What a nose!

I discovered an alternative, if slightly less gratifying, way to enjoy my wines today. While straightening up in my basement I accidentally knocked over and broke a bottle of 2006 Williams Selyem Sonoma Coast Pinot that I had stood up in anticipation of imminent enjoyment. After pouring a tablespoon or so of the nectar that remained in part of the bottle into my mouth, I sopped the precious liquid off the concrete floor with paper towels and continued my task. As I went up and down the stairs over the next hour or so, each time I would descend the stairs a heavenly pinot aroma would fill my nostrils! Don't know that I'd recommend this technique, but I must say that I really enjoyed and appreciated the nose on this bottle!

[David M. Bueker]

Sad but true. I still remember how vibrant the aroma was after I accidentally smashed a bottle in my cellar.

I remember dropping a 5-gallon carboy on the basement floor about 20 years ago.

1978 Ch Margaux, bottle broken by movers when my wife and I moved out of NYC close to 30 yrs ago, no clue how much ,if at all, the subsequent tenants enjoyed/appreciated the aroma but it was glorious

1985 Verset Cornas, broken in transit when we moved here in '90. Nothing left but the smell when it got here. I feel your pain, one and all.

Mark Lipton

A 1997 Gaja Sorí San Lorenzo, one of the most fabulous barbareschi I have ever had, broken on the cellar floor of my mother-in-law´s basement. She still reminds me from time to time: "Do you remember when that happened? Wow, did it smell nice!"

Greetings from Sweden / Fredrik L

Tom, you reminded me that many years ago at Calvert-Woodley in DC, one of the merchandisers dropped a bottle of wine and the aroma was wonderful - I actually thanked the guy!

Now that I work in a wine shop, I'm happy to say broken bottles are pretty rare. We did have some old shopping carts, though, and when filled with wine, the back would be forced over a little plastic ridge and many bottles would hit the floor - what a great smell. All those carts have been replaced, BTW.

I've never dropped a bottle in the cellar - at least not yet.

I discovered an alternative, if slightly less gratifying, way to enjoy my wines today. While straightening up in my basement I accidentally knocked over and broke a bottle of 2006 Williams Selyem Sonoma Coast Pinot that I had stood up in anticipation of imminent enjoyment. After pouring a tablespoon or so of the nectar that remained in part of the bottle into my mouth, I sopped the precious liquid off the concrete floor with paper towels and continued my task. As I went up and down the stairs over the next hour or so, each time I would descend the stairs a heavenly pinot aroma would fill my nostrils! Don't know that I'd recommend this technique, but I must say that I really enjoyed and appreciated the nose on this bottle!

Man....that is sick, Tom. But I've done that more than once myself. Glass shards be damned.
Tom

I discovered an alternative, if slightly less gratifying, way to enjoy my wines today. While straightening up in my basement I accidentally knocked over and broke a bottle of 2006 Williams Selyem Sonoma Coast Pinot that I had stood up in anticipation of imminent enjoyment. After pouring a tablespoon or so of the nectar that remained in part of the bottle into my mouth, I sopped the precious liquid off the concrete floor with paper towels and continued my task. As I went up and down the stairs over the next hour or so, each time I would descend the stairs a heavenly pinot aroma would fill my nostrils! Don't know that I'd recommend this technique, but I must say that I really enjoyed and appreciated the nose on this bottle!

Man....that is sick, Tom. But I've done that more than once myself. Glass shards be damned.
Tom

Not my first time either Tom. If my wife had seen me doing that she would have gone berserk...but being a logical and not entirely risk adverse male, I fleetingly weighed the options, and as you say..."glass shards be damned"!

I had one bottle tumble out of the wine cooler when the stacking was a bit less stable than I thought. I don't remember now what bottle it was but not one of my most precious.

I feel your pain, Tom. A few years ago I knocked a bootle of 1985 Fonseca VP onto the garage floor while double decanting. The thing went off like a port bomb! To make matters worse I knocked over my taste pour in the act of trying to catch the bottle. I remember standing there staring in utter disbelief for a good three minutes.

Had the same experience here with a Felton Road Block 3 some years ago. I can still recall the heavenly Pinot smell, and also the agony I felt...
/A