"Best" wine ever drunk.

[jaybee]

Mine was a 1961 Cheval Blanc, drunk some time in 1988.  Second was a Clos de Tart 1969 from Momesin (sp?), drunk last year.  I can still vividly conjur up the tastes of both.

[Beachfan]

1990 Leroy Romanee St. Vivant.  

1982 Mouton Rothchild the first time (the second time it was disappointing, haven't figured out why).

[ajay]

gentlemen,

Could you please elaborate a bit on these wines.  They sound interesting, and though I'm unlikely to ever acquire any of the bottles mentioned thus far, I would like to know more--if only so I can live, or more accuratley drink, vicariously through your tasting notes.

 

[mogsob]

A 1970 Lafite.  Sadly, I was 21 at the time and my knowledge of wine was limited, at best.  The only thing I recall was that it was just impossibly long and very structured.  I do not, however, remember the flavors.  

The best wine I had in recent memory was a 1990 Suduiraut.  Also long and structured, with layers of honey and peach.

[robert brown]

Lest I bring up the old bugaboo of the external or psychological factors of the moment having an impact on the degree to which one enjoys a bottle of wine, I would have to say that two of the most memorable wine-drinking experiences I have ever had were in restaurants being only with my wife. The first was nearly ten ago at the old Harald's on Route 9 between Danbury and Wappinger's Falls. We drank a 1983 Clos de la Roche from Hubert Lignier. The second, around six years ago, was at the Bastide de Moustiers where the bottle in question was a 1985 Clos Vougeot from Meo-Camuzet. While I have had "better" wines now and again, both of these wines remain indelible in my head. Both had the structure, chewiness and intense red fruit you only find in the best Cote de Nuits wines and beg the question of how can you blow big money on any other wine outside that miniscule part of the world.

[bigbear]

It was a bottle of 1975 Chateau d'Yquem that I remember the most. We shared it with my grandmother on one of her last birthdays.

[Tonyfinch]

For me external factors always play a part. As a student I worked for two successive harvests on the vendage at Chateau Pavie in St. Emilion. It was a wonderful experience (for the young and the fit) and I was given a bottle of the 1970 which I drank in about '95 and which brought back all the heady aspects of those youthful years.

[Ron Johnson]

I can't wait for Steve Plotnicki (aka Tenacious P) to weigh in on this one.  He will blow us all out of the water.  It will either be Bordeaux, Rhone, or Burg.  I am guessing it will be one of those rare and perfect red Burgs.

Anyway, for my measly addition I offer:

1990 Ogier Cote Rotie (Brune) My favorite winemaker in the world.

1996 Clos De Lambrays

1988? Gaja Barbaresco

[Tonyfinch]

In 1978 a colleague and I took some emotionally disturbed children on a caravan holiday in Kent, After an exhausting day we finallty got them settled down to sleep whereupon he pulled out a bottle of 1976 Brouilly from Combillaty -a beaujolais cru which he'd picked up at the local Tescos-and poured it into two tumblers.

We drank the first tumbler in silence,then looked at each other and went "Wow!" This wine tasted like silken nectar and after finishing the bottle we felt the day had begun again. Objectively it may not count as a great wine but it was a long time before I enjoyed a bottle of wine so much again.

The 1981 Grange ,drunk in 1999,was the essence of Australian Shiraz-what all the others are aspiring to.

[pirate]

In 1971 I stopped at the Cote D'or in Saulieu and had a bottle of 1947 Romanee St Vivant  Quatre Journeaux Louis Latour. I had been drinking Beaujolais primarily although I had drunk an excellent 1953 Lafite-Rothschild prior to that. It was a revelation. About two weeks I returned and orderered a 1959 Romanee-Conti. The chef 's (Francois Minot) spoke English and asked what I wanted for dinner. Although not on the menu I said only a chateaubriand bearnaise could do justice to the wine. I started with a gratin d'homard. That bottle was so harmonious flavorful  with an aftertaste that kept coming back at you. It became the wine against which I measure all others. For the first time I realized  what the French meant by "race". In any case I never bought a Bordeaux again and built up a Burgundy cellar. Every bottle of a case of 1964 Musigny  de Vogue V.V. was superb. A case of Leroy Musigny 1978 was distinctly inferior Every bottle the 1966 vintage was only a shade behind. 3 bottles of 1966 Romanee-Conti were the best overall R.-C. !969 R.-C. was disappointing. A case of Ponsot 1966 Clos de la Roche V.V. was superb.

Most recently visiting Baden-Wurtemburg and Alsace I purchased a bottle in a wineshop in Freiburg to take home. I drank it recently. It was a gold medal winner, Sasbacher Lutzelberg Auslese Spatburgunder 1997 bottled by the wine cooperative. It was excellent and impossible to purchase in the USA.

[jaybee]

Pirate, you had my eyes rolling when I read your post.  I recalled a 1959 Richebourg (DRC) I ordered in 1968 at the Blue Fox Restaurant in San Fancisco.  It was my first expense- account client dinner.  The wine was so rich in fruit, layered with taste and I recall a chalky finish.  A thick steak accompanied the bottle.  Thanks for bringing that one back to me.  I envy you your cellar.  Do you have any left? My old Burgundies are all drunk up now except for 1969 Bonne Mares and a bottle of the '69 Clos de Tart.

[Steve Plotnicki]

How can you pick just one wine? I think every region has it's candidates. But if I have to I  will say that the greatest bottle of wine I ever had was a 1985 DRC Montrachet. It was the single most powerful bottle of wine I ever had including red wines. The finish must have gone on for 90 seconds. But here is a list of worthy runners-up.

For mature white wines, 1985 Niellon Chevalier-Montrachet is in the category of ethereal. 1983 Trimbach Clos St. Hune is amazing as well. I never had the '76 but I hear it's otherworldly. For young white wines, 1996 Coche-Dury Meursault Perrieres (at Jardin des Sens in Montpelier) and 1996 Niellon Chevalier-Montrachet (twice at La Palme d'Or in Cannes and once at the late Sono in NYC) are both beyond belief and in the years 2010-2015 will be amazing. I'm not sure what the Niellon is selling for but the Coche-Dury is already selling for almost $600 a bottle.

Red wines are tougher because there is more variety. Probably the two best bottles of mature Bordeaux I ever had were 1955 La Mission Haut Brion and 1961 Latour. For young Bordeaux 1990 Cheval Blanc and Latour are both astonishing bottles. 1978 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Monfortino and 1982 Gaja Barbaresco Sori Tilden are the best Piemontese. 1983 Guigal La Landonne and 1989 Rayas Chateauneuf du Pape from the Rhone (people like the '90 Rayas better but I think the '89 is among the best balanced wines ever made). And highly underrated are 1958 Marquis de Riscal and 1954 Cune Vina Real Gran Reserva both phenomenal wines from Rioja. In California, 1985 Stag's Leap Cask 23 is a phenomenol wine. And 1982 Grange is the best Australian  for me with 1981 a close runner-up. Burgundy is harder because the wines are less obvious. But the trio of 1964, 1978 and 1990 La Tache probably trump all. But if one excludes ridiculous wines like La Tache, I would probably say 1964 DRC Grands Echezeaux, 1969 Clair-Dau Bonnes Mares and 1985 Ponsot Griottes-Chambertin all rock.

My god this post has made me thirsty. Fortunately I'm having a wino dinner with friends tomorrow who will bring interesting bottles to dinner.

[Tonyfinch]

Up in the Barrio Alto district of Lisbon,near the Fado bars,is the Lisbon branch of the Port Wine Institute. This is my favourite bar in Europe.Hard to find behind heavy oak doors and a small plaque sign,it is cool and dark,with dimly lit alcoves and comfortable leather sofas and chairs and dark wood furniture.

There is no music,no food and no drinks...apart from port,of which there is a fantastic range by the glass.Obviously if you're no port lover this place isn't for you. If you are ....welcome to vinous paradise.

I've spent many happy hours in this place (though not since 1995 so I hope its not changed) and drank many fine glasses of port.However a glass of 1945 Grahams,followed by Fonseca 63 drunk in 1992 had me thinking this might not be such a bad place to spend eternity-always assuming various outside caterers could be brought in to cook-. Truly stunning wines

[jaybee]

Steve Plotnicki: How can you pick just one wine? ...But here is a list of worthy runners-up.

I knew I could count on you, Steve, for a great reply.

[Ron Johnson]

Told you that Plotnicki would kick all of our asses.  Some people dream of breaking into Fort Knox, but for me it is Steve's cellar.

[Wilfrid]

Tony, I too have happy memoriees of that Port institute.  I thought it was worth adding that, contrary to what you might expect, even the very old vintages are very affordable.

[Steve Plotnicki]

Johnson - While I've been fortunate enough to taste a few good bottles in my day, my list pales compared to the types of lists you see from people who have been into wine for a long time. I mean there was the day when bottles from the 20's and 40's were  affordable compared to what they cost now. Lucky be the person whose father left them magnums of '28's, 45's and 47's, or the person who started collecting in the 70's and is sitting on a treasure trove that they paid peanuts for.

[jaybee]

or the person who started collecting in the 70's and is sitting on a treasure trove that they paid peanuts for

How true.  I wish I'd bought three times as much. I kept a cellar book from the start of my laying down wine (1968).  It is hard to believe when I look at the prices.  First growth Bordeauxs average $60-120 per case.  Premier Grand Crus were $120-240 per case.  Wines like Gloria and Lannesan were about $40-60 per case.  I bought '66 Haut Brion on "special" from the old Surrey wine w

shop on Madison for $8.   Every time we open one of these guys for dinner, we say, "not bad for an $8 bottle."  Oh well, there was a time Microsoft stock could be bought for $10 a share too.

[John Whiting]

My own favorite, for both intrinsic and extrinsic reasons, has to be a '92 Chateau d'Yquem which I was able to supply -- through the generosity of a friend -- for a small celebratory dinner given in honor of two of my favorite food writers, John and Karen Hess, who presented the world with  _The Taste of America_, now out again in a U of I reprint.

And here is an answer from Philippe de Rothschild, the man who rescued Mouton-Rothschild in 1926 by "inventing" (i.e., normalizing) chateau bottling. This is from his autobiography, _Milady Vine_, written in 1984 with the help of Joan Littlewood.

"To tell the truth and shame the devil for once, the best wine I ever tasted was in a snow-bound chalet in the Pyranees in a large double bed in a room with a blazing log fire. Yes, there was a pretty girl beside me. Oh, sweet mystery of life, of wine, of time. I don't remember the name of the wine."

[Wilfrid]

Someone once showed me around their collection and produced some 19th century clarets for my inspection - pre-phylloxera, I think.  I got quite excited when he said, "Shall we open something?", but of course he then reached for a modest recent vintage.

Going back that far, I wonder if the wines would be potable in any case?

[jaybee]

I met a woman, Leslie Forbes, at a vintage fesitval in Jerez.  She was a freelance writer (now a mystery writer) who had persuaded a publication to commision her to write a series about vintage festivals.  She told me after this one, she was off to Paris to cover the vintage in Champagne as the guest of Moet.  I met her in Paris for breakfast.  She was put up in a suite in the Crillon with a balcony overlooking the Place de la Concorde.  The previous evening she had attended a dinner at Chateau Petrus, at which a vertical tasting of such was provided starting with the pre-phyloxeria vintages.  I had met someone who really got it right!

[jaybee]

To tell the truth and shame the devil for once, the best wine I ever tasted was in a snow-bound chalet in the Pyranees in a large double bed in a room with a blazing log fire. Yes, there was a pretty girl beside me. Oh, sweet mystery of life, of wine, of time. I don't remember the name of the wine."

Thank you John for that reminder of the things that really matter.

[glenn]

Our restaurant carries some wines from Yugoslavia that come from small vineyards [the owner has rights to the majority of the harvest].  Just curious what people's thoughts are of Yugoslav wines.  I am a complete novice, but I do know what I like, and I love the sauvignon blanc... it's called Simcic (pronounced Simchich).  Anyone hear of it?

[Tonyfinch]

I think Evelyn Waugh understood what really matters:

"I forget the name of the place.I forget the name of the girl. But the wine.....ah,the wine was Chambertin."

[Ron Johnson]

Glenn, as I am sure you are aware, there really isn't a Yugoslavia anymore, not in the sense that it once was, but I am aware of a thriving wine industry in Slovenia.