Bottles Wall of Fame

[Gary_Schulte]

This does not thrill my wife in our dining room.

3A32EAE9-DF65-4BF9-AA7E-1885D8456A1F.jpeg

Nor is she thrilled with the random empties strewn among our book shelves, but there they merge into the aesthetic a little better.

Boy I noticed the older Huets pretty quickly. What years were those? Nice collection. I asked my spouse about a couple of bottles that were not in her poster that were memorable…then I remembered I boxed a few cases to make more room for above the cabinets. The ones we save have a positive taste memory and usually it is with friends or family. The Domaine Leflaives were always brought by one friend. Hope she continues the practice. I’m always willing to cook for good wine.

[Gary_Schulte]

Very cool cover up Glen.

[Gary_Schulte]

Glad I was not alone … I was doing the same above our kitchen cabinets with a wall of zin - Bedrock, Biale, Bucklin, Carlisle, Hartford, Limerick Lane, Once & Future, Outpost, Ridge, Sky, and Turley, plus a few other bottles associated with special events.

Dang, I should of took a picture before “the bottles in the wall” came down.

Never had many of those zinfandels but see them mentioned on this board quite a bit. We have a couple of zins on our wall. Most notably are older Rafanelli and Hartford Court zins…Wonder how they would taste today? Been a long time since I’ve tasted a balanced zin. I remember a discussion with David Coffaro many many years ago where he wished that he barreled more like neighbor Rafanelli did to integrate the fruit a bit more. I might still have one of his Aca Modots buried in my “wine cellar”. Doubt it’s still good as he used plastic corks at the time.

[Kirk.Grant]

I started doing this when I moved into my house. I line up bottles that were epic or hold some sentimental value.

[Mattstolz]

Over the years we have been saving wine bottles that peak our taste buds or some other interest. We have placed them above our kitchen cabinets for display. For some reason my spouse decided to clean up the bottles and at the same time make a digital record. Here’s a picture from her of that wine bottle record. Boy do I miss these wines. Also special shoutout to the “Knucklehead Red” wine given to us as a special gift from young boys, now young men, Mario & Joseph who’s parents own Exultet Winery on Prince Edward County island in Ontario. Great folks that make some very nice wines.
Wall_of_Fame_NFT.jpg

I really like the idea of turning this into a poster or something.

[Jayson_Cohen]

This does not thrill my wife in our dining room.

3A32EAE9-DF65-4BF9-AA7E-1885D8456A1F.jpeg

Nor is she thrilled with the random empties strewn among our book shelves, but there they merge into the aesthetic a little better.

Boy I noticed the older Huets pretty quickly. What years were those? Nice collection. I asked my spouse about a couple of bottles that were not in her poster that were memorable…then I remembered I boxed a few cases to make more room for above the cabinets. The ones we save have a positive taste memory and usually it is with friends or family. The Domaine Leflaives were always brought by one friend. Hope she continues the practice. I’m always willing to cook for good wine.

There’s also a back row.

The Huets are:

1959 Haut Lieu Moelleux, a very nice bottle that I brought to a wine geek dinner at La Rochetta in Manhattan (Osteria Cotta is now in that space) about 20 years ago; and

1971 Haut Lieu Demisec, an intensely vibrant, delicious bottle I brought to a dinner at Racines when Paul Day was in town from London four years ago, when he brought 1966 Bollinger RD (IIRC) with a friend (quite wonderful), 2002 Bollinger VVF (pretty dull), and 1964 Laville Haut Brion (spectacular still and crazy young).

Edit: I should add that there’s a 500 ml empty of 1995 Huet Cuvee Constance in the back row. It arrived at my apartment one day over 20 years ago with the cork blown right through the capsule cleanly. I had to drink it then (miraculously very little had spilled out). It was delicious. I taped the capsule “circle” to the neck and kept it as a trophy.

[M.Kaplan]

I have never been a keeper of empties. Dust collectors. However, I am a hoarder of full bottles

This. My wife is sufficiently irritated the full bottles that litter our house. The only empties I own are a Kurniawan 1961 La Chapelle and a 1969 Perrier Jouet flower bottle jeroboam from our wedding, both of which are permanently housed in the basement ‘cellar.’

[EvanLodes]

We had a shelf built in our cellar room for this purpose with lighting above and below - a bunch of fun memories.

[AndyK]

We had a shelf built in our cellar room for this purpose with lighting above and below - a bunch of fun memories.

I have the same Burgundy map poster! Not quite the same empty bottles…

[Peter_Kleban]

By the way Gary see you are from England and have a bottle of Paumanonk in that picture (local east end winery makes the wine on Long Island imho and Charles, Ursula and his family are awfully nice. Any story behind your bottle out of interest?

The Massouds are some dear friends that we visit once or twice a year when our and their schedules allow. We take wines we have made each year for them to taste and give us feedback on. Our connection is manyfold but probably that we grow chenin blanc is the first connect we made with them and it’s been a strong friendship ever since. Some of their red wines I really enjoy year in and out. Super nice people in the business.

Gary, which Paumanoks do you like? We’ve been going to LI lately and so far have tried the Merlot and Barrel Fermented Chardonnay, both of which I liked. TIA!

[Peter_Kleban]

I love his intern Chenn Blanc story. My wife’s favorite wine ( she only drinks champagne and lhv) is their late harvest riesling.
I was in a tasting group made up of all long islanders. Almost all of our long island wines in our cellars come from them.
Happy they get love on other side of the pond.

David, which LI wines are your favorites? As just mentioned, I’ve tried two Paumanoks, both of which I liked, also one Wolffer (SB) and one I didn’t care for (rosé). Years ago I had a Nappa blanc de noir but haven’t run into one recently.

[Jim_F]

I have never saved empties, but for a time I was collecting labels, with which I then created a couple poster boards. Not sure where they are or the shape they are in after a few moves. And, my wife does not like them. Next project is making something with owc ends. maybe a wall of fame, coffee table or bar cart, framed display board, not sure yet. Just broke up the boxes. I saved a few 6-bottle boxes to finish into some kind of storage boxes.

[Gary_Schulte]

By the way Gary see you are from England and have a bottle of Paumanonk in that picture (local east end winery makes the wine on Long Island imho and Charles, Ursula and his family are awfully nice. Any story behind your bottle out of interest?

The Massouds are some dear friends that we visit once or twice a year when our and their schedules allow. We take wines we have made each year for them to taste and give us feedback on. Our connection is manyfold but probably that we grow chenin blanc is the first connect we made with them and it’s been a strong friendship ever since. Some of their red wines I really enjoy year in and out. Super nice people in the business.

Gary, which Paumanoks do you like? We’ve been going to LI lately and so far have tried the Merlot and Barrel Fermented Chardonnay, both of which I liked. TIA!

Peter- My favorite white wines from Paumanok are both of the Chenin Blanc bottlings. For the reds I’ve really liked the Assemblage in the better years and several of the Grand Vintages . I would also check out Lenz and Roanoke for their red wines.

[Gary_Schulte]

Evan - Stellar cellar room. I take it you like burgundy? Thank you for sharing as the idea might fit into a design when our bottles are moved.

[EvanLodes]

Evan - Stellar cellar room. I take it you like burgundy? Thank you for sharing as the idea might fit into a design when our bottles are moved.

Thank you, and yes I caught the Burgundy bug. The room is small and has a low-ish ceiling (designed as a home office and doesn’t have any natural light), so these shelves also serve as lighting for the room.

[Paul_McCourt]

Over the years we have been saving wine bottles that peak our taste buds or some other interest. We have placed them above our kitchen cabinets for display. For some reason my spouse decided to clean up the bottles and at the same time make a digital record. Here’s a picture from her of that wine bottle record. Boy do I miss these wines. Also special shoutout to the “Knucklehead Red” wine given to us as a special gift from young boys, now young men, Mario & Joseph who’s parents own Exultet Winery on Prince Edward County island in Ontario. Great folks that make some very nice wines.
Wall_of_Fame_NFT.jpg

I really like the idea of turning this into a poster or something.

That would make an awesome jigsaw puzzle.

[Anthony_Sanford]

We had a shelf built in our cellar room for this purpose with lighting above and below - a bunch of fun memories.

Slight thread drift…where are the frames for the burgundy maps from? I’ve been looking for frames for mine.

[EvanLodes]

Slight thread drift…where are the frames for the burgundy maps from? I’ve been looking for frames for mine.

custom job from a local frame shop.

[AndrewH]

I’ve bought a couple of these for “special” bottles.

https://winelight.com/collections/winelight™-flame-protectors/products/winelight™-tube-lamp-gift-set-3-piece

(Gives an excuse to keep the bottle)

[AndrewH]

We had a shelf built in our cellar room for this purpose with lighting above and below - a bunch of fun memories.

Slight thread drift…where are the frames for the burgundy maps from? I’ve been looking for frames for mine.

As have I . . . until you get them framed, turns out there’s an app for them!

‎Atlas Bourgogne