Before I get started on this story…I KNOW…wine is intended to be consumed and enjoyed, I’m well aware of that.
Are there any other collectors / enthusiasts out there that are hesitant or reluctant to open a bottle because they only have one of them and they are near impossible to re-acquire ?
My examples are:
• 2006 Dr. Loosen Beerenauslese 🇩🇪
• 1993 Reif Estate Vidal Icewine 🇨🇦
• 1998 Reif Estate Vidal Icewine 🇨🇦
• 1997 Chateau Vari Monbazillac 🇫🇷
• 2012 Pillitteri Gewurtztraminer Reserve Oak Aged Icewine 202/450 🇨🇦
Only having 1 bottle and not being able to get another is making me very scared to open the one I have but I know they need to be enjoyed and consumed at some point !
Any one else go through something similar ? What did you do ? When did you know it was time ?
🍷 cheers
by jpillenye
17 Comments
You open it. You decant if appropriate and you drink it with people you enjoy being with.
Maybe target a nice restaurant or special occasion.
Once you start you’ll feel better.
Could be you save it, open it, and it’s gone off. Open it now with the people you love while both the wine and the people are still alive
You just need to buy more special bottles, then you don’t have to worry about it.
I just picked up a few 2013 Herman Wiener HJW Reislings. If you buy them now. They will be there in the future next time you want to enjoy something special.
Look I’ve nothing for you other than to say “I see you”
Infinity bottle
*Clutches Chartreuse closer*
Im not at your level, but I just opened a really great wine I brought back from Europe. It survived many days in a suitcase on trains and planes. It also was a special purchase because it was bought while tasting with my siblings in Strasbourg. I was hesitant to open it because part of me felt like somehow the memory of the trip was stored in it or something crazy like that, and drinking it would mean somehow I would become even more distanced from the experience.
I had friends over this past Friday, popped it open, and it was even better than it was during the tasting, and sharing it with good friends gave me a second great memory of the wine.
Remember: it’s just tasty grape juice that makes you feel good. You can always get more, even if it’s not the same kind/vintage, and part of the fun of it is there are an infinite number out there to try and enjoy.
Sometimes you just need to open them. Make the wine the occasion. It’s great to drink well aged wine but don’t let it become an anchor around your neck. Maybe crack one on “open that bottle night” it’s about 1 month from now.
There is always another bottle around the corner…said my friend whom died of a brain tumour
I know this feeling so well. I have a bottle of 2010 Willi Schafer Auslese in the fridge that I have carted to various places in the last two years in the hope that I could find someone to share it with. The fact that I haven’t might be more indicative of my concern that once it’s gone… it’s gone.
I can’t really offer any advice other than to bite the bullet as it were.
My partner is the same and has a few bottles he got as a gift because he wants them for a special occasion.
I stopped being the same after throwing out too many bottles that were over the hill and ended up in the drain or the cooking pot. Considering I buy the most wine and keep an eye on the drinking window, that issue no longer presents itself. But wine is a perishable good.
Tomorrow is never guaranteed. You can either continue to stress– and possibly drop dead having never opened them– or you can accept that both life and good wine are finite and ephemeral, and try your best to enjoy both while you can without the anxiety of waiting for a perfect moment which may never come.
Or, if you prefer a more pragmatic perspective, choose to regret the bottles you opened early rather than the bottles you never opened at all.
Mine is a 2000 Demeter Zoltan Eszencia from Hungary.
I had to develop a relationship with the wine maker to be able to purchase it.
It is an immortal wine and I’m still trying to figure out what occasion to open it.
You’re in luck—the wines you are hanging onto here mostly have the acidity and sugar content required to stay in good shape over many years in the cellar. (I’m not 100% sure about the Monbazillac, though, given its colour and understanding that the region was undergoing a transformation during the 1990s from a producer of relatively simple semi-sweet wines to the Dordogne’s answer to Sauternes—I suspect a lot hangs on the producer.)
As a general rule though, I’ve had only a few moments where I’ve felt I’ve opened a wine ‘too soon’ and many more moments where I’ve thought “Shit, this is well over the hill” or “This is past its peak, but I’m glad I caught it before the decline really sets in”. Opening your precious bottles becomes easier with practice, and it’s much easier if you can share them with people who are likewise opening their own treasure troves.
You can have the bottle of wine forever, or you can drink it and the wine itself will forever become part of you.
😀
Great producers! Reif and Pillitteri were two of three wineries, along with Between the Lines, as the first I’ve ever visited and what gave me the wine bug back when I was 20 years old. I remember being in the barrel room tasting winemaker Yannick Wertsch’s Riesling while he was doing pump overs behind us. Still have some Reif Vidal ice wine in the cellar. Drink those wines when you can, the memories you receive from getting/drinking the bottle are much better than having it sit in your collection in my opinion.
Plus, you can keep the empty and display it somewhere. A reminder of your great time drinking it and a talking point for new guests.
Come visit Niagara region again! You had some lovely selections. You may thoroughly enjoy the annual Ice Wine Festival in downtown Niagara-on-the-lake