Wally’s Community

Last night we celebrated the birthday of one of my colleagues. It was a great party with great wine, including a bottle of Elderberry Manischewitz. We also had a bottle of 2005 Roty Bourgogne Rouge “Grand Ordinaire,” about which I learned something very interesting. Even though it says “Pinot Noir” on the label, it actually contains some Gamay (and you could taste it). Apparently, this is legal if it is called “Grand Ordinaire.” Speaking of Pinot Noir, the theme for the birthday party was “Dress as your Favorite Wine.” (We like to do this sort of thing!) So, I came wearing black and a string of peanuts around my neck. Get it? Peanut Noir!

In any case, the real purpose of this post is to discuss the way that wines have a tendency to “turn around.” It is a great test of patience and a great lesson every time. I brought a bottle of 2002 Marc Morey Rully Blanc, a white burgundy from an excellent producer and a small village that runs about $30.  We opened it and were convinced that it was flawed, as it tasted much too old for its age. But, sure enough about an hour later it was the best wine of the evening, showing multiple levels of complexity and with really interesting notes. I won’t go into the details of the flavors and smells (because that’s really not my thing) but I will say that it was, as Andrew Stuart noted, like sitting at a town hall meeting with an extremely diverse and energetic attendance.  So, the lesson is: don’t dump a wine if it tastes “off” when you first open it because it might turn out the be the best wine of the evening.

That said, we are not always so lucky. The birthday wine was a 1986 Grand Puy Lacoste from Pauillac, Bordeaux and it was irrecoverably corked. It was very sad indeed. But fortunately, Wally’s has always been happy to take flawed bottles back!

All in all, however, the party was a success and we really enjoyed ourselves.

Until next time,

Cheers!

Tags:   Burgundy · Grand Puy Lacoste · Manischewitz · Marc MoreyNo Comments