer and was a founder of the Roys' of Honolulu chain, who tore up the Musars of the mid-80s'. I said the same to him as I'm posting here and we finally agreed that comparing apples to orangatangs wasn't objective so we truced it. The wines by the way were put into several tastings with 61 & 66 Bordeaaux, 68 and 70 Calif cabs and scorched the competition. In order we placed unanimously the 59, 61, 72, 77, 67, and 70.WW
- Georgie - 05-10-2003
Probably not the best, but I'm sure what will prove to be the most memorable..Castle Rock Merlot shared with a close friend who chose our dinner date to open up about some very intimate issues. Given the emotionality of the evening, I don't think I could ever drink this wine again.
- Thomas - 05-10-2003
For those who may not know, Chateau Musar is not in France--it is in Lebanon, and it underscores the influence and importance of an ancient wine group from the region: Phoenicians.
I believe it is a blend of what we call Rhone varieties and Bordeaux varieties. Am I correct about that guys?
- hotwine - 05-10-2003
Larousse says Ch. Musar is composed of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsaut and Syrah, so you be right on, Foodie.
- winoweenie - 05-10-2003
Rite on Foodie. It's also the only vineyard I know of that is revered so much that the combatants in the civil war called a truce each year so the workers could get to the Bekka Valley to harvest the fruit. It also is released only after the 8th year after the vintage.WW
- hotwine - 05-10-2003
Too many wines, so little time...
As Bucko says, wine memories are all bound up in memorable events:
Bordeaux with escargot at La Forgot in Nha Trang in '67 with a locked & loaded .45 in my shoulder holster.
Rheingau at a floating restaurant on the River Main in '74; can't even recall her name.
More Bordeaux (Lafite) at the Fig Tree on San Antonio's River Walk in '75, with Chateaubriand and the young lady who became my wife.
Champagne on the front porch at the ranch...
Life has been really good.