Do you have a bottle you just CAN'T bring yourself to open?

[Cabfan]

Either because of value, or scarcity, or sentimental value, or any reason.

I have a magnum of 1975 Caymus S.S. that fits in that category for me. I've had it for years, it's the first year of the Special Selection, and it's signed by the winemaker Charlie Wagner. It is in pristine condition with a high fill and the label is perfect. I can't imagine how many mags are left of this 36-year old cabernet - probably just a handful. Recent tasting notes I've seen, from a .750, have it still going strong. I look at it and think - maybe someday, with the right people, just maybe. But I'll probably die with that thing still sitting in the cellar.

Peter

[JimHow]

I had a 1995 Latour that my mother gave me, that I was going to uncork on my 75th birthday, it is probably the last Latour I'll ever own, but I thought, you know what, what could be a better occasion than Stuart's Thursday night dinner in SF? It was actually quite good, I thought, with a long way to go but some nice evolution nonetheless. Myself, I think I'll be holding my lone bottle of Petrus, a '95, for a long time....

[stefan]

No, but I do reserve some wines for special occasions. For example, probably my most valuable bottle is '98 Petrus ($3,500 at K&L; $5,000 at Park Avenvue Liquors). I intend to drink this one with my family in 2028 in the unlikely event that I live so long; otherwise, they'll drink it then and toast me when I am in that Great Tasting Room in the Sky. Most of my first growths I am holding for BWE events as I have no intention of buying more first growths. I have other bottles reserved for drinking with my local wine friends.

[Tom In DC]

It was great to see you at the convention, Peter.

Interesting topic. I don't know that we have anything that we can't bring ourselves to open. We had the cork shrink and fall into our lone bottle of 1961 Petrus, so we don't want any more bottle to leave this world that way. Some that are close might be magnums of 1978 and 1985 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cask 23 which were priced like Bordeaux First Growths on release. Maybe we should organize a dinner?

By the way, those early Caymus SS's saw at least 3 years in new oak. Charlie also made an "Experimental Special Selection" in 1975 and 1976 (don't know about other vintages) that saw at least one more year in those new barrels. All four wines were amazing when I last had them, but it has been quite a while. Randy Dunn was working at Caymus those years, fresh out of UC Davis.

[William P]

Yes, I have a 1975 Lafite that the partners at the firm at which I worked gave me when I passed the bar. I'll keep it until I retire.

[Nicklasss]

For my part, a bottle of 1986 Chateau d'Yquem that I just dont know when I'll open it.

Also, a bottle of the 2002 Bonnes Mares from Louis Jadot, that the price has sky-rocketed...

Last one, a bottle of the 1998 Waverley Estate Shiraz that I bought at the property in the Hunter Valley, and that is ''only'' 12,5 % alcohol, a rarity for an Aussie shiraz....

Nic

[DavidG]

A sentimental keepsake: one bottle of '83 Gruaud Larose inherited from my father's cellar. Over the past 20 years, I've gradually drunk all the other bottles he left me. I just can't bring myself to open this last one. The previous bottle was drinking great about 2 years ago.

[tim]

A bottle of 47 Petrus that I was planning to open for a family reunion. We never had the family reunion (I was planning this back when stock prices were going up, and I thought I could afford to help sponsor it, but then the market sank and never fully recovered). Now I'm considering opening it for my 50th, but that is still a long way away.

[JonoB]

Nothing, if it isn't worth opening, why buy it??

Maybe I'm being drunkenly faseatious, but i think that is the case. I sold my 08 Mouton six pack for £4000 before tax before it dropped by a grand! Only do I sell parts of my personal cellar when I know that i can purchase a huge amount of the same quality of wines for a fraction of the price! So basically it wasn't that I wouldn't have drunk it but that I just have more wine! I could have drunk it, but for £4000 I have not had tonworry about drinking, eating, living or spending time in Bordeaux and Piemonte for 2 months!!!

An easy trade off...

[pomilion]

My last bottle of 1990 Angelus. It was the first really great bottle of bordeaux my now-wife and I shared together shortly after we met in 2002. We'll open it at some point, but I'm having a hard time pulling the trigger... Waiting for that perfect moment/occasion, though we should probably just open and enjoy it with a nice meal on a Saturday night. I could replace it for $300 or so I suppose, but I know the provenance of my remaining bottle, and the others I've had from the same lot were superb. Probably drinking marvelously right now. Had the '89 a few months ago at an 80s-themed bordeaux dinner, and it was the runaway wine of the night against some fairly serious competition.

[Claret]

Nope, they are all destined for consumption.

[JCNorthway]

I often am looking for the right occasion to open a special bottle. But there are no bottles that will be spared the cork screw.

[tailorcut]

How about a 1982 Mouton that my lovely wife gave me for our wedding in 1988. I want to give it a whirl but never seem to get up the brass ones to get into it.

[Houndsong]

Not me!

[JimHow]

I still have that 1918 Haut Brion I bought before the Red Sox won their first World Series in this century. I probably won't drink it because it looks like it has turned to vinagar. But hey, it broke the 86 year curse.

[Bacchus]

Ya, a 2010 bottle of Baby Duck! Well, if you had a 2010 bottle of Baby Duck would you be in any hurry to open it?