The Official Wine Thread

[Piobaire]



Oh, I'm not a baller like Piobaire. I don't deny that it was a good watch, just that they presented Rudy as he should have been presented. Fraud and counterfeiting are still fraud and counterfeiting, even if the people being bilked have more money than sense.

Had a Crios Malbec with dinner last night, about $10. (Surprisingly drinkable wine.)

 

[jcusey]



I remember reading about the tasting of DRC RC that Allen Meadows and others organized around 2007. Apparently Rudy was the one who secured the 1945. IIRC, Cornwell and Barzelay--two Burg experts--were there, as was Aubert de Villainne, head of the Domaine. They all believed that one bottle was real. One of them--Barzelay, I think--later concluded that Rudy bought and served a real bottle so that the experts would vouch, and then he could thereafter make and sell fakes.

A few years ago I read about a bottle with perfect provenance that even the Domaine vouched for, which sold for $116,000. Still not as much as Rodenstock's "Jefferson Lafite" bought by Malcolm Forbes in 1985!

I don't think that Cornwell was at the 2007 DRC tasting; but Aubert de Villaine was, and he was one of the ones who thought the '45 RC was authentic and excellent. Of course, I believe that Maureen Downey concluded that the label on the bottle that they drank at that event was counterfeit, so who the heck knows. She could be mistaken, or Rudy could have put a counterfeit label on a genuine bottle (to make it easier to pass his other counterfeit bottles with counterfeit labels), or he could have put a counterfeit label on a genuine bottle of old and excellent non-'45-RC Burgundy, or he could have concocted something from Meomi Pinot and crappy '50s negociant Burg. I guess I'm skeptical about Rudy's ability to get his hands on a genuine bottle that he would know conclusively was genuine when the entire production of '45 DRC RC was only 600 bottles.

 

[jcusey]



Had a Crios Malbec with dinner last night, about $10. (Surprisingly drinkable wine.)

Yeah, I've been pleased by the QPR of the Crios wines that I've had. Supposedly, the main-line Susana Balbo wines are very good, but I haven't had any.

What I had last night:

(Not my image.)

Domaine de Montbourgeau is one of Neal Rosenthal's properties, and I see a decent amount of the still chardonnay (which I think is aged sous voile) and the Cremant du Jura around here. Occasionally, there's also a bottle or two of the Vin Jaune. In any event, I liked it -- a little bit of natural-ish funk, good yeasty notes. Not Champagne, but not priced like it, either. It gave me what I was hoping for.

 

[RedLantern]

anybody got something special line up to drink tomorrow?

 

[Piobaire]

Mainly beer drinkers where I'm headed so not planning on bringing anything notable. Tonight, however, thinking of pulling my last 07 Vieux Télégraphe to go with the cassoulet. We'll see as I was also thinking I'd like to make the decade mark with that.

 

[coolpapa]

I have an 82 Pichon Lalande, a 90 Montrose, an 83 Beaucastel and an 89 Vieux Telegraph pulled. We'll probably drink a couple of those. We'll probably drink all of them actually. And some Champagne.

 

[Piobaire]

Okay, forget my previous plans, I'm showing up at CP's place.

 

[countdemoney]

It's all QPR tomorrow because of the crowd. They'll enjoy a good wine, but they wouldn't be able to tell the difference on the nicer stuff.

Planning to share a Barolo (my first time trying one) later this weekend with some good friends who are coming up for the Holidays.

 

[Piobaire]

Watching that movie now...Bill Koch's cellar? My god.

 

[alexg]

Got the mystery wine at Compagnie des Vins Surnatuerels tonight. It's also really delicious.

 

[RedLantern]

Ive got some grocery store wine (that people have brought to me) that I will try and foist on people. If it doesnt sell I'm going to make mulled wine with it during xmas. I'm going to do some kind of comparision - either both the 1997 and 2012 or 2011 Domaine du Columbier Hermitage or 1999 Leonetti Merlot and a 2012 Red Mountain Merlot. For white I've got 2011 demi-sec vouvray - should be great - off dry and screaming acid to stand up to the horrors of the dinner table.

 

[jcusey]



anybody got something special line up to drink tomorrow?

I'm bringing a bottle of Foggy Ridge hard cider (from Virginia) for an aperitif and an '08 Mousse Fils Special Club for the meal. Everybody is welcome to it, but experience has shown that most of the guests prefer Gallo White Zinfandel to grower Champagne. Except for the couple who like the Beringer Merlot...

But that's okay: more for me.

 

[jcman311]

One of my favorite parts of family get-togethers is when my father in law brings out a couple of bottles of wine and has everyone taste them and declare a favorite. He then gets really happy when everyone choose the least expensive one. These bottles are usually in the $15-$75 range. Makes for an interesting dinner.

 

[poorsod]

I just watched the Sour Grapes documentary about Rudy and his wine scam. It struck me that the FBI guy investigating the case mostly investigated Art theft and fraud. He had to read French Wine for Dummies. I recall a lecture on art theft where the speaker said that there is only 1 detective in NYC who investigates art theft (I don't recall if it he was talking about NYC police or FBI). The implication was that only 1 person was assigned that job because few people are sympathetic to rich people getting robbed/scammed for their highfalutin hobbies. I wonder if the FBI got involved because Koch was personally interested and hired pros to do the leg work.

 

[Manton]

Had a Bollinger NV, which was very good. Consistently impressed by this, and I got it for well under $50, I think it's a great deal.

Then Brainaire Ducru 88 and Cos 82. The former was a lightweight but quite good for what it is. Holding on just fine but drink now. The later was the second of two bottles that I had. The first, drunk last year, was spoiled in some way--cooked I think. This one was a little singed at the edges but better than the last one. the core was still there and came out to play after about 2 hours.