The Official Wine Thread - Page 985

But of course. Maybe even $2 worth of service.

http://www.nytimes.com/1987/01/11/travel/a-new-setting-for-l-ambroisie.html

Piob, you forget that said '10 Vover Temperanillo was 30$ 20 years ago. And I remember reading about a '10 Volver Tempranillo that would have set you back 45$ back in the days.

Fair point.

Then you should just stop buying wine, based on the "logic" I have read here, you have no alternative.

Look, the "holy grail" of most wine drinkers (as opposed to collectors) has long been the "good $10 bottle." There is something magical about that figure. That's what people were talking about 20 years ago when I started and it's still a figure that gets bandied about.

Because of inflation and other factors. many bottles that cost $10 in 1991 cost more today. (That's not to say that there are, overall, fewer $10 bottles; more on that below.) Moreover, if you run that figure through an inflation calculator, you find that what $10 bought in 1991 it takes more than $16 to buy today.

Nonetheless, it is still possible--20 years later--to find drinkable bottles for $10. And even under that. As it happens, those bottle are mostly from France. But leave that aside. The point is, for the same nominal, non-adjusted money, you can still get wine of the same or better quality at the low end. Not from California any more (except a few whites) but from France and to a lesser extent Italy.

So, in reality, those of us who like the low end wines are BETTER OFF today than we were 20 years ago. And not just on price--overall quality has risen too. Whether you want to credit that to improved winemaking or global warming (less vintage variation) is up to you. The upshot is that today there is less risk of bad bottles. Also, a much wider selection as low end Bord that never used to leave France gets imported in greater volume. And, no, I don't have to spend a ton of time searching for passable $10 Bord, I find it everywhere.

We're all screwed on the high end, which has gotten way more expensive and outstripped inflation by a mile but that's not what this conversation is about.

So if you are simply upset because what used to to cost you X now costs you Y, and all other factors you consider irrelevant, you should just leave the field. Buying wine for you in 2012 is just a recipe for heartbreak and frustration.
Edited by Manton - 12/11/12 at 6:35am

in other news, tonight with Manton and coolpapa. Foof provided the Bachelet, but was too ill to attend. Not pictured but enjoyed was a Roulot Meursault.


Edited by gomestar - 12/10/12 at 9:17pm

Leoville was

RP 91 or something, well, hell.

I think he was just torn up about his socks.

I have had so little truly aged Bord but what I've had has been exquisite. While I think I will never be a fan of young Bord I certainly get what's special about the good stuff with 30 or more years on it.

the Leoville was really excellent, and the wine of the night for me as it just edged out the Bachelet. Slightly more depth and integration, and I mean slight.

The Bachelet still has years left on it, and the nose right now is absolutely perfect. Interesting mix of remaining youth + age. In all, really addicting, it's why I love Burgundy. At $80, I'd take that over most anything else on the market (I say "most anything" because there might be something else out there. I have no idea what it may be.)

The Champ was a Delamotte blanc de blanc 2002, and I thought it showed really well. Still very youthful and bright, which is a style that I really love. Perfect with the hamachi crudo.

Her name is Cassandra and I hear that at $80 she's an excellent value in Soho. Partake now, though, she won't age well.

Yep!

Tonight:

too young

It is funny, before I hit enter I thought of writing, "Cue Manton telling me it's too young."

With all the bord talk, I got a bottle - a Bordeaux Superieur, Château Lescalle Cuvée Emmanuel Tessandier 2009. Anybody had this?

I ended up delaying drinking that Guillemot Savigny till last night - poured a glass on Sunday and then stuck the cork back in and left it. It was interesting - not too much of the typical Savigny earth, but I don't know much about this particular vineyard(Les Serpentieres.) It was really bright and crunchy red fruit along the lines of pomegranate or cranberry, with a real delicacy and a surprising amount of backbone for such a light wine. It was very good but it'll be really nice when it puts on a bit of weight with time in bottle, as I suspect it will. Wines are funny like that, sometimes they shed weight with bottle age (young high-quality chards) and sometimes they gain it. It actually tasted a lot like a really good Anderson Valley Pinot - think Knez Cerise, Rhys Bearwallow, or Anthill Farms Abbey Harris - I haven't had Copain's Kaiser.