Countdown To Fifty » Wine IS Good For You…Repeat Again

2002 Sloan At Wine Commune

Not Quite Fifty — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 01:09:19 +0000

Last night a friend and co-worker took me to dinner to celebrate the end of one phase and the beginning of another. As we both love wine and it was a big event I decided to bring out the 2002 Sloan and sample for the first

time this massive wine. It scored 100 points from Robert Parker and 99 points from Wine Spectator. We opened and decanted this for about 45 minutes before dinner and it was truly outstanding. BIG full wine with a fabulous nose, gigantic mouth feel and extraordinary finish.

That said it was not the best wine I have ever had and the price has appreciated significantly since I originally purchased the 5 bottles that I have. Soooo I decided today to try listing a bottle on Wine Commune which is very similar to EBay for wine. I gave the auction 7 days to run and put a reserve price on the lot. This 2002 Sloan is an example of cult wines that some folks will pay through the nose for. Retail for this year is approaching $1000. Anything close to that would be fine indeed.

Wish me luck!

Midlife Crisis Wine Collecting – part 1

Not Quite Fifty — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 21:52:07 +0000

An informal survey of co-workers, clients and friends has revealed a common thread regarding wine collecting. It seems that 40 marks a time when many folks develop palates for wine. They have moved from a predominantly mixed drink or beer preference to red wine. Along with that, many (most?) begin to get the wine collecting bug.

I know first hand that this phenomenon struck me at just about the same time. One day I woke up and decided to start amassing a wine collection. It began with a determination to get some 1997 California Cabernet’s into the newly purchased EuroCave. One important note: ALWAYS get a wine storage unit larger than you are originally shopping for. Don’t believe me? Ask any friend, family member, total wine collecting stranger and they will tell you the exact same thing! I bought a 170 bottle unit that, in reality, comfortably holds 100 bottles. There are now another 30 cases stored 0ff site too.

From there, as this was 2000/01 and the 1997 vintage on the shelf was getting harder to find, I found myself spending way to much time and money at winebid.com. For those unfamiliar think about it as the eBay of wine. You identify bottles or cases that interest you and bid away. Of course there is a winebid charge and a shipping charge to absorb. In addition, though they act as middle man and take possession of the wine from the seller and transfer it to you, there is no way to know with 100% certainty that the wine has been properly stored by the original owner(s). That said you can fire up a collection pretty fast using this method.

Part of the mini immersion in wine for me was to start subscribing to:

All of this reading begins to give you just enough education to be truly dangerous to you wallet.

Speaking of dangerous – wine clubs are just that too.

Over the years I have been enrolled in clubs (always reds) from Justin, K&L Wines, and Vintners Collective to name a few. My preference is for a club from retailers. In this way you can sample wines from different wine makers and wine regions. That’s the upside. The possible downside is you begin to automatically receive too much wine. When the EuroCave is full, and the hall closet is too, you might need to reevaluate the number of clubs you belong to.

In part 2 I’ll elaborate on the perils of collecting “cult” wines.

T-minus “soon” and counting……….

Not Quite Fifty — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 05:53:07 +0000

The debut of the blog and podcast combo “Countdown To Fifty” is almost here!

The goal of this work will be to follow a 47 year old guy as he crosses that wacky life demarcation point in life – THE BIG FIVE OH, er O.

Haven’t you heard enough folks rant about the doom that accompanies this birthday? Tired of the black balloon and faux casket party people? Wouldn’t you like to live vicariously through someone else before you get here?

Maybe you are reading, listening and looking back fondly at 50.

Whatever the reason, join me for the next 32 months. The plan is to share all kinds of info and observations including health, fitness, relationships, careers, entertainment, food and wine, and whatever else comes to mind.

This will all culminate with a virtual party on May 7, 2010. The goal is to have THE WORLD’S LARGEST VIRTUAL BIRTHDAY PARTY. What does that mean? I don’t know yet…..but I will. Maybe it means getting birthday greetings from 1 million people.

Stay tuned for more.