End times

S

Sharon Bowman

Sharon Bowman
Yesterday night, I was offered (and accepted) a chance to drink 2005 CRB Côt at a fashionable downtown restaurant—and was told that it would not be appearing on the list.

Apparently, also not public knowledge was the presence in that restaurant's cellar of 2006 Gamay from same.

What world is this we live in in which CRB is hoarded and allocated thus?
 
A world with at least one smart sommelier in it?

Joe Dressner would be unhappy, I think, because people should be drinking the wine instead of hoarding it but also he'd be pleased that people were treating CRB as if it were DRC.
 
Yes, it is a crazy world.

But I'm not sure this qualifies as end times.

End times would be when you were not notified of the wine, but instead could only watch the neighboring table where a Clown Who Formerly Guzzled Crap was offered the CRB, for reasons unbeknownst to you.
 
I was gratified in that when my friend and I, who had for some reason struck up a conversation with the Fancy Wine Drinking table next to us, offered them a glass of it, their expression was pained in accepting, and none of the three had more than one or two sips.

My friend was dismayed enough by this that after they left, she wanted us to take back their glasses and finish their pours. I persuaded her that this would be frowned upon.

But it does show that while canny sommeliers get that this is something unique, the average punter hasn't quite yet caught on.
 
These were also people who outright refused an offered pour of 2007 François Cotat Chavignol Rosé. I didn't even get to explain what it was. I wonder what rosé they thought we were drinking.
 
originally posted by Michael Lewis:
I cannot wait any longer! Tell us what they were drinking at their table! And did they offer you a pour in return?
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They were drinking something they didn't share from Mugnier, but they did share a pour of 1991 LdH Tondonia white, which was its good self.
 
originally posted by Michael Lewis:
AlsoHow was the CRB? I have a few bottles of that in the queue.
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I would say wait. I had a bottle of this in May of last year at Racines NY and it was curiously more approachable. Last night's bottle was (even decanted) hard as nails.
 
originally posted by Rahsaan:
Yes, it is a crazy world.

But I'm not sure this qualifies as end times.

End times would be when you were not notified of the wine, but instead could only watch the neighboring table where a Clown Who Formerly Guzzled Crap was offered the CRB, for reasons unbeknownst to you.
Click to expand...

Well, I have a somewhat analogous story. More than several years ago when Robert Chadderton Selections still existed, I called them about a particular wine I was interested in buying. (For those buying wholesale at the time, you'll certainly remember that RC had no price book.) However, the Union Square Cafe wine list was pretty much their entire book - so if you saw it there, there was some likelihood that the wine might be in their warehouse. Anyway, I called to ask if I could buy it, and the person (this was the West Coast Distributor) answered that, yes, they did have it in the warehouse and, no, I could not buy it. Conversation over.
 
originally posted by Sharon Bowman:
I was gratified in that when my friend and I, who had for some reason struck up a conversation with the Fancy Wine Drinking table next to us, offered them a glass of it, their expression was pained in accepting, and none of the three had more than one or two sips.
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My observation

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by Sharon Bowman:
originally posted by Michael Lewis:
AlsoHow was the CRB? I have a few bottles of that in the queue.
Click to expand...

I would say wait. I had a bottle of this in May of last year at Racines NY and it was curiously more approachable. Last night's bottle was (even decanted) hard as nails.
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This was more or less my experience from this past summer (July 2015). Decanted. Not hard as nails. And it was delicious. But clearly showing a small fraction of what it can give.

(Incidentally I also had it in a fancy restaurant - in Paris - where it was potentially out of step with the other offerings. But I thought it occupied a lovely place on the list.)
 
I am not a fan of the verb "to score" but can find no other way to describe the acquisition of two bottles of 98 CRB Côt and three bottles of 01 CRB Côt in a shop in Paris two weeks ago. Whether they turn out to be any good seems beside the point.
 
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
I am not a fan of the verb "to score" but can find no other way to describe the acquisition of two bottles of 98 CRB Côt and three bottles of 01 CRB Côt in a shop in Paris two weeks ago. Whether they turn out to be any good seems ...
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Berserkerly
 
originally posted by Tristan Welles:
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
I am not a fan of the verb "to score" but can find no other way to describe the acquisition of two bottles of 98 CRB Côt and three bottles of 01 CRB Côt in a shop in Paris two weeks ago. Whether they turn out to be any good seems ...
Click to expand...

Disorderly
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fify.
[and also: URL?]
 
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