For The Love Of Port

Even though I knew a penny candy wouldn't be in sight, I excitedly stopped off at The Rare Wine Co. in Sonoma today. Yes, into the inner realm of so many Madeira delights! I had a fabulous, goofy-grinned time checking out a pristine bottle of Barbeito 1834 (2011 bottling) and other 'classics', such as the H & H Grand Old Boal, and dreaming of their toffee delights; all LIVE and UP-CLOSE , baby My salivation glands also worked over-time as I also saw stacked cases of dream wines from the world of Champagne "Did someone say Selosse?", Bordeaux, Rhone, Italy, and wherever else dream wines come from.

In the end, I went with the ever-classic '68 d'Oliverias Boal (2012 bottling!) and an at-this-time 'mystery' Madeira that I'll report on soon with notes .

Perhaps a co-ed sleep-over at The Rare Wine Co. has potential, eh? Oh, please, Mannie...and we'll provide the penny candy.

Very cool.

Yes, very cool.

Barry,
Thats so awesome. After the bottle I had the other week, I decided to snag a case of the '68 from them. Will be interesting to compare the difference a decade and a half makes!

J

Didn't know that Barbieto were still selling their old, old Vintages. I guess Mannie has an in with Richardo.

Eric Ifune wrote:Didn't know that Barbieto were still selling their old, old Vintages. I guess Mannie has an in with Richardo.

Eric,
It was a Barbeito selection amassed for a king...

Rare Wine Co.is a great store, and I've been there a few times. But I never thought to walk through their storage area. Great idea, and I'll have to do that next time. But that could be a very expensive visit!

The interesting part of their storage facility is walking by the purchased wines waiting for delivery (mainly due to weather). Quite some high roller wines!

Eric Ifune wrote:The interesting part of their storage facility is walking by the purchased wines waiting for delivery (mainly due to weather). Quite some high roller wines!

Eric, thanks for the tip. I will definitely ask to see YOUR wines!

I remember going there many, many years ago and seeing "virtual wines" everywhere. (virtual meaning you could read about these high scoring wines, but they did not exist at retail for the average person). I wandered into a corner and there was a solid case of 1927 Sandaman with the bottles in their original straw sleeves. Wow! That almost brought tears to my eyes!

Steve Pollack wrote:

Eric Ifune wrote:The interesting part of their storage facility is walking by the purchased wines waiting for delivery (mainly due to weather). Quite some high roller wines!

Eric, thanks for the tip. I will definitely ask to see YOUR wines!

Steve,

You can't see Eric's wines. I stole them.

Barry Sunderland wrote:

Steve Pollack wrote:

Eric Ifune wrote:The interesting part of their storage facility is walking by the purchased wines waiting for delivery (mainly due to weather). Quite some high roller wines!

Eric, thanks for the tip. I will definitely ask to see YOUR wines!

Steve,

You can't see Eric's wines. I stole them.

Barry, that is good to know. Sunnyvale is only a few hours drive for me. Maybe we can get together soon and pop some of those rarities. We should try to coordinate with Eric, though. I'd feel just awful if he missed it.

Sounds great, Steve. And yes, Eric is invited!!

David Spriggs wrote: these high scoring wines, but they did not exist at retail for the average person).

Love the 'average person' articulation

Barry Sunderland wrote:

David Spriggs wrote: these high scoring wines, but they did not exist at retail for the average person).

Love the 'average person' articulation

Yes! Back in the day there were not a lot of wine auctions or mailing lists, so you needed to be good friends with a good wine merchant who would sell you an allocation of something from the back room. If you walked off the street and wanted to buy it, they would say that they have none available. At the Rare Wine Co. I remember seeing a case of 1990 J. L. Chave "Ermitage" - a super special cuvee. I asked how much and they said - it's all been sold!

Is this not the best importer in the USA? Not only for Madeira, but wine in general. I wish they did more Port than they do, but once a year or so, they come up with some brilliant offering.