One of the house favourites: 2017 Brolio. Chianti Classico.
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It has been an odd day here. A few nights back the house was woken by a terrible noise - like an explosion or a tree going over nearby. I went out with the torch to investigate but could see and hear nothing of any consequence. Soon forgotten about, life back to normal.
And then last night I went into the wine cupboard (I can’t really call it a cellar as it’s mostly above ground, but it’s an inner room and much the coolest room in the house, so it’s ideal for keeping wine) and opened the door to find a scene that would make you weep. Along one wall is an old French galvanised steel wine rack that takes a couple of hundred bottles or thereabouts, except this time it wasn’t against the wall any more, it was bent over and had shed an alarming number of bottles, with more hanging precariously, ready to drop onto the concrete floor at the slightest provocation. Yes, I probably did let out a muffled expletive or two…
So, today I have set about trying to clean things up, but it has taken hours just to remove the bottles from the rack, as any movement could set the whole lot crashing to the floor. It has been painstaking work, somewhat akin to bomb disposal I would imagine, but with the risk of blowing up replaced by the risk of watching so much lovely wine cascade into oblivion.
And now it’s all off the rack and the bottles cleaned off as best I could manage - lots of wine stained labels, alas - and the glass swept up. The losses; A couple of bottles of Ch. Senejac, a bottle of Beaucastel and another Perrin Chateauneuf Du Pape, a bottle of Bollinger RD that seemed to smash into the tiniest finest slivers of glass (I guess it must have exploded), and a bottle of Ramon Bilbao Rioja Gran Reserva. Apart from that, there were three more bottles, one an every day Chilean Cabernet (Errazuriz), and a couple more I can’t now recall but not such a great loss. I managed to catch a magnum of Saransot Dupre as it hung precariously then fell as I tried to remove another bottle nearby - phew!
The good news though is that I found a half case of Wynn’s Coonawarra Cabernet with three bottles of 1999 and three of 2001, and also I found I still had one bottle left of a case of 1986 Lynch Bages, which I thought I had finished a few years back. Unfortunately one of a pair of bottles of 1960 Taylor’s Port had been slowing seeping away through the break down of its cork and seal, so that’s a loss as well.
Task for next week; fix the rack properly (all the bolts had loosened off over the years ) and get the bottles back in, but maybe reward myself with opening something nice over shepherd’s pie tonight…
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Disaster just about averted. I feel for your loss.
I like those style of racks and nearly used them in my cellar as a friend had moved house and had some to spare. His original cellar was a cave that he had purpose built next to his garage on a flood plain (hence it being above ground - it had it own ventilation and humidity control system - an amazing place).
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Supper tonight was yesterday’s lasagna with some more Guigal, this time a 2012. The label was again showing signs of abuse.
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Richard, you have my deepest sympathies. I’m glad you were able to save the remaining bottles and eventhough I know you may not be able to replace your loses, the most important thing is that you are safe and free from harm: you are irreplaceable after all. In kindness, DA.
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Opened the 1997 last night but definitely not the best bottle on the planet sadly. Nowhere near as good as previous bottles but such is the vinous lottery. Glad yours was better @Eoink !
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After the disappointment of the 97 Langoa Barton I took a chance on the 94 Barbacarlo and it was lovely. It has a slight spritz which I understand is not unusual but can seem like a fault but is actually ok. I enjoyed with cold beef and was really good!
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This afternoon sitting in the in-laws garden for home made burgers, home made coleslaw, home made ketchup and home made pickled red onions with salad and roasted potatoes
2016 Rosso Di Montalcino.
.
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We had a special night, last night, so I opened this:
For a 39 year old wine from a decent but not a fantastic year, this was surprisingly on good form. Absolutely no tinge of brown anywhere, vibrant red color, though on the clear side. Still very good fruit, without being dense, still some tannin in there and tertiary flavors coming through. For a big wine, the only thing that came a bit short was the finish. I’ve still got a couple of bottles of this - I wonder if they’ll come out to be this good, or if this one was a fluke.
Cheers!
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I feel for you - in the scheme of things not the worst but in wine terms a disaster! ATB
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I feel your loss. Managed to badly stacked a case on top f some others the other week and resulting crash of the very unbalanced case cost me a lovely bottle of Lukas van Loggerenberg rose. My loss nowhere near yours but glad you recovered the mag and the Coonawarra. After lockdown we have to share great bottles listening to sublime music on Naim kit
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I liked the ‘97s, but as with most Bordeaux years ending in 7 they were light early drinkers. I drank most of mine before I left London in 2008, I remember Pichon Baron being lovely after 8-10 years, although I’m sure it would still be nice I suspect it wouldn’t have improved.
Tonight’s tipple was another bottle of the Léoville 2008, very similar to the two I commented on recently. It’s a stunning wine, in its early drinking window with 15+ years left. 2008 is a very fine vintage in my experience, not as great as the two that followed it, but really superb wines from the left bank (I don’t drink much right bank, so can’t comment on that side). They are starting to drink wonderfully now, and as top Bordeaux go they are sensibly priced, they missed the huge price hike of the ‘09/‘10s.
Admission, when my friend and I drank the Poyferré on Thursday we had both skipped dinner, so all sense of self preservation went out of the window and she opened a second, so as a gentleman I did the same, and suddenly we’d somehow drunk 2 bottles each. Friday was a very quiet day here. We’d decided we’d stay off wine for a few days after that, tonight we had a Zoom call with a very close mutual friend organised, 20 minutes before the call Kell messaged me saying “Shall we have a glass of wine?” with a photo of a bottle of Léoville. And the rest was history.
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Ouch Richard, what a nightmare. Lucky you managed to save most of it, some sad losses there. Hopefully you’ll enjoy the ’86 Lunch Bags as a special treat some day soon, with the tannin of the vintage I reckon an hour or 2 of air and you’ll have a special if possibly slightly closed great wine.
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Seems a ( bad) movie . 
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The Lynch Bages has been one of the most frustrating wines. I think at least 6 bottles were drunk way before they were anywhere near approachable, and only the last 3 or 4 have been in a any way showing what the potential might be. I think at bottle number 8 I was worried that the tannin might just be so dense and prevalent that it would outlive everything else. However, I persevered with the great Gruaud Larose 1975 and that did eventually come good (and how!), and with the last bottle I drank at my 50th things were definitely looking up, so hopefully this last bottle will make it all worthwhile!
Compare this '86 to the '70 though which was just sublime all the way through!
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Haut Brion is always special no matter the vintage. The only bottle I have left of any Haut Brion is the 1967, possibly one of the worst vintages on record, but a special year for me, and by all accounts HB was the wine of the vintage. For all that, I’ve not dared open it, and I probably never will…
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Nothing special but it’s not bad and I have definitely had worse, picked up on the way back from the park after exercising my son so limited for choice. Drinking whilst listening to Cowboy Junkies on cans.
!
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Us living in the Pfalz most of the year has major advantages. 
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