Wine Focus - March: You got lucky

[David M. Bueker]

Fun topic this month. When did you get lucky in buying or tasting wine? What opportunity appeared before you? A great deal, a rare find, a chance to taste something you never thought you would experience, or some other lucky break.

I’ll be along with a tale once the month starts.

[Jenise]

Nothing will ever top getting two Mommesin Clos de Tarts in an auction case lot. They were most definitely not supposed to be in there!

But nowadays it's little wins like the Glenelly Lady Mae Bdx blend I took to Bill Spohn's lunch yesterday. I had done a little scrounging online retailers for something to buy because South African wines other than cheap M.A.N. chenins are virtually nonexistent where I live. I'd become especially interested in this flagship bottling from the owner of Pichon Lalande--$90ish for recent releases. Hadn't made a move on one yet when I was in my favorite local wine shop for an in-store tasting 2 weeks ago and slipped into an empty back aisle for a private chat with a friend, and there on a low shelf was a single bottle of the 2017 Lady Mae that wasn't even listed in his inventory--it had been there for years, forgotten. $49. SCORE!

[David M. Bueker]

Winning! The good kind!

I guess because we had previously purchased retail from them, Hart Davis Hart sent us their first-ever auction catalog in 2004. We got from that first auction a mixed case of Burgundy that included a bottle of 1988 Dujac Clos de la Roche as well as several bottles of Lafon and de Montille Volnays, all for a silly low price (maybe $250 or so). That bottle of Dujac stands in memory as the single most transcendent Pinot Noir experience of my life. As Dale can attest, we scored a number of other cases from those early HDH auctions, but none that produced such amazing results as that first one.

We got from that first auction a mixed case of Burgundy... all for a silly low price (maybe $250 or so)..

The whole case was $250? That is a silly low price!

Nothing will ever top getting two Mommesin Clos de Tarts in an auction case lot. They were most definitely not supposed to be in there!

That must have hurt when you advised them and returned the wine......

[David M. Bueker]

So the best of luck in my entire journey with wine was having a close working relationship with one of the business development managers at work. One day in 1998, he and I were chatting about non-work stuff, and my love of wine came up. He mentioned that he was hosting a tasting later in the month, and invited me to join. Turns out it was to sit in with a tasting group that had been founded in 1974!

Two founding members had just left the group, as they were retiring elsewhere. I was one of two people invited for that evening, and at the end of the tasting we were both invited to join the group. At the time I was 25 years younger than any of the standing members, and 30+ years younger than some. Through that group I was fortunate to hone my palate on first growth Bordeaux from the ‘60s and ‘70s, old Californian wines like Heitz and Chappellet from the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, and more. Getting to try Chateau Petrus several times from bottles with price stickers that were always in the $25 price range and vintage Ports from the ‘40s were some other highlights.

The group is still active, though only 2 original members are left. We still drink very well, but it’s different.

I'm lucky that I got to visit many wine regions at a time where there weren't ultra expensive 'wine experiences', when advance reservations were never required and when the owner and/or winemaker would often be in the tasting room. I made at least 2+ visits to many regions starting in the 1990s to many Old and New World wine regions - Burgundy (Chablis was a favourite village, in addition to Beaune), Alsace, Northern and Southern Rhone, Languedoc, Mosel, Pfaltz, Rheingau, Rioja and Priorat, Tuscany and Piedmont, South Africa, Hungary, Austria, New Zealand and Australia, Napa, Oregon and Washington all come to mind. I had such a blast visiting so many producers in all these regions/countries! And I would buy their wines when back at home, as it brought back the memories of visiting them.

When I go to these kind of places now, the idea of just popping in to a winery is a real anomaly. Besides the need for appointments, tasting fees are often, to me, obscene. I went to Sicily a couple of years ago and only went to one Etna producer. Rather than paying a 50+ Euro fee per person, often with only showing their basic wines, I just bought wines from various producers to try out on my own. There were also some great enotecas to try wines by the glass too. It's such a change in travelling, when making sure to visit the best producers when travelling to any region that had wine (which is everywhere in Europe!) was so easy and so memorable. Those days are largely gone but I am glad to have experienced all those spontaneous cellar visits!

Some time in the very early 2000s, Andrea and I were at an offline somewhere in the Bay Area. Must have been either Café Rouge in Berkeley or one of the old Slanted Door locations. Lou Kessler was there. Many bottles were opened. At the end of the evening, Lou insisted that we take an unopened backup bottle he had in his bag: a 750 of '83 Climens. I think we opened it when it turned 40 and it was glorious. I'm sure I've gotten a good deal here and there over the years at retail, but the instances of "good luck" I really remember are the ones that came to me via the generosity of other wine lovers. Nothing like the scale of David's (astonishing!) tasting group, but when it comes to grace, a spoonful can be as magical as a whole pot...

[David M. Bueker]

So many amazing people that I’ve met in person and on line in this hobby. Sadly some are gone, but the memories are still vivid.

Some introduced me to things I never otherwise would have tried. Maureen Nelson poured Truchot and Bachelet for me. At least that was before Truchot retired and Bachelet exploded in price!

Back in 1984 I was just getting seriously into wine. The Sauternes/Barsac regions of Bordeaux had suffered through three miserable vintages in 1977, '78, and '79--either little or no botrytis or the vintage ruined by rain. 1980--the current vintage for sale in 1984--was successful but not spectacular. The owner of Chateau Rieussec was on a US tour to promote his estate's wines and I attended a free tasting he conducted at Winecellar of Silene in Waltham MA. I had only had negociant Sauternes before and I was blown away by how good the 1980 Rieussec was. The proprietor told me that Rieussec had produced an outstanding wine in 1983.

So when 1983 Rieussec futures went on sale I bought a case of 750ml bottles at US$40 per bottle. A few months later I got a partial refund from Winecellar of Silene--the futures price had dropped by the time they secured the contract and they passed the savings along to their customers. Then the first barrel tasting reports came out on the '83 vintage. It was an outstanding year for Sauternes and Barsac. On release '83 Rieussec was selling for well over twice what I'd paid for it on futures.

The wine was indeed spectacular. I enjoyed it for the next two decades.

-Paul W.

So many amazing people that I’ve met in person and on line in this hobby. Sadly some are gone, but the memories are still vivid.

Some introduced me to things I never otherwise would have tried. Maureen Nelson poured Truchot and Bachelet for me. At least that was before Truchot retired and Bachelet exploded in price!

No kidding that some of those offlines arranged either here or elsewhere have been some of my most memorable vinous encounters. Lou Kessler and Maureen as well as Matt Latuchie and Joe Dougherty figure prominently in those memories.

[Jenise]

Fun thread. Indeed I got lucky when moving up here to get invited to one of Bill's lunches. I was initially on the B list but became an A lister eventually and never looked back. Those and the Bellingham group I'm part of have been of particular value given the recent changes in my life.

But back to retail bargains! Another from the I'll Never Get That Lucky Again Department: after 9/11, like many, I called Chambers St. wine shop to place an order just to help out. I don't recall which vintage, except that it was a very decent one, but somehow I got what others had somehow passed up: magnums of Chave Hermitage for $120 ea. I think there were three, and I took them all. Couldn't believe my luck.

[David M. Bueker]

Mags of Chave - rare as hen’s teeth.

[Jenise]

I know! And the price!

I just googled "J. L. Chave Hermitage Rouge magnum". The prices!

-Paul W.