Closing Time

“ Yeah the women tear their blouses off
and the men they dance on the polka-dots
and it's partner found, it's partner lost
and it's hell to pay when the fiddler stops:
it's CLOSING TIME” Leonard Cohen

You pay the big bucks on the big wine with the big points, but it doesn't deliver. What’s up?

“It's closed” is the big excuse. You see it on the wine discussion forums all the time. Some whiney writer complains that the pointy Barolo they opened was disappointing because it was closed. This is either a big lie or a huge rationalization made by people that either:

• don’t understand what they bought
• read the Wine Spectator
• actually don’t like the wine they bought (the nebbiolo curse)
  
• have to rationalize that they dropped big bucks on something they just don’t like

The fact of the matter is that in over two decades of tasting I have never tasted a great wine that did not show its greatness every day of its life - and I mean every day. Exceptional character is something that cannot hide.

I don’t care how tight-assed that Giacosa (or Colla, Marcarini, Conterno, Mascarello etc.) Barolo was – there was never one day could you not taste its potential greatness. If you have a great wine that you are unimpressed with; you either don’t like it or don’t understand it – and that’s true from the time it’s ready to bottle. There is one exception to this and that is travel or other bottle abuse. Shipping wines across the Atlantic or the continental United States is like putting a wine through a blender and many wines need months of rest to recover – especially Pinot Noir and Nebbiolo.

There is no “hell to pay” from drinking wines that are too young or closed. Certainly there will be better times to drink them, but if a wine is great it will always be great each and every day of its life. “It’s closed” is a crutch used by too many wine drinkers who empty wallets on wines based on fashion instead of what they really like. It’s like buying a shirt that is the hottest thing in fashion that looks ridiculous on you, but justify it by thinking it will look better on you next year: an unlikely event.

There is never a truly great wine that is not always, from the beginning to the end of its voyage, enjoyable and intellectually stimulating. The more complex the wine, the more responsibility the drinker has to participate in that greatness and to appreciate the individual character and development of that wine at that moment.

Enjoying greatness in wine is an interactive, not passive experience.

Comments

[Daniel Bach]

I take it, though, that you do not disagree that wine changes, and that it may be better in the future. I have also heard many people talk of young Bdx going through a "dumb pahse". Do you take issue with that too?

Also, regarding your prior post on decanting. Robert Parker just posted the following on the Squires Board:

Many young cabernet-based wines(especially young Bordeaux)open and seemingly improve with aeration......evolving from terrible to sublime seems a leap of faith but I have had two experiences with very old...1957 and 1958 Conterno Barolos that were decanted and appeared DOA(dead)....orange/amber colors....both wines were decanted for dinner parties and I refused to serve them....on each occasion...returning to the wines the NEXT MORNING.....I was amazed to find the wines dark garnet and actually very good ...the oxidized character and feeble/decrepit colors had changed dramatically...have posed these scenarios to many a wine-maker and oenologist with no adequate explanation...which I tend to love...some mysteries in wine and life should never be resolved.....

--http://dat.erobertparker.com/bboard/showthread.php?p=1072514#post1072514

[Craig Camp]

I certainly agree with the fact that wines with real character go through stages of evolution and improve with time in the bottle. What I don't agree with is that a young wine can be so "closed" that you can't see its real potential and enjoy it. If you can't sense and enjoy that potential you probably don't like the character of that wine. This is very pronounced with Barolo/Barbaresco as many drinkers just don't like its characteristic angularity and can't enjoy the wine unless it has those edges aged or breathed out of it.

Also, modern wines just don't develop in the way they used to, because of new vineyard and winery techniques the wines are more forward when young and don't have the ups-and-downs they did in the old days.

A trip to areas like Bordeaux and Barolo will show you that in the area of production, locals and winemakers alike drink these wines young with great pleasure - they also drink them old with great pleasure. You have to appreciate a wine for what it is and where it is in its development. If you don't like tannin you should not be drinking Barolo - young or old.

Concerning the Parker comment, it sounds to me like he is referring to wines that were in a state of reduction. Reduced wines taste terrible at first and are often confused with corked wine. However, reduced wines can often be saved by extended breathing time. A wine in normal condition does not require this treatment.

[fireweaver]

yes, yes, yes! if you don't like it, move on. robert parker's tongue is not what's connected to your palate. neither is mine, neither is your dad's, or some "expert". so important for people to go out in the world and actually sample to determine what their personal tastes are, rather than believe the hype or pretty story-telling woven in words somewhere. now, if you find that over time, one particular critic has the same rants & raves that you do, well then, you've found someone who's tastes align with yours that happens to have a broader selection available to him/her, and should by all means be utilized as a jumping-off point for your own buying trips.

btw, i do find the converse to be true as well in some cases. several wines in recent years, typically of a sweet or dessert variety, that i've loved young, turned heartbreakingly beautiful when laid in for one year.