In memoriam Neil Courtney: Open That Bottle!

[Jenise]

Visitors to WLDG who don't view Friends and Fun (aka 'The Basement'), may have missed this announcement by Neil's wife, Sue:

"My dear husband and soul mate, Neil Courtney, in days gone past used to frequent the basement on almost a daily basis to check up on you lot until he found it too difficult to continue using his computer, so I am sure there are many of you who stop down here that would be saddened to hear the news that Neil passed away in Orewa, New Zealand on Wednesday 29 July 2015...."

Neil was a regular contributor here since about 1998. He was certainly a wine enthusiast, but more the type to just enjoy what was in his glass vs. writing tasting notes so he was rarely seen in this section, instead preferring the F & F camaraderie of sharing jokes, pictures of unusual birds, talking about vintage cars and his passion for MGs, and making en pointe observations about the differences in everyday life and politics around the globe.

As someone who had the immense pleasure of having him and Sue as guests in my home two years ago, I can assure those of you who never had the chance to meet Neil F2F that he was every bit the kind, genial and witty gentleman you have imagined. Here's a picture Sue took of him at the controls of our boat: his disease had already set the course for his future, but the joy he took in a face full of sea spray and a bucket full of fresh Dungeness crab had no limits. And this may not surprise anyone--he drove that boat faster than either of us ever had!

IMG_0193 (Large).JPG

Sue said: "I strongly urge all you men to get the blood test regularly and whatever else needs to be done because there are a lot of wonderful wines waiting for you to enjoy and you don’t want your time cut short like Neil’s time was."

Let's take that to heart.

In tribute to our friend Neil Courtney, dig out one of those bottles you've been holding back "for good" as my mother used to say. Those bottles you only open on special occasions. Because Neil's life was special. And because it will comfort Sue. And because there's no time for good like right now.

Thanks for sharing that w/ us Jenise. I had no idea. I will follow your advice forthwith.
Tom

[Jenise]

So last night, with a piece of leftover seafood terrine, I decided I'd open the 2005 Bertagna 1er Cru Vougeot chardonnay I paid a ridiculous $115 for about six years ago, convinced it would be a killer stumper for some baby burghounds one of these days. CellarTracker actually had it in their data base, but when I put my inventory on CT a few years back it was then and had remained since the one and only bottle in the CT universe. That sense of rarity, along with price, doomed me to hang onto it for what I recognize are all the wrong reasons, but for Neil and Sue with whom we drank all those Chardonnays two years ago? It's time had come even if it was just Bob and I and Neil in spirit. So off came the cork and....

Oxidized. CRAP.

So I went back to the cellar and fetched the second most precious chardonnay in our little collection: 2011 Ridge Monte Bello Chardonnay purchased at the winery last year. I hesitated only because I hadn't put off opening it for very long at all, not like the Bertagna, but understanding my tendencies--well, let's get this over with. Deep golden yellow. Fantastic concentration and length on the finish with flavors of Golden Delicious apple and almond. Very ready right now and seems more mature in color and tone than it is--so though the back label suggests it could up to 15 or 20 years of cellaring, for my tastes this wine was better drunk sooner than later. Deserves contemplation--definitely more a sipper than a food wine.

Sorry to hear about Neil. He was a lively member of this community and should have had many years to go. My condolences to Sue.

With all the diagnostic tests available and comments about watchful neglect often being the best treatment, it's easy to be complacent about the dangers of prostate cancer. It still seems to cause many victims .

[Jenise]

Tim, in Sue's post she details the fact that Neil's test numbers were good and the prostate itself passed physical exam just fine--he had a rare, particularly aggressive form that was found only by biopsy during another unrelated procedure. My husband and I were not aware until we learned of Neil's situation that such forms of prostate cancer existed.

So sorry to hear this, Neil was such a valued and genial member for so long. I never met in person, but I'll open a special bottle tonight (Chardonnay would work, thanks for suggestion Jenise_

Thanks to you all. Chardonnay is good. gh Y'quem is good. Grange is good. Good wine is good. Gleasons 10 is not good.

[Jenise]

Sue, last night we opened another bottle we'd been putting off getting around to, a Cal Cab called O'Shaughnessy from vintage 02. Our neighbors were up (they aren't usually here during the week) and it's one we'd been hanging onto to share with them, as O'Shaughnessy is Mike's mother's name and a previous bottle of same he'd opened for us had been heat damaged. When I found others at auction I bought hoping to share a better bottle back. And indeed it was a better bottle--I split it among four glasses and passed two over the fence.

And then Bob and I toasted you and Neil.

Lovely Jenise.
Yes, so important to open that bottle you have been holding on to.
For what was to be out last wedding anniversary in February, it was time to open a few very special wines, including a 1983 Y'quem Neil gave to me one time as a birthday present. It was a most memorable meal and it would be the last time we 'indulged' in more than one bottle of wine over the course of an evening.

Anniversary Dinner 7 February 2015

to start
canapés
Champagne Charles Heidsieck

first plate
steamed crayfish with lemon thyme butter sauce
Drouhin Puligny-Montrachet Les Foliateres 1983

second plate
confit of duck leg with a tart cherry sauce
Bichot Echezeaux Domaine du Clos Frantin 1983

third plate
grilled peach with coconut sugar
twice baked kikorangi soufflé
coconut sugar meringue
Chateau d’Yquem 1983

Neil Ch Yquem Kikorangi souffle.jpg

It leaves me with a wonderful wonderful last wedding anniversary memory. The kikorangi in the last dish is a New Zealand creamy blue cheese.

[Jenise]

NICE! The picture made me smile--Neil looks so content.

[David M. Bueker]

What was Neil's favorite wine?

I'm so sorry for your loss. Our deepest condolences to you; I'll certainly raise a glass in memory of such a beloved member of this community.

Love that picture of Neal and so glad you were able to celebrate your anniversary in style. Good memory, I'm sure.

To you both! >clink<

Julia

What was Neil's favorite wine?

He was never fussy but did enjoy cellar aged reds, particularly Australian Cabernets, Shirazes and awesome Cab Shiraz blends like Penfolds Bin 389 and recently we had been drinking some stellar Hawkes Bay reds from the vintage of last century, 1998. In the last few months he would go off on forages through the cellar and we had some simply amazing wines.

[David M. Bueker]

I have had a bottle of 2003 Leoville Barton standing up for a long time, waiting for the right moment. Thinking of Neil I decided tonight was the right moment. I was expecting a modern, California-sequel wine based on reports, but it had really started to round into Bordeaux. Certainly it was ripe vintage Bordeaux, but recognizably Bordeaux. Over the course of 3 hours it fleshed out, and opened up into a lovely drink that worked with food and on its own. Given the copious fruit and tannin, it has ages to go.

Sue, my sincere condolences to you and others close to Neil. I'm glad I met the two of you at MO'COOL.
I just returned from California (the West of West Festival of 45 wineries in the western part of Sonoma County) and I leave again in a few days to drive to MO'COOL. So I will hold off on opening a special bottle until later this month.