Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

I think the unmissable blow out event is Saturday the 25th Alex. As I understand it:

Thursday, March 23: Italy
Friday, March 24: Burgundy
Saturday, March 25: Bordeaux

Likely attendees so far?

Ian
Timmy
Jim
Eddie/Lisa
Michael/Nalan
Alex (+ Christine?)
Patrick
Joel

Stefan + Lucie (?)

JimHow wrote: ↑Sun Dec 11, 2022 1:34 am Ian do you utilize Crump Richmond & Shaw in London?

Hi Jim I have not used them before but I think they have a good reputation. The are a fine wine broker so often they have to source wines and delivery typically takes a few weeks and can take up to 12 weeks.

Ok thanks I'll contact you offline sometime in the next week or so, I'd like to try to get some bottles into your hands sooner rather than later so I can just deal with carry on luggage to London.

JoelD wrote: ↑Sun Dec 11, 2022 12:30 am

Blanquito wrote: ↑Sat Dec 10, 2022 11:22 pm Bump… I’m about to buy my ticket to London town, arriving the morning of March 23rd.

Captain, all systems go?!?!?

Heading back on the 26th?

Do most people plan to fly with their wine across the pond or source there? Any further tips/thoughts on this welcome. I’m always wary of shaking up these older wines.

Joel I am very experienced in taking wines across the pond and have only had good experiences. Of course the older the riskier, like wise in 375ml format would be risky vs taking 750ml bottles.

I think bringing bottles across is a better bet than sourcing them here though of course I have a lot of options.

AlexR wrote: ↑Sun Dec 11, 2022 8:24 am Hi,

This sounds all very exciting .

There are apparently 3 evening events.

Would it be correct to assume that the unmissable "gala evening" is on Friday the 24th?

Ian, for those people who prefer to buy wine in London rather than cart it from thousands of miles away, do you have any suggestion(s) of somewhere with a good online selection?
Any ideas as to logistics so the wines won't be all shook up?

All the best,
Alex

Hi Alex
As I mentioned I have taken a lot of wine back and forth from America with no bad experiences yet of wines suffering from bottle shock. Last time was Denver 2019.

JimHow wrote: ↑Sun Dec 11, 2022 1:10 pm Ok thanks I'll contact you offline sometime in the next week or so, I'd like to try to get some bottles into your hands sooner rather than later so I can just deal with carry on luggage to London.

I have a LOT of wine here

For Bordeaux one suggestion would be 1983 40th anniversary - I have a d-mag of Gruaud Larose.

Also because they will travel better how about 90s/00 themes.

For example

1995 vs 1996 left banks
1998 right banks or 1998 vs 2000 vs 2001 right banks
2000s

Or of course 1989 vs 1990 Bordeaux

I like the 83 theme! I still have a good selection though no Palmer or Margaux.

Sone of my favorite 83s:
Pichon Lalande
Canon
VCC
Figeac
Beychevelle
Rausan Segla
Haut Brion
Lynch Bages
Talbot
Gruaud Larose
Leoville Poyferre
Cantemerle
Leoville Las Cases

Or, maybr even better, we could do 1990 on Saturday night.

What about 1983 AND 1990?

Nice selection Patrick.

Comte Flaneur wrote: ↑Sun Dec 11, 2022 2:23 pm What about 1983 AND 1990?

Yes!

JimHow wrote: ↑Sun Dec 11, 2022 1:10 pm Ok thanks I'll contact you offline sometime in the next week or so, I'd like to try to get some bottles into your hands sooner rather than later so I can just deal with carry on luggage to London.

I'd like to do the same - I do not want to lug bottles with me as I will be traveling before I get to London.

SF Ed

Sothebys in London is currently auctioning some 1990 Bordeaux, this auction ends 12/14.

eg Pichon Baron, Lynch Bages, Cos, Magdelaine, Figeac, etc. These bottles all look perfect.
-https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction ... 90-12-bt-2
-https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction ... 1990-12-bt
-https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction ... 1990-12-bt

As we all know, auctions are the best way to find what you are looking for at a "fair" price (current market), but the down side is you often have to buy larger quantities.

At the current price, I'd take 6 bottles of the 1990 Magdelaine if someone(s) wants to split it!

I was looking at the following from Crump Richmond & Shaw before the discussion of 1983 and 1990.
Their website says they have them in warehouse but I have no idea how long it would take to deliver, etc.
Maybe I should just buy some 1983s and 1990s from you Ian.

2013 Amarone della Valpolicella - Romano Dal Forno
Bottle Size: 75cl
Case Size: Bt
1 X
£295.00
=
£295.00

1989 Lafite Rothschild
Bottle Size: 75cl
Case Size: Bt
1 X
£646.00
=
£646.00

2003 Aloxe Corton Rouge - Maison Leroy
Bottle Size: 75cl
Case Size: Bt
1 X
£550.00
=
£550.00

1989 Lynch Bages
Bottle Size: 75cl
Case Size: Bt
1 X
£297.00
=
£297.00

The auction looks promising because we could split a case several ways - and the market has gone soft here

Although I don’t have a lot of 83s and 90s I think buy ins are a good way to go. And the theme we can always discuss and change if necessary.

I have a helluva lot of wine from 1995 to 2000 but my 80s stocks are really dwindling now.

I'd love to try some 83's. Although I have very few. Just a BD beloved Gruaud Larose.

A note on the 98's, this would be the 25 year mark. So that could be fun as well. Also many left bank 98's have been showing well. That might be a fun comparison. I also have a fair amount of 1990's though. So more than happy to do that.

Ian, sounds like Bordeaux travels decently enough. I assume Italians would as well. How about Burgs? Champagne is the one I probably won't deal with bringing. I usually like those to settle for a few weeks at least.

Great idea on the 1998s Joel.

Of course it is a fantastic vintage on the RB but the LBs are drinking v well now.

We could do flights of 83s including my d-mag of GL, 90s and 98s.

I suspect that nobody needs to bring any champagne…burgs by and large travel well, old Italians don’t (edited see Patrick below)

The Italians I have pretty well covered from Piedmont, less so from other regions, while the burgs might need a bit of thought.

I have a nice section of 83s, fewer for 90, but I am happy to sell some to BWE at cost (I bought some excellent 83s quite reasonably a few years ago and I only backfill bottles that look pristine). I’ll have plenty of room in my checked luggage on the way over (I use a Vin Garde Valise). Email or PM me if interested, zero financial gain, just happy to help. FWIW, these will be hand-delivered to Ian the morning of the 22nd to stand up/settle for 3 days in temp-controlled storage.

Yes, buying from you and/or Ian may make sense for me, Patrick, I'm thinking I can bring one bottle for each of the Italian and Burgundy nights, and two bottles for the Bordeaux night. I'm happy to source Champagne for all three nights when I get to London, I'll be coming in a couple days early.

We can definitely source some bubbles in London as needed.

The only real issues I’ve had lugging wine around is with old Nebbiolo (35+ years), those usually have super fine sediment that can take weeks or longer than settle. Bordeaux sediment is usually coarse enough, even on ancient bottles (due to widespread filtration back in the day?), to settle in a few hours, IMHO.

Serving temperature and stems are by far the most important game-day variables in my experience, and yet these things are often neglected (despite being easily addressed).

While in London this summer, i pre-bought wines from Wilkinson Vintners and got them delivered at our appartement. Discussion by mail was easy, and you need to pay the bottles ahead by funds transfer.

Deleted, mispost

Nicklasss wrote: ↑Sun Dec 11, 2022 6:53 pm While in London this summer, i pre-bought wines from Wilkinson Vintners and got them delivered at our appartement. Discussion by mail was easy, and you need to pay the bottles ahead by funds transfer.

Any chance you can pop over for this one Nic? Wilkinson’s is generally a good source of mature wines.

My brother Tom and sister in law Barbara spent two weeks in Italy this summer, they bought all kinds of fancy Italian wines and Christmas presents and put them in Barbara's luggage, which apparently got lost in their connecting flight through CDG, never to be seen again....

I think Nic is going to be making an important announcement soon, Ian, that may make a trip to London difficult in March....

How do you guys actually bring the wines? I mean, a six pack of wine in checked baggage seems…iffy…and it would be a lot to carry on

Or how about - can we actually ship wines transatlantic to you in advance Ian? Or is the tax a killer?

No carry-on wine in the passenger compartment since 9/11.

I check it in a purpose-made Pelican case, VinGard Valise, or 12-bottle stryro shipper inside a WineCheck. A few days for sediment to settle seems enough on older Bordeaux in my experience.

Marc it is very easy - just pack them in your check in suit case suitably wrapped up in clothes. I used to fly back and forth to the US on average about ten times a year carrying an average of ten bottles that way and never had a problem.

Marc it is very easy - just pack them in your check in suit case suitably wrapped up in clothes. I used to fly back and forth to the US on average about ten times a year carrying an average of ten bottles that way and never had a problem.

Saturday 25th March is booked. Down stairs at Noize

https://www.noize-restaurant.co.uk/gallery

One small note for everyone when planning. London moves the clock up one hour for daylight savings time on Sunday March 26th at 2am. So we'll lose an hour.

Work makes it a challenge to take much time off, but we will try to do 1 full week, arriving Europe (Bordeaux?) 18 March then London 23-26 March. Unless I can find some old Burgundy in the cellar, which is probably the only Burg I have, we might skip the Burg night.

Anyone up for Bordeaux for a few days 18-22 March?

Michael-P

We don’t have to do burgundy on the Friday Michael, we could do another theme. Even another Bordeaux night. But assuming we stick with that theme, just because you don’t have any burgundy don’t feel as though you should skip the evening.

MichaelP famously hates Pinot Noir. The issue is going to be theming and sticking to it. Historically we are very informal on Friday nights so folks like MichaelP and hm$ who hate pinot can join in too. Most of us love Burgundy

SF Ed

I'm interested in Bordeaux, MP. Feel free to text or email me offline. Daniella might join on this whole trip as well. You guys met her in Napa.

Could just make Friday a double theme. Burgundy and something else. We are doing an interesting one this weekend of aged Burgundy vs aged Tempranilo. Will report back on how that works out. Could do Rhone, Loire as other themes as well.

I'll go with the flow but my two cents is always in favor of Bordeaux and more Bordeaux, and champagne and Sauternes. I'm not tied to just certain vintages or certain regions, I just like it when people bring interesting bottles. But I'll defer to you guys.

Yes I was also thinking about what to contribute and am also coming round to the view that perhaps we should not be overly rigid about conforming to any particular themes.

So for example for the Saturday Bordeaux blow out the theme could be just bring what you like. For example I have some 1989s in storage which are winking at me.

We could also do two Bordeaux nights. Gives us room for the different Bordeaux themes we were thinking about . They don't have to be rigid, but in 2021 we had the Thursday Pomerol dinner that was wonderful. Then the blowout Saturday. I thought that worked out really well.

When in doubt, our default theme in denver is “the finest wines available to humanity... we want them here, and we want them now!”

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ig3pcF-M4LI