I did something very stupid . . . .

Don't feel too bad, Ryan.

My last major wine purchase for quite a while was a bottle of Heitz Martha's Vineyard 2000. They were selling magnums for less than the price of a current release 750.

So I check it out on cellartracker, and the wine was pretty much panned across the board

So I check it out on cellartracker, and the wine was pretty much panned across the board

...but, given your tastes, Brian, that may work out well for you. I've enjoyed any number of wines that were roundly panned by critics or CT posters. YMMV indeed!

Mark Lipton

Still debating if I should actually dare to open one, or just come up with a scheme to recoup as much of the cost as I can. I know well that there are some huge surprises out there, e.g., my own experience with the '72 Petrus, and I've learned that as long as the cork is still sound, there is hope. But as long as the cork stays in the bottle, there is hope it will be worth something to someone, and this is a very tricky cost/benefit situation. I can open one and destroy any value it might have, with the likelihood of an experience probably not worth what I could regain. But I might open one and have it be surprisingly good, or at the least would then know best what to do with the other. *Sigh* . . . . I'm not bummed about it at this point, but I am still mad at myself.

Ryan, Hi......

A few words of advice from "an older friend". Let's say you put these back on the market. In an odd way what you are doing is taking something that you regret as probably a bad purchase and trying to pawn it off on someone else. Not the most moral of behaviors.

And think of the ramifications - whomever buys them will then post on whatever bulletin board he/she posts on and this whole discussion will start again but this time from his/her point of view. More than that, if he/she drinks them and finds, as you probably will, the wines undrinkable, that person is going to think him/herself pretty stupid and,to make it worse, probably be pretty ticked off at you as well.

Considering that your total investment for the two bottles was US$30, best thing to do is to open them, with few if any expectations but perhaps a silent prayer to Bacchus, to laugh like heck at yourself if necessary and then to go on to enjoy your standby bottle.

Be of good cheer. Pop the corks and go for it!

Best
Rogov

Ryan, Hi......

A few words of advice from "an older friend". Let's say you put these back on the market. In an odd way what you are doing is taking something that you regret as probably a bad purchase and trying to pawn it off on someone else. Not the most moral of behaviors.

Hello Rogov,

Arguing for a moment the principle rather than the specific case, whether it is "moral" or not depends on how one presents it. And $30 is more to me than it sounds. $42 after shipping, actually.

OTOH, I have had various old bottles that I felt were dramatically better than your notes suggested. Furthermore, it seems the British, including Broadbent, consider '82 not to have been a bad vintage in the Rhone (and Broadbent always splits his ratings if the two districts differ). Oh, I'm very curious (you should know me and my necro-oenophile ways by now), and tempted. But, I keep thinking, as long as I don't open them, I will not be faced with just how bad an investment they were . . . .

Best Wishes,
Ryan

DRINK! DRINK! DRINK IT, MAN!

YOU KNOW YOU ARE TEMPTED!

DRINK! DRINK! DRINK IT, MAN!

YOU KNOW YOU ARE TEMPTED!

Can't argue much with that. Well, I suppose . . . . it was probably destined to be. But I reserve the right to be disappointed post facto. Anybody in the area who wants to drop by and help, let me know (seriously).