(2) 6L bottles of 1997 Gunderloch Three Star Riesling that I always thought I would be opening with 30 friends at a dim sum banquet that never happened. 15L bottle of Lanson Black Label that I still have high hopes for if one of my daughters ever gets married. If they just turn out to be hermits, then, well dunno. I could go on, but why torture myself…
impractical only in that I will never open it and it will remain in the cellar—a NV bottle of Stella Rosa given to me by a patient I cared for with metastatic cancer. He was so tough and I will always remember him.
Truly impractical—magnums of La Tâche back to 1990 now too expensive for me to open. I don’t subscribe to the ”look at what you paid, not what it’s worth” doctrine.”
I bought a 5L 1996 Cantemerle to have a large format bottle for my 60th birthday next year. It didn’t seem impractical at the time but I’m less confident given COVID. Hopefully we’ll be back to larger gatherings then. Or a small group will really have to step up.
Yup. Too lazy to change it.
But now that you have volunteered, you can come to the benefit dinner for the Innocence Project, when they will be opened.
That is batsh1t crazy. Given that eiswein seems to be legitmately sold in is 187ml popper bottles sometimes…
I drank a bunch of 2002 Dr Loosen’s from the lower pradikats, and loved them all, so hopefully it should be magnificent whenever you pull the cork on that beast.
But I’d give some props to all the imperials from the 60th bday party mentioned upthread…
Not in the same league, but Mas de Gourgonnier’s are almost as vexing as the above.
The few la Gardine’s I’ve had - maybe 98 and 99 by memory - could almost convince someone to expend the two cellar slots a bottle might need though…
I wonder how much that issue stops merchants / distributors / importers from carrying them, as I don’t see all of those as frequently as their quality would suggest?
Nice. I only went for a 3L of Canon.
Sounds like something that you could make very practical and then use the proceeds to buy something . . . in 750mls only.
Could a wine like this simply be “rebottled” in a bunch of empty 375s (or even smaller containers, filled almost all the way to the top of the neck with just enough headspace to push the cork about 1.5cm in? I know many sweet wines (Sauternes, etc.) can last weeks/months after being opened, and I assume that “rebottling” as described would result in far less oxygen contact (and for a far-shorter period of time) than an already-opened bottle in the fridge…
Anything over a magnum size. I have actually given them all away.
There are a lot of ways to do it. A cheap single bottle filler for home wine making would do fine, is siphoning, and displace exactly the right amount for proper headspace. A basic hand corker is cheap and works fine. You can sparge for extra protection. Maybe even add a tiny bit of SO2 prior to transfer. A competent home wine maker (or brewer) or friendly commercial wine maker would be helpful (no reason to actually do it at a winery).
Had a 6 liter bottle of 2005 3R’s “Ridge Ravenswood Rosenblum” Zinfandel which I got at a ZAP auction. Signed of course. Took it to a 20 year wedding anniversary of my buddy Jason back in 2015, I was his best man, but it never got opened.
Fortunately it got sold through WineBid. Don’t buy any size larger than magnums now.
The most practical use I can see for a 3L or larger bottle of Eiswein (or any sweet wine) is as a toast wine for a wedding.
I bought a 6L of 1989 Guiraud and kept it for 25 years in anticipation of our daughter’s wedding. She loves Sauternes/Barsac but said “Dad, get Champagne.” So off it went to auction. I hope the buyer enjoys it, but suspect it’s now their white elephant.
My very impractical mag of 97 Huet Cuvee Constance seems quite reasonable next to 3 liters of eiswein I suppose.
A five liter 1997 Ca’Vite Merlot. We got it from a friend who was doing a wine tasting many years ago who didn’t want to lug it back. I have no idea why we agreed to.
I can only imagine eiswein is like sauternes where it could be open and still hold its own well… I would second the idea of rebottling (and regifting?) smaller splits haha but that is the king of impractical.
except who was it that had the 28L or something?
Hmm, I might be able to compete here. I have a bunch of ‘80s and ‘90s 3LR bottles of reasonably basic looking Franken kabinett. I got them a few years ago in a huge and strange mixed lot that had three bottles of Tarragona Chartreuse Verte from the 1950s at the back of the picture (think I paid £300 in total + postage, probably almost the same again…). I can’t think of anyone who I might want to open it with, or indeed how I could possibly get rid of them. I just can’t quite bring myself to open them for someone else, or indeed open it just for myself (expecting it to be a sink pour) just in case it happens to be a lovely wine!
I have a 750ml of Schoffit Rangen De Thann Clos St. Théobald SGN “Larme de Lave” It’s only a regular bottle but it’s a monster of 510 g/L, 4.9% alcohol (and a potential of 37.2!!).
I think you use a spoon when you consume it.