WTN: Two Old Babcock Whites...(short/boring)

After dumping two Z-H Rieslings down the drain, these two survivors made the grade:
1. BabcockVnyds JohannisbergRiesling (11.9%; TA: 0.95; pH: 2.98; RS: 2.2%) 1986: Deep golden/burnishhed bronze color; bit nutty/oxidized rather piney/JR/stony/mineral/bit Retsina-like/PineSol some honeyed/aromatic some old German Auslese-like complex nose; quite attractive dry/austere very tart/tangy/grapefruity rather piney/PineSol slight honeyed/old Auslese/stony complex flavor; very long dry/austere/tart/tangy rather piney/PineSol/bit Retsina-like some honeyed/old Auslese/valve oil complex finish w/ some unpleasant/oxidized/nutty/bitter/wet dog fur character far in the backtaste; a bit compromised in character but some really interesting character therein. $6.20
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2. BabcockVnyds GWT (EstateGrown; DryBrrlFrmtd; 13.7%) 1987: Deep golden/burnished bronze color; beautiful fragrant/perfumed strong nutmeg/cinammon/very spicy/old Alsatian GWT/lanolin very complex nose; fairly tart rich/lush old GWT/nutmeg/cinammon/very spicy slight earthy totally dry very complex old Alsace GWT flavor w/ no signs of oxidation; very long/lingering quite tart rich/lush old GWT/very spicy/nutmeg/cinammon beautiful/complex finish w/ no signs of oxidation or maderization; a beautiful/complex old Alsatian GWT that reminds me of the '59 ClosGaensbronnel that I had at 40 yrs of age and still rocking. $7.70
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. When BrianBabcock started making his wines, he had a passion for Alsatian JR & GWT, made in a dry style, which was not the norm in Calif in that time. And he did a very good job of it. They were rather in the dry/austere style of Ostertag. They were good at the outset, but I felt they'd probably be much better w/ some age on them.
Alas, the realities of the marketplace sent Brian's ambitions to make Alsace wines up in flames. They did not sell well. Calif fans rejected them because they were dry. Alsatian fans rejected them because...they were not Alsace. So after a few yrs of effort, he abandoned the attempt. Such a shame.
These two were from my discovered stash that had spent 18-20 yrs in totally uncontrolled storage conditions, standing upright. I've been ripping thru almost a case a night, with many of them going down the drain. Last night I went to work on this case of Alsatian stuff. The first two Z-H Rieslings were totally shot & went down the drain. I was pretty sure these two Babcocks would suffer the same fate. Whatta surprise. These two were slightly compromised, but still real pleasures to drink. Whoulda thunk.
The corks in nearly all these wines, stored standing upright, have been solid & in remarkably good shape; firmly wedged in the neck of the btls. A few have been crumbly, but all have come out readily w/ my Ah-So remover. Only a few have started to slide into the btl when I wedge the Ah-So in. Most all the corks have been moist, at least for the bottom 2/3'rds. And the humidity in NM is nortoriously dry. So much for the neccessity of storing your btls on their sides to keep the corks moist!!
Tom

[David M. Bueker]

I am still trying to figure out how you lost all these wines for 20 years. Or did you explain it in an earlier BP.

[Jenise]

What David said. How do you bury that much wine? And the standing upright part is even more mystifiying. It sounds a bit like digging through the ruins of Pompeii--everything frozen in an instant as it was the moment the [insert catastrophic event here] hit.

I remember tasting wines with Brian Babcock before he actually became involved in making a living from wine. This was in the South Bay area of LA. and he deserves every bit of success he has garnered. Just one of those people that you immediately liked when you met him. And Tom has it correct on Brian's likes in wine.
A question for Tom, was it Brian's family that owned a restaurant in Seal Beach or was that someone else?

[Jenise]

I remember tasting wines with Brian Babcock before he actually became involved in making a living from wine. This was in the South Bay area of LA. and he deserves every bit of success he has garnered. Just one of those people that you immediately liked when you met him. And Tom has it correct on Brian's likes in wine.
A question for Tom, was it Brian's family that owned a restaurant in Seal Beach or was that someone else?

Bryan's father, Walt Babcock, owned Walt's Wharf, which was handily located next door to his dental practice.

Btw, I may have known Bryan before you did. Per his mother, Bryan and I probably sat on the same knee of the same Santa Claus at the same department store in Whittier, California, where we both grew up. Tom Hill can't beat that for following from the very start!

I remember tasting wines with Brian Babcock before he actually became involved in making a living from wine. This was in the South Bay area of LA. and he deserves every bit of success he has garnered. Just one of those people that you immediately liked when you met him. And Tom has it correct on Brian's likes in wine.
A question for Tom, was it Brian's family that owned a restaurant in Seal Beach or was that someone else?

Bryan's father, Walt Babcock, owned Walt's Wharf, which was handily located next door to his dental practice.

Btw, I may have known Bryan before you did. Per his mother, Bryan and I probably sat on the same knee of the same Santa Claus at the same department store in Whittier, California, where we both grew up. Tom Hill can't beat that for following from the very start!

Hey, I'm glad knowing someone being anywhere before I was.

I remember tasting wines with Brian Babcock before he actually became involved in making a living from wine. This was in the South Bay area of LA. and he deserves every bit of success he has garnered. Just one of those people that you immediately liked when you met him. And Tom has it correct on Brian's likes in wine.
A question for Tom, was it Brian's family that owned a restaurant in Seal Beach or was that someone else?

Bryan's father, Walt Babcock, owned Walt's Wharf, which was handily located next door to his dental practice.

Btw, I may have known Bryan before you did. Per his mother, Bryan and I probably sat on the same knee of the same Santa Claus at the same department store in Whittier, California, where we both grew up. Tom Hill can't beat that for following from the very start!

I give up, Jenise. That's certainly one that I cannot top. You da winner here in "following from the very start".
Tom

I am still trying to figure out how you lost all these wines for 20 years. Or did you explain it in an earlier BP.

Well, David...I'm not always the most organized guy in the world. I have a fairly large 2-car garage. I had sealed the wines up in these boxes and stacked them up against the back wall of my
garage, standing upright, to be schlepped into my wine cellar in a few days. A few days later I bought two sheets of birch plywood for a furniture project I was
starting on. Leaned them up against the wine. I only used one sheet of the plywood & the other remained there, unused. I finally moved it about a month ago for to give away to a friend and, lo & behold,
there was this stash of wine still stacked there.
It's kinda sad that so many of these btls have died. But it's been kind fun to open a box and go trippin' down memory lane.

And...no....don't ask for a pic of my garage. But think FibberMcGee's closet...for those of you who are old enough to have listened to he & Molly on the radio.
For those of you old enough to recall what a radio was. Amazing thing in its day. You could peek around in the back of it and see these little tubes in it glowing
bright red. And no digital display on it whatsoever.
Tom

[David M. Bueker]

[For those of you old enough to recall what a radio was. Amazing thing in its day. You could peek around in the back of it and see these little tubes in it glowing
bright red. And no digital display on it whatsoever.

Remmeber those. I also had a reel to reel tape recorder with those same tube things.

I am still trying to figure out how you lost all these wines for 20 years. Or did you explain it in an earlier BP.

Well, David...I'm not always the most organized guy in the world. I have a fairly large 2-car garage. I had sealed the wines up in these boxes and stacked them up against the back wall of my
garage, standing upright, to be schlepped into my wine cellar in a few days. A few days later I bought two sheets of birch plywood for a furniture project I was
starting on. Leaned them up against the wine. I only used one sheet of the plywood & the other remained there, unused. I finally moved it about a month ago for to give away to a friend and, lo & behold,
there was this stash of wine still stacked there.
It's kinda sad that so many of these btls have died. But it's been kind fun to open a box and go trippin' down memory lane.

And...no....don't ask for a pic of my garage. But think FibberMcGee's closet...for those of you who are old enough to have listened to he & Molly on the radio.
For those of you old enough to recall what a radio was. Amazing thing in its day. You could peek around in the back of it and see these little tubes in it glowing
bright red. And no digital display on it whatsoever.
Tom

Didn't Fibber's and Molly's show follow the Fred Allen show. Naw, they were before my time.