Back in the day, I dug deep and paid $500 for a bottle of a '99 La Tâche on release. I held it and aged it to allow it to develop. By 2015, the bottle had increased in value to nearly $6,000. Like Bertrand de Villaine said, the marketplace has turned into Domaine de la Romanée-Conti's wines into investments and luxury items often trotted out as items of what Thorstein Veblen called "conspicuous consumption."
Anyway because I had some significant financial obligations just then, I actually was compelled to sell the bottle to a rich (very rich) friend. I never had intended it as an investment but it turned out to be a good one. I paid off the pressing obligations, but I was sad to part with the bottle.
The story has a nice twist. Several years later, my wealthy friend brought the same bottle to a blind tasting at lunch with wine writer Clive Coates and several other local friends.
I did not guess the wine blind, but just from the bottle type I knew it was something out of the ordinary. In the glass, the wine itself was marvelous. Intense, complex smoky aromas. Pure red and black fruits and tremendous freashness. Exquiste balance, but it was still somewhat youthful. Kind of like a talented, accomplished senior in high school just getting ready to spread their wings.
Even better, though, was the generous gesture of a true friend who enabled me to both pay off obligations and to drink the '99 La Tâche with other friends.
Wine culture is all about sharing and paying it forward whether it is Donaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche or any other well made vin de terroir.
Thanks for the chance to comment, Meg. I enjoyed reading your story. Cheers.
I think you got the best experience. I did it myself and it was much better than my one experience with DRC-La Tache in bottle. But that was because the French hosts who poured it at a dinner were having snitty marital spat, which dried out my mouth and made the wine taste like bargain bin plonk. (Almost).
Beautifully written. I truly felt as if I were there. It brought back memories of my visit to Petrus many years ago,
And of our cycling trip through Burgundy.
When we rode past the vineyards of La Romanée, a man and his horse were ploughing the soil. It was a magnificent sight that held our attention for quite some time. It was wonderful to watch how the man (Jaco Berger) with great patience guided his horse into the next row after each furrow was completed: “Souphy! À GAUCHE!” The little creature clearly had a preference for turning right.
Jaco had a good laugh when my husband asked whether he was the owner.
“No,” he said, “if I were the owner, I wouldn’t have a horse — I would have a Ferrari… :-)”
In 1993 I worked at various domaines in Burgundy, including a couple of weeks in Vosne. Those were the bad old days before organics and bio-dynamics and certainly there were no horses working. So the soils were, relatively speaking, dead and as such, much less resistant to erosion.
I remember passing by La Romanee just after an intense storm and the roads surrounding it were covered in mud washed out of the famous vineyard. Then all of a sudden, locals appeared with their wheelbarrows and started scooping up the precious soil presumably for their gardens and hopefully, a few vineyards too.
A long time ago I said “barrel samples are She Loves You. Properly aged wines are A Day in the Life.” Both are legendary, but one has become what it was truly meant to be.
What a gift. I think I’d take your experience over a glass, or bottle, of the ready-to-drink….
I think. Maybe.
Wonderful story.
Back in the day, I dug deep and paid $500 for a bottle of a '99 La Tâche on release. I held it and aged it to allow it to develop. By 2015, the bottle had increased in value to nearly $6,000. Like Bertrand de Villaine said, the marketplace has turned into Domaine de la Romanée-Conti's wines into investments and luxury items often trotted out as items of what Thorstein Veblen called "conspicuous consumption."
Anyway because I had some significant financial obligations just then, I actually was compelled to sell the bottle to a rich (very rich) friend. I never had intended it as an investment but it turned out to be a good one. I paid off the pressing obligations, but I was sad to part with the bottle.
The story has a nice twist. Several years later, my wealthy friend brought the same bottle to a blind tasting at lunch with wine writer Clive Coates and several other local friends.
I did not guess the wine blind, but just from the bottle type I knew it was something out of the ordinary. In the glass, the wine itself was marvelous. Intense, complex smoky aromas. Pure red and black fruits and tremendous freashness. Exquiste balance, but it was still somewhat youthful. Kind of like a talented, accomplished senior in high school just getting ready to spread their wings.
Even better, though, was the generous gesture of a true friend who enabled me to both pay off obligations and to drink the '99 La Tâche with other friends.
Wine culture is all about sharing and paying it forward whether it is Donaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche or any other well made vin de terroir.
Thanks for the chance to comment, Meg. I enjoyed reading your story. Cheers.
What a lovely story, Dave. Thank you for sharing that. A true friend indeed!
Thanks, Meg!
I think you got the best experience. I did it myself and it was much better than my one experience with DRC-La Tache in bottle. But that was because the French hosts who poured it at a dinner were having snitty marital spat, which dried out my mouth and made the wine taste like bargain bin plonk. (Almost).
Oh! How disappointing.
Beautifully written. I truly felt as if I were there. It brought back memories of my visit to Petrus many years ago,
And of our cycling trip through Burgundy.
When we rode past the vineyards of La Romanée, a man and his horse were ploughing the soil. It was a magnificent sight that held our attention for quite some time. It was wonderful to watch how the man (Jaco Berger) with great patience guided his horse into the next row after each furrow was completed: “Souphy! À GAUCHE!” The little creature clearly had a preference for turning right.
Jaco had a good laugh when my husband asked whether he was the owner.
“No,” he said, “if I were the owner, I wouldn’t have a horse — I would have a Ferrari… :-)”
In 1993 I worked at various domaines in Burgundy, including a couple of weeks in Vosne. Those were the bad old days before organics and bio-dynamics and certainly there were no horses working. So the soils were, relatively speaking, dead and as such, much less resistant to erosion.
I remember passing by La Romanee just after an intense storm and the roads surrounding it were covered in mud washed out of the famous vineyard. Then all of a sudden, locals appeared with their wheelbarrows and started scooping up the precious soil presumably for their gardens and hopefully, a few vineyards too.
What a great story!
A long time ago I said “barrel samples are She Loves You. Properly aged wines are A Day in the Life.” Both are legendary, but one has become what it was truly meant to be.
Nice.