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- Feb 9, 2010
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About 3 months ago I lost a dear friend, Bob. Last Saturday, we had his widow come down and visit us. I was worried about her, have not seen her in a while, and just wanted to check up on her and make sure she was OK.
Prior to her coming down, she phoned me up to ask if she could bring a bottle of wine. Laughing, I told her that I had all the wine I could ever need. "You do not understand", she said, "I have a bottle that I want you to try". What could I do but agree?
I prepared a couple of nice platters and cleaned my favorite funnel decanter.
As it turns out, she brought a 1996 Opus One. Despite its value of around $400, this wine is amazingly hard find these days.
Stunned, I said "Are your sure you really want to drink this?". "Bob would have wanted us to enjoy it" was all she had to say.
Thinking about it, she was right. Every couple of years, Bob and I would get together to "pull our best". Bob often said "I could get hit by a bus tomorrow and wouldn't I feel like an idiot leaving behind all this good wine?". Bob always felt that his collection of wine was to be enjoyed.
We opened it up, decanted it, and (after waiting 15 minutes or so) toasted Bob.
Now I know that many members here shun expensive wines and talk them down as being for "Wine Snobs". All I can say is that the label and price had nothing to do with the fact that this was simply the best glass of wine I have ever had. This wine was the very definition of complex. Simply incredible! There are times when I simply love that fact that I am a wine snob.
When the wine was finished, I pulled a nice 2005 Chateau Montelena out of me cellar, and then pulled a nice 1998 Stag's Leap Artemis. Both "follow ups" paled in comparison...
So, we spent the afternoon and evening sipping until 2:30am. We laughed a lot and shed some tears together. It was great to see her again. I am so honored that she asked me to toast Bob. As Bob so often said, "it was one hell of an afternoon"....
Sorry for the log post, but I could not stop typing. This was a very emotional event, one where I felt elated one minute and horribly depressed the next.
Here is a picture of the platters and carafe, and a picture of the Opus One...
Prior to her coming down, she phoned me up to ask if she could bring a bottle of wine. Laughing, I told her that I had all the wine I could ever need. "You do not understand", she said, "I have a bottle that I want you to try". What could I do but agree?
I prepared a couple of nice platters and cleaned my favorite funnel decanter.
As it turns out, she brought a 1996 Opus One. Despite its value of around $400, this wine is amazingly hard find these days.
Stunned, I said "Are your sure you really want to drink this?". "Bob would have wanted us to enjoy it" was all she had to say.
Thinking about it, she was right. Every couple of years, Bob and I would get together to "pull our best". Bob often said "I could get hit by a bus tomorrow and wouldn't I feel like an idiot leaving behind all this good wine?". Bob always felt that his collection of wine was to be enjoyed.
We opened it up, decanted it, and (after waiting 15 minutes or so) toasted Bob.
Now I know that many members here shun expensive wines and talk them down as being for "Wine Snobs". All I can say is that the label and price had nothing to do with the fact that this was simply the best glass of wine I have ever had. This wine was the very definition of complex. Simply incredible! There are times when I simply love that fact that I am a wine snob.
When the wine was finished, I pulled a nice 2005 Chateau Montelena out of me cellar, and then pulled a nice 1998 Stag's Leap Artemis. Both "follow ups" paled in comparison...
So, we spent the afternoon and evening sipping until 2:30am. We laughed a lot and shed some tears together. It was great to see her again. I am so honored that she asked me to toast Bob. As Bob so often said, "it was one hell of an afternoon"....
Sorry for the log post, but I could not stop typing. This was a very emotional event, one where I felt elated one minute and horribly depressed the next.
Here is a picture of the platters and carafe, and a picture of the Opus One...
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