Yes, most of us recall that epiphany moment of, "I think I get it". It is fun to hear of others' versions.sean.mcgrath wrote: ↑Wed Jan 19, 2022 2:39 pmMaybe I should start a thread on the light bulb moment.oysterboy wrote: ↑Wed Jan 19, 2022 7:47 am
the light bulb came on for me when I tasted a Ridge Lytton Springs Zin around 1985. A bit like the Supreme Court definition of pornography, "You know it when you see it."
I would recommend periodically buying a few bottles of higher-end wines for aging that are warranted by some research. I am now 74 and have friends who became quite passionate about wine when they were around 60-65. Having now experienced aged wines, they greatly lament not having bought more outstanding wines years ago that would be maturing now. As someone mentioned above, buying already-aged wine is a crapshoot.
In my first job in 1987, we had a training in SF and the local team did an amazing job giving us a week to remember while sticking to budget. I had my first cab, Rutherford Hill, at a restaurant. The guy across from me at the table and I were both wide-eyed. I had no idea a wine could taste like that!
I do wonder about your crapshoot comment, though. Have you had bad experiences? I used to be quite proud that all of my wines had been aged in my own cellar, but now at 57 I do not have that many en primeur seasons left to age wines for decades. I started buying a bit at auction last year, and so far the experience has been only positive. Idealwine takes shipment and inspects, although they can't guarantee storage conditions of course. Still a small sample size, but so far so good. I just had some 1990 Sociando-Mallet delivered yesterday -- looking forward to trying it.
My use of "crapshoot" was a bit of an exaggeration which was a poor choice. I have had a few bad experiences through auctions, most of which I attributed to poor storage. At age 74, I seldom buy wines with drinking windows more than 7 or 8 years off, and do so then only because the wine just sounds irresistible, which is foolish, of course; but so what? I have been very fortunate to have accumulated a lot of great wine, more than I will ever drink. And, a dear long-time friend and wine companion left me 3 cases of extraordinary wines in his will, mostly from the '90s, that I intend to drink over the next couple of years.
At your age of 57, I think you have plenty of time to buy wonderful wines and store them for 15 years and longer for great enjoyment. I'm 17 years older than you and enjoying wine as much as ever. BTW, the '90 Sociando-Mallet was a wonderful wine when I last tasted it probably 10 years ago, and I'll bet it still is. A great vintage all over Europe. It sounds like you have a trustworthy wine merchant to source these wines for you. Best wishes on your continuing enjoyment.