randy@utcsri.UUCP (Randall S. Becker) (06/06/85)
*** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH SOME DECENT WINE *** I am rather upset at a recent purchase that I made at the Liquor Control Board of Ontario's Rare Wine (ha) Store (ie. one lonely bottle of C. Olivier 1981 - Graves, Grand Cru Classe, $19.50). The wine had virtually no bouquet and tasted about the same as a very ordinary $5.00 bottle of Graves. Has anyone else had a similar experience? Can you imagine the expression on my face when I was expecting a superior quality wine? It was afterall classed "Grand Cru" sometime back around 1855. What happened? Did the vinyard suffer some form of blight? If enough of us have had similar experiences we could probably have their vines declassified! :-) Do forgive my abrasive tone but I am frightfully disappointed. Yours, Randall B. -- Randall S. Becker Usenet: ..!utcsri!randy CSNET: randy@toronto
macrakis@harvard.ARPA (06/10/85)
> I am rather upset at a recent purchase that I made at the Liquor > Control Board of Ontario's Rare Wine (ha) Store (ie. one lonely > bottle of C. Olivier 1981 - Graves, Grand Cru Classe, $19.50). The > wine had virtually no bouquet and tasted about the same as a very > ordinary $5.00 bottle of Graves. I know nothing specificially about the Chateau Olivier 1981. I can understand your disappointment if you paid $19.50 for a mediocre bottle, but I must say I don't sympathize. > Has anyone else had a similar experience? Can you imagine the > expression on my face when I was expecting a superior quality wine? How did you come upon this wine? Was it recommended in a guidebook, or by a friend, or by the wine store? Liquor monopolies are generally notorious for not knowing wine. I suggest you start by complaining to whoever recommended it to you. If you selected it on your own, you are well justified in giving yourself a severe browbeating.... I looked up Olivier in a couple of places, and no one seemed to like it much. Hugh Johnson (Pocket, 1977) says "well-known, if not exciting, white". Not a high recommendation. Andre Simon doesn't think much of it either. > It was afterall classed "Grand Cru" sometime back around 1855. No, the Graves were not classified in 1855 like the Medocs. "Graves chateaux are either `classed' or not...; there is no pecking order." (Johnson) > What happened? Did the vinyard suffer some form of blight? If > enough of us have had similar experiences we could probably have > their vines declassified! :-) The 1855 (Medoc!) classification can only be a very crude guide to current wines. The vines have changed, the owners have changed, and the vinification methods have changed, although the land itself (which does give much of the character of a wine) presumably has not. (Would you trust an 1855 restaurant guidebook?) Classifications are extraordinarily rarely changed. Of course, it's always possible that you simply didn't like a wine that others might have enjoyed tremendously.