Big props to Uncle Verne!!!!

[Botafogo]

The Weenie was in this morning picking up his order and shooting the breeze and just happened to "remember" that he had an "extra, kind of interesting bottle" in the car...

So, he brings in a 1982 Chateau Chambert-Marbuzet Sainte Estephe and gives some story about it being left over from a dinner last night and opens it for his morning constitutional. It is AMAZING: fragrantly scented with violets, aged beef, dried stone fruits, fecund soil, your high school sweetheart's special love musk and more. It is silky and inviting and downright flirtatious in the mouth and we LOVE IT.

Being shit stirrers by nature, we taunt vendors with it all day, making them smell it and take a sip and telling them "now THAT is WINE" and pronouncing their fancy, new world extract-o-bombs to be excellent (but expensive, fruit compote. We let a lovely young jazz singer taste a little and she says, "someone should write a song about that: it is epic love poetry..."

Verne and I had previously had a conversation about how the definition of a great wine is that you can give some to someone who doesn't know squat (or care) about wine and they would immediately say "WOW! I need to drink more of that stuff, maybe I should start learning about wine". This made the case in spades...

Ten days to Rio, Roberto

[Thomas]

Roberto, 2 things I learned about twenty years ago: people without training can pick out a wine that has flaws; people with no training can tell you when a wine has merit.

What they need in order to do it is a comparison.

[wondersofwine]

I have my biases in wine (don't like them too tannic or too high in alcohol; prefer Grenache and certain other grapes in blends, not by themselves; like the wood integrated not overwhelming, etc.). But I am pleased that before I knew about Premier Crus and Grand Crus of Burgundy, I recognized a Montrachet as an outstanding wine and it became something of a standard for me in judging white Burgundies. Same thing with Ridge Lytton Spring Zinfandel. With some wines if they've got it, they've just got it.

[winoweenie]

Twere' a good drink. Agree wholeheartedly with Foodskie & WOW. I have a close freind and business associate in San Diego that was a single-malt drinker. Took he and a manager to lunch and "Happened " to have a bottle of 90 Ch Montelena. Both said "Don't waste that wine on us if it's a good bottle " and my reply was, " Try It !" Since then both have been stuffing their palates with as many bottles of juice as they possibly can and have both developed fairly discerning tastes. My Buddy went to France for 2 weeks last month and mentioned he had the best wine he'd ever experienced. It was an 82 Margaux so it was no surprise. At dinner with CB before putting her on the flight back to Phoenix Thurs nite we were joined by this feller and his MUCH prettier half (Know What I Mean Roberto?) Served two wines blind and derned if he didn't pick out the 82 Margaux, but only after some serious tasting as the other bottle was an 83 Margaux. Impressive for a newbie who has only had the wine 3 times previously and under ideal conditions. Just proves greatness is something ANYONE can recognize. WW [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/biggrin.gif[/img]