Beer or wine?

While some wines are delicious, some wines are certainly not worth the price that is asked for them. Some wines are also subject to spoilage. In fact, wines peak and are most delicious at the apex of the process of going from a young wine to vinegar. The snobbery of wine appreciation is to be able to determine that peak.

When we bought a business from a friend, part of closing the deal included a 1961 bottle of Chateau Lafite-Rothschild wine. The man was quite a fan of good wines, and prided himself on having a very refined pallet. I myself have never really liked “Big Red Wines”, but I was anxious to close the business deal that we were in the middle of. The Lafite was the closer, so I guess in this particular instance, the wine was well worth it’s price. Modesty prohibits me from disclosing that price, but the same bottle of wine today would cost $1,299.00. Why don’t they just put the price at $1,299.99? Is there such a thing as “price snobbery” also? Most likely if they were to say the price was $1,300.00 people would say, “That’s too much for a bottle of wine” and walk away, but $1,299.00 “That sounds reasonable, I’ll take it!”

The following is a review on a bottle of 1982 Lafite ($4,449.98) It seems like making excuses to pay too much money for a wine to me.

Expert Reviews
Rated: 95+ by Stephen Tanzer, Jul/Aug '02
Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar

Good full, deep red. Slightly high-toned, highly nuanced nose of currant, roasted meat, cedar, marzipan, smoke and tobacco. Supple on entry, then firmed by sound acids. Still quite unevolved but seems distinctly less deep than the bottle of '59 I tasted alongside it. A rather muscular style of Lafite, finishing with big, tongue-dusting tannins. Drink 2005 through 2030. 93. My second bottle showed a darker red-ruby color; higher-pitched aromas of redcurrant, cedar, orange peel and coconut; a bright, very tight palate impression, with strong acidity contributing to the impression of steely spine; and a very subtle and very long, firmly tannic finish. This bottle seemed even less evolved than the first sample.

However, The review on the ‘61 Lafite sounds more appropriate, it sounds more like my review of the wine.

As for drinking this wine, to be honest, words can never do it justice. Let's just say that it was enjoyed beyond anything else!

It was my first experience at drinking a fine French Bordeaux wine. I recall being surprised to notice that it smelled like a smoky oak, it was a very rich and deep burgundy red, also very clear like deep red glass. It was not too astringent, and not sweet. It was the kind of wine that I could drink all day. But, hey…wait a minute. I don’t drink that much, and besides, I couldn’t afford to drink that kind of wine all day.

One of the best wines that I ever tasted was in Interlaken Switzerland. The weather was frosty, but my wife and I had a hotel room which had a balcony right over the main hotel entrance, with a view of the most majestic mountains that I will ever see. We went across the street to a little store. We bought some fresh baked breads, some cheese, several salami type dry sausages, and some apples. On our way out, just as an afterthought, we decided to get a cheap bottle of wine. We paid $7.00 American for the wine. It was a French Bordeaux wine. We put on our heavy coats and went out on the balcony to make ourselves dinner out of the bag. We opened the wine and poured a couple of glasses full. I took a drink of mine, I noticed right off that it tasted almost identical to the Chateau Lafite that we had at the Eureka Inn. I didn’t say anything, thinking that I wanted to get my wife’s reaction first. She did the same thing, she took a sip and said “Wow, did you taste the wine?” we both agreed that it was every bit as good as the expensive wine. Needles to say, we dined in exquisite pleasure that night. It is strange how life gives you little surprises sometimes.

The most embarrassing moments of my life are when somebody in our group gets a little too tipsy and decides that the $200.00 bottle of wine is “over the hill and sends it back”. I could crawl under the frickin’ table. I don’t like public attention like that. I’m the kind of a person that will clean up a messy restroom before I leave it, on the off chance that somebody will think that I made the mess. Have you ever done that?

As I have aged, I’ve decided that I really don’t care what other people think. When My wife and I go out to dinner I just order a beer, like Budweiser draft, or Miller Genuine draft. I don’t like bitter beers, or the new foofoo microbrewery beers that taste like burned chrysanthemums. A glass of draft goes as well with a fillet as the most expensive wine. I’m not very good at being a wine snob, so I’m really quite happy drinking something that hits the spot, doesn’t cost a frickin’ fortune and tastes good.

Another good thing, I've never had to suffer the embarrassment of sending back a bad beer!