My Greatest Of All Time List (Part 1)
Inspired by Tom Brady's rumored retirement.
As I age (insert wine joke here) I find that sport can be a good marker for reflecting on the milestones in life. The metaphors have been nearly endless. But at their core, team sports are compelling because of the personalities, the story lines, the subplots, statistics, and the idea that high achieving individuals must somehow learn to work together through adversity for the collective good. All of which is ironically for the entertainment of the masses.
In American professional football it is unheard of for one individual to have such an impact on a sport where 53 athletes fill out a roster and 11 players take the field per side.
Tom Brady’s storybook career is a literally unbelievable Cinderella story: The 199th pick in the draft, and a longtime backup player that got his chance to shine due to a freak injury to the starting quarterback.
He took the field and NEVER looked back. He has more Super bowl rings, amassed more passing yards and Super bowl MVP awards than any other quarterback. He also led the NFL in many categories this year at the insanely ripe old age of 44!
In short, he is the greatest football player of all time. It isn’t even close. (Which makes my NY Giants’ two Super Bowl victories at Brady’s expense all the more satisfying.)
Sports, like wine, can be markers of our lives. I often reminisce about who I was with, and where I was in life when I saw the Yankees win in 1996, or the time I tried my first bottle of Dom Perignon 1995, or sold my first bottles of Mouton Rothschild and Prieur to the same table.
So in honor of Brady’s retirement I became reflective. I have been fortunate enough to see him, Mohammad Ali, Wayne Gretzky, the 1990’2-2000’s Yankees (I wish I could’ve seen Babe Ruth), Michael Jordan, Serena Williams, and Lionel Messi ply their collective crafts. They are on my Mount Rushmore.
I have likewise been fortunate enough to taste a few masterpieces of wine. The kind of wines I had no business being lucky enough to experience. I also list some I haven’t tried yet but are on my bucket list.
In keeping with my mission statement I also list which wines are the best VALUES in the categories I have ever tasted (relative to their prices).
Champagne: Salon Champagne Le Mesnil 2007 (with apologies to Dom Perignon 1959, and Pol Roger 1949). The GOAT (greatest of all time) producer of Champagne’s masterpiece vintage opus is 100% Chardonnay from the Clos De Mesnil - the undisputed best place on planet earth to cultivate it. A unicorn vintage that is just starting to come into its own. This wine still haunts me. Total bliss. Working at Del Posto for a time gave me access to a superlative education on high end Champagne and Italian wine. Like a museum of fine wine.
Best VALUE Champagne: Delamotte Blanc de Blancs (same producer, just from less prestigious vintages that get blended) Also not even close here. I stack this up against Krug Blanc de Blancs and do not look back. For the inevitable question: Armand de Brignac (Ace of Spades) and Cristal are for rap videos, and strip clubs, DP is great but overpriced these days, and Veuve is for try-hard bourgeois suburban brunches.
Barolo: Giacomo Conterno Barolo “Monfortino” 1964
If Brady were a wine, this would be a great parallel. In my not-so-humble professional opinion the finest Barolo ever produced, by the grand master of Barolo. The late, great Giacomo Conterno. His attention to detail remains unsurpassed and this vintage was particularly lush, and aged like no other in the modern era. Still vibrant, full of dimension, nuance, and an incredible vigor.
Best VALUE in Barolo I ever had: GD Vajra Barolo “Albe” 2014 $34 If you can still find this vintage, you should buy it with both hands. (all you can get)
Dessert Wine: Chateaux d’Yquem Sauternes 1811 BUCKET LIST. The only dessert wine considered a first growth in Bordeaux. Enough sugar and acidity to last sometimes 100 years. This particular vintage is undoubtedly past its storied drinkability window by now, but was the “comet vintage” that even Parker the antichrist-like wine critic responsible for the downfall of California wine after 1995 due to his smoker’s palate and oversimplified numerical rating “system” scored it a perfect 100 points.
Best VALUE dessert wine ever: Donnafugata Ben Rye Passito di Pantelleria 2002
One of the few Italian dessert wines to be vintage specific. Its name means “Divine Wind” in Arabic. It is a late harvest Moscato of Alexandria that shows gorgeous acidity and has great aromatics and notes of caramel, with ripe stone fruit. At $50 for a 375 ml bottle it is a spectacular alternative to Sauternes. I also take it over Vin Santo, or any other Italian dessert wine.
Bordeaux (Left Bank): Chateaux Margaux 1982 , Chateaux Latour 1982, Mouton 1982, or Lafitte 1982 BUCKET LIST ALERT: I would happily choose any of these wines for my last meal. Although I haven’t tasted this vintage, any time I open a first growth is usually a special occasion unto itself. This was among the most revered “perfect storm” vintages they have ever seen. I am hoarding pennies for the day I can pounce on any of these.
Best VALUE Left Bank Bordeaux: Chateaux Prieure Lichine 2015 Fourth classified growth for $50-75 !! (from what is shaping up to be another LEGENDARY vintage. ) This wine is medium to medium plus bodied, dark fruited, lush, and smooth, but powerful and structured. Young but super drinkable. Mind blowing at the price.. Among the best $50 I ever spent on wine.
Pinot Noir: Domaine de la Romanee Conti “La Tache” 1990
BUCKET LIST wine. A fabled vintage. Arguably the greatest Pinot Noir producer in Burgundy and by extension on the planet. (With apologies to Ramonet and Ponsot) I have tasted other vintages and was struck by the complexity and concentration. Easily the most commoditized wine of the last few years, but still valuable for a reason.
BEST VALUE Red Burgundy: Domaine Sylvain Pataille “L’Ancestrale” Marsannay 2018 $50
Great concentration of fruit with insanely elegant balance, amazing texture and depth. So good it makes me angry.
South-Central Italian Selection 1: Emidio Pepe Montepulciano D’Abbruzzo 1975, and 2018
Unlike any other Montepulciano producer, the house of Emidio Pepe pays attention to details that other winemakers flatly ignore and it shows. Including hand sorting and manual punchdowns, rebottling, and other terms you are probably glazing over at by now. Suffice it to say it makes for an ENTIRELY different Montepulciano. I recently enjoyed a vertical of this at our dear friends’ exquisite Abruzzese restaurant “Le Virtu” in Philadelphia. The 75 was smooth, elegant and nuanced. With secondary and tertiary flavors of plum and stewed fruit that emerged as the tannin eased away. Delicate and fleeting like watching a sunset. The current release is full bodied, with dark and red fruits, earth, mint, muscular acidity and and chocolatey well structured tannins. Like an Hermitage that was crossed with a Brunello. The 2018 only cost me 54 Euro in Florence and is by far the best Montepulciano for the money I have ever tasted.
Tuscan selection 1: Biondi-Santi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 1964
In a category loaded with great producers and historically great aging wines, my fondest memory is of this special vintage a customer ordered and I DUTIFULLY tasted for flaws prior to serving. The complexity, fruit, and sheer length of the finish were addictive. Like seeing a fleeting glimpse of a Michelangelo painting for a few seconds.
The best VALUES in Tuscan wine I ever had were Tenuta Montetti’s Caburnio 2009 Super Tuscan , (like Sassicaia but only $25 at the time) or Le Ragnaie Troncone (declassified Brunello) at $27.
Next time I will continue with more selections from France, Spain, and other areas.