A bottle of 1991 Penfolds Grange was sold, when released, at $65 a bottle. In an auction in 2001, this wine was sold for more than $400 ($422). A 1995 Three Rivers Shiraz 1995 was released for $65 in 1999, and was auctioned in 2001 for $811. These sorts of returns have prompted a client (now deceased) to invest a huge dump in premium wine, which has now hit a major snag. The company making the purchases and managing the storage of the purchased vintages has gone into liquidation (there’s a pun here somewhere, I’m sure) and the liquidators are milking the drops into a drunken stupor (well almost – cant resist that line) in sorting out who owns what. I feel sorry for the client’s widow and every time I work on the matter I wished she would somehow distil the murky barrel to recover the bulk of what her husband put in.
What all of this has done for me personally is of course, made me feel absolutely puny as a wine drinker. I hardly spend more than $10 a bottle on my wine, which has now become my grog of choice. On the odd occasion I splurge a little bit and get something between $15 and $20. Sometimes, like during the Chinese New Year celebrations, I go for broke and spend closer to $50, knowing I wont do this again for a long time. By the way, it turned out that the CNY dinner we went to drank mainly beers and whiskies. I had also brought along a 15-year Glenfiddich (single malt, of course), for which I made a lot of friends that night. So the bottle of Annie’s Lane was left untrodden and was brought back home. I now don’t know when I should pop that open. I hate to keep it for the Year of the Pig and find then that Annie’s Lane has turned into Rosemary’s Pit or something like that. Maybe I’d open it for Valentine’s Day and entice Theresa into drinking herself silly.
Anyway, the point of all of this is of course the pained realisation of the vast expanse between my drops and those enjoyed by some people out there. I have of course heard of Penfold’s almighty Grange and Henschke’s Hill of Grace, even when I was buying awful French wines in Malaysia. A client in Malaysia who owns several thousand acres of oil palm plantation once told me about Grange and Hills of Grace which he had while in Sydney and was truly pleased I had heard about these vintages. Every time he mentioned these wines, his eyes lit up and you couldn’t help but be swept by the aura of these labels. I must one day do a wild thing and actually buy a bottle of either of these and compare it to the magical 1982 Margaux I had once in (of all places), Phnom Penh. I was there with a couple of my ex-bosses on a business trip of sorts and a General had hosted us to a dinner where all we were interested in were the boxes of Margaux he had lying on the floor. After drinking a few bottles we were also given a few to take away with us. And, for good measure, some of us had our doors knocked on later that night with offers of vintages of other kinds. Clearly, the general had something in mind.
The Margaux was truly magical and I had often wondered how the Grange or Hill of Grace would line up beside this French aristocrat. But perhaps I must first give Annie’s Lane a little inspection. Actually I had tried it once already, when my boss bought me dinner about 3 weeks ago. He took pity on my temporary bachelorhood and asked me to join him and his wife for dinner. We each had a glass of Annie’s Lane, which he said was one of his favourites. Firstly, I was drinking with the boss. Secondly, it was a single glass and clearly we were there not for the wine. I remember it as a very good wine but unfortunately it wasn’t an unforgettable experience. I must therefore re-acquaint myself with Annie before I venture further.
Contented, I must attempt to be, however. All these are indulgences which should not take any precedence. I must be happy with whatever it is I have been drinking. After all, I have come to recognise very drinkable Clean Skins. I know they are the bane of true wine lovers but you know what they say about wine connoisseurs – the best wine is the one you enjoy the most. For example, I have also discovered some dirt cheap Merlots by Coonawarra or Lindeman which are very drinkable. They all come well under $10 and I would not hesitate serving it to my true mates, as long as they don’t stain our teeth.
Ante 