Check your sanity at the doorstep

Of course there are different kinds of losing it.

Fine mature Burgundy enraptures and intoxicates me.

Clos Roche Blanche relaxes me, fills me with joy and makes me feel that life is worth living.

A great Champagne leaves me in awe.

Mature Huet thrills me to the core of my being.

A Hans Gunter Schwarz scheurebe or riesling knocks me back in my chair and makes me say 'Wow!'

Mature Clos Ste. Hune is like wandering through a beautiful field of flowers on a perfect summer day.

And then there are the serendipitous food/wine pairings that are just so unexpectedly synergistic that you sit up and take notice. Last night a glass of 1898 Henrique & Henrique Verdelho (which I really like to to begin with) accompanied some sous vide oxtail and rosemary ragu (which on initial tasting had too much rosemary) and Setaro pasta and the combination just worked! Astonishingly well.
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
1961 LHL demi-sec.

1921 LHL moelleux.

1947 LHL doux.

First and 3rd within the last month.

I'm still howling at the moon.
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where were you when you opened 59 LHL demi-sec, or was that your evil west coast twin?
 
My first experience of a wine that made me think wine could be a matter of fascination and even obsession was a 1981 Beaucastel tasted at Beaucastel in 1989. There have certainly been wines I've like better since, but that wine is still my Madeleine. I have literally dreamt about tasting it at various times and remembered the taste in the dream.
 
originally posted by Jay Miller:
Of course there are different kinds of losing it.
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Yup. The latest was 88 Krug...just wow!!!

Pepiere, Brun, Foillard, Pecina, Dampt, Dauvissat, Pavelot, Bachelet, Vieux Tele, Beaucastel, old school Cal Cab from the 70s, Bonnaire, Billiot, Bornard, Montesecondo, Monte dall' Ora, Foradori, Ippolito all give me reason to keep drinking.
 
Well, since there is not much love for barolo shown, I will do it:
1964 Giuseppe Mascarello Barolo
1970 Giuseppe Mascarello Monprivato
1985 Giuseppe Mascarello Monprivato paired with 1985 Brovia Monprivato
1990 Giacosa Faletto Riserva & Villero
1990 Giuseppe Rinaldi Brunate Riserva
1989 Conterno Cascina Francia

and whatever vintage of Verset Cornas I had a month or so ago (late 80s early 90s). In any case it doesn't matter - it was phenomenal. Like the 1995.
 
originally posted by Cory Cartwright:
Anything older from Grunhauser has been doing it for me lately.
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Another vote for this. The bottle we shared on Sat. ('95 Herrenberg Spat) was pretty damn nice. The purity, minerality, texture and balance was a thing of beauty.
 
originally posted by Cristian Dezso:
Well, since there is not much love for barolo shown, I will do it:
1970 Giuseppe Mascarello Monprivato
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Funny you should mention that, I just had it in a tasting last week. Almost laughably youthful for a 41 year old wine, nice figgy-appleskin fruit still hanging in there. Insanely good at that same tasting - 1988 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Villero Castaglione Falletto.

Other push-me-to-the-brink wines of the past year:
1982 Grand Puy Lacoste
2005 Valdipiatta Vino Nobile Riserva
1999 Bert Simon Serriger Wuertzburg Auslese GKA
2007 Ramey Sonoma Coast Syrah
1991 Verset Cornas (well over the brink with boudin noir)

But the list will probably be quite different next year. If Sharon is looking for a class or type of wine that makes me lose it, I don't know if that exists. Is that a sign of mental health or a stunted life?
 
originally posted by Rahsaan:
Ok Sharon, is anything on here in line to give you your quick and long-awaited spaz-out session?
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It's a fascinating portrait of what various smart people like in wine, actually. And fodder for thought.
 
A little known fact:
In Japan, sanity is odorless and can be purchased in handy half-kilo containers.
P1000155.jpg
 
JJ Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spatlese or Auslese in almost any vintage.

Such finesse gets me crazy.

And many still mistake this for a wine which is too light.
 
originally posted by Bruce G.:
Speaking of sanity...A little known fact:
In Japan, sanity is odorless and can be purchased in handy half-kilo containers.
P1000155.jpg
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Damn, that's handy.
 
originally posted by Bruce G.:
Speaking of sanity...A little known fact:
In Japan, sanity is odorless and can be purchased in handy half-kilo containers.
P1000155.jpg
Click to expand...

I bet when you open the container, the contents are nothing more than hot air.
 
originally posted by Filippo Mattia Ginanni:
JJ Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spatlese or Auslese in almost any vintage.

Such finesse gets me crazy.

And many still mistake this for a wine which is too light.
Click to expand...

Damn - if we had only known.... finesse orgy
 
Sharon, you aren't talking about holy grail wines or desert island wines?

Right. I didn't think so.
 
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