Special Occasion, Little Splurge

Special occasions should undoubtedly be marked by special wines, but the question is often “Is this occasion special enough to open that extra special bottle?”  If you’re anything like me, the answer is almost always no. 

The limited collection (limited due mainly to financial restrictions, but also to a similar “Is this wine special enough to buy?” mentality that I may have to discuss later) of cellar-worthy wine that I keep is very dear to me.  The bottles, because they are so few, almost take on a life of their own.  I remember exactly where I was when bought them, or who gave them to me and why.  I remember the bottle of 2002 Pride Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon being handed to me in their tasting room on top of Spring Mountain followed by the words “We want to give this to you.  Thanks for representing our wines so well in your store.”  I remember the bottle of 2001 Casa Lapostolle Clos Apalta, which we got in at work by mistake (and far, far cheaper than it should have been); I bought a few bottles at “cost” and drank them greedily.  There is only one left now, and I likely won’t be parting with it soon.  And then there’s the bottle of 2001 Vieux-Telegraphe, still at work, still stashed away, waiting for the day that I feel like I can throw 60 bucks at something that I won’t touch for years.  

I have a really hard time opening bottles like these.  I never feel like an occasion is special enough to warrant popping those corks.  There have been times that I’ve considered it, even decided on it, and then once I raise the blade of my Laguiole to the capsule, I stop myself.  I convince myself that the bottle of Ribera del Duero that I bought last week on closeout will be fine.  And the bottle goes back into the collection.

My thought process in this is fundamentally flawed.  The bottle should make the occasion special, not the other way around.  Wine is meant to be enjoyed, and if I constantly balk at the opportunity to open a bottle, I’m ruining my own experience.

Recently, I made a little splurge.  I bought a half bottle of 2005 Maximin Grunhaus Abtsberg Auslese to sip on while getting tattooed.  The tattoo is wine geekery in and of itself, but that’s another story (and I will show it off once it’s healed).  This bottle wasn’t terribly expensive, but I’m really not at a point in my life where I’m totally comfortable spending almost $30 on 375ml of wine.  And being a 2005, it was obviously a little on the young side.  However, once I opened it, I was thrilled with my decision. 

The ‘05 German vintage is a modern classic.  More acidic and more structured than the ‘03, and overall more richness than the slightly thin ‘04, it seems to have the best of all worlds.  And this Grunhaus was no exception to that.  It was a beautiful bright, golden straw color with subtle green highlights.  The nose was overflowing with fruit.  Green apple, lime, grapefruit and peach aromas dominated, with subtle notes of smoky mineral and petrol, as well as sage.  As it became a little warmer, there was a distinct note of cotton candy.  On the palate, the wine was intensely rich, but punctuated with a very bright, very firm acidity which was almost sharp on the tongue.  Incredibly ripe and impeccably balanced all the way through, this wine finished almost a minute after being swallowed.  The mineral quality came back in the finish with a hint of wet stone.