(DML) You plonkers! Daughter, 19, opens her father's £2,000 vintage Petrus

[AKR]

You plonkers! Daughter, 19, opens her father's £2,000 vintage Petrus to make sangria at house party with her friends after it
2021-06-25 21:16:34.430 GMT

(Daily Mail) - Having kept it safe for nearly two decades, Pete Jones was
looking forward to the day he would finally open his prized bottle of wine on
a special occasion.

But the restaurateur expat’s dream of savouring his 1999 vintage Petrus, worth
£2,000, was shattered when his teenage daughter and her friends used it to
make sangria.

The British father, 56, who has lived in Madrid for more than 20 years, had
gone out for the evening to allow youngest daughter Lara, 19, to host a party
for her friends.

When he woke last Saturday morning, his treasured bottle was nowhere to be
seen.

When he quizzed Lara in a text, she replied: ‘I hope it wasn’t expensive… I
think my friends drank it.’ He informed her it was a ‘€2,500 bottle’. Rather
than hitting the roof, he blamed himself for leaving the bottle in plain view
with a bunch of teenagers in the house.

‘I am just gutted that after saving it for 17 years, I didn’t even get to
taste it,’ he said.

‘And the tragic thing is, neither did they, well not properly. It was used to
make a tinto de verano’, the typically Spanish summer drink of red wine mixed
with soda and poured over ice. Usually the cheapest red wine is used, often
from a carton.

("When he quizzed Lara in a text, she replied: ‘I hope it wasn’t expensive… I
think my friends drank it.’ He informed her it was a ‘€2,500 bottle’")

‘I got home and the party was in full swing. I had a drink with them, did some
embarrassing dancing in the kitchen, then headed up to bed to leave them to
it,’ Mr Jones said.

He also left the bottle from Bordeaux estate Chateau Petrus on display and it
was opened around 5am. The famous wine maker only produces about 30,000
bottles a year, and its product is consistently ranked among the most
expensive in the world.

‘It used to be hidden away in the cellar. But I got it out recently to show a
friend… and I hadn’t got round to putting it back,’ the distraught dad
admitted. The next day, he ran to the bottle bank near their home to check as
Lara had disposed of the recyclables.

‘There it was. A dusty old Petrus lying empty on top of all the beer bottles.
My daughter didn’t believe me when I told her how much it was actually worth.
Then she cried a lot and asked if I could ever forgive her,’ he said.

Mr Jones bought the wine by accident while in a rush on Christmas Eve in 2004,
telling a shop owner to get him ‘a bottle from the top shelf’. He added: ‘My
wife, Silv, was furious but I explained it away by insisting it was a vintage
from the year of our eldest daughter’s birth and we could keep it to drink
with her on a special occasion.’

He has had to break the news to Sele, 21, that her birthday vintage had been
opened without her.

("The famous wine maker only produces about 30,000 bottles a year, and its
product is consistently ranked among the most expensive in the world") -0-
Jun/25/2021 21:16 GMT

[Comte Flaneur]

A dad’s - or husband’s - worst nightmare.

I have similar stories though not as harrowing as that:

My Scottish friend’s wife pulled out a 88 Mouton from his wine fridge to drink with her friends - saying it was ‘quite nice’

Likewise a German friend opened an 82 Lafite with another couple; where upon the other wife lit up a cigarette whilst sipping the Lafite espousing similar sentiments.

I know it sounds a bit snooty but I get quite a sinking feeling when I open or bring along a really good wine for it not to be appreciated or for it to be assumed to be a £20 wine rather than a £200 wine.

That happened to me a couple of weeks ago when I took a 1996 Penfolds Grange to a friend’s house. The host served an Argentine Sauvignon Blanc which to be fair was not as dire as I feared.

That is the great thing about all our epic BWE gatherings over the years. You bring something good and you know it will not be wasted and others reciprocate.

[JimHow]

Well, the father seems like a good bloke, anyway, he blamed himself.

[SF Ed]

I'm with you, Ian. I do not like bringing wines that aren't on the right level or won't be appreciated.

If I'm having a meal with non-wine geeks, I'll just ask what they like. The type of response usually tells me both the type and level of wine to bring for everyone to have a good time (including me).

SF Ed

[JimHow]

My family used to drink plonk. I remember my father in particular was skeptical about my fancy wines. But after a while he and the rest of the family came to appreciate the good stuff. I like bringing nice wines to the parties at my brother's house, or at our lawyer holiday gatherings. I don't bring the crazy stuff usually, but they are usually appreciative and attentive to what I'm describing if sipping a 2014 Clerc Milon, or a St. innocent, or a 3L of 2010 Il Poggione, etc., etc., and then at Thanksgiving or Christmas I'll try to bring something extra special, like a Lynch or a Baron, etc.

[s*d*r]

If I'm having a meal with non-wine geeks, I'll just ask what they like. The type of response usually tells me both the type and level of wine to bring for everyone to have a good time (including me).

SF Ed

Or you could pull a Nixon and keep the Margaux in a shroud under the table just for you.

[Nicklasss]

Shit, i have three kids between 8 and 12...

One day it will happens to me. Just hope they'll pick the regular stuff instead of the great stuff.

[Claret]

He had the bottle on display, now dismay.

[JimHow]

You are a poet, Claret, and you don't know it.

[jal]

We all suffered the same fate. For me it was a 1998 Jean Noel Gagnard Batard Montrachet that was consumed on the terrace a lovely summer afternoon for my lovely wife and her friends. That was the last bottle of a case that Pappadoc called the best Batard Montrachet he had ever drank.

We now have a special "open for casual drinking" section in the wine fridge.

This is not all bad, this post made me remember Pappadoc, and that's always heartwarming.

[Antoine]

It happened to me with the last goose foie gras truffe made by my grand mother (the one from Perigord, she traded her own production during the 2nd WW). I had a Swedish friend at home and had gone away and she opened the can with a friend... then, she realised it was probably a mistake so left it opened and put it in the fridge!

Not about the money but the emotional value... Petrus in sangria is probably very good... never had the stuff though. VCC is the highest I have been in Pomerol.

[JimHow]

I've been lucky to have Petrus about 10 times, Antoine, all but one time from the generosity of BWEers.
I hope we get to raise a glass someday, if not Petrus at least an Ausone or Cheval Blanc!

[JimHow]

Of all the Petruses I've had, the greatest has been the '89, which I've had twice, due to the generosity of Stuart and Tommy in DC/CO.

[Antoine]

Thanks Jim! Looking forward to it! I have had Cheval Blanc 1999 (for the first time ever except at en primeur tasting) thanks to Comte Ian recently but neither Ausone nor Petrus.
If you come to London or Provence, I'll have some good bottles...