My first taste of good wine

[jogoode]

Last weekend I had my first taste of what I thought was really great wine. A friend brought a bottle of 1997 Clos de Truffiers to a dinner party, and I had my first sip knowing only that it was supposed to be a good bottle. I've heard that before. Typically after I try one of these "good" bottles, I smile and nod and mumble something stupid, like "Mmm, that's good." This time was different. I was speechless at first, but then I started talking the ears off of whoever was around me. This wine was so fucking good! But I can't really explain why. There were tannins, but they didn't make my lips pucker. It had this taste that I can only describe as "big" and "deep". I think I've always assumed that the term "big wine" just meant lip-puckering. When I got home I started thinking about the few articles I'd read about wine -- actually, when I got home I passed out because of the enormous amount of food and wine I'd just had -- and all my thoughts about the wine I'd just drank dissolved into cliche, like "the wine was different with each sip".

I couldn't find a thread on this, so please excuse me if one already exists, but do you remember the first time you tried wine that blew you away? Can you describe how it was different than what you'd previously considered great?

(The wine was paired, by the way, with a dish of lentils and braised short ribs, which were so tender that I couldn't help but smile when I poked them with my fork.)

[winegeek]

About 6-7 years ago I had the sommelier at my restaurant make a reservation for me at a place that has one of the best french wine cellars in the country. I was willing to spend @ $100. I wanted to have a good bottle of Burgundy. I was just getting into pinot noir but had not "experienced a truly great one yet. At the restaurant, the owner came over and presented me with a bottle of Clos de La Roche Grand Cru 84 vintage from Domaine Armand Rousseau. While I did not know much about Burgundy's, I did know that 84 was a really good year and was somewhat surprised that I could get that for $100. I scanned the wine list and was shocked to see it on the list for $265!! Ouch!! I tried the wine and absolutely melted. It was unlike anything I had ever had before. I can not even begin to describe it. What made the evening even more memorable was that when I received the bill I was only charged $110. When I asked the owner why, He replied that he wanted me to expereience a truly great bottle of wine and that was his pick. I will never forget that night.

[docsconz]

Great story, winegeek.

I have been fortunate enough to have had more than my share of good to great wines over the years, but three experiences stand out in my memory as defining ones. One was during a grand tasting of white Burgundies put together by Terry Robards in Lake Placid, N.Y. in the early 90's. He had an array of chardonnays from across the terroir - 24 in all- that we tasted blind. I was pleased that I nailed the 1990 Jacques Prieur Montrachet as my favorite. It had such depth and minerally soul. It was astounding. This tasting was also my first of Chablis. At the time I didn't really care for them, although subsequntly I found them a taste to return to more and more.

Another seminal experience was also having dinner at a friend's house in the mid-90's. I was not very experience with red Burgundies and he served a Richebourg from Gros Freres (the vintage escapes my memory but I want to say late 80's) with a roasted salmon with sesame glaze that knocked my socks off.

The common ingredient of both experiences (besides the fact that both included Burgundies) was that the wines were distinctive and complex. By this time I had already been drinking good wine on a fairly regular basis. These were unlike anything I'd ever had before. I find that a truly great wine doesn't get tired or tiring over the course of an evening if the bottle even manages to last that long. I too have found that very same Clois de Truffieres to be like that.

My first experience though was perhaps the most important in that it really opened up my mind to the possibilities of wine. It took place while in Medical School in the mid 80's at a dinner at the home of one of my Professors. He poured a St. Emilion (I don't remember the vintage or producer) that was the first red wine that I found truly compelling. In addition he poured a vintage port that also blew me away. It was at that point that I felt wine was something worth discovering.