On Fri, 25 Nov 2005 18:42:30 GMT
Mark Lipton > wrote:

] Emery Davis wrote:
]
] > I can think of one Chateauneuf du Pape off-hand that bottles in
] > different batches: Dom. du Grand Tinel. They keep a stock of
] > older vintage unbottled, in large old oak vats, stored in a very
] > cold room. These vats are then bottled up as the market will
] > bear. The advantage is of course the availability of older wine
] > kept in impeccable conditions; however this will not have the
] > same characteristics as a well stored example of the initial
] > bottling. I have tasted the '75 from the original run in mag,
] > to my palate it was fresher than the same wine bottled in '90.
] > If I understood correctly the blend was exactly the same, though.
]
] Emery,
] I believe that the practice of "bottling on demand" was fairly
] commonplace in CNdP until fairly recently. I remember Parker railing
] against Clos du Mont Olivet for the practice perhaps 10 years ago.
] Still, 15 years is *long* time for a wine to spend en foudre.
]

Hi Mark,

Yes, you'd think so. Actually I wonder if they still do this at Grand Tinel,
since the price of CdP has gone through the roof. I haven't been
there in a few years. Anyway that was certainly the practice.

One of my worst wine experiences ever came from an old barrel. A
friend of mine had a connection in Bandol (sorry can't remember the
domaine, I'm not sure it wasn't strictly home production anyway) who
gave him a barrel of '87 in exchange for some art work. This was
in '95 or so, IIRC. He passed by our then vacation house in the
Drome with this in his trunk, and on the first night of the visit
we consumed God only knows how many pitchers. The next day
all 4 of us (seasoned campaigners all) were violently hung over,
I mean really incapacitated. The smell of the stuff was enough
to send me retching -- although thankfully I got over it a few
days later! No more of that Bandol was consumed, although
he left us many liters... The only similar reaction I've had was
to an over-consumption of Southern Comfort, and that was
as a teenager. (Come to think of it the smell of Southern Comfort
still gives me the shivers today. Even the thought of it makes me
a bit queasy...)

-E

--
Emery Davis
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