by Howie Hart » Mon Nov 23, 2015 6:11 am
It was time to open one of the bottles from the case I purchased in 1978 for $360. Yes $30/bottle (I still have the receipt). The vintage was from the year my wife and I were married and original intention was to open a bottle every 5 years for our anniversary. However, my wife passed away in 2004, so I continued the tradition by sharing the wine with my sons. On Saturday night we had a surprise birthday party for my youngest son, Pete and one of my other sons, Andy came in from Florida for the event, so I decided to host a dinner on Sunday for 4 of my sons and their ladies. Tim, who is now living in Maine, was unable to attend. So, it was dinner for 13 (including 3 grandchildren, ages 13, 8 and 4 months). We started with some munchoids and shrimp cocktail with 2014 Leonard Oakes Steampunk sparkling cider, followed by salad and French onion soup. I really like this cider a lot, and prefer it to Prosecco in such a venue. I also opened a few of my home made wines. The main course was prime rib, buttered & parsleyed potatoes, green beans and dilled carrots. The cork in the 1975 Lafite pretty much crumbled. I tried the ah-so and a waiters corkscrew.I ended up decanting it through a fine screen and funnel. The color was perfect - no bricking, just a very deep crimson. The nose was a bit closed at first, but within 15-30 minutes it was displaying generous notes of pencil shavings and cigar box and continued to improve. I should have decanted this at least an hour earlier, but I was afraid due to stories I read of old wine deteriorating quickly upon opening. The finish was amazing! Full, very long with good, soft tannins. This wine is still solid, although I think the bottle we opened in 2000 was probably the best, as it was displaying more fruit at the time. Dessert was apple pie, made from the Cortland apples from my back yard and accompanied by 2013 Leonard Oakes Vidal Ice Wine ($40/375 ml at the winery). This is an excellent ice wine with a generous aroma of apricots, good acid balance and a very long finish. It was a memorable dinner and thoroughly enjoyed by all.
Chico - Hey! This Bottle is empty!
Groucho - That's because it's dry Champagne.
