So that's what we did! And now wifey and I are both in your debt (will you take a 4-party, post-dated check as your payment...?).
For anyone who remembers, my original plan was - after much hand wringing and pathetic waffling - to finally unzip my cherished '59 Lafite Rothschild.
I didn't do it. Blame my wife. She, a wine geek since she met me, scoured my collection and then googled every wine tasting site she could find to see if I was making the right choice. Apparently, I was not. "Y'know, by all counts that '59 Lafite has a long way to go still. I think you should open the '78 Mouton. Almost every person I've read who's had it in the last two years has said it won't last much longer.
That's my baby, the brains of the outfit. We stood up the Mouton.
I always seem to get stumped when it comes to a WTN for one of these puppies. They are such rare animals (in my house, anyway), of such exalted status, and such supreme example of wine makers' skills that I feel somewhat idiotic trying to describe them, as if I even could. Bottles like this are just so far above the ordinary herd that anything other than an "oh my GOD!" smacks of hubris.
On the other hand....
1978 Ch. Mouton Rothschild: I'm lucky in that most of the wines in my (small) collection have been IN my collection for 20 - 25 years, so I know they've been kept well for at least that long. This bottle was no exception, having purchased it at a trade tasting shortly after release (along with a '77 that they practically threw at me, which later turned out to be one of the biggest happy surprises of my life when I opened it shortly thereafter...but more on that later).
What threw me just a tad was that within seconds of yanking that 4-foot-long cork the entire room smelled like cedar and violets. The scents just exploded out of that neck. It was so intense that I thought for sure there wouldn't be any left in the bottle to taste - it was all going up in smell! A quick dram told me that wasn't the case though, but it did need to sit for a bit.
And so, following all your advice, wifey and I had a sip every fifteen minutes or so. Following the progression of open-mute-open- WOW! was an experience in itself.
The taste? Well, it was....
Oh my GOD.
What more can one say? It was perfectly balanced, massive yet restrained, refined yet exuberant, brick red right to the rim, and full of all the flavors everyone writes about when describing a wine like this. You could all move your lips along with me on that list I'm sure. They were all there.
I've got to agree with everyone wifey read: the wine does not have a lot of time left on this earth, and may have even been *slightly* on the downhill side (he said through gritted teeth). Still, it was SO much better than 99.4072% of every wine I've ever had, or probably WILL ever have, that that's not a quibble at all. I'd sell body parts for another bottle.
BTW, I made a simple roast boneless leg of lamb and a gnocchi ala romana covered in sauteed wild mushrooms for dinner, which was a terrific match. Lots of umami goodness.
For dessert (and here I really have to thank both David and Hoke for their assistance) we had an '82 Bernkasteler Doctor Auslese that was still holding up remarkably well. I've never had an auslese that old, and it was quite the revelation. After a bit of an odd odor phase it settled down into a quite delectable ever-so-slightly-caramel-tinged beauty. Again, I won't bore with the list of adjectives. I'll just say it went KILLER with the Cassata Siciliana that wifey spent half the day making. (I wish I knew how to post pics - she even candied the fruits for the garnish. It was prettier than my first three girlfriends combined...not that that's saying much *cough*.)
So, that was my birthday and the wines therein. Just two people, two courses, and two wines. But it was insanely enjoyable for all that. I can't think of a better birthday celebration in my life, frankly. In fact, I'd go so far as to say it was 'oh my GOD!'.
And I have many of you to thank, again, for helping it be that way. You guys are the best!
(Oh, before I go: wifey started a tradition of getting me a single piece of Le Creuset cookware every year on my birthday. Different color each time. This year it was a blueberry colored 2-quart round dutch oven. After 11 years together the open pantry she built to house them is a riot of colors - it looks like Walt Disney threw up in there. I love it, and her!)
Thanks for reading my semi-snockered (on Marsala with the leftover cassata) Friday night ramblings!
