It is so sad when you wait too long

When the 1997 Badia Passignano was released we bought a case. It is lovely wine though a bit pricey in the world of Chianti.

We opened our last bottle on the weekend and found that it has peaked and started a slow decline. The once striking aroma of black cherry has faded. There is little in the way of structure. It is still a nice wine, but not stunning and in the mouth it is soft instead of powerful.


I still have a couple of 98s --anyone opened one recently.

When the 1997 Badia Passignano was released we bought a case. It is lovely wine though a bit pricey in the world of Chianti.

We opened our last bottle on the weekend and found that it has peaked and started a slow decline. The once striking aroma of black cherry has faded. There is little in the way of structure. It is still a nice wine, but not stunning and in the mouth it is soft instead of powerful.


I still have a couple of 98s --anyone opened one recently.

Ruth,

I think what you say about little in the way of structure is too true with so many of the 97s. I've not really cared for the vintage - though I'll admit they were fun to drink young. I last had a taste of the 98 a year ago. To my tastes it was better structured than the 97 but not one to be kept too much longer. I'd drink one now to see how it is to your tastes.

-Otto-

Ruth,

I'm not sure that you can learn to appreciate and enjoy the knowledge that you get from discovering an untoward dynamic such as phase of evolution of your 1997 Badia Passignano. It's probably a matter of a drinker's personality whether to veer off from hedonism, but just be aware that there are geeks like moi who appreciate the good, bad and other of wine discovery almost equally.

My wife and I had savored the thought of drinking an ’88 Mouton, but when we opened it this year discovered a kind of enological progeria had occurred. If we had consumed it about five years ago, it might have been a hedonistic treat; but the introduction to that untoward dynamic was more lasting. Upon learning from this forum that my ’88 Mouton was not unique, the discovery created a personal integration with ageless wine folklore: whether Mouton is indeed worthy of First Growth status. Cool!…to a geek.

Covert

It's probably a matter of a drinker's personality whether to veer off from hedonism, but just be aware that there are geeks like moi who appreciate the good, bad and other of wine discovery almost equally.

Well said, Covert. I'm like this too. Interestingly, I never much veered into hedonism in the first place, which has often resulted in many a perplexed reaction to some of my wine views over the years ...

I never much veered into hedonism in the first place

I know it and was actually thinking about your views when I wrote what I said.

I'm sure you don't read 'Adirondack Life', but there was an interesting article in the latest edition about a new genre of winemakers along the western shore of Lake Champlain working with (and loving) rustic hybrids.
One of their wines will have to be named "Redskin."

If you lived in Montreal you would probably be more connected. I run into more Canadians in the mountains than Americans, and they are all talking French. Part of the charm.

Better to have guessed and lost, than never to have guessed at all.

I don't think of the Badia as a particularily hedonistic wine, even when young.

If it were aging with grace and beauty I would relish the changes, but it is just fading.

I hadn't considered the point about discovery and that is a good thought--so I am less sad.

Ruth

I don't think of the Badia as a particularily hedonistic wine, even when young.

I think the modern usage of the term has strayed a little from its original meaning. It just means the idea that happiness and pleasure are the chief good. For most people the word connotes luxuriousness, I guess, whereas traditionally a rustic hybrid could be considered hedonistic if it bestowed happiness and pleasure without a bunch of cerebral inquiry or reflection.

I also think that a hedonistic approach to wine might be short lived compared with a more intellectual approach. How many times do young men fall head-over-heals for some vacuously voluptuous young babe, just to quickly find her boring and go on to select a woman they can talk to and grow old with? Not enough of them, probably.

I'm sure you don't read 'Adirondack Life', but there was an interesting article in the latest edition about a new genre of winemakers along the western shore of Lake Champlain working with (and loving) rustic hybrids.
One of their wines will have to be named "Redskin."

You know, Covert, that is exactly the sort of thing that I love. I haven't read Adirondack Life up to now, but that issue sure makes me want to get a copy.

Do you know what issue it was?

Do you know what issue it was?

It's at camp, but I am heading up there tomorrow evening for a long weekend. I’ll check out the date and let you know it. If you can not easily locate one, I'll pick up another copy. Then you can just email me your address and I will send it “over” to you. Notice that I did not say "up."

While having lunch today I was reading another magazine article about the park and saw still another astounding statistic. Not only is the park bigger than the State of Connecticut, which I have mentioned on this forum before, but it also contains 85% of all the wilderness land left in the eastern half of the United States!

I have fantasized about starting a winery in the park, but as the Adirondack Life article points out, you need 8 to 10 years from inception to market, mostly related to maturing the vines enough; and I don't have many more years than that left on the vibrant side of the mountain. But you can count on me making a couple of pilgrimages to the wineries that do get set up. A couple of them have produced wine already.