Thanks, Dan, for another interesting in-depth article that tickles my sciency bones. My mother went through a phase where she fell for the crystal craze and believed that a pyramid contraption would keep food inside it fresher longer. Up there with copper bracelets and magnetic shoe inserts!
I only drink inexpensive wines that my personal taste buds appreciate. I have several aeration and cooling devices that insert into the neck of a wine bottle - gifts from friends. The cooling ones are fine, practically, but the aeration ones are simply pretty to watch. Having done several blind tastings of wines from $20 to $50 to $100 bottles I know that prices are not the main qualifier for a wine that tastes good (to me).
I may have offended people with my previous suggestion on slowly melting a sugar cube into a bottle of zinfandel or chardonnay that doesn't taste all that good (to me). I know this may offend some people again, especially my winery friends, but many years ago someone told me that I could make a poor-tasting (to me) wine taste better by chewing a small piece of dill pickle first (palate cleansing?). It works great (for me) since I'm a simple scientist and not a wine connoisseur. Forgive me.
The best wine for you is the one you like! That's why writing a wine column tends to be a kind of exercise in guesswork. I realize that each column I write will have people who think it's too esoteric and people who think it's too basic. Since I can't know what each reader likes, it's hard for me to disparage wines that aren't in my wheelhouse and praise wines that are. Over the years I have known. several people who sweetened their red wines and enjoyed them. My solution to a wine that I don't like is to switch to something that I do!
I started out as chemist but ended up a physicist. Your articles about wine are a "blend" of subtlety, complexity, and intricacy much like those in Physics Today trying to explain how quantum computers work.
For storage, make sure the bottles are on their sides to keep the cork wet. I store them with the labels up, stand the bottles up for a day or so before decanting, and keep the labels up when pouring into a decanter to better control the sediment.
Thanks Dan: Last Friday, I removed from my temp-controlled cellar a magnum of a 1991 Heitz "Martha's" for a dinner pary of eight. I had stored it all this time with label up, stood it up one day in advance, and opened it about an hour before serving. Ten minutes before serving, it was slowly decanted, label up. It was served in crystal, Bordeaux-style glasses. It was stunningly balanced, medium-dark and, basically, perfect in every respect. Delicious. For that moment, nothing could have been better than this delicious glass of wine. If people are supposed to be paying $25,000 for a bottle of a young Napa Valley Cab (see S.F. Chronicle by Esther Mobley last week), what would they pay for this magnum?
It is always difficult to estimate the value/cost of any older wine, especially those in a magnum. Prices fluctuate wildly based on all kinds of situations. One of them would be the location of where someone is searching. If you live in Des Moines or Rapid City, the buyer would have fewer options. A company in Los Angeles called Wine Consigners lists the only magnum of that wine available in the United States commercially at $1,375, with 750s averaging about $483 (per Wine Searcher). But since a magnum is worth more than twice the price of a 750, perhaps the Wine Consigners' price is closer to reality. Of course, however, there is the question of provenance and only the seller of the wine knows precisely what that amounts to. In this case, if the wine is a consignment, the question of whether the seller knows precisely what the provenance was is down to the work the consaignee did. I recently purchased eight bottles of some old Barolos (2004) and I trust that the company selling it to me did due diligence in determining provenance. But since I didn't pay very much for the eight bottles, I figure that if at least two or three of them are in great shape, I got a good deal. With a single magnum, you're never quite certain until you pull the cork. Since you had stored the wine yourself., your magnum of 1991 obviously was in much better condition than you were likely to get if you had purchased it from an unknown source.
Hi Dan, and thanks for that. I understand completely. I bought directly from Heitz every year I’ve lived here starting 1972. [I stopped that trend in the 90s when they pulled the vineyard.] They’ve been temp-controlled, and always under my control. [I did the same with Brounstein’s Diamond Creek, and Phelps Insignia & Eisele’s.]
Problem is . . . we two live alone, and don’t entertain as we used to. Thus, I’m sitting on this gr eat collection and don’t know what to do with it. I had written you about this before. And recently, to my displeasure, my wife doesn’t drink “reds” anymore!
For some silly reason, I find it impossible to go into my cellar and decide, “I think I’ll open a ’74 Martha’s tonight to go with my pasta.” It’s impossible for me to do this alone. I have many winemaker friends, however, so I should get creative and have a few “verticals” with bites, and enjoy with friends who would understand the event. Maybe you’d want to attend?
Thanks, Dan, for another interesting in-depth article that tickles my sciency bones. My mother went through a phase where she fell for the crystal craze and believed that a pyramid contraption would keep food inside it fresher longer. Up there with copper bracelets and magnetic shoe inserts!
I only drink inexpensive wines that my personal taste buds appreciate. I have several aeration and cooling devices that insert into the neck of a wine bottle - gifts from friends. The cooling ones are fine, practically, but the aeration ones are simply pretty to watch. Having done several blind tastings of wines from $20 to $50 to $100 bottles I know that prices are not the main qualifier for a wine that tastes good (to me).
I may have offended people with my previous suggestion on slowly melting a sugar cube into a bottle of zinfandel or chardonnay that doesn't taste all that good (to me). I know this may offend some people again, especially my winery friends, but many years ago someone told me that I could make a poor-tasting (to me) wine taste better by chewing a small piece of dill pickle first (palate cleansing?). It works great (for me) since I'm a simple scientist and not a wine connoisseur. Forgive me.
Peter:
The best wine for you is the one you like! That's why writing a wine column tends to be a kind of exercise in guesswork. I realize that each column I write will have people who think it's too esoteric and people who think it's too basic. Since I can't know what each reader likes, it's hard for me to disparage wines that aren't in my wheelhouse and praise wines that are. Over the years I have known. several people who sweetened their red wines and enjoyed them. My solution to a wine that I don't like is to switch to something that I do!
Dan
Thanks Dan,
I started out as chemist but ended up a physicist. Your articles about wine are a "blend" of subtlety, complexity, and intricacy much like those in Physics Today trying to explain how quantum computers work.
For storage, make sure the bottles are on their sides to keep the cork wet. I store them with the labels up, stand the bottles up for a day or so before decanting, and keep the labels up when pouring into a decanter to better control the sediment.
Hi, Tom:
Always a great strategy. I'm working on a com right now about how important this will be into the future with wines that are not filtered.
Dan
Thanks Dan: Last Friday, I removed from my temp-controlled cellar a magnum of a 1991 Heitz "Martha's" for a dinner pary of eight. I had stored it all this time with label up, stood it up one day in advance, and opened it about an hour before serving. Ten minutes before serving, it was slowly decanted, label up. It was served in crystal, Bordeaux-style glasses. It was stunningly balanced, medium-dark and, basically, perfect in every respect. Delicious. For that moment, nothing could have been better than this delicious glass of wine. If people are supposed to be paying $25,000 for a bottle of a young Napa Valley Cab (see S.F. Chronicle by Esther Mobley last week), what would they pay for this magnum?
Jerry:
It is always difficult to estimate the value/cost of any older wine, especially those in a magnum. Prices fluctuate wildly based on all kinds of situations. One of them would be the location of where someone is searching. If you live in Des Moines or Rapid City, the buyer would have fewer options. A company in Los Angeles called Wine Consigners lists the only magnum of that wine available in the United States commercially at $1,375, with 750s averaging about $483 (per Wine Searcher). But since a magnum is worth more than twice the price of a 750, perhaps the Wine Consigners' price is closer to reality. Of course, however, there is the question of provenance and only the seller of the wine knows precisely what that amounts to. In this case, if the wine is a consignment, the question of whether the seller knows precisely what the provenance was is down to the work the consaignee did. I recently purchased eight bottles of some old Barolos (2004) and I trust that the company selling it to me did due diligence in determining provenance. But since I didn't pay very much for the eight bottles, I figure that if at least two or three of them are in great shape, I got a good deal. With a single magnum, you're never quite certain until you pull the cork. Since you had stored the wine yourself., your magnum of 1991 obviously was in much better condition than you were likely to get if you had purchased it from an unknown source.
Dan
Hi Dan, and thanks for that. I understand completely. I bought directly from Heitz every year I’ve lived here starting 1972. [I stopped that trend in the 90s when they pulled the vineyard.] They’ve been temp-controlled, and always under my control. [I did the same with Brounstein’s Diamond Creek, and Phelps Insignia & Eisele’s.]
Problem is . . . we two live alone, and don’t entertain as we used to. Thus, I’m sitting on this gr eat collection and don’t know what to do with it. I had written you about this before. And recently, to my displeasure, my wife doesn’t drink “reds” anymore!
For some silly reason, I find it impossible to go into my cellar and decide, “I think I’ll open a ’74 Martha’s tonight to go with my pasta.” It’s impossible for me to do this alone. I have many winemaker friends, however, so I should get creative and have a few “verticals” with bites, and enjoy with friends who would understand the event. Maybe you’d want to attend?
Anyway, thank you Dan for responding!
Jerry Hyde
St. Helena
Call me at 707-479-9463 so we can chat
And yes I would
Great post. Thank you!