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Lessons from a Generous Snob: Lucien Albrecht 1999 Alsace Riesling
The first Riesling I ever drank was given to me by my first literary agent (poor guy), Bob Lescher, who was, by then, in the 1970s, a wine snob but a wine snob who loved wine even more than he loved snubbing those who either didn’t love it (sufficiently)...
https://thecookscook.com/columns/the-odd-bottle/lessons-generous-snob-lucien-albrecht-1999-alsace-riesling
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Music in the Mouth: Edmunds St. John 1988 California Mourvèdre
I first drank Mourvèdre without knowing that I was drinking Mourvèdre.
https://thecookscook.com/columns/the-odd-bottle/music-in-the-mouth-edmunds-st-john-1988-california-mourvedre
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Oxidized Alsace–Yum!
A couple of weeks ago, something in the vast wine universe (either the one inside my head or the one we all share) made me think I’d like to drink an Alsatian wine.
https://thecookscook.com/columns/the-odd-bottle/oxidized-alsace-yum
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Chalone 1977 California Chardonnay Estate Bottled: “One of California’s saddest stories”
When I took this old bottle out of the crawlspace that is my wine cellar, I was excited (nothing new there) and nervous — something I don’t usually get around wine, which often helps to control my nerves, and that’s without my even drinking it.
https://thecookscook.com/columns/the-odd-bottle/chalone-1977-california-chardonnay-estate-bottled-one-of-californias-saddest-stories
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1990 Foppiano Petite Sirah Sonoma P.S. I (Sometimes, Sort Of) Love You
On the back label of this nearly 30-year-old Petite Sirah, we are informed of both history and science.
https://thecookscook.com/columns/the-odd-bottle/1990-foppiano-petite-sirah-sonoma-p-s-i-sometimes-sort-of-love-you
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A Whiff of Paradise: Clos de la Coulée de Serrant 1983
In 2016 the brilliant wine writer Matt Kramer posted in his on-line Wine Spectator “Drinking Out Loud” column a piece entitled “Is Chenin Blanc the Great Forgotten Grape?”
https://thecookscook.com/columns/the-odd-bottle/a-whiff-of-paradise-clos-de-la-coulee-de-serrant-1983
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Red is All They Do: 2002 Shalestone Vineyards Cabernet Franc Finger Lakes
What’s known as “King Cab” is, as one might expect, Cabernet Sauvignon. Yet until 1979, Cabernet Franc was more widely planted in France than was Cabernet Sauvignon. Indeed, as Oz Clarke writes, “Cabernet Sauvignon is [Cabernet] Franc’s offspring.”*
https://thecookscook.com/columns/the-odd-bottle/red-is-all-they-do-2002-shalestone-vineyards-cabernet-franc-finger-lakes
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A Sucker for Semillon: Tim Adams 1997 Semillon Clare Valley
In her seminal Vines, Grapes and Wines (1986), Jancis Robinson begins her chapter on Semillon with these words: “Semillon is a very odd grape indeed.”
https://thecookscook.com/columns/the-odd-bottle/a-sucker-for-semillon-tim-adams-1997-semillon-clare-valley
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1985 Marc Brédif Vouvray “You Won’t Like This Wine” (Not for the Common People)
Several months ago I ordered a wine in a restaurant, and the sommelier looked down at me and shook her head and said, “You won’t like this wine.”
https://thecookscook.com/columns/the-odd-bottle/1985-marc-bredif-vouvray-you-wont-like-this-wine-not-for-the-common-people
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Pro ‘Bono: 1982 Inglenook Charbono
Among the odd bottles I have written about, the 1982 Inglenook Charbono was not quite as odd as I had thought it was when I pulled it out of my crawlspace/wine cellar to test for a possible article.
https://thecookscook.com/columns/the-odd-bottle/pro-bono-1982-inglenook-charbono
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Stone and Earth: 1985 Bosquet des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape
I suspect that Châteauneuf-du-Pape may be the first of the “great” French wines that many people buy, because, while its name may be the most French they can speak in one “phrase,” it somehow rolls off the tongue — it virtually sings itself into the glass...
https://thecookscook.com/columns/the-odd-bottle/stone-earth-1985-bosquet-des-papes-chateauneuf-du-pape
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The History of One Old Odd Bottle of Wine: 1975 Tulocay Cabernet Sauvignon
“Drink wine, and you will sleep well. Sleep, and you will not sin. Avoid sin, and you will be saved. Ergo, drink wine and be saved.” —Medieval German saying*
https://thecookscook.com/columns/the-odd-bottle/the-history-of-one-old-odd-bottle-of-wine-1975-tulocay-cabernet-sauvignon
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With a Little Help from My Billabongs (Not a Beatles Song): 1988 Chateau Tahbilk Goulburn Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
On the competent, inviting Tahbilk website, we’re informed that the winery was founded almost 160 years ago, which means it’s old for an Australian winemaker.
https://thecookscook.com/columns/the-odd-bottle/with-a-little-help-from-my-billabongs-not-a-beatles-song-1988-chateau-tahbilk-goulburn-valley-cabernet-sauvignon
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Congress Springs 1984 Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet Sauvignon: An "Emotional" Wine?
Before I opened this 30+-year-old Cabernet Sauvignon, I tried several other odd bottles, only to discover that they were alive but not out of the ordinary.
https://thecookscook.com/columns/the-odd-bottle/congress-springs-1984-santa-cruz-mountains-cabernet-sauvignon-an-emotional-wine
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1987 Chalone Vineyard Pinot Blanc: A Star Was Born
“I can’t think of a single region in the world where Pinot Blanc is regarded as a star grape.”
https://thecookscook.com/columns/the-odd-bottle/1987-chalone-vineyard-pinot-blanc-star-born
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The Odd Graves
Like all fine wines, this (on the left in photo above) 1985 Château La Tour Martillac Blanc (since 1990 written as Latour-Martillac) is both indescribable (because language is never quite capable of encompassing the complex pleasures of something experienced by our senses)...
https://thecookscook.com/columns/the-odd-bottle/the-odd-graves
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Finger Lakes Surprise 1996 Anthony Road Vignoles
Those of us who collect wine—or perhaps we do not so much collect it as gather it to us, obsessively and protectively—end up with some odd bottles.
https://thecookscook.com/columns/the-odd-bottle/finger-lakes-surprise1996-anthony-road-vignoles
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California Zinfandels
A few years ago I went down to our wine cellar (crawl space, actually) and found a bottle of Green & Red Chiles Canyon Zinfandel, 1977.
https://thecookscook.com/columns/the-odd-bottle/california-zinfandels
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Grace and Generosity: 1997 Alta Vista Malbec Mendoza, Argentina
This 20-year-old Alta Vista is the first Malbec I ever drank and is not the first Malbec I ever drank.
https://thecookscook.com/columns/the-odd-bottle/grace-generosity-1997-alta-vista-malbec-mendoza-argentina
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Old, Cheap, Astounding: E. Guigal Côtes du Rhône Rouge, 1983
The 1983 Guigal Côtes du Rhône that I took from my cellar the other day is an odd bottle only by virtue of its age.
https://thecookscook.com/columns/the-odd-bottle/old-cheap-astounding-e-guigal-cotes-du-rhone-rouge-1983
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A Better Shade of Gray: 1983 Martin Schaetzel Tokay d’Alsace
It’s Pinot Gris. It’s from the same grape as Pinot Grigio, but the same grape doesn’t make the same wine.
https://thecookscook.com/columns/the-odd-bottle/better-shade-gray
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A Revelation! A Tragedy!
The Odd Bottle concerns itself on occasion with odd bottles that are from what might be considered odd grapes, like Alicante Bouschet and Charbono and Semillon…
https://thecookscook.com/columns/the-odd-bottle/a-revelation-a-tragedy
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Equivocal Hello, Triumphant Farewell
One of the first wines I bought in, as it were, bulk, was a wine made solely from the Alicante Bouschet grape.
https://thecookscook.com/columns/the-odd-bottle/equivocal-hello-triumphant-farewell
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Heartgladdening Domaine Machard de Gramont, Pommard Les Bertins 1976
A Pommard was the first true red Burgundy I ever tasted. It was, in fact, the bottle of wine that set me off, as a specific red Burgundy has done for many blessed and simultaneously cursed wine lovers, on a lifelong quest to repeat the joyous experience.
https://thecookscook.com/columns/the-odd-bottle/heartgladdening-domaine-machard-de-gramont-pommard-les-bertins-1976
