Vivid Wine Memories

In the Chat Room earlier today the subject of memory, and in particular wine memory came up.

One of my most vivid memories is tasting 1947 Marc Bredif Vouvray on the occasion of someone's 50th birthday in 1997.
I can still see the deep golden colour and I can still taste the almost syruppy flavours of apricot jam with the acidity still hanging in there.
An amazing experience for the first time I had tasted a wine that old.

Do you have a vivid wine memory?

Almost the same for me, but 60th - 1953, Vouvray, Domaine Allias, opened in March 2013. The bottle purchased at the winery for 30 € in 2006, according to the proprietor it was one of the best vintages in Vouvray that time. The wine was perfectly drinkable but in its particular way.
One bottle still left in my cellar, maybe for 70th...?

[David M. Bueker]

A bottle of 1992 Arrowood Merlot. Out to dinner with friends, and the first time I really took control of a wine list. Ended up with just a silken elixir that turned me fro ma wine drinker to a wine fanatic.

Yes...it was a Merlot...I am so ashamed.

Vivid wine memories litter my path to winegeekdom.

1974 Concannon Sauvignon Blanc - the first quality white wine I'd ever tried
1978 Dehlinger Zinfandel - layers of complexity => wine can be complex!!
1974 Heitz Martha's Vineyard - need I say more?
1985 René Dauvissat Chablis 'Les Preuses' - white wine can be profound and complex!
1978 Ch. de la Gardine Chateauneuf-du-Pape - put France on the map for my CA-educated palate
1990 Ridge Geyserville - filled an entire room with the scent of fresh raspberries when opened
1999 Marcel Lapierre Morgon - changed by appreciation for Gamay and, more generally, for nuance and balance in red wine
1990 Ch. Angelus - a monumental and profound St. Emilion
1988 Dujac Clos de la Roche - my personal Burgundy epiphany, all about perfume and tertiary aromas
1945 Huet Le Haut Lieu Moelleux - color, smell, history all collude to make an unforgettable experience

Mark Lipton

Vivid wine memories litter my path to winegeekdom.

1974 Concannon Sauvignon Blanc - the first quality white wine I'd ever tried
1978 Dehlinger Zinfandel - layers of complexity => wine can be complex!!
1974 Heitz Martha's Vineyard - need I say more?
1985 René Dauvissat Chablis 'Les Preuses' - white wine can be profound and complex!
1978 Ch. de la Gardine Chateauneuf-du-Pape - put France on the map for my CA-educated palate
1990 Ridge Geyserville - filled an entire room with the scent of fresh raspberries when opened
1999 Marcel Lapierre Morgon - changed by appreciation for Gamay and, more generally, for nuance and balance in red wine
1990 Ch. Angelus - a monumental and profound St. Emilion
1988 Dujac Clos de la Roche - my personal Burgundy epiphany, all about perfume and tertiary aromas
1945 Huet Le Haut Lieu Moelleux - color, smell, history all collude to make an unforgettable experience

Mark Lipton

Sauvignon Blanc stands out for me too. Although it was 1988 Cloudy Bay - tasted in October 1988. First quality white I every tried, in fact the first quality wine I ever tried. The start of my and Neil''s journey to winegeekdom.

A bottle of 1992 Arrowood Merlot. Out to dinner with friends, and the first time I really took control of a wine list. Ended up with just a silken elixir that turned me fro ma wine drinker to a wine fanatic.

Yes...it was a Merlot...I am so ashamed.

Glad to see you added that
Some of the world's greatest wines are made from that noble grape!

Almost the same for me, but 60th - 1953, Vouvray, Domaine Allias, opened in March 2013. The bottle purchased at the winery for 30 € in 2006, according to the proprietor it was one of the best vintages in Vouvray that time. The wine was perfectly drinkable but in its particular way.
One bottle still left in my cellar, maybe for 70th...?

Happy 60th birthday for last March. How amazing you can buy a bottle of 53 year old wine from the cellar door for 30 €. And buying from the winery no worries about cellaring provenance - would have been lovingly cared for since its birth I imagine.
Maybe for 70th if you want to wait that long

Lots of vivid memories from early on in the wine process, and mostly from drinking in the Loire during summer 2002 where my senses were heightened (and more likely to make an impact on my memory) due to being out of my usual element.

I forget the vintage, but two of the most vivid wine memories from that summer were a Breton Chinon/Bourgueil (I forget which) and an Allemand Cornas, both such deep limitless flavors, the decanters seemed to go on forever, and I was drinking them in a carefree spirit with a young lady I had just begun seeing. Life was perfect.

I also have very strong memories of the general smells of the Touraine gamays (of no repute) drunk outside in the garden during lazy afternoons with tasty treats on the table, flowers, grass, and the stone gravel dust of the house mingling in my nose, and not a care in the world.

Lots of vivid memories from early on in the wine process, and mostly from drinking in the Loire during summer 2002 where my senses were heightened (and more likely to make an impact on my memory) due to being out of my usual element.

I forget the vintage, but two of the most vivid wine memories from that summer were a Breton Chinon/Bourgueil (I forget which) and an Allemand Cornas, both such deep limitless flavors, the decanters seemed to go on forever, and I was drinking them in a carefree spirit with a young lady I had just begun seeing. Life was perfect.

I also have very strong memories of the general smells of the Touraine gamays (of no repute) drunk outside in the garden during lazy afternoons with tasty treats on the table, flowers, grass, and the stone gravel dust of the house mingling in my nose, and not a care in the world.

Now I so want to smell a Touraine gamay of no repute.

I love the smell of wine. I posted something to that effect on Twitter the other day.

"I love to inhale the bouquet of wine. It's so evocative... triggering emotions, memories, long forgotten experiences - and new."

When I decided to take a taste of a Riesling Auslese before I poured it down the drain. It was given to me by an associate on a trip to Germany as proof my contention that all wine tasted the same was false. I was clearing room on the shelf that the wine had been shoved into for the previous two years. I called my wife in to taste it and our love of wine started.

The liquid DID NOT go down the drain.

Lots of vivid memories from early on in the wine process, and mostly from drinking in the Loire during summer 2002 where my senses were heightened (and more likely to make an impact on my memory) due to being out of my usual element.

I forget the vintage, but two of the most vivid wine memories from that summer were a Breton Chinon/Bourgueil (I forget which) and an Allemand Cornas, both such deep limitless flavors, the decanters seemed to go on forever, and I was drinking them in a carefree spirit with a young lady I had just begun seeing. Life was perfect.

I also have very strong memories of the general smells of the Touraine gamays (of no repute) drunk outside in the garden during lazy afternoons with tasty treats on the table, flowers, grass, and the stone gravel dust of the house mingling in my nose, and not a care in the world.

telltale signs of someone who lived in Berkeley and inhaled deeply! Bravo, Rahsaan!

One of my great memories, from a millenium tasting, was also a Vouvray - Le Haut Lieu or Le Mont moelleux 1947. IMO it overshadowed the Yquem 67 which followed mainly because livelier acidity prevented its being at all cloying.

I still remember marvelling at Chambertin 1947 Cuvée Héritiers Latour in the early 60s. It first opened my eyes to the potential of Burgundy but it is possible that I would find it less remarkable now after a lot more experience. About the same time I was cutting my Bordeaux teeth on various Médocs from 1953 which had an elegant harmony which has not been replicated in more recently consumed bottles of claret.

Another Burgundy from the late 80s/early 90s was an extraordinary experience. It was La Tâche 1962. I don't think it would be easy to improve on that. Also in the 80s Château Latour - Pauillac - 1945 was a sublime experience, much more powerful than the 53s but still harmonious.

My wine horizons are now much wider than then but nothing equals those memories. Maybe nostalgia plays a part.

telltale signs of someone who lived in Berkeley and inhaled deeply! Bravo, Rahsaan!

Yes, one of the things I miss most about Berkeley (aside from the farmers markets) is being able to walk down the street and smell all those fragrant flowers and trees 12 months a year!

One of my most memorable wine moments was about a year ago as I was going through my cellar and found a bottle of Evesham Wood Pinot Noir Estate 1989. I believe this was Russ's first Estate Pinot Noir. I was expecting it to be good but it was outstanding. This to me was the earthy, forest floor aromatics but the dark fruits were showing much younger than I would expect. I immediately decanted half into a 375 ml bottle and set it aside. I was curious to see how long it would last showing this well. It was outstanding for 2 days with no loss of fruit as well. On a personal note, my wife and I just moved from our house to downsize. So I have not really had much time to visit this site. Due to circumstances we had to miss the New Zealand Winegrowers tasting in San Francisco last week. I will write some notes for some aromatic wines to get back into things.

Many memories flitting around my brain but one wine that stunned me by the way the fragrance fanned out across the table was a Steele Carneros Pinot Noir and it wasn't even the vintage that I thought I ordered at a Sanibel restaurant. The waiter said they had a particular vintage which I knew to be good but then brought out another vintage which proved to be even better. I was ordering a wine for myself, my sister and mother to share and was not expecting such a fragrant wine.
Another Pinot Noir that I loved to just sniff and sniff was an Alysian (Gary Farrell's enterprise) Floodgate from 2007, a Russian River Valley Pinot Noir that had oodles of fragrance.
Another memory is of a Gerard Raphet Clos de Beze. It was my first or second experience tasting a Grand Cru red Burgundy and the nose was the first thing to impress me.
A very floral village Chambolle-Musigny that drank like a premier cru was the 2002 Digioia-Royer Chambolle-Musigny that one Frenchman described as having a "beautiful stink."
A Dauvissat Grand Cru "Les Preuses" was a white wine memory for me too, Sue--a 1996 Dauvissat-Camus Chablis tasted in 2008.
A Mussbacher Eselshaut from the Pfalz (probably a Spatlese or Auslese although I don't remember the specifics) was another white wine that entranced with its aroma.

The 1928 Coutet - one of the only wines for which I could reproduce most of my tasting note from memory, 5 years after the fact.

1981 Paul Jaboulet Aine, “La Chapelle”, Hermitage. Drank 3/11/01. Wonderful!